HEYDORN’S RAW RECEIPT 7/25: Quiet final hype for Summerslam even with Roman Reigns on the show

This week’s episode of WWE Monday Night Raw has wrapped. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the madness.

-A unique start to this week’s Raw and it worked as a way to attempt the start of a fresh era. It’s a small thing and WWE can’t do this every week, but in this instance it was a small move to change things up on a night where tremendous amount of changes were made. Now, it didn’t help get Logan Paul over as a heel, but that’s another issue all together.

-This Logan Paul babyface thing is something else. The guy made millions on adopting a heelish schtick and NOW he wants to be a good guy? Who’s he kidding and who’s WWE kidding with this. Miz, welcome to babyface land – at least for a night.

-Roman Reigns is such a star. It sure took a long time for him and the company to find this Reigns in Reigns, but he jumps off the screen as THE guy. The crowd reacts to him that way too.

-Paul Heyman dug very deep to find that promo and was able to put a little heat on Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar at Summerslam. Not sure anyone else could have successfully found it, but that’s what Paul Heyman does. Bravo.

-Reigns’ “Daddy” line to Theory was an all-timer. On par with Conor McGregor burning Jeremy Stephens all those years ago.

-Speaking of Theory, hopefully for him he’s getting paid by every minute he’s on television. Theory was on-screen for more than half of Raw’s first hour this week. He’s part of the future, for better or worse.

-First matches out there for Triple H’s Raw and we get shenanigan finishes? This is an easy to thing to change if he wants to and will go a long way in establishing his era while cultivating more compelling TV each week.

-I refuse to be fooled. Refuse! Not buying the Dolph Ziggler babyface stuff. Looking at him to help Theory at Summerslam. You heard it here first.

-How about that video package for Rey Mysterio? What a career that guy has had. After seeing a video like that, you’d think WWE would try to squeeze more out of his last years in the business.

-It was fun seeing Rey Mysterio speak from the heart during his celebration. Yeah, we got an angle later in the show to setup Summerslam, but WWE regularly interrupts celebration moments like the one he had in the ring with the angle. Mysterio got to show his appreciation and it felt genuine.

-I wonder. If WWE played their cards right, could they execute a double turn for Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch at Summerslam? Seems ripe for it. Fans want to cheer Lynch and Belair has cooled off considerably. Something to think about, especially if Lynch vs. Rousey is on the table at some point.

-The main event was full of action and Roman Reigns certainly brings a must watch element to the matches he’s involved with. Outside of that, it was a standard WWE Raw main event.

-Interesting to see Reigns and Seth Rollins cross paths at the end. Reigns perfectly sells Rollins being in his head and being a threat to him.

-Rollins and Riddle needed something to boost interest in their Summerslam match. Pretty paint by numbers angle to get that done, but “A” for effort. Given how those guys were booked this week, it looks like Riddle is getting a big win on Saturday night.

CATCH-UP: 7/25 WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW RESULTS: Keller’s report on first post-Vince McMahon era Raw with Paul Levesque in charge, Reigns wrestles