I absolutely loved the first episode of Monday Night Raw of 2019. I am in love with the way the show opened, beginning with a brawl between Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley and subsequently going right out to the ring for John Cena’s music to hit. It was followed by Drew McIntyre waltzing now and giving the same old song and dance to John about how he was going to take advantage of the fact that John Cena was a legend. Cena was borderline sleeping throughout the entire promo and his rebuttal was that he had heard the exact same proclamation from every other superstar for well over a decade and he asked Drew what made him any different from the hundred or so others that have made the same proclamation.
I also thought it was funny when Cena said that he “had to leave just so that you guys would come up with a different promo.” Cena is without a doubt still the best talker in the business. McIntyre then proceeded down to the ring to seemingly start a match with The Franchise when Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush came out and said that they were going to get a lawyer if nothing was done about Seth Rollins attacking Bobby. Rollins then attacked Lashley from behind and Dean Ambrose came out to save Lashley. Cena proceeded to help Seth deal with the two on one assault, and as they were dealing with that, Finn Balor came to help Cena and Rollins even the score. A subsequent six-man tag match was set up and it turned out to be very entertaining.
WWE TV for 2019 is starting off on the right foot. I loved the fact that the show started off with a brawl rather than another monotonous soap opera setting up the main event for the evening. The fact that WWE is keeping Raw fresh and constantly staying open to change is the reason why it will continue to stay on the air for many years to come.
Honorable Mention: I also love the fact that Sasha Banks has been booked to challenge Ronda Rousey at the Royal Rumble PPV for the Raw Women’s Championship. I am really glad that WWE has chosen to put Sasha in the spot she deserves. There has always been something about Sasha Banks that has really resonated with me, much more so than Bayley or Nia Jax. It should be a great match at the Royal Rumble between those two, hopefully followed by Rousey putting her title on the line at WrestleMania in a triple threat match against Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch