5 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE Raw (22 July - Results & Review)

1. Chaos From The Jump

After two decades of the Raw format – a 15-minute promo train that opens the show – any change to it often deserves praise, especially when it subverts that expectation.

Monday night’s program opened with Gunther running down World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest and the residents of Green Bay, giving up quickly on his feigned earnestness and just cutting into the Judgment Day’s Punishment. He once again called on Priest to relinquish the title to him and lighten his burden.

This brought out Priest, microphone in hand. But instead of a promo exchange, Damian dropped the stick and decked Gunther, triggering a wild brawl that spanned the commercial break and ended with both men ejected from the building as Raw GM Adam Pearce struggled to regain control. (And then this played into a later scene, which was a nice touch.)

That detour from Priest worked not just in throwing you off your assumptions, but it also proved to be a red-hot angle for this world title feud. Gunther has dialed in with his new heel persona, while Priest avoided repeating his sob story from last week and instead just became the babyface a**-kicker, which was what was needed here.

Throw in Gunther’s video package later in the show, where he talked about wanting to elevate the title and save the honor and dignity of this great sport, and you have a feud that is starting to exceed initial expectations. This could be a sleeper match for SummerSlam.