10 Booking Steps For WWE Raw (Sept 26)
Raw needs to establish some new contenders for Kevin Owens...
At Clash Of Champions, Kevin Owens will defend the WWE Universal Title against Seth Rollins. Truthfully, Owens isn't the only thing on Seth's mind currently, the 'Architect' surely has a war against Triple H waiting just around the corner. This means it's unlikely he will leave the pay-per-view as the new titleholder.
KO deserves some time to develop as champion anyway, even though he was elevated due to Finn Balor's injury problems. Owens is a tremendous character, the kind of heel that doesn't come around too often. In Chris Jericho, he's found the perfect foil to play off of, and both men should be focal points in Raw's main event match this coming week.
What happens at Clash Of Champions will obviously colour what occurs on Raw, meaning some conjecture is used for these booking points. Looking into the near future for the brand, Hell In A Cell on October 30 is the next pay-per-view exclusive for Raw, meaning WWE may wish to use the next edition of the show to set the scene for that date.
Let's look at what the company could realistically have in store for Raw, using some guesswork on Clash Of Champions...
10. Both Sami Zayn & Cesaro Demand WWE Universal Title Matches From Mick Foley
It'd be great to see Sami Zayn come out on top against Chris Jericho at Clash Of Champions, and it seems reasonable to suggest that Cesaro will beat Sheamus in the 'Best Of 7 Series' final. Everything is pointing towards that latter result, the Swiss has come back from a 3-0 deficit, WWE can't give up on him now.
Should both babyfaces win their respective matches on the pay-per-view, they may have a case to pitch towards General Manager Mick Foley on Raw. Naturally, due to Foley's own pre-series stipulation, Cesaro would have the stronger case, but it makes sense that Zayn would want a shot at Owens and the WWE Universal Title.
In Raw's opening segment, it'd therefore be awesome to witness a pompous KO watch in horror as his Clash Of Champions happiness was washed away. Unable to fully celebrate his own win over Seth Rollins, Owens would eventually be shunted into a tag-team main event.
Foley makes the match, pitting Zayn and Cesaro against Owens and Chris Jericho. If the babyface team win, they meet one another the next week to establish who gets the shot. This leaves Cesaro - in particular - incensed.