WWE Raw: Results, Highlights, and Grades for July 16, 2018

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Beast With The Least

Not wasting any time getting into the meat of Raw this week, GM Kurt Angle strips Brock Lesnar of the Universal Championship within the first 90 seconds of the broadcast. OR DOES HE? Because Paul Heyman interrupts the proclamation before it becomes official, I guess.

It’s been a hot second since Heyman was around, and even though there’s nothing ground-breaking in his appearances anymore, he’s still a breath of fresh air. With the exception of Samoa Joe, and maybe Kevin Owens, there isn’t a single performer in WWE who is capable of being mentioned in the same breath as Paul Heyman when it comes to promo ability.

To really get an idea of how good Heyman is, compare him to what we got from Angle in the same segment. Angle is perfectly serviceable, which is like A-plus work from him lately. But Heyman weaves a tale like no other, like when he justifies Brock’s absence and unwillingness to defend the Universal Championship.

And honestly, Heyman/Lesnar have a logical reason for their position. It’s not a good reason, but it makes sense — Brock allegedly wants to represent the WWE when he becomes UFC Champion again. But Angle wisely sticks to his guns (maybe fearing retribution from Constable Corbin/Stephanie McMahon if he doesn’t?) and browbeats Heyman into accepting a title match on Lesnar’s behalf for SummerSlam.

And then the parade of challengers strolled down to the ring. First Bobby Lashley, then Drew McIntyre (!), Seth Rollins, Elias (!!), Finn Bálor, and — of course — Roman Reigns. Rather than a six-pack challenge, Kurt announces two triple threat matches for tonight. The two winners will face each other next week for the right to challenge Brock Lesnar.

Meanwhile, I’m over here hoping for two triple DQs so it can be a Seventh Heaven Match at SummerSlam, and Elias can pin Bálor to become Universal Champion. A guy can dream, can’t he?