WWE is starting a busy week in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Headliner(s)
We all know why WWE’s muted the promotion of the other pay-per-view (PPV) on their calendar for next week, Nov. 2’s Crown Jewel. But as a side-effect, they’ve kept the volume down on the top men’s belt. Which might be by design as a way to make something other than Universal champion Roman Reigns the focus of fans’ ire for a change. But after Brock Lesnar’s lengthy reign, you’d think they’d have wanted to use all the feelings people have about the Big Dog to make the title feel important for the first time in its existence.
Adding to the weirdness was the decision to turn Braun Strowman, one of their most popular characters/performers, in order to face Reigns. But is he really? Facing Roman, that is. Yes, they battled to a no contest at Hell in a Cell during a match (which also removed Strowman’s Money in the Bank briefcase from the equation). But even the build to that was overshadowed by the reforming of The Shield, and Strowman recruiting his own allies. Sure, Paul Heyman shows up every once in a while to remind us his client has a rematch coming, but when neither of his opponents appear that concerned...
And they’re not concerned because the post-HiaC story has been even more about the two groups. More puzzling, it’s been about the fighting within the teams as much as it’s been about Strowman vs. Reigns (vs. Lesnar, but we knew he wasn’t coming back to promote his payday in the desert). We’ve been so inundated with variations of matches between Hounds of Justice and Dogs of War that there’s nothing special about Braun and Roman facing off any more.
Even worse, the buzz coming out of last week’s show was about a program between Strowman and Drew McIntyre. And I’m looking forward to that too! But that they’re selling, and we’re buying, a possible future match, says a lot about what everyone thinks of the next one on the calendar.
The title scene
Sticking with that story, because even though it’s not doing a great job selling one of the main events for Crown Jewel, it’s the one Raw spends what feels like 90% of its three hour runtime on each week, Dean Ambrose is a wild card! Does that mean he’s going to go after the tag team belts held by Strowman’s teammates/sparring partners McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler? His brother Seth Rollins’ Intercontinental title? We don’t know! Wild card, b****es!
It will probably be a short match with little suspense about the outcome, but Nikki Bella challenging Ronda Rousey for her Women’s championship is a ‘reality’ era train wreck featuring two big personalities. That’s getting a lot of folks excited, and that excitement has reportedly led to a pike in ticket sales for Evolution. And that is the point of this whole exercise so... sorry Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and so-called “smart” fans. Everybody else, enjoy the ride.
Other stuff to keep an eye on:
- Crown Jewel has another main event, and it’s all about money. Er, we mean respect. And legacy. Just kidding. It’s all about money. Triple H didn’t mention it on SmackDown 1000, so Shawn Michaels is rumored to show up tonight to respond Undertaker & Kane’s boiler room promo from last Monday. And probably confirm how soon after Nov. 2 he can expect his check.
- Old H-B-Shizzle probably won’t be the only Legend showing up this week. Trish Stratus & Lita could probably use a week off after last week’s disastrous promo, but there are lots of other ladies coming back for Evolution, and they’ll probably start stating their own cases for a the future title shot on the line in Sunday’s battle royal.
- Last week he mostly just worked a Mixed Match Challenge showcase match with Bayley, but Finn Bálor does appear to be in the crosshairs of Bobby Lashley and his manager Lio Rush.
- And now that Sasha Banks is back, the Hugster may have something to do with another partner, anyway. The Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection aided Natalya against The Riott Squad a week ago, so you connect the dots.
- While many of us are entertained by Kurt Angle’s costuming choices, Baron Corbin is not happy his old boss is back.
- Elias vs. Apollo Crews is a feud which is not only happening, but earned one of five bullet points in WWE.com’s official preview for this episode.
It’s the Evolution ‘go home’ show / Two weeks until Crown Jewel!
What will you be looking for on Raw tonight?