7 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (Oct 17)

2. Break Stuff

Breaking the norm can be a really good thing, especially when you’re talking about a 29-year-old TV show that has opened with an in-ring promo nearly every week for the past generation.

But rather than opening with a match, the curtain rose on Raw Monday night with Bobby Lashley mid-promo calling out Brock Lesnar for costing him his United States Championship last week. And that’s when the talking stopped.

Brock came out, and after a brief staredown, they charged at each other like bulls and battered the other all around ringside, claiming the barricade and announce desk as casualties. About 20-plus security personnel and wrestlers finally were able to separate the two.

But man, what a hot opening between two powerhouses who have some unfinished business. It got the juices flowing for a three-hour episode and made this impending match more of a must-see than it already was.