Monday Night RAW July 25th 2016 *Battleground SPOILERS*

martyos121

And he didn't even need the Club.

seandotcomm

unreaaaal!!!!!

tinpib

Christ. No way he will actually go to Summerslam is there?

Is there guys?

raven136

Holy Sh*t

Wowza

martyos121

Now Roman has to put guys over on the mic. Oh how the tables have turned.

ricero

Jasus a reigns endorsment also. They have strapped a rocket to finns arse

Ageyev

Lithium93_ wrote: »

What a debut for Finn, what a ****ing debut

Totally. Reminds me of KO's debut win again Cena.

Agent Coulson

Smackdown won't be able to beat that.

Lithium93_

Best RAW in ages.

Glico Man

A large part of me hoped he Mr. Mackey it, "Don't do drugs m'kay"

raven136

Loses clean

Puts Balor over in the post match interview

New Era for sure

martyos121

And people complained about the brand split! HA! Even internal competition can work wonders in a business, can't wait to see what Smackdown comes up with tomorrow night, exciting times in the WWE at last.

ricero

Balor v rollins has me jizzing myself already at the thoughts

harney

Well worth waiting up for.

A Rogue Hobo

That's the best overall start to finish episode of Raw I've watched in I don't know how long. For one thing I actually managed (dare I say wanted) to watch it til the end is a huge sign in itself. Be hard/impossible to keep this quality every week but if they even come close I'll be a very happy camper.

Mr.Nice Guy

Great episode of Raw. When it's a show you'd be willing to watch again you know it's an easy thumbs up.

A Primal Nut

Such a great feel good episode of Raw. Still can't believe Balor won. Loved the interviews with the announcers.

They won't be able to keep this level up every week but the booking philosophy will create new stars.

Bret Hart

Balor vs Reigns main event at SS. Lovely and Balor looks to be getting primed and ready to be the top babyface in the company and shockingly enough it's someone who the fans actually like.

Mr.Nice Guy

At Summerslam they wouldn't pin the demon in his first WWE appearance, would they? Seth is right to look worried.

764dak

It was obvious Roman Reigns wouldn't win.

sky88

What a raw

Balor was amazing.

Strange to do the women's title change at raw wonder if charlotte is injured or failed wellness test. Just felt weird they did it before summerslam.

Itssoeasy

Started to fall asleep during the sasha Charlotte match and I didn't See it till now. Jesus well there you go.

Also Finn winning clean against the one time golden boy who now just looks like a chunky boy.

Itssoeasy

https://twitter.com/the_ironsheik/status/757762764840529920

Itssoeasy

So WWE are pushing the fan favourites. They are using local enhancement talent. They have given us good in ring action.

And for me to top it off the one and only iron shiek is tweeting congratulations to sasha banks. Bizarro world and I never thought I'd say this but smackdown has a lot to live up to.

764dak

764dak wrote: »

It was obvious Roman Reigns wouldn't win.

Maybe I shouldn't say obvious but I just didn't feel they would let Reigns face Rollins again at SummerSlam.

Lithium93_

Kinda felt like an extended episode of NXT, I wonder if Vince has left RAW to Triple H & Stephanie and letting them run the show.

Lord TSC

Wow. That was the best Raw I've watched in years. Talk about setting a high bar. When they announced the brand split, I thought it would be Smackdown that was like this; pushing fan favorites, strapping rockets to new people.

It was really the Finn Balor show. In all the excitement of his debut, I don't think anyone thought they would go in so hard on him, but it's incredible that they did. The Reigns endorsement at the end was interesting.

Sasha winning the title was nearly bringing a tear to my eyes.

Just such a great, great show. Wow.

Lithium93_

Even Daniel Bryan acknowledged RAW's great show..

https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan/status/757779517410861058?lang=en

DM_7

It's funny reading back and seeing the oh no Paddy nonsense turn in HOLY ****.


I think Reigns putting Finn over may be giving away the Summerslam ending.

Pentecost

Couldn't stay awake for it so caught the Balor stuff on YouTube before work. Great stuff, he's immediately a big deal on Raw. Seemed to get a great crowd reaction when pinning Reigns too. Interesting that they did the women's title change now rather than Summerslam. Sasha was always going to be the next champion.

Omackeral

Me_Grapes wrote: »

Very anti-climatic debut for Finn I thought

:pac:

CSF

That was excellent. Literally the only thing I didn't really enjoy was the New Day bit. That is a rarity in a 3 hour Raw.

Glico Man

CSF wrote: »

That was excellent. Literally the only thing I didn't really enjoy was the New Day bit. That is a rarity in a 3 hour Raw.

Same for myself tbh, the New Day bit was a bit flat.

I even enjoyed Strowman squashing the local jobber

correction

Wouldn't fall out with the New Day splitting after the Club feud tbh. I feel in general they've jumped the shark with the comedy and there's no 3 man stables for them to feud with anymore. Also would like to see Big E get a solo main event push and think with Kofi's new found confidence on the mic he could be a great mid to upper midcarder. They just made that cereal a real thing now though and they seem to be huge merchandise shifters so can't see a split in any event.

ricero

Would not suprise me if the new day turn heel again when they eventually feud with enzo and cass for the belts

Me_Grapes

Omackeral wrote: »

:pac:

Yep - Fergal's first raw show was fantastic, stupendous, unbelievable, made Carlito Caribbean Cool's smackdown maiden appearence look like crap. And I'm absoloutly thrilled to bits about it.




Still would have been better to see his first appearence as his entrance rather than meekly stepping up on the stage. But maybe I'm nit picking.


Well done Finn Balor.

CSF

correction wrote: »

Wouldn't fall out with the New Day splitting after the Club feud tbh. I feel in general they've jumped the shark with the comedy and there's no 3 man stables for them to feud with anymore. Also would like to see Big E get a solo main event push and think with Kofi's new found confidence on the mic he could be a great mid to upper midcarder. They just made that cereal a real thing now though and they seem to be huge merchandise shifters so can't see a split in any event.

I don't really see it working for them by themselves. This isn't a group they should split up. The whole is infinitely more than the sum of its parts. How do you book any of them higher in the card than they are now? A heel run should be on the cards again to freshen things up.

Insect Overlord

Me_Grapes wrote: »

Still would have been better to see his first appearence as his entrance rather than meekly stepping up on the stage. But maybe I'm nit picking.


Well done Finn Balor.

Any other RAW in the last few years and you would have been spot on, to be fair.

correction

CSF wrote: »

I don't really see it working for them by themselves. This isn't a group they should split up. The whole is infinitely more than the sum of its parts. How do you book any of them higher in the card than they are now? A heel run should be on the cards again to freshen things up.

Aye, another heel run would be good. I think Kofi would go back to where he was but this time slightly more useful now we've seen his potential on the mic, not too bothered with Woods and don't see much in him but I can definitely see main event potential in Big E. Dripping with charisma and pretty decent in the ring.

Omackeral

Me_Grapes wrote: »

Yep - Fergal's first raw show was fantastic, stupendous, unbelievable, made Carlito Caribbean Cool's smackdown maiden appearence look like crap. And I'm absoloutly thrilled to bits about it.




Still would have been better to see his first appearence as his entrance rather than meekly stepping up on the stage. But maybe I'm nit picking.


Well done Finn Balor.

Ah in fairness I can see your point. On paper it sounds a little lame but I enjoyed the way they left him til last and he stepped out as it kinda caught me off guard and it was a cold intro as such. A wee bit different to what I expected. I also had the benefit of seeing the whole show before I read your comment and Balor went on to win the lot, just thought it was a funny throwback to your post.

A great Raw overall and I wouldn't complain about much. I think Gallows and Anderson need the win vs New Day to establish credibility, they've lackeys for Styles thus far, they need a win big time.

Sasha and Charlotte was a great match and on any other night would've main evented. Charlotte's moonsault to the outside was mental and Sasha Banks landing on that dive was very scary. Heard a few muppets chanting CM Punk during it after no doubt chanting We Want Sasha before she arrived. Bell ends of the highest order.

Really was digging Braun Strowman's new look I must say. RIP Jobber.

PTH2009

What a raw

Cured my hangover

Balor vs Rollins yes yes yes

Is this the start of WWE being good again ???

johnruns

Could we see titles on Balor and gallows/anderson at summerslam?

sky88

johnruns wrote: »

Could we see titles on Balor and gallows/anderson at summerslam?

And AJ

The image of the five of them standing tall at the end of summerslam with all the belts would be something else.

Bounty Hunter

Okay I'm going in non-chronological order because well...Finn!


* First night on Raw is his Birthday
* He wins not 1 but 2 matches
* 1 of those is a clean win over Roman Reigns
* Reigns then puts him over on the Mic afterwards
* We have Balor vs Rollins now for the title at Summerslam (perhaps in the main event)

That's all sorts of win for Mr Devitt!


That should keep the vocal (although the crowd were not the best tonight) IWC fans happy but wait there is more, they've only just gone and gave us the expected Womans title match for summerslam inc the expected PPV result! Sasha is the new champ.

More importantly than just the result though the two ladies had an epic match, MOTN easily for me and one of those where Sasha would have been fully justified in challenging the men to try and top that.

I am actually happy to see the return of Jobber matches too. Nia Jax & Strowman for example can be slowly built while other things have the focus (they both still need time to improve on the house show circuit anyway) but them looking impressive in short in ring segments is a-ok with me.

New Day vs The Club is something I am down with also but perhaps more importantly than any of this is that the show did not drag due to being weighed down with GM / authority etc segments in fact the show flew by.

Infact I would agree with the below assessment.

A Rogue Hobo wrote: »

Judging from this episode they've basically just turned Raw into a three hour NXT, simple stories, concentrating on the in ring product and long matches mixed with old school enhancement matches hell they've even robbed NXT's camera angles.

Can't really complain with that. Long may it continue.

I don't know if they will be able to keep it going but to this extent but I am left with almost nothing to complain about so great work WWE.




1 complaint, I still think The Universal championship is a terrible name for their top belt.... but I do like the Idea of Finn being the first guy to win it

Lithium93_

Funny enough, Charlotte says she can see the Women main eventing PPV's pretty soon, and after the Women's Championship last night, I'd be inclined to agree with her.

We’ve had contract signings for Raw which was huge. We were one of the main events for WrestleMania with the triple threat. I have no doubt in the next couple months we’ll main event a pay-per-view.

http://www.cagesideseats.com/2016/7/25/12277692/charlotte-thinks-women-will-main-event-a-wwe-ppv-in-the-next-couple-months

Bounty Hunter

With the brand split meaning more PPVs It honestly would not surprise me especially if there was a PPV where either brands title was not on the line. Remember when Brock was the champ and they had no.1 contender matches headline shows. I could easily see if they had a really heated rivalry like Sasha vs Charlotte could be them headlining such a show with a no.1 contender match as the co-main event but on before it.

martyos121

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

With the brand split meaning more PPVs It honestly would not surprise me especially if there was a PPV where either brands title was not on the line. Remember when Brock was the champ and they had no.1 contender matches headline shows. I could easily see if they had a really heated rivalry like Sasha vs Charlotte could be them headlining such a show with a no.1 contender match as the co-main event but on before it.

I can see Sasha vs Bayley headlining a big PPV someday, maybe not a Mania but possibly Summerslam next year. That's a huge match for any wrestling fan, and they're both over enough to deserve that spot. Maybe I'm going a bit overboard but it's something I'm dying to see.

CSF

Don't see it happening. They know they've to lure in the casual fan who likes big muscly guys and guys they remember from the Attitude Era. A lot of these would be as positive about the idea of women headlining a PPV as they would the new Ghostbusters movie.

connemara man

I thought the commentary on the whole was great last night. Less annoying than usual. Still one or two things you could poke at but overall way better minus JBL

Lithium93_

connemara man wrote: »

I thought the commentary on the whole was great last night. Less annoying than usual. Still one or two things you could poke at but overall way better minus JBL

It didn't come across as forced, felt more natural, whereas with JBL i found it was forced, not natural, more freedom without an overbearing loudmouth

Hell I even thought Cole was actually good, if he had any part in getting Corey on RAW, then kudos to him for that, they work so well together..