WWE Raw preview (Oct. 22, 2018): Outshined
WWE is starting a busy week in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Headliner(s)
We all know why WWE’s muted the promotion of the other pay-per-view (PPV) on their calendar for next week, Nov. 2’s Crown Jewel. But as a side-effect, they’ve kept the volume down on the top men’s belt. Which might be by design as a way to make something other than Universal champion Roman Reigns the focus of fans’ ire for a change. But after Brock Lesnar’s lengthy reign, you’d think they’d have wanted to use all the feelings people have about the Big Dog to make the title feel important for the first time in its existence.
Adding to the weirdness was the decision to turn Braun Strowman, one of their most popular characters/performers, in order to face Reigns. But is he really? Facing Roman, that is. Yes, they battled to a no contest at Hell in a Cell during a match (which also removed Strowman’s Money in the Bank briefcase from the equation). But even the build to that was overshadowed by the reforming of The Shield, and Strowman recruiting his own allies. Sure, Paul Heyman shows up every once in a while to remind us his client has a rematch coming, but when neither of his opponents appear that concerned…
And they’re not concerned because the post-HiaC story has been even more about the two groups. More puzzling, it’s been about the fighting within the teams as much as it’s been about Strowman vs. Reigns (vs. Lesnar, but we knew he wasn’t coming back to promote his payday in the desert). We’ve been so inundated with variations of matches between Hounds of Justice and Dogs of War that there’s nothing special about Braun and Roman facing off any more.
Even worse, the buzz coming out of last week’s show was about a program between Strowman and Drew McIntyre. And I’m looking forward to that too! But that they’re selling, and we’re buying, a possible future match, says a lot about what everyone thinks of the next one on the calendar.
The title scene
Sticking with that story, because even though it’s not doing a great job selling one of the main events for Crown Jewel, it’s the one Raw spends what feels like 90% of its three hour runtime on each week, Dean Ambrose is a wild card! Does that mean he’s going to go after the tag team belts held by Strowman’s teammates/sparring partners McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler? His brother Seth Rollins’ Intercontinental title? We don’t know! Wild card, b****es!
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