10 Things You Missed From Last Night's WWE Raw (July 9)
Dive, Roman, Dive...
Last night's Raw was tough to get through. Not because it was unwatchably bad, but because the two biggest highlights featured at the beginning and end of the show.
Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley's brawl was one of WWE's most memorable pull-apart scraps in years, and breathed life into a tedious feud that hadn't yet slipped out of second gear, with 'The Big Dog's' unlikely tope firing the crowd up. Two hours later, Seth Rollins wrestled Drew McIntyre in a main event typical of his excellent 2018 run. He was tremendous, but so was the Scot, who, in victory, proved himself more than Dolph Ziggler's right hand man.
Everything between these moments was a slog. The matches dragged, the angles were forgettable, and there was nary a mention of Universal Champion Brock Lesnar's recent UFC return. All in all, it was exactly the kind of blasé go-home show we've come to expect in the Network era.
But that doesn't mean there weren't Easter eggs, hidden gems, and other small details laced throughout. Fortunately, WWE were rather forthcoming in helping to fill this week's column, even if this wasn't their intention...
10. Boston Gonna Boston
Though Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley didn't bookend Raw like last week, WWE dedicated the show's opening chunk to the duo.
It started with a transparent highlight package that tried to paint 'The Big Dog' as a spirited babyface hero, bled into a brief backstage interaction, and concluded with a chaotic ringside brawl. We'll get to the final act in the moment, but let's focus on the middle for now.
Reigns bumped into his rival backstage. They bantered back and forth a little, before Roman announced he was going to the ring. He dangled the cherry, and Bobby snatched it, daring Reigns to call him out.
The crowd were fired-up throughout, but not for Reigns and Lashley. Instead, they were more focused on the Boston Celtics logo in the background. Chants of "LET'S GO CELTICS!" dominated, not to the extent that you couldn't hear the wrestlers, but definitely loud enough to divert attention from their conversation. Perhaps WWE should've been more scrupulous when deciding their backdrop...