How WWE Raw Has Shown Improvement to Close out 2016

After coming out slow at the beginning of the Brand Extension, WWE RAW has shown improvement over the past few weeks.

In has been a crazy few months since WWE reissued the brand extension. With the rosters split in half WWE looked to develop new stars and storylines. Going into the draft RAW appeared the likely to become the stronger of the two shows.

RAW was granted the more picks than Smackdown because of the show being an extra hour and was given the exclusive rights to the cruiserweight division. However, getting out the gate was not the most graceful for the brand.

The Flagship Show suffered multiple issues, with the first being the brand losing the WWE Championship to Smackdown Live. With RAW being considered the A show, they needed a heavyweight championship, which led to the controversial WWE Universal Championship. The design of the belt caused an outpour of disgust from fans, leading to it being mocked strongly. There were also issues with injuries to superstars, most notably to Finn Balor.

It seemed that WWE was planning on making Balor the face of the RAW brand. However, he injured his shoulder at Summerslam and will be out of action until 2017. The cruiserweight division also got off to a rough start as the characters were hard to gravitate to, and the matches seemed nothing less than filler for the show.

The tag team and women’s division also lacked depth as they had stars on the top such as The New Day, Charlotte and Sasha Banks, but lacked competition throughout the rest of the division. The last 6 weeks though RAW has changed the tide and become and overall solid show from top to bottom.

Over the last few weeks, certain talents have been given opportunities and have established themselves as main parts of the brand. One of these stars is Braun Strowman, who has become the monster heel that no one can bring down. His work has put him into the main event picture and one of the brightest parts of Monday Nights. Strowman’s one-for-all demeanor and willingness to destroy anyone in his path has been fun to watch.

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In the tag division, the emergence of Cesaro and Sheamus as a duo has also been entertaining to watch. After competing in a highly best to seven series that resulted in a draw, General Manager Mick Foley paired the two. They would instantly click by being both entertaining inside and outside of the ring. To top it off, they ended New Day’s historic run as Raw Tag Team Champions and now sit at the top of the division. Cesaro and Sheamus’ recent emergence on the show has helped both RAW and the tag division.

The women’s division has also been key in the transformation of RAW as Charlotte and Sasha Banks have stolen the show everytime the two faced each other. With the rise of both Bayley and now Nia Jax, Banks and Charlotte now have some much-needed depth to work with inside the division.

The main event picture is also flooded in with stars such as Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Chris Jericho and The Universal Champion Kevin Owens. These four have been intertwined with one another for the last few months.

RAW though as a whole though has been a bit edgier with promos and packages being a bit more real and less cartoony as they have been in recent memory. Backstage altercations and attacks have occurred and the overall feel of the show has felt at times of feeling like a RAW from 1998.

Next: Pros and Cons of Potential Feud Between Reigns and Strowman

While the show was lacking behind Smackdown Live for the first few months of the draft, RAW has narrowed the gap. With its edgier feel and the uprising of new talent, the future of Monday evenings ooks bright heading into 2017.

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