WWE Raw results, recap, reactions (June 27, 2016): Running in place

WWE returned to the USA network for Monday Night Raw last night (June 27, 2016) from Tampa, Florida and this was all about figuring out how to book the next few weeks of television leading into Battleground with Roman Reigns on the shelf. The first step was a good one.

Click here to get full results with the live blog. Let's get to reacting to all the night's events.

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You think you're in heaven

With so many weeks of television left to build to a triple threat title match where one of the participants cannot appear, WWE went and got creative. Seth Rollins took a few shots at Roman Reigns -- as did Stephanie McMahon, who looked like she took far too much delight in it -- while Dean Ambrose attempted to keep things level and appeal to the human in all of us. Hey, at least they acknowledged the 800 pound elephant in the room, right?

Still, what to do about the build up to the match?

They went the route of STAKES involving other big stars who are also feuding, as John Cena and AJ Styles attempted to insert themselves into the Battleground main event simply by asking. Naturally, that led to two matches where both could get in if they emerged victorious.

You just knew they wouldn't.

The Club cost Cena his shot and Cena helped cost Styles his. This way they add a bit more animosity to their issue while getting two decent matches on a Raw still weeks away from the show. It also kept the original match intact.

Simple, but effective.

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But you're living in hell

This was essentially a repeat of the Ambrose Asylum segment featuring Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, where Dean Ambrose took all the emotion that was driving the narrative and attempted to make it funny. With the benefit of hindsight, that segment worked because he got serious at the end and set up his WWE title win days later.

Here, they executed it even better.

We got the great story of Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens, the decade long feud between bitter rivals, and the great promos to go along with it. Then, Chris Jericho had to keep inserting himself into the situation and making it about him.

They paid that annoyance off by having both Zayn and Owens kick him in his stupid idiot face.

That's how you do this segment right.

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All the best to all the rest

Sasha Banks & Paige def. Charlotte & Dana Brooke: This was as simple as it gets, really. All they're doing right now is building up Sasha as the next challenger to the women's title and they made her look like a million bucks in this match. The crowd enjoyed it. It worked. More of this!

Titus O'Neil def. Rusev: This is what baffles me about WWE booking at times. If the idea here is to keep O'Neil looking like he belongs in a fight with Rusev, why have him accomplish this by beating Rusev in a lesser way? Why not just have him truck someone else and THEN try Rusev again? That way you avoid watering down the match-up, Rusev doesn't look bad for losing by count out, and Titus looks good on his way back to another title shot. Maybe next time.

Enzo & Cass are over: We need more squash matches on WWE television. Enzo & Cass are perfect for it if only because they can be entertaining as all get out without needing to have much of a match.

The Social Outcasts return: There's value here, certainly, but only as fodder for teams like Enzo & Cass. Here's to hoping that's what we get.

Becky Lynch learns: This may have been the best booking of Becky's career on the main roster. Instead of caring AT ALL about the match she was scheduled for against Summer Rae, she made a beeline for Natalya, who was on commentary, and just started beating the shit out of her. That's EXACTLY what should ALWAYS happen in these situations but WWE usually makes everyone look dumb by doing a distraction after making it painfully clear they were setting up for exactly that. It's almost strange to think that WWE booked Becky to have a natural, logical reaction to what she was confronted with when she went out for her match and we're shocked by it.

Kane def. Miz: This had to be a troll job, considering rumors of a demon showing up on this show. If so, well done! Dumb, but well done! Also, Maryse is the greatest actor of our generation and you can't convince me otherwise.

Team of good guys def. Team of bad guys: No one cared.

New Day Wyatts: Big E with a fake beard in overalls walking around with glowing dicks is a thing that happened on this show. Never let it be said that pro wrestling doesn't offer something for everyone. Meanwhile, they actually continued down the road of Bray Wyatt brainwashing Xavier Woods, which is what we were hoping for. More, please!

Final thought: This wasn't a bad show. This wasn't a good show.

Random Twitter grade from @McNarnia: C

Your turn.