WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar returned to Monday Night Raw last night, with his advocate, Paul Heyman, cutting a promo which would ultimately lead to a big pull-apart brawl between Lesnar and his Great Balls of Fire challenger, Samoa Joe.
Mark this down as two strong weeks in a row for this feud, which is building towards the pay-per-view main event on July 9 in Dallas.
Last week, Joe choked out Heyman in the coquina clutch. Heyman did a nice job of walking the line in his promo, putting over Brock Lesnar as the man who was going to get him retribution, but at the same time, also putting over Joe, calling the coquina clutch “everything that you told me it was going to be.”
WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar returned to Monday Night Raw last night, with his advocate, Paul Heyman, cutting a promo which would ultimately lead to a big pull-apart brawl between Lesnar and his Great Balls of Fire challenger, Samoa Joe.
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Mark this down as two strong weeks in a row for this feud, which is building towards the pay-per-view main event on July 9 in Dallas.
Last week, Joe choked out Heyman in the coquina clutch. Heyman did a nice job of walking the line in his promo, putting over Brock Lesnar as the man who was going to get him retribution, but at the same time, also putting over Joe, calling the coquina clutch “everything that you told me it was going to be.”
Heyman said the problem was that Joe wouldn’t be able to get the coquina clutch on Brock Lesnar.
That’s good storytelling. The match should be about whether or not Joe, who has always had MMA elements to his style, can actually choke out a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, and current WWE Universal Champion. They won’t go as far as Angle-Joe did in TNA back in 2008, as far as wrestling a worked MMA fight, and they don’t have to (they shouldn’t). But this match is going to be hard-hitting and aggressive. You can’t do it any other way when you have two strong characters like this, both who have shootfighting worked into their gimmicks and in-ring styles.
After the promo, Joe and Lesnar brawled in the ring and around the outside. It was the type of fire the match needed, even with almost a month left to build to the match. WWE emptied out the locker room of some of its lower-card guys in order to break up the brawl, similar to what they did with John Cena and Lesnar in 2012, when Lesnar first made his return to WWE after WestleMania 28. The pull-apart brawl makes this feel like a big-match, and a big-fight.
Two weeks ago, these two characters had not crossed paths and had no history with one another. Now here we sit with the two having a legitimate issue, a good story, and a title on the line with still about one month left of building to the match. It’s not about who is dressed in a bear suit, or who attacked who backstage with some silly drama. This main event is getting billed as just a big fight, and the big-fight feel always sells.
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Hopefully, this match also sells, and it helps elevate Joe to the next level in his WWE career.
Elias Samson beat Dean Ambrose via interference from Miz
They’re trying their best to make Miz-Ambrose feel like something fresh and new, but everything about it feels played out and done already. It feels like the feud that will never end, and it just recently got some fresh air from WWE.
Samson looks a little too much like Seth Rollins. Not in his mannerisms in the ring, but his hair and beard look very similar to Rollins, and I’d like to see him do something to change that. Samson even wears black pants. Perhaps different boots or even something worn on his arms might differentiate him a little more. I’m a fan of his singing gimmick, which I know not everyone is, but his look is far too cookie-cutter for 2017. It’s like when everyone in the early/mid-2000’s was juiced up with huge prison tattoos. Everyone looked the same. Samson is falling into that right now. He looks far too much like “generic wrestler in 2017.”
Cedric Alexander beat Noam Dar
Noam Dar walked to the ring while on a FaceTime call with Alicia Fox. As soon as the bell rang, with Fox still on the phone, Dar ran into Alexander who scored the quick pin.
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With some work, they can position Alexander as a top guy in the Cruiserweight Division. He has enough talent and is a different look matched up against the other members of the division. But this feud is silly, and stupid, and it’s not helping anyone get over.
Roman Reigns will announce SummerSlam intentions next week
Michael Cole hyped that Reigns will have a big announcement next week. My gut feeling is that he’s going to challenge John Cena to a match for SummerSlam. There were reports from PWInsider.com that a storyline has been pitched for Cena to return as a free agent — he’s currently on the SmackDown roster — and if he does, a Reigns-Cena match makes sense. WWE is not taking its foot off the Roman Reigns pedal whatsoever. He beat Undertaker at WrestleMania, and now could beat John Cena at SummerSlam. On this same show, WWE hyped that Cena will return to SmackDown Live on July 4.
Apollo Crews beat Kalisto
Akira Tozawa and Titus O’Neil celebrated with Crews after he picked up the win. WWE is trying really hard to get this Titus Brand over, but nothing is clicking with it right now. Over the last few weeks, they were already teasing some dissension after neither Crews or Titus could get a win over Kalisto.
Kalisto is a good throwback to the WCW-era cruiserweight. He should be featured in that division and on 205 Live — Crews as well — instead of getting lost in this hokey nonsense. Let’s put it this way, it would be much better seeing Kalisto positioned in the 1A slot on 205 Live than the groan-inducing Noam Dar/Alicia Fox storyline.
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Sasha Banks, Mickie James & Dana Brooke beat Alexa Bliss, Emma & Nia Jax
There was an extended promo segment to set up this match. There wasn’t a whole lot to the promo, and it wasn’t the best mic work, but it should be noted that for the most part, WWE doesn’t give its women a lot of time on the mic, so it’s going to take some time for them to really find their way in regards to promos. At least they’re giving them opportunity to talk, which is more than they have in the past.
Emma looked good in her return, and she could add some spice to the Raw Women’s Title picture, although it feels like they’re heading towards a Bliss-Sasha Banks feud for the title right now.
Heath Slater & Rhyno beat Miz & “The Bear”
Given where they are on the card, this was good use of Slater and Rhyno. Miz didn’t trust the bear throughout the match, and at one point, the mask was pulled off to reveal it wasn’t Dean Ambrose. However, later in the match, the Bear hit the ring, and hit a Dirty Deeds on Miz, and it was revealed that it was Ambrose under the mask.
So, that’s two segments dedicated to a tired and played out feud. Oh, and Dean Ambrose either has magic powers now, or he colluded with someone else who was unnamed in the bear costume. Nothing about it was explained. Of course.
Neville attacked Swan before the actual bell, right after the start of the match. He beat Swann quickly and then kicked him out of the ring before cutting a promo on Akira Tozawa.
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson beat Enzo & Big Cass
Prior to the match, Cass was again attacked backstage, apparently. Cass got up and said it was one shot in the back of his head, and he was out cold. Gallows and Anderson cut a promo in the ring, asking if he tripped and fell.
Enzo and Cass then made a ring entrance, though. The announce team played up how Cass was less than 100 percent, and of course he started the match. With Cass on the outside, Enzo ended up getting annihilated as Gallows and Anderson get the win.
After the match, Big Show came out to chase them off from beating down Enzo and Cass more. Cass then got in the ring and seemed upset about Big Show coming out to Enzo’s defense. Backstage, Enzo thanked Big Show for saving him. Show said that Cass was “S-A-W-F-T.”
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So there’s one thing we know for sure about this feud. Big Show is not the man who attacked Cass. That’s too obvious and WWE won’t go there. I still think it ends up being that Cass attacked Enzo and was faking his own attacks, breaking up the team and making Cass a singles heel.
Matt & Jeff Hardy drew Cesaro & Sheamus in a 2-Out-Of-3 Falls Match
Very good match that was definitely worthy of a main-event spot. Say what you want about the Hardys, but they have reinvigorated the tag-team division and despite the non-finish, I like that they’re keeping this feud going.
Each team scored a pinfall win before a double count-out on the final fall led to the draw.
