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WWE RAW PRIMER 8/6: Rousey vs. Fox, Reigns-Lesnar-Heyman Dynamics, Roode vs. Rawley, Rollins-Ziggler-McIntyre, Revival vs. B-Team

By Frank Peteani, PWTorch contributor

August 6, 2018

SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER
AUGUST 6, 2018
JACKSONVILLE, FL. AT JACKSONVILLE VETERANS MEMORIAL ARENA
AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00PM EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Arena / Opening Thoughts

Tonight, WWE Raw returns to the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena for the first time in over eight years.  SummerSlam has continued to take shape and we can expect more pieces to fall into place as the big summer event sits less than two weeks away.

There are three matches of which we know tonight which includes the first of Ronda Rousey’s on a Raw broadcast.  According to WWE.com, we can expect follow-up on two big championships matches to take place at SummerSlam.  The big story out of last week was the situation between Roman Reigns, WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, and his advocate Paul Heyman.  We’ll start with that and then take a look at the matches on tap for this evening.

Roman Reigns Response to Lesnar & Heyman

As we know, Roman Reigns will challenge “The Beast” Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam.  Last week, Lesnar made his return after not appearing on Raw for over three months.  He of course was flanked by his advocate Paul Heyman.  To recap last week, Reigns called Lesnar out to the ring at the beginning of the show.  Heyman instead responded saying Lesnar will come out when “he feels like it.”  (Can I adjust my report times at work to “when I feel like it”…just curious).  Throughout the night we saw Lesnar on a couch, comfortably reading a magazine refusing to come out despite Heyman’s pleas.  At one point, G.M. Kurt Angle told Heyman he would be fired if he couldn’t get Lesnar to come to the ring.  Meanwhile Raw commissioner Stephanie McMahon ordered Angle to have Reigns removed from the building.  At the end of the show, Angle and “Constable” Corbin awaited Lesnar’s appearance.  Heyman came out instead saying he tried but couldn’t convince his client to come out.  Angle proceeded to fire Heyman, until Lesnar’s music hit and out came “The Beast.”  Lesnar proceeded to F-5 Angle, scare Corbin out of the ring, and in a big shocker put his hands on Heyman eventually shoving him down to the mat.  We were treated to “we want Roman” chants.  Lesnar walked out with his Universal Championship belt.  Tonight, we can expect a response from Reigns.  Here’s a tweet from him a few days ago:

 Thoughts:  There’s a lot to digest after last week.  Before anything is said, let me state that Paul Heyman knows his job better than anyone is the industry.  There’s no debate about that.  Despite everyone playing their part incredibly well, there’s no doubt Heyman was the glue to it all.  If Lesnar is in fact done with WWE after SummerSlam, I hope they find a role for Heyman that works for both sides.  With that said, the big picture here though is WWE’s continued effort to get Roman Reigns over as its top babyface and get a positive reaction if and when he wins the Universal Championship.  Their method is to get Lesnar to look like a complete out-of-control monster, so much so he’s willing to take down his own advocate.  The problem is we’ve seen this before in the run-up to WrestleMania earlier this year where Lesnar was framed as a part-timer by Reigns who didn’t care about the WWE or its fans.  They didn’t go quite as far then as they did last week, and thus getting the “we want Roman” chants indicates what they did worked on a level.  Ultimately though, they still need to get to Brooklyn, N.Y. where SummerSlam will take place.  It’s fair to say that no matter what was done last week or what happens in the two Raws coming up, the reaction will likely not be positive from that crowd for Reigns.  WWE is of the belief that getting heat on Lesnar is married to getting a positive reaction for Reigns.  It may have happened in Miami last week, but the reality is those are two separate issues and you won’t fool the people of Brooklyn, N.Y.  

Ronda Rousey vs. Alicia Fox

Ronda Rousey wrestles her first match on Raw tonight against long time competitor and former Divas Champion Alicia Fox.  Last week Fox, flanked by Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss, defeated Natalya who was accompanied by her good friend Rousey.  Following the match, Rousey got into it with both Fox and Bliss but eventually would be thrown into the barricade by Fox.  Later on, Rousey told Kurt Angle she was looking for a fight, to which he granted the match with Fox which will take place tonight.

Thoughts:  This is a good start for Rousey in terms of having a single’s match on Raw.  Fox has been around for a long time and even though she may not be the most polished in-ring competitor, her character has use especially when trying to get a bigger wrestler over.  She can certainly further enhance Rousey as she gets ready for her championship opportunity against Alexa Bliss at SummerSlam.  I’ll never forget Stan Hansen’s Hall of Fame induction a few years back where he mentioned we need to bring back the “carpenters.”  For those who may not be familiar, these are wrestlers that don’t necessarily win matches but are competitive enough to make you believe they can while building up their opponents.   

Bobby Roode vs. Mojo Rawley

 

After a few weeks of jaw-jacking, Bobby Roode takes on Mojo Rawley.  Last week in the locker room, Rawley was giving a speech about his recent run to various wrestlers which included his former Hype Bros tag team partner Zack Ryder.  Roode came in and gave mock applause, which lead Rawley to get in his face.  After asking Roode “What are you going to do, catch phrase me into submission?”  A brawl would then break out.  Later on, WWE would announce a match between Roode and Rawley for next week (tonight).  Rawley has been taunting Roode on practically every day this past week, stating what he just did and saying it was glorious.  I’ll pick out a few as examples:

Thoughts:  Thank you Rawley for that question!  Anyway, this may be a lower-end rivalry but Rawley is certainly going out of his way to put heat on himself.  If the plan for Bobby Roode is to continue as the veteran jobber, as has been apparent based on his run since coming over to Raw, he could go a long way to put Rawley over if there are bigger plans in fact for Rawley.  In an environment where the company’s mission is to put “smiles on people’s faces” it’s nice to see a heel act in a way a heel should; talking trash, acting no-nonsense, and not smiling.  As Todd Martin said about Samoa Joe on the PWTorch VIP show The Fix last week, “more of that please.”

Raw Tag Team Champions B-Team vs. The Revival

The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) will take on Raw Tag Team Champions the B-Team (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel) according to Dash Wilder’s Twitter account.  WWE.com is not advertising this match and it’s not clear if it’s for the titles or not.  Last week, the Revival interrupted a verbal confrontation between the B-Team and Bray Wyatt & Matt Hardy.  The Revival would go on to have a match with Wyatt and Hardy and come out victorious.  

Thoughts:  Last night on the PWTorch Livecast’s Wrestling Night in America, I was a co-host with long time columnist Greg Parks and we discussed this situation.  The Revival has had a start-and-stop since their arrival on the main roster a year and a half ago mostly due to injuries.  It seems like things are on track now and they’re getting their opportunity at the top of a weak Raw tag team division.  I personally like seeing that, however the problem is the match last week was met with chants of “CM Punk” and “Rusev Day.”  That could have been fan fatigue as the match took place deep in hour number two.  I would be curious how the fans react to tonight’s match if it’s put on earlier in the show.  I recall a relatively positive reaction to the championship match between the B-Team and Hardy and Wyatt which lead off Extreme Rules a few weeks ago.

Seth Rollins 

There’s nothing specific on WWE.com, but they’ve made it a point to say they will follow up on Seth Rollins as it relates to the dynamic between Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, and himself.  Of course, Rollins gets another crack at the championship at SummerSlam against Ziggler.  Last week he defeated McIntyre by DQ due to outside interference by Ziggler.

Thoughts:  This is where a three hour gets exposed.  A match between Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre would seem like a bigger deal and could even headline a card.  With TV being such a driving factor in WWE’s revenue, this is why we get matches given away as such.  With that being said there’s no stipulation for the SummerSlam match nor has there been discussion of whether or not Drew McIntyre will be in Ziggler’s corner.  It’s possible McIntyre has to win a match to do so, perhaps even against Rollins.  This is similar to what was done in the run-up to the match between Ziggler and Rollins at Extreme Rules.  McIntyre won the right to be in Ziggler’s corner then, so it’s possible the opposite happens this time around.

Other Items

  • Bobby Lashley made his singing debut joining Elias in a really bad rendition of Rockin’ Robin.  Not happy with Lashley’s singing, Elias attacked him only to be hit back with a belly-to-belly toss.  Considering Lashley made his return a few months ago interrupting Elias, a rivalry could be developing here.
  • Bayley and Sasha Banks continued their winning ways defeating Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan of The Riott Squad last week.  Nothing is shown on WWE.com, but a rematch is expected for tonight.  If the rumored Women’s Tag Team Championship comes to fruition, Bayley and Sasha would be perfect candidates to be the first title-holders.
  • “Constable” Baron Corbin defeated Finn Balor in the opening matchup.  Balor continues to get the “win some lose some” treatment while his popularity remains intact.  It’s not exact, but similar to the treatment Rey Mysterio got for many years.  Following the post-match beatdown Balor received at the hands of Corbin, a return of the Demon isn’t out of the question if WWE decides to do another match between Corbin and Balor at perhaps SummerSlam.  This would be the third straight SummerSlam we see the Demon if that holds true.
  • Authors of Pain’s Akam lost a quick match to Apollo Crews of Titus Worldwide.  I don’t want to read too much into this, but in a weak tag team division you would have thought AOP would have more success to this day.  This seems like just a way to stretch out the rivalry and eventually have AOP come out on top.
  • Kevin Owens made a case to “Constable” Corbin that Braun Strowman not be allowed to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase prior to their match at SummerSlam, where Owens has an opportunity to take the briefcase from Strowman.  Corbin said he’d see what he could do.  Later on, Strowman lost his match to Jinder Mahal via count out when Owens swiped the briefcase at the start of the match followed by Strowman chasing him to the dressing room.  
  • We learned Brock Lesnar likes his steak medium well.  That’s just wrong. 

Start Time 

On the arena’s website, start time shown is 7:30 p.m. but they do not indicate when doors will open.  Once again, a “massive” eight-man tag is advertised.  This time the participants shown are Reigns, Strowman, Rollins, and Balor vs. Ziggler, Corbin, Owens, and McIntyre.  Judging by what has been said by recent on-site correspondents on Wade Keller’s PWTorch Raw post-shows, I don’t suspect this match will take place.  The other wrestlers advertised (Rousey, Banks, Bliss, Roode, etc.) make sense based on what WWE has planned.

Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani.  Thank you for reading!

NOW CATCH UP ON LAST WEEK’S RAW: HEYDORN’S WWE RAW REPORT 7/30: Alt Perspective coverage of the live show including Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar returning, Rollins vs. McIntyre, and more

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