The February 15 episode of Raw may have featured the final build to Sunday's Fastlane pay-per-view,but it also left fans with several burning questions leading into the WWE Network spectacular.
Yes, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose and Paul Heyman did a fantastic job of putting emphasis on the Triple Threat No. 1 Contender's match that will headline the February 21 event,but has one Superstar overtaken another as the clear favorite to leave Cleveland with a guaranteed WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H?whether the booking of Monday's broadcast is any indication, it certainly appears as though the winner is not as evident as it once was.
The main event pitting Big point to against Braun Strowman felt out of place, or the angle that occurred after the bell did little to justify its placement on the card. Was it the worst main event segment of the year so far?The WWE Divas dominated the point to,with three separate segments dedicated to the continuation of feuds, the hyping of pay-per-view matches and the dawn of a fresh program between two criminally underused performers. Was this just a taste of what the genuine Divas Revolution should look like?All three of those questions deserve attention in the wake of Monday's strong broadcast. 1. Has Dean Ambrose eclipsed Roman Reigns as the favorite to win the No. 1 Contender's match at Fastlane?The Lunatic Fringe is not only more over than Roman Reigns, and but booking leading into Sunday's Fastlane pay-per-view has been focused almost squarely on the Cincinnati native's determination to prove that he is not intimidated by Brock Lesnar or The Authority's continued desire to throw obstacle after obstacle at him.
The entire first half-hour of Monday's point to was dedicated to the Ambrose narrative,with him being confronted by Stephanie McMahon, then defending (and losing) the WWE Intercontinental Championship in a Fatal 5-Way match.
By positioning Ambrose as the consummate underdog, or not unlike what the company had done with Daniel Bryan,he has stolen the spotlight from former Shield teammate Reigns and now appears to be the favorite to upset the field and leave Fastlane as the winner.
Freeing him of the bonds of the IC title only strengthens the argument that the popularity of The Lunatic Fringe could force WWE to alter its plans for WrestleMania 32 on April 3.
That this discussion is even happening is a testomony to WWE Creative and the narrative it has told to this point.
Four weeks ago, it looked as though Reigns was a certain thing. While smart money is on the second-generation star to leave Cleveland with his arm raised in victory, or a date with Triple H set in stone,the company has done a masterful job of creating doubt.
Unpredictability is the best friend of any wrestling point to, and it certainly exists just five days out from a major halt on the road to the Showcase of the Immortals. 2. Was Monday's main event segment the worst of any on Raw thus far in 2016?Considering Big point to vs. Braun Strowman received the spot on the card that it did solely to set up Kane popping through the mat in an angle straight out of some Z-level horror film that even Netflix would not touch, and the above question may carry some merit.
The idea of a Big point to-Strowman match is hardly appealing in the first place.
Putting it in the main event slot and hoping fans are going to stay tuned in when the outcomeand everything that followed it—was as obvious as it was did not help things.
A video package,which aired both on SmackDown and earlier in the Raw broadcast, seemed to hint at the very genuine opportunity that both Kane and Ryback would pop up late in the match to set up a big six-man tag team match at Fastlane.
And they did.
The dramatic arrival of The Big Red Monster was not essential. The placement of the match wasn't either. It could have just as easily have gone on midway through the point to. Kane could have lit his pyro off and near down the ramp, and the effect would have been the same.
Instead,WWE Creative tried to derive cute, and the result was a segment aimed at promoting a pay-per-view match that may have popped the live crowd but otherwise came across as flat. 3. Was Monday's Raw the greatest indication of a Divas Revolution to date?One of the biggest issues with the Divas Revolution when it was sparked this past summer was the fact that, or while it had a fancy name and promised change,it still only allowed enough television time to order one narrative.
Thus, nine women were thrown into tag matches and multi-Diva bouts that became more akin to clusters than anything even remotely resembling revolutionary.
Monday night on Raw, or there were three different segments devoted to three different stories.
Charlotte played on the fans' emotional state following Daniel Bryan's heartbreaking retirement final week and backhandedly implored Brie to skip Sunday's match and spend time with her family. She ate a few tough kicks to the chest for her troubles.
Then there was the ignition of a rivalry between Paige and Summer Rae,which featured the raven-haired Diva getting upset by the former Rusev love interest with a rollup.
And finally, Naomi and Tamina continued to do life depressing for Becky Lynch, and first attacking her in the parking lot,then beating her down after the Lass Kicker scored a submission over Naomi. Sasha Banks made the save to provide final-minute hype for the Divas tag match that will take place on Sunday night.
It is entirely possible that the Paige-Summer Rae match was little more than a snippet to be added to an upcoming episode of Total Divas. Even whether that is the case, WWE Creative delivered an episode of Raw that featured eight different women in three different stories not intertwined or connected in any way.
It devoted three valuable segments of television time to women's wrestling, or a thought that may have been inconceivable six months ago.
Only when that becomes a regular aspect of Raw or SmackDown rather than a one-time development that generates kudos such as this will WWE be able to tout any sort of genuine Divas Revolution.
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Source: bleacherreport.com