After Smackdown’s draft, it was going to be hard to keep things interesting draft-wise, and Raw pretty much failed on that front. However, Rollins’ continued heel turn (assuming McMahon listens to the fans) and the quality of matches tried to balance it out.
Onto the takeaways
- Opening with the Fiend. Following a recap of Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt’s storyline, it appears being on separate brands isn’t going to stop their feud yet. Earlier in the day, It was announced they would face each other in a Falls Count Anywhere match (basically a Do Over) at Crown Jewel.
- Flair and Lynch. It was fitting that the first round pick would be determined by these two facing off. It was a good match and showed what they’re capable of it allowed to wrestle for twenty or more minutes. On the flip side, having Lynch win it for Raw showed some unpredictability we’ve been begging for.
- Rollins booed at mentioning Hell in a Cell. Seriously, this is a great thing. The fans are showing their continued displeasure at the HIAC ending, that Wyatt’s their favorite, and Rollins as a face isn’t working. How much clearer do they have to make it? Wonder how the WWE will screw this up at Crown Jewel? Calling it now. Wyatt should walk out of Saudi Arabia the Universal champions, but Rollins will win his second match of the night though a herculean effort (several stomps, superkicks, or use of weapon) or the Fiend’s victims will interfere and help Rollins.
- Round one. The champions stayed with their brands and Charlotte Flair was drafted by Raw. Flair’s selection leaves a huge opening in Smackdown that WWE creative is either hoping Banks and/or Bayley can fill (possible feud?) or they’re waiting for someone to return.
- Also, Flair is the only one that can legitimately challenge Lynch and make it believable, since everyone else has been deemed beneath them. At least, until the aforementioned return happens. Spoiler alert: Triple H has said Ronda Rousey is returning. When and where, is still the question. Flair’s selection also spoiled Andrade being drafted to Raw (and Aleister Black, as he’s married to Vega) since Andrade and Flair as seeing each other.
- Women’s tag title remains. According to the announcers, the women’s tag title isn’t being mothballed as previously believed, but will still be defended on both brands. While drafting the Kabuki Warriors keeps them on Raw should they lose the titles to a Smackdown team, this brings into question the promise of making the two brands separate, and only strengthens the argument for one heavyweight, Intercontinental, and tag team championship. WWE’s inconsistency and lack of logic is great fodder for conspiracy theories.
- The Viking Raiders win Raw’s tag team championship. This was going to happen. It was just where and when, and given their recent surge in popularity, it’s now in the books. Thankfully, it was a good match and not a squash. Roode and Ziggler deserved to go down fighting. Glad they’re sticking together. It shows the WWE has plans for them.
- Erick Rowan going to Raw. While this could be fun seeing him potentially tangling with heavyweights like Bobby Lashley and Rusev, it’s a shame we won’t get to see him and Braun Strowman in a decent feud.
- Splitting up Carmella and R=Truth. This one hurts as they made a great team, but it makes sense given Carmella is seeing Corey Graves. Truth is more of a head scratcher as, despite being an awesome talent, the 24/7 championship is expected to be defended mainly on youtube. Could they have bigger plans for him?
- Contract signing. This was awesome simply for the promos Strowman and Fury but. Furry having fun “trying” to break his pen in response to Strowman destroying the table was awesome. Simply awesome. Ona serious note, does anyone really expect Fury to lose?
- Rounds 5 and 6. King Corbin and Shorty Gable’s feud is far from over, and this was one way to keep them together for the foreseeable future. They do have good chemistry and had the match of the year at King of the Ring.
- Rollins embraces his heel side. Earlier in the show, Rollins said he’d go Fiend hunting, and he did. During a Firefly Funhouse segment, he attack Wyatt from behind, then after knocking him off screen lit the Funhouse on fire and burned it down. Kinda similar to Randy Orton doing the same to Wyatt previously. Always the scene stealer, Wyatt’s plea of, “Why, Seth? Why are you doing this to me?” with pain filled eyes was borderline heartbreaking before Rollins knocked him off screen so he could start the fire.
- The end. While they were brief moments of fun, the Sportscenter-like draft reporting and comedically bad war rooms are done with. For another few months of years when they want to shake things up again for the billionth time.
Final thoughts and grade
While the matches ranged from good to really good, the predictability of the draft really pulled the show down. As predicted, the champions remained with their brand and most of the “draftees” remained where they already were. Despite the commentator’s best efforts to sell the surprise and awe over such a “steal,” it was anti-climactic at best. It’s doubtful anyone expected huge changes anyway, but it is what it is. The GM gimmick’s been done to death, and so has the draft. Instead of a pre-determined draft, how about a true random lottery next time to determine what show gets what?
On the plus side, its apparent youth won out more than not in the draft as both brands left mid card veterans in the free agent pool to be grabbed later. It was also odd how it seemed as though Smackdown was made to look like the inferior show by relying on a few names and potential more than not. In a way, it felt more like Heyman running Smackdown more than Raw, especially given he’s going to be there with Brock Lesnar more. Wonder if Bischoff spoke out about something he wasn’t supposed to? Hope not as the two would be great opposite one another.
To close it out, on a scale of one to ten, Monday Night Raw gets a 7. It just wasn’t as entertaining as Smackdown and the too predictable draft overwhelmed the quality matches.
