10 Booking Steps For WWE Raw (Aug 1)
New Era, New General Manager, Same Beast...
Booing may ring out, WWE might be helpless to stop it, but eyes will be glued to screens across the globe for the imminent return of Brock Lesnar. After it was revealed that Lesnar wouldn't be facing punishment for contravening the Wellness Policy (due to his part-time contract), social media went crazy, citing hypocrisy.
Roman Reigns had just been suspended, so it seems to be one rule for some and a different one for others. Whatever went on behind the scenes, in front of the cameras WWE must start really amping up excitement for SummerSlam. Specifically, Lesnar must respond to Randy Orton's spiteful comments at Battleground.
Brock's comeback isn't all Raw needs to focus on, there's also the situation involving Finn Balor and Seth Rollins. Similarly, a big WWE Women's Title bout for SummerSlam has been signed, and new top contenders for the WWE Tag-Team Titles should be established.
For some, SmackDown felt a little limp, failing to follow a great wrestling show on Raw last week. The question is, will WWE be able to top that on Monday?
Let's look at 10 booking steps which might help...
10. Kevin Owens Claims He Had Finn Balor Beaten
If there's one thing Kevin Owens knows how to do extremely well, it's bleat like an entitled heel and deflect any losses. Armed with razor-sharp wit and a real knowledge of what his character should say and do, Owens should not be expected to take defeat in last week's Fatal-4-Way easily.
At several junctures in the match, KO actually had Finn Balor down for the count. In equal measures, Cesaro and Rusev stopped him from beating the main roster newbie, eventually spelling disaster for everyone else in the match when Balor picked up the win. That would be the crux of an Owens promo to open Raw.
Coming out to agree with the villain, Stephanie McMahon then instantly states that Owens deserves another shot at Balor. Ideally, this segment would be kept short and sweet, hammering home the bone of contention from Owens and selling the idea that McMahon is already stepping on Mick Foley's toes.
From there, the segment can directly feed into the actual match itself.