Welcome to the Raw Review for August 21, 2017. For both this and Smackdown, I will go over what the big talking points were, pick the match of the night, and look ahead to the next show.
Talking Points
Beast vs Monster
Brock Lesnar looked like he had no trouble the night before as he strutted to the ring. Paul Heyman talked about how Lesnar had defeated everyone even after being taken away by the medical team. The celebration came to an abrupt end as Braun Strowman made his way to the ring. Without saying a word. Strowman destroyed Lesnar, ending with two running body slams. The crowd was red hot for this and everyone should be excited when it was announced that Stowman will challenge Lesnar for the title at No Mercy.
4 Time Champ
Sasha Banks is an interesting character. She acts like a heel, but is cheered by the WWE Universe. Her celebration started off with well wishes to Ric Flair and his family. Her announcement was cut short as Alexia Bliss showed up. Banks goaded the former champ to invoke her rematch clause, but Bliss decided to make it for next week. There is a part of me that hopes Bliss loses so that Nia Jax can become the next challenger. Her match with Banks was fantastic and I would like to see what these two wrestlers can do on a big stage.
Cena Returns
John Cena returned to Raw with a very hostile crowd. Not helping matters was when Roman Reigns came out to confront the Free Agent. What could have been a great match was interrupted by the Miz, who proceeded to drop some truth for the next five minutes. This was probably the best promo Miz has done. The finishing touch was when Samoa Joe came out to confront Reigns and Cena. If this leads to a Samoa Joe/Cena and Reigns/Miz feud, Raw will get very interesting.
Match of the Night
Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins vs. The Hardy Boyz (Ambrose and Rollins win by pin fall)
The match I never knew I wanted until moments before it happened. The Hardyz were WOKEN, talking and gesturing in a way that was DELIGHTFUL to fans in the know. The match it self was given a long time to develop and it proceed a great one. One thing that I noticed was that Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins seemed to be just slightly off the same page. If this was intentional, it would fit since they have been together for only one day. This match was fantastic and I would like to see more from these two teams.
Conclusion
A very randy crowd made this feel like the Raw after Wrestlemania. One low point was Big Cass was legitimately injured in his match. We hope he is not out for long. Another beach ball was destroyed. It was a weird night. A rematch for the Raw Women’s Championship comes next week, as well as setting up the matches for No Mercy.
