TOP 3 DEVELOPMENTS – RAW 6/4: More Roman & Jinder, Ronda Seems Heelish, More Sasha & Bayley

MORE ROMAN & JINDER…

Recap: The show began with Elias in the ring, doing his usual schtick. He bragged about his attack on Rollins last week.

Rollins then came to the ring, interrupting him. The two squared off, Elias with his guitar, and Rollins with a chair. They swung both weapons together, and upon striking, the chair knocked the guitar out of Elias’ hands.

Jinder Mahal the entered the ring and the heels double teamed Rollins. Roman Reigns then ran in for the save.

Kurt Angle then appeared and announced a tag match, to begin immediately.

A solid multi-person match ended when a Sunil Singh distraction allowed Elias to hit a DDT on Rollins onto a chair. He then hit the Drift Away, followed by the pin.

In a later backstage segment, Roman and Jinder were interviewed regarding their rivalry. Irked at each other’s answers, this became a backstage brawl.

Evaluation: With five hours of television to fill weekly, WWE should do more of these multi-person matches that help build multiple feuds at once. The matches usually are fairly good, and they help avoid spoiling one-on-one matchups for the pay per views. New Japan does this all the time and it works. They’re certainly better than most of the “variety show” segments.

It was notable that after a one week absence, Elias brought back the “walk with Elias” call-and-response. It seemed last week that Elias was becoming more overtly heelish, but tonight he was back to his usual role where it’s unclear whether we’re supposed to genuinely dislike him or enjoy booing his segments.

Roman was paired with Seth yet again in an attempt to give Roman the rub. As I’ve mentioned in prior weeks, the Rollins shine fades immediately once Roman is in the ring alone.

Forecast: There was nothing bad about this segment, but it doesn’t change any predictions for the pay per view. The fans will likely reject the Roman-Jinder match altogether, booing both. Seth will defeat Elias, as despite Seth’s popularity it still appears Roman is being pushed to ultimately take the title from Brock Lesnar. Luckily Seth is popular enough that he’ll be almost universally cheered against the otherwise popular Elias.

RONDA SEEMS HEELISH…

Recap: Natalya and Nia Jax squared off at the bottom of the first hour, with Ronda Rousey on commentary.

During the match, Natalya appeared to tweak her knee. Nia took advantage by hitting her with a Samoan Drop for the pin.

After the match, Ronda came to the ring to check on Natalya. Nia looked legitimately concerned for Natalya, but was blocked by Ronda from checking on her. Ronda angrily told Nia to leave. This led to some tension between the two.

Later backstage, Ronda was attending to Natalya. Nia entered the room, attempting again to check on her friend Natalya. Ronda again angrily told her to leave, leading to an argument. The segment ended with Natalya stating she didn’t blame Nia for the injury, but that she needed a minute alone, away from both Nia and Ronda.

Evaluation: Ronda is getting more comfortable on the mic. Her commentary was actually pretty good, but it was more suited for a heel than a face. She did mess up by repeating twice her line about her husband being the only one allowed to call her “ripe for the picking.” It was a good line, but I’m guessing she didn’t realize the first reference made air.

The end of the match was somewhat perplexing. Between Nia and Ronda, Nia came across as the face. It was clear that Nia was only trying to check on Natalya, and Natalya’s injury wasn’t caused by any cheating or brutality by Nia, so Ronda’s refusal to allow Nia to check on her seemed petty. I wasn’t quite sure of the intent of that segment.

Forecast: If Ronda wasn’t so new to WWE, I would think that this segment was hinting a heel turn at the pay per view. I just can’t see WWE doing that so shortly after her hyped debut, but maybe they’re really going for a surprise. I’d still handicap the chances at 30% or less.

MORE SASHA & BAYLEY…

Recap: Ember Moon, Sasha Banks, and Alexa Bliss faced Riott Squad in a 6-woman tag match. Early in the match, Alexa feigned a leg injury and left ringside, turning the match into a handicap match.

Ember and Sasha held on for a while. Eventually, with Ember incapacitated on the outside, Sasha was struggling in the ring. Bayley then ran down the ramp and into the faces’ corner. Sasha made the hot tag to Bayley. Perplexingly, the referee considered this to be a legal tag. Bayley hit the Bayley-to-Belly on Logan for the pin.

Backstage the faces celebrated. Just before Sasha and Bayley could hug it out and formally end their feud, Kurt Angle appeared and told them the result had been overturned and that they had lost by DQ due to outside interference from Bayley. [Angle took this action at the behest of new Raw Constable Baron Corbin, who had been appointed to the role by Stephanie McMahon.] Ember and Sasha then gave Bayley exasperated looks and walked away, much to Bayley’s dismay.

Evaluation: I was actually okay with the referee’s bizarre decision to allow Bayley to tag in when it looked like it would be used as a plot device to end the never-ending Bayley-Sasha feud. When Kurt threw cold water on that, I no longer was willing to accept such a bizarre referee’s decision.

Forecast: WWE certainly is in no hurry to end this Bayley-Sasha  feud, so I think we maybe waiting until SummerSlam for the blow off match.

RANDOM THOUGHTS…

Baron Corbin’s appointment as “constable” of Raw by Stephanie McMahon is actually a cool angle for him. It’s the first thing he’s done in eons that I’ve found entertaining….

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S COLUMN: TOP 3 DEVELOPMENTS – RAW 5/28: Tensions Build for Money in the Bank, Rollins Loses His Cool, Sasha Qualifies