10 Burning Questions For WWE Raw (Aug 1)
The Beast returns, the Demon rises and the Guy flounders.
Last week’s Raw not only exceeded expectations for the first
episode of the New Era, it shattered them. Outside of a few eternal optimists,
no one could have been expecting a blow-away show that created a new mega-star
(Finn Balor), crowned a new, very deserving champion (Sasha Banks) and
re-established a tandem as legit threats (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows),
among other accomplishments.
But Raw did all of that, while putting on a very entertaining show. It was a fun program with good wrestling, solid storyline advancement, and even a funny, timely recurring joke with Golden Truth. But now, Raw has its work cut out for it. We are three weeks out from SummerSlam with the program’s top match set (Balor/Seth Rollins) for the new WWE Universal Championship (ugggh). Can Raw build on last week’s episode and continue to set the table?
One big draw for Monday’s show is the return of Brock Lesnar for the first time since WrestleMania XXXII. Unfortunately, his Mania opponent (Dean Ambrose) and upcoming SummerSlam opponent (Randy Orton) are both on SmackDown, which makes for… an interesting situation. How do you build up a program when one person can’t interact with the other (unless we’re going to have the Viper or the Beast “invade” the opposition show)?
By the time Raw ends on Monday night, that and several other
questions will need to be answered. Let’s take a look at some of them…
10. Can Raw Maintain Momentum?
Last week’s column opened by stating as fact that there was
no way that Raw could maintain its momentum. Commenters immediately lashed out
that it was a negative assessment, expressing disbelief that such a statement
could be made, despite years of past precedence backing up that claim.
Still, it needs to be presented as an open-ended question for all to consider heading into Raw Monday night. After a highly entertaining debut to the New Era, the writers have a tall order in front of them. Are they up to the challenge? Can they build on last week’s episode or at least keep the momentum going? Or will Raw smack into a brick wall?
Either way, this should be a well-watched episode of Raw for many reasons.