SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER
JULY 9, 2018
BOSTON, MASS. AT TD GARDEN
AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00PM EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Arena / Opening Thoughts
The TD Garden in Boston, Mass. will be the setting for tonight’s Monday Night Raw, as WWE brings its flagship show to an arena that hosted many times before. While Raw last appeared here in August of 2017, WWE also brought Smackdown as well as Clash of Champions last year. Boston has long been the setting for many memorable TV shows, PPVs, and house shows. I can remember matches from the Boston Garden airing on Prime Time Wrestling in the 80s to early 90s, the forerunner to Monday Night Raw. With that said we’ll put a wrap tonight on the Raw portion of the build to Extreme Rules which takes place this coming Sunday on the WWE Network.
Most noteworthy out of last week were the situations between Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley, as well as Kevin Owens and Braun Strowman. Reigns continued to claim that “he’s the man around here” and “this is his yard” and Lashley left years ago because he couldn’t “handle the road.” I’ll talk more about this later on. As far as Strowman and Owens is concerned we continued to see more destruction of property on Strowman’s part. Following a count-out victory, Strowman locked Owens in a port-a-potty (with duct tape which is always conveniently nearby), dragged it to the arena and on to the stage, and speared it off with Owens locked in (yes with duct tape).
WWE is expected to follow up on these situations as well as others, so let’s take a look at what’s planned.
Potty Crasher
As I explained earlier, Braun Strowman speared Kevin Owens while he was duct taped in a port-a-potty off the stage. They were to have a match, but Owens ran from the ring causing him to be counted out. He tried to leave the arena but couldn’t find his car keys. He hid in the port-a-potty, Strowman found it, and the incident I spoke of took place. I should note that when the workers got Owens out of the potty, he was covered in blue slime similar to the blue chemical you may or may not use in your toilet at home. If the Blue Man Group was watching, Owens could be getting a phone call.
Jokes aside, WWE.com is showing they will follow up on the situation between these two gentlemen.
Thoughts: The winner here is definitely A-1 Portable Toilets as they got some real solid advertising. As far as the rivalry between these two, Bruce Mitchell made a valid point on his VIP audio show. What do you want to see between these two now, because it’s certainly not a match? I’m paraphrasing Bruce’s words but nonetheless I agree. From my perspective, I don’t understand Strowman’s issue with Owens. All he has done was help him win a tag match two weeks ago. Owens has certainly been a “bad guy” at times in the past, but what has he done recently? This is just a thought, but they could be testing the waters with an Owens babyface turn. I am 100% on board with that. With all that said I’m certain there will be a match between Strowman and Owens at Extreme Rules. It’s a matter of how they get there.
Reigns-Lashley Fallout
There’s a lot to go over with Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley from last week. For details I would advise you read Wade Keller’s or Zack Heydorn’s Raw reports. In short, Reigns claimed he never expected to lose to the Revival. He also “didn’t want to make excuses” but he had the “worst tag partner” in Bobby Lashley, and Lashley left years ago because he couldn’t “handle the road.” Reigns would pull double duty as first, he tagged with Seth Rollins to face Drew McIntyre and WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler. That match ended in a no-contest when The Revival attacked Reigns.
Later on, in a rematch from the previous week, Reigns teamed with Lashley to face The Revival. That match ended when The Revival were DQ’d for illegally double teaming Reigns. Bear in mind, Reigns refused to tag Lashley throughout the match. This frustrated Lashley to the point where he walked out on Reigns, which lead to illegal double team.
G.M. Kurt Angle announced there would be a match at Extreme Rules between Bobby Lashley and Roman Reigns after Reigns went to him in frustration. He said he’s “laying his punk ass out” and had this to say on Twitter this past week:
10 years was a long time ago.
Different game, better players, my yard now. See if you can keep up. https://t.co/TAF5KKSu6H— Roman Reigns (@WWERomanReigns) July 3, 2018
Thoughts: There’s a lot to dissect in this situation. I personally called Wade Keller’s Raw post show and went off on how Roman Reigns was a jerk the entire night. He was not framed as a babyface if in fact that’s what WWE is still trying to do. While I like Bobby Lashley, he was not presented as a guy you want to see beat Reigns. The psychology between these two is very confusing. Furthermore what is the purpose of this rivalry? I don’t follow UFC but I know Brock Lesnar made an appearance this weekend and shoved new UFC Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier. What does this mean for the Universal Championship situation? You would think the Reigns-Lashley rivalry would have implications, not knowing when Lesnar will be back to defend the championship certainly questions its purpose at least for me.
Bayley and Sasha Banks; Dr. Shelby Will See You Now
Last week Bayley and Sasha Banks began their mandatory therapy sessions ordered by G.M. Kurt Angle, only they didn’t know they would be seen together by the legendary Dr. Shelby! As you may or may not remember, Dr. Shelby did mandatory anger management courses for Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) back in 2012. Why wouldn’t WWE call upon his services again to make try and make these BFF’s get along once again? Nonetheless therapy began in what Dr. Shelby deemed “The Friend Zone.” Ultimately he would have both women impersonate the other to try and understand each other’s feelings. This proved unsuccessful as tensions heated to which Dr. Shelby yelled “Enough!” The screen said “to be continued.” WWE is expected to follow up on this tonight.
Thoughts: Yes everyone, this is going to be continued. The sad part of this situation is I’m looking forward to seeing Dr. Shelby and not Bayley and Sasha Banks. Two weeks ago Bayley did a great job in her post match attack on Sasha, and in my opinion they completely flushed it down the toilet (maybe even the port-a-potty Owens was locked in at the end of the show). The session wasn’t funny, and didn’t make me care about the rivalry. Two weeks ago, I would have looked forward to a match. Now, I apologize, but I could care less. Hopefully WWE has something better in mind tonight. One thing I will say is the WWE Hall of Fame should have a spot for Dr. Shelby in the near future.
No Apologies
“Constable” Baron Corbin demanded Finn Balor come out and apologize for costing them a match (in his opinion) two weeks ago against Braun Strowman and Kevin Owens. Balor came out, but certainly did not apologize. He called Corbin Stephanie McMahon’s stooge and made another reference to him looking like someone who worked at TGIFriday’s. Corbin went on the attack, Balor retaliated, and Corbin retreated. G.M. Kurt Angle made a match between these two at Extreme Rules. More is expected between the two tonight.
There was a war of words between Corbin and Balor on Twitter this week. Take a look:
https://twitter.com/finnbalor/status/1015048360796016641?s=21
Thoughts: Every time Balor mentions TGIFriday’s I get in the mood for their wings and potato skins, although I should probably stay away. Kidding aside, Balor and Corbin are examples of wrestlers who need to kept occupied when there’s nothing significant going on for them at the moment. This rivalry is case and point. For me, I don’t have an issue with their upcoming match as I think it can deliver and maybe even surprise us in some ways. As far as tonight goes it’s hard to say what will take place, but I can’t rule out both men having a tag match involving partners other than Strowman and Owens. Then again, WWE could go to the well again and maybe have Strowman/Corbin vs. Owens/Balor? They haven’t tried that mix yet. I’m just speculating.
Other Items
• Curtis Axel of the B-Team was once again victorious over one half of the WWE Raw Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy, this time in nine minutes. Hardy’s partner Bray Wyatt was recently involved in an auto accident, but apparently returned to the ring in a house show In Philadelphia, PA. The championship match between Hardy/Wyatt and the B-Team is expected to go on as scheduled.
• The Authors of Pain defeated Titus Worldwide. A rematch isn’t a far-fetched possibility.
• Elias made an appearance and sang a special song backstage for Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan of the Riott Squad. They continued knocking over things as they have done in recent weeks. Speaking of the Riott Squad, Ruby Riott recently suffered a knee injury at a house show. It’s not considered serious and thus she’s not expected to miss significant time.
• Mojo Rawley again refused to wrestle No Way Jose.
• In a WWE.com interview, Ronda Rousey told Renee Young she would be ringside at Extreme Rules.
• Nia Jax (with Natalya) defeated Mickie James (with WWE Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss). Prior to the match Jax would tell Alexa that their match at Extreme Rules would be an “Extreme Rules” match, because their rivalry needs to end. As I said previously this is the third time this year Jax and Alexa will go at it for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship on a PPV and the second time Alexa is going in as champion.
Dark Matches / Wrestlers Advertised
It seems like every arena recently likes to advertise an eight-man tag match. On TD Garden’s website, they are advertising Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman, and Bobby Lashley vs. Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, and Kevin Owens. Based on recent rivalries this isn’t completely impossible but of course there’s the disclaimer of “CARD IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.” They also show Raw G.M. Kurt Angle, Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss, and Sasha Banks.
Start time shown is 7:30 p.m. local time with doors opening at 6:00 p.m.
Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani or email me at fpeteani@gmail.com
NOW CATCH UP ON LAST WEEK’S SHOW: 7/2 WWE RAW RESULTS: Keller’s report on live show from Sioux Falls including Bayley and Sasha therapy, Reigns & Lashley vs. Revival
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