10 Big Talking Points From WWE Raw (June 27)
How was Raw Without Roman?
The past eight days have been incredibly newsworthy for the WWE Universe. At Money in the Bank Dean Ambrose won the briefcase in the ladder match and Seth Rollins defeated Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. After the main event, Ambrose cashed in his contract and pinned Rollins to become champ.
The following evening on Raw, the Shield triple threat match was finally booked for Battleground - but it was soon put into question. On Tuesday, WWE announced that Roman Reigns was suspended 30 days for violating the company's Wellness Policy. Suddenly, the loss at Money in the Bank made a lot more sense, and the future was a lot less certain.
This week marked the beginning of four straight episodes of Raw without Roman Reigns. How would the company handle his absence? Would his suspension be mentioned? Would the Shield triple threat match stand for Battleground?
All of those questions were answered, and the wheels were set in motion for several more PPV matches. Battleground is still four weeks away - and there's that whole brand split thing beforehand that threatens to make the show something of a lame duck event - but the card is taking shape.
Here are 10 big talking points from June 27's Raw:
10. Roman Reigns - Still A Babyface, Still Protected
Many fans wondered exactly how WWE would address Roman Reigns's suspension on Raw - after all, it would be hard to simply ignore it like the company has done with lower-profile stars in the past.
We got our answer quickly when Seth Rollins came out for a promo and threatened that he was going to talk about Reigns. The fans cheered, but what followed was a painfully transparent attempt to protect the former WWE Champion. Rollins tried to take all the heat, saying that Reigns's failure was a bad reflection on Rollins himself, and belittling (while blatantly displaying) Reigns's apology.
He was joined by Dean Ambrose, who defended Reigns and said that as far as he was concerned, the Triple Threat match at Battleground was still on. That brought out AJ Styles and John Cena, who each wanted to be added to the bout. In the end, Stephanie McMahon booked Cena versus Rollins and Styles versus Ambrose, with Cena and Styles getting into the Battleground match if they win.
So, in the end, WWE tried to get fans to take pity on Reigns, then tried to make them forget his faults. Not much has changed.