What you need to know
Randy Orton says that his loss to Roman Reigns at SummerSlam did nothing but cause him to sharpen focus, and when the Viper is focused - people get RKO'd. The first place he was turned his focus to on Friday night was Rob Van Dam. First he attacked him backstage, then he sent a message to Reigns by destroying him to and beyond a disqualification in their match.
Miz big-timed his way to getting booked into a rematch of last week's Smackdown, as Director of Operations Kane put him in another match with the Big Dog. Roman wasn't too concerned about the former Intercontinental champion or his moneymaker. Instead, he's looking to kill the Legend Killer once and for all. Then he's out to avenge his brother Dean Ambrose by coming for Seth Rollins and Kane.
Rollins got a little more than he bargained for from Jack Swagger, who is proving to be just as effective by himself as he was with Zeb Colter. The Real American lost to the Architect via countout, but only because of curb stomp sent him to the floor unconcious.
The Oklahoman may have failed against the traitor, and the Bulgarian representing Russia, but a new American hero is ready to take his place...if we just BOlieve. Dallas certainly has the confidence in himself to deliver where Jack failed. To get his chance, he'll not only have take out Swagger; he'll have to see if Rusev survives his new challenge - against the World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry.
Divas champ Paige got a rematch with Natalya, as she tried to make up for her loss via distraction from AJ Lee. But, wouldn't you know it, just when things were looking good for the Anti-Diva, her comes the former champ. This time she made of with the butterfly belt, leaving it at the top of the ramp. Paige retrieved it and returned to the ring before a ten count, but walked right into a Sharpshooter and tapped out to go 0 - 2 against Natty for the week.
Another streak for the week belonged to the Dust Brothers, but Goldy and Stardust were finally on a winning streak. They followed up their win over tag champs The Usos by beating the Wyatts on Friday. But Luke Harper and Erick Rowan didn't take thier defeat as gracefully as Jimmy & Jey, and used everything at their disposal - including Michael Cole's chair - to take out their frustration on Dusty's boys.
The main event saw Reigns make quick work of The Miz. Orton had watched from ringside, and when it was over, he focused right in on Roman. The two brawled for several minutes, but it was a Superman Punch rather than an RKO that was the final shot of the week.
What to look out for
The champ may not be the champ right now, but he will be here. For this week's Raw, here will be Anaheim, California. And before the cameras roll for the USA Network broadcast at 8PM Eastern, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels will be on WWE Network at 7:30PM to break down John Cena's historic loss to Brock Lesnar from the last pay-per-view (PPV) - then, they're sticking around for the start of the main show to make predictions for the rematch at Night of Champions.
Those Hall of Famers won't be the only ones addressing Cena's last and next match. The man himself will be on Raw to talk about losing the title at SummerSlam and his decsion to invoke the rematch clause for the next PPV.
Speaking of responses, we haven't heard from Brie Bella since her sister turned on her in Los Angeles and confirmed their split last Monday. Nikki went on to pick up a win later in the week...will her new attitude lead to more victories, or will Brie Mode show up and stop her roll?
Dean Ambrose may be taken care of, at least for the time being, but what will Mr. Money in the Bank Seth Rollins do next? Does he dare stalk the current WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Brock Lesnar - and should he be looking over his shoulder for another ex-partner in Roman Reigns?
What they should do
Reigns war with The Authority needs to include Rollins. I've been pretty fixated on babyfaces needing to be connected to other babyfaces lately, and while I think that the loss of buzz around Roman can be attributed to a lot of things - one of those things was his willingness to set aside Seth's betrayal of The Shield while he chased individual glory.
He's been booked strongly in his feud with Randy Orton, so he could stand to face a few setbacks in the next few months. The briefcase holder himself is coming off a win (albeit heavily assisted) in his program with Ambrose. While they'll undoubtedly want to keep both men looking fierce, the heel's place in Triple H's faction and Reigns "one versus all" gimmick allows them to do both while giving Reigns a beat down or two.
The important thing is to have the Big Dog look like he cares about what happened to the Hounds of Justice and especially what just happened to his friend Dean. Fans would probably even be willing to sit through more matches with Orton and Kane if it feels like a continuation of The Shield story.
And keeping the focus on one of the most successful stories of the last few years will take the spotlight off Roman and allow Reigns and his coaches to tweak his game for the next level.
What we're afraid they will do
Continue with a 'fan reaction be damned' push toward the main event by setting up Reigns vs. The Game. Hunter might be able to get a solid match out of him, but the should have learned from last fall's treatment of Daniel Bryan and this spring's Batista face push that it can be a good thing to course correct, and the sooner the better.
Maybe Reigns will get over enough with the mainstream fans as is, but why not do a few things that there's plenty of latitude to do right now that would get him over with a lot more fans?
Which way will WWE go with the main title, and with the men just below that level with eyes on the prize?
Find out starting tonight, and do it with your fellow Cagesiders - in the live blog and on Cageside Live after the show!