Welcome to Monday Night Raw, one night removed from the first-ever Great Balls of Fire PPV!
The biggest talking-point coming out of Great Balls of Fire last night was the massive segment between Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman. Braun won the ambulance match after Roman went for a spear and missed, sending him flying into the back of the ambulance allowing Strowman to close the doors. Roman immediately burst out of the ambulance and threw Braun inside, then proceeded to drive the ambulance into the parking lot and ram it into a production truck. Roman pretty much tried to kill Braun and walked away. Paramedics and firemen arrived and opened the ambulance up, allowing Braun to emerge bloody and beaten, but walk away under his own power. It was an incredible sight that would have been right at home in the Attitude Era. Braun looked like an absolute monster, and so did Roman…for the wrong reasons. Roman was undeniably heelish and the announcers played on this, so Roman will surely have to answer to Kurt Angle tonight.
In the main event of last night’s show, Brock Lesnar defeated Samoa Joe after being beat down for the better part of the match. Joe attacked Brock before the bell even rung and smashed him through the announce table. Joe then had the majority of offence throughout the match until Lesnar caught him with an F5 and took home the gold. It was a really good match that never quite reached 5th gear. Word is that we will get a number one contender match tonight between Joe and Roman, leading to a match with Brock at SummerSlam. I think it’s fair to say Joe would be the deserving and preferable winner for most fans.
Alexa Bliss also retained her Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks last night, in a match in which she dislocated her own elbow to get a cheap shot on Sasha. In the end, Sasha won the match via count-out, allowing Alexa to retain. This certainly allows the feud to continue, seemingly into SummerSlam, where maybe Nia Jax will be inserted. There’s a lot of directions the women’s division could head in right now and it’s pretty cool.
The Miz also retained his Intercontinental Championship last night against Dean Ambrose once again. Surely this feud is over now, it’s gone on well past its peak and I think interest is pretty much non-existent. The Miz will hopefully move on to a new opponent for SummerSlam, maybe Finn Balor. Speaking of moving on, Sheamus & Cesaro beat The Hardy Boyz again in an Iron Man match last night. This has been a great feud but it’s expiration date arrived last night and it’s time for both teams to move on.
There’s a lot to be excited about for tonight’s Raw as we start our trek towards SummerSlam! Let us know your thoughts or feelings on our Ringside Talk app, or on the Ringside News app! Enjoy the show!
