It’s another Monday, which means another night of WWE Raw. And rather than the singular preview, for tonight I’ll be trying out a different strategy, looking at the major matches and segments as they’re announced with a bit of a deeper analysis. I’m Jordan Huie of the Overtimer and I’ll be with you for the next hour or so taking a look what to expect tonight on WWE Raw!
For this first preview here, we’re looking at a rare novelty; a match that was actually announced a week in advance! And it may well be the blowoff of an angle we’ve been watching develop for the past couple of months as well.
AJ Styles will be defending his WWE United States Championship against Humberto Carrillo.
Styles and Carrillo have been feuding for quite some time. Essentially, ever since Humberto debuted on Raw, he’s been at odds with the US Champ. It’s seemed like the likely goal for some time to make a new young star by having him defeat Styles and claim the gold.
Humberto has been something of a pet project for head writer Paul Heyman. He’s a handsome young man, an extremely talented athlete, and seemingly a prime candidate for the role of Latino star, something that’s been much coveted in WWE for quite some time. They’ve spent basically an entire decade trying to get a younger, less banged up replacement for Rey Mysterio to represent the demo, to no avail. (See: Sin Cara, Alberto Del Rio, Kalisto)
But with his youthful charm, Carrillo has a teen idol potential that none of the others had, something that could really serve to set him apart. And he’s so good that, even with sketchy booking and having more losses than wins, he can get a dead crowd on their feet with his spectacular offense. So he’d be a fine choice.
Question is, has Vince McMahon already taken up his favorite past-time in giving up on promising hopefuls?
Vince truly loves his new toys, for a couple of months. That’s generally the idea. And these days, even within those couple of months those toys don’t seem to get any protection whatsoever. Humberto has been pinned more times than he probably needs to for sure. The mentality of having someone look impressive in defeat has been worn thin a bit in WWE, as they have conditioned their audience to expect people to either remain at the level they’re currently presented at, or to drop. This kind of booking only works with the good faith that they are watching someone on the rise, scratching and clawing their way up the mountain.
Nevertheless, I do think if they have Carrillo get the victory here tonight, it could well make all the difference. Defeating AJ Styles clean for a title is no small feat, especially for someone so new to prime time.
What do you think? Is tonight the night? Would it be a mistake to have him be pinned by AJ for a third straight time? Or should his journey to the US title be stretched out a few more weeks to conclude on PPV?
