The WWE's brand split and roster drafts had come and gone, most people accepted it with little fanfare and focused on how the draft had been done before. It flopped then and it will flop again they said. Too many titles they said. Not enough stars they said. But, something crazy happened on the way to Monday Night Raw this week. I was in attendance at the show with my best friend and his 13 year old daughter. She, so politely, asked me what had been going on because she was more caught up with Total Diva's then the recent episodes of Raw and Smackdown. As I looked her in the eyes I told her a lie, I told her that this will be different then previous weeks because they separated shows and now there is a Raw roster and a Smackdown roster. I explained what a great time it was to get back into focusing on the shows because it will be all new. I didn't believe it would be all new, I kind of expected the same Raw formula from every other week just with less guys. But, something crazy happened on Raw this week...
Raw was live from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the show delivered. Big time! WWE used this brand split as a reset point and in one night laid out major plans for the future of the brand, created a new superstar and solidified a division ready to break out. It was as impactful a Raw as I can remember in a long time. Raw commissioner Stephanie McMahon and GM Mick Foley announcing that two fatal four way matches would take place to determine the number one contender to the number one contender Seth Rollins to crown the first ever WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion at Summerslam. The contestants were announced as Jericho, Cesaro, Rusev, Owens, Zayn, Sheamus, Roman Reigns and then Finn Balor and as he was announced he slid his way from the back of the crowd into the forefront of the stage and there was an eruption in the crowd. A sensation went over the live crowd as if something special was about to take place. Finn Balor!?! All of a sudden Raw had a feel like something new was happening. Now Raw was going to be highlighted by Kevin Owens, Sammy Zayn, and Cesaro combined with the seasoning of Chris Jericho (who has never been better), Rusev and Sheamus. But, Roman Reigns would clearly be the winner when it was all said and done going on to face Seth Rollins, again, at Summerslam. Ho hum, the more things change the more they stay the same I guess. Well, an odd thing happened on the way to the end of Raw this week; wwe did it all correct. Finn Balor won an excellent four way to earn a spot in the nights main event taking on Roman Reigns. Here it comes, the match where Reigns beats the new guy and takes his sit on the throne of his own empire. But, that isn't what happened. Raw ended with Roman Reigns, the heir apparent, getting pinned clean in the middle of the ring. Pinned. Clean. In the middle. You could hear the collective breath being taken away from the wrestling die hards and casual fans alike as they had just seen a star created in one night. A star you could get behind, a change that you could get behind.
Finn Balor won the main event on Raw over Roman Reigns. This is the biggest move that WWE could have made to make the statement that they are ready for change. The future is on its way. Raw featured four very good wrestling matches all of which had championship ramifications and all of which delivered at a high level. Raw also peppered in some squash matches to emphasize some of its new, and not ready for prime time, performers as well as entertaining interview segments and for the most part was a home run. It was a very easy to watch and enjoyable three hours. However, the Finn Balor stuff may have not even been the best action of the night.
Welcome back to women's wrestling! Sasha Banks and Charlotte put the new crop of young, beautiful and talented women where they belonged in wrestling on Raw. Banks and Charlotte had an emotionally charged and action packed wrestling match that solidified a division that is ready to take the next step into not being women's wrestling but just being seen as wrestling! These two girls, who may be stand outs but are hardly the only capable wrestlers in the women's division, worked so hard while putting their bodies on the line for the sake of women's wrestling. They were not divas or models or wearing their bras and panties; they were high quality professional wrestlers telling a story in the ring that created a roller coaster of emotion for the WWE universe. Make no mistake, this was hot shotting a title change to create buzz for Raw's new era, but was the perfect type of hot shot because everything was made better for it. A ton of eyeballs saw Raw give the deserved time to two women who busted their butts to put on an amazingly entertaining match. Would the title change have meant more at Summerslam? Maybe. But having the women's title change hands like this on Raw may have meant more for the credibility of how WWE sees it's women performers and just how good those performers are. Sasha Banks delivered an emotional promo holding the title after the match and there was no question how much that moment meant to her.
Something awesome happened during Raw last monday. As I stated I went with one of my best friends and his daughter. While my friend used to be a die hard he really isn't anymore, his daughter likes wrestling but it is clearly not her life let alone one of her favorite hobbies; but she likes it. Neither really knew who Finn Balor was, they were only slightly more familiar with Enzo and Big Cass and she is a bigger Total Diva's fan then of a divas revolution. However, by the end of the show she gladly shouted "new...day rocks", "How you doin'?", she went bananas when Sasha Banks won the title clearly stating she was the boss and by the end of the night this 13 year old girl casual fan knew exactly when to throw her arms in the air like Finn Balor and the rest of the die hard wrestling fans. She couldn't wait for the next show she could attend as she tried to convince her dad to take her to Summerslam in New York.
The new talent is being showcased on weekly television, there is still a large crop of talent in NXT ready to be added to the main roster (both male and female), most importantly the casual fans and young fans can and will get behind them. Perhaps WWE is right this is the dawning of a new era; one that satisfies the whole WWE universe. An era where they have the performers to showcase and the talent all fans can support. If WWE keeps offering product like this then it will be a great time to be a wrestling fan, but that's just this marks remarks.
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