Monday Night Raw has just concluded. It was an unpredictable night, fair few surprisingly good angles and some really good matches. Perhaps most shockingly, we even saw AOP actually compete in a match! In my opinion atleast, it was one of the strongest Raws of the year, not that this is great praise. But still, genuinely a very enjoyable three hours there.
It began with Seth Rollins finally officially establishing himself as a heel in running down the entire Raw roster, including taking some very unnecessary cheap shots, until he finally earned a Stunner from Kevin Owens. This setup the main event for the night between the two of them. But it ended with a rather unexpected bit of interference.
Superkicks traded, Owens with a Stunner! But he’s too winded to capitalize. And now, AOP emerge! They waltz into the ring. Rollins and Owens in opposing corners… Owens throws hands, and as he gets stomped, the referee calls for the bell.
Winner: Kevin Owens (By DQ)
Akam and Razar assault Owens and throw him into the post as the crowd chants “Bullshit”. And they post him again. A third time, and a fourth. They hold Owens’ head against the post, running big boot into the post! They hoist Owens up into the ring, toss into a GTS! They then turn towards Rollins who glances up at them. He looks intense as he struggles his way up with the ropes. He yells at them to come on, but instead they turn and walk out of the ring. He stares at them as they leave… Owens struggling his way up, Rollins plants him with the Stomp! Rollins shouts at Owens, nails another Stomp as we fade to black.
Akam and Razar of the AOP were among the many who Seth Rollins singled out and insulted in the opening segment.
However, despite this, they ended up attacking Kevin Owens instead. And they then specifically opted not to attack Rollins, interestingly enough. This then led to Rollins nailing the Stomp on Owens.
I was certainly getting the idea during that segment that they were teasing a new group between Rollins, Akam & Razar. The two of them could certainly use someone to speak for them, and someone like Rollins in his new heel role could benefit from having a couple of bodyguard types backing him up.
Either way, it’s a sure sign that AOP are set to have a big role on Raw going forward, after having spent most of their main roster run all but invisible.
