10 Things We Learned From WWE Raw In The UK (May 8)
London's Burning.
The WWE's current love affair with all things British brought the flagship broadcast to London's O2 Arena as part of a week-long series of events tying the company to one of it's traditional hotbeds.
Following two explosive nights in Norwich soon to air on the WWE Network as part of the exclusive new UK-only weekly vehicle, it was the turn of the main roster to take the stage with Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live! running tapings in the capital.
The company switched gears on last week's show, aping the blue brand in their treatment of the secondary title with a headline programme devised around a shot at Dean Ambrose's Intercontinental strap.
'The Lunatic Fringe' was subsequently positioned as a makeshift headliner in the absence of Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, which will likely remain the norm until 'The Beast' returns for the absurdly-titled Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view in July. Ambrose's elevation also re-inserted The Miz as a key component, having struggled slightly since his exit as SmackDown Live!'s top antagonist.
Similarly open to interpretation was the Roman Reigns/Braun Strowman conflict. Smartly parked after their weighty Payback brawl, the duo were given a rehabilitation week in the post-script, but as Titus O'Neil's social media criminally revealed, both had made the long trip across the Atlantic.
Would these pairings, (and Raw's other festering issues) be addressed on the traditionally lightweight UK television tapings?
10. GMbrose
For the second week in a row, Dean Ambrose was entrusted with the bulk of the show's mic-time, putting in an Attitude Era-esque show-long shift in his series of skits as Guest General Manager alongside The Miz.
As annoying as his WWE-mandated 'wackiness' has been for the past three years, he seems to have excelled in the role since fully embracing it as the character's main trait.
Against natural foe Miz (more on those later), opportunities have abounded for 'The Lunatic Fringe' to be a quick-witted smart-mouth, and his broad comic stylings appear to have resonated with audiences in a way his flailing brawler persona decidedly couldn't.
Building on his curious telephone bond with Kurt Angle, Ambrose verbally carried the opening segment and shone again in backstage vignettes before his main event contest with Bray Wyatt.
Predictably, that failed to materialise into anything overtly entertaining, but their distinct lack of chemistry was problematic when the two actually had a reason to fight. Channelled against The Miz or in the direction of general merriment, Dean is braving productive new ground, but it may be revealing of the company's flaws as a whole that his Monday Night Raw main event match was soundly the weakest part of the presentation.