35 minutes to the Women
RAW kicked off with some interesting development on the RAW Women’s Division. Charlotte makes Dana Brooke apologize to her for losing last week and the champion embarrasses her protégé. Sasha Banks makes her way out and says that she is the boss and the face of the division. Bayley makes her way out and says that she would love to see Banks beat Charlotte, but Bayley did that a week ago and wants a championship match. Dana Brooke brings up a Best of Seven idea, which makes Charlotte angry and slaps her. Dana Brooke gets upset and slaps the champion back. We get ourselves a Triple Threat Match, with the winner fighting Charlotte at Clash of the Champions.
What we got was a really good match between three impressive women. Dana Brooke gets better and better in the ring and her slow turn could make her very popular with the crowd. I would not do it yet because there is no other heel that could be feuding in a few months with Sasha or Bayley. If I am WWE, I put Bayley vs. Dana Brooke on Clash of the Champions and see what you really have from Brooke. Continued improvements and more details in her character can make her connect more outside of just being a friend of Charlotte. Giving Sasha the victory is the right call.
Let Bayley earn the championship match a few months down the road. There is no need to rush her to the very top and you can get other women over with Bayley in a feud. Sasha and Charlotte should be the main event of Clash of the Champions, right? Yes, Seth and Kevin will be that, but this has more history and could be fun to see. Wishful thinking, but a great opening to WWE RAW giving what I think is the most successful and consistent booking RAW has had over the past two months.
Irrelevant Matches
Bo Dallas, yes Bo Dallas, picked up a win tonight over a jobber. A few moves and a rolling cutter gave him the victory. Also, we saw Jinder Mahal pick up a win, finally, over Jack Swagger. Yes, I think Mahal is a good wrestler but he gets no reaction. I find it crazy that people still cheer for Jack Swagger and he gets a pop, even though he has not been consistently used on RAW or Smackdown in about a year. That tells you that he deserves better, especially in a three hour show with PLENTY of time to fill.
Lastly, what in the world is WWE doing with Enzo and Cass? Can’t they insert them into some sort of meaningful tag team feud? I hate Primo and Epico. They are good wrestlers, but when you need your gimmick changed multiple times and the only way you got over previously was because El Torito, you have to open your eyes and not waste your time on trying to make them important again. Enzo and Cass need wins, not losses like this where people may slowly not care about them. This is horrible booking decisions on RAW and really brought the show down pretty quickly. I can be okay with one or maybe two wasted segments, but when you near 3-4 it makes it a problem.
