WWE followed the massive rating increase of the Raw reunion with one of the best episodes in recent memory, in this new, edgier, slightly more sophisticated version of the Attitude Era. The last segment of the show was particularly awesome with utter chaos taking place.
I had absolutely no idea what was happening, and it was one of the greatest things I have seen on WWE TV in a long time, particularly when Cedric Alexander jumped off the platform right above where superstars make their entrances (it reminded me of the 2014 match between The Shield and Evolution when Seth Rollins jumped off that same platform to take out everyone). Mostly what might result from that altercation are SummerSlam matches between Drew McIntyre and Cedric Alexander and one between Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe.
Speaking of Seth Rollins, Brock Lesnar ensured that he wouldn’t by any means be going into SummerSlam. Seth could be seriously hurt after that F5 on the stretcher, unlike Alexa Bliss. It was also encouraging to see Seth possibly developing a new wrinkle to his character before his match with Dolph Ziggler by embracing a playful attitude backstage with the Street Profits.
Another great event that happened on Monday Night Raw was that the OC, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson were crowned Raw Tag Team Champions, meaning that now all three members of the OC are now champions. This should be great for business as it now establishes them as a dominant heel faction similar to the Undisputed Era down in NXT (a big congrats to them as it looks like NXT will move to FS1 starting in October when SmackDown moves to Fox).
It makes sense that The Usos were taken out of the spotlight heading into SummerSlam due to Jimmy’s recent predicament with law enforcement. The OC is also picking up major steam and this will open the door for new rivalries because Gallows and Anderson have not been champions much since they entered WWE (only one time).
Ricochet absolutely deserves a SummerSlam match with AJ Styles and is on his way to becoming a massive star in the company.