On this week’s episode of WWE Raw, Braun Strowman will renew his rivalry with Roman Reigns when he takes on the “Big Dog” inside of a steel cage.
Lately, the big stories on WWE Raw have revolved around the Cruiserweight Division and Enzo Amore, with the company doing everything possible to invigorate interest in the division by positioning the “Certified G” as its centerpiece.
However, the big story on Raw now centers around “The Shield”, as they reunited last week to help Roman Reigns get revenge on The Miz and The Bar. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins had been feuding with Sheamus and Cesaro for months, but the latter tag team recently aligned with The Miz in order to help the “A-Lister” punish Intercontinental Championship challenger Roman Reigns.
Tonight, Reigns will renew his rivalry with Braun Strowman, whom he has faced several times throughout 2017. It’s a slight preview of Sunday’s TLC match that will pit the Shield against The Bar, Miz, and Strowman in the main event. This match, however, will be inside of a steel cage.
The WWE will look to build towards TLC tonight, so the likes of Emma, Mickie James, Alexa Bliss, Kalisto, and Enzo also figure to be featured heavily on Raw.
5. Kalisto Beats Down Enzo
Kalisto’s Cruiserweight Championship victory in a Lumberjack Match on Raw last week seemed far too sudden, and while it was a nice nod to real-life inspiration and WWE icon Eddie Guerrero, the win will be short-lived. The newest addition to the Cruiserweight Division, Kalisto should have been added to the Tuesday night show back in November, but I guess it’s better late than never for the former United States Champion.
Although Kalisto is obviously the superior in-ring competitor and has by far the best resume of any of the members of the 205 Live roster, the long-term plan is ostensibly to continue to place Enzo at the top of the division. Vince McMahon has been known to book impromptu “moments” to get the fans to pop on television, and you can look no further than Akira Tozawa’s brief moment in the sun prior to SummerSlam as an example of this.
There’s little doubt in my mind that Kalisto will lose his title immediately at TLC in shaky fashion, perhaps getting help from Ariya Daivari or others. They could even build to a five-on-five Cruiserweight Division match at TLC.
Whatever the case, Kalisto is losing, so he’ll beat down Enzo tonight as a way of creating “false hope” for him retaining the title. Kalisto is a great wrestler and has improved on the mic, but 205 Live is a failing show that likely lost its only true star in Neville. They need to take gambles, and the best way to roll the dice is to move forward with Enzo as the top guy.
4. Matt Hardy Is Not The Fourth Shield Member
The main event for TLC is currently booked as a three-on-four match between the Shield and The Bar, The Miz, and Braun Strowman. I don’t anticipate Kurt Angle making an announcement that evens the score, because the whole point is to have the Shield “overcome the odds” at TLC against four fearsome opponents.
Some fans have speculated that Matt Hardy could be the fourth member of the Shield, because he seems to have nothing better to do with brother and tag team partner Jeff Hardy out until around WrestleMania season with a torn rotator cuff. Matt was saved by the Shield last week after a lopsided encounter with Strowman, so there is some storyline logic to the speculation.
I think it’s more likely for Matt Hardy to get thrown into a blow-off match, teaming up with Jason Jordan to score an easy win over The Club, whom the WWE seems to have no intention of pushing on Raw. The former tag team champions will likely job out before moving to SmackDown Live, which should have already happened, so I’d expect Matt to team up with Kurt Angle’s “son” one more time.
Believe me, it’s not exciting to propose a random match for Hardy, who deserves much better than what’s been given to him so far. He was the hottest thing in wrestling in TNA as the leader of the “BROKEN Universe”, and he’s been excellent in the ring during his latest stint with the company. But there just isn’t anything built for him at TLC, and it would be worse for him to get lumped together with the Shield.
3. Braun Strowman Wows Everyone
Steel cage matches are booked with the intention of preventing outside interference, but we all know that shenanigans are inevitable when these matches are announced. Braun Strowman will face Roman Reigns inside of a steel cage on Raw tonight, which means that Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose will invariably enter the fray to help their “brother”. Whether Sheamus and Cesaro – or even The Miz – decide to join the fun remains to be seen, but it’s clear that this should be another opportunity for Strowman to dazzle.
All Strowman has done since becoming a singles star in the WWE is impress, and his ability to quickly get a handle on the business has been remarkable. He’s one of the true larger-than-life figures in the company, and he’s had a plethora of “OMG!” moments in 2017.
Strowman should add another one to his resume tonight, because the WWE desperately needs to hype this match up for TLC. While it is exciting to see the Shield reunited at TLC, that’s the only selling point to a main event match that is merely a hastily thrown-together three-on-four encounter among a mix of Raw’s best wrestlers. There’s nothing inherently awful about that, but it doesn’t lend itself to unpredictability or fan investment.
As it stands right now, it’s entirely obvious that the Shield will win, and it’s the most logical booking decision. The WWE shouldn’t swerve the fans for the sake of swerving them, but it’s usually sensible to adhere to tradition by using the television episode to plant a seed of doubt into the minds of the fans. In order to do that, just let Strowman look like a million bucks tonight, especially since it’ll make his likely loss on Sunday less noteworthy.
2. Titus Worldwide Tries To Sign Kalisto, Gets Match With Elias
Earlier this year, Titus Worldwide tried to sign Kalisto, who previously teamed up with Apollo Crews to ward off Dolph Ziggler on SmackDown Live. Kalisto’s been up and down on Raw, but he’s riding a big-time high after defeating Enzo Amore decisively for the Cruiserweight Championship.
Look for the opportunistic Titus O’Neil to try to pounce on the chance to sign Kalisto, and I’m willing to bet that Kalisto agrees. Although Titus Worldwide’s track record of success is unsurprisingly poor, Titus has shown through his interactions with Apollo Crews and Akira Tozawa that he is a genuinely caring manager. And hey, Tozawa did win the Cruiserweight Championship once out of nowhere, so the current champ might view him more favorably.
I’m also willing to bet that Elias and Apollo get another match on pay per view, mostly because the WWE doesn’t seem to know what else to do with either of them. They’ve never had a real plan for Crews since giving him some minor momentum when he first joined SmackDown Live, and he hasn’t been given a real push in the ring since he defeated Ziggler at the Elimination Chamber.
It’s hard to look forward to a match between Elias and Apollo, since we’ve seen them face twice before, including once on the No Mercy kick-off show. But the two of them have decent chemistry, and Crews is always worth the price of admission for his standing shooting star press.
1. Bray Wyatt Isn’t Sister Abigail
Maybe this is me just being an adorably optimistic member of the IWC, but I believe the WWE will bail on their current plan for “Sister Abigail” after coming to their senses. The idea that Bray Wyatt obtains superpowers by wearing a shawl and becoming a Snapchat filter is utterly ridiculous, and it’s a wasted opportunity. Now, I don’t want to see Paige wasted as “Sister Abigail”, because the character she has fleshed out and developed would do far more for her than any association with “The Eater of Pins”.
But the WWE could presumably find somebody, perhaps a Mae Young Classic competitor, who could be an actually imposing sidekick for Wyatt. The man cried when Sister Abigail’s remains were burned by Randy Orton, he believed her ashes held secret powers, and he’s always spoken about her with fear and awe. To have her show up as an alter ego is one thing, but to make that alter ego awkward and hokey is another thing entirely.
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The WWE cannot afford to make Wyatt look even less threatening and even more ridiculous by continuing on the trajectory they set up last week, so it is important for them to find some way to move this into a different direction. Although this feud with Finn Balor remains tedious, it could finally have some direction if “Sister Abigail” ends up being worth the payoff that has been built over the years. It would be unwise to waste it on something that, quite frankly, insults the intelligence of the audience and would ultimately serve on purpose.