WWE RAW Review
August 15, 2016
By: Adam Martin of Wrestleview.com
With SummerSlam just six days away, RAW was up first for a go-home show that was advertised to feature the return of Brock Lesnar and some kind of a showdown involving Roman Reigns and the WWE United States Champion Rusev.
What we ended up getting was a pretty decent final sell for what will end up being a six hour night of wrestling on Sunday that breaks down as a two hour pre-show and a four hour event. Jon Stewart is also going to show up if you missed the announcement.
Before we get to a loaded weekend of wrestling, let’s talk about RAW in Corpus Christi.
Brock Lesnar brings the star power
It never ceases to amaze me the reaction Brock Lesnar gets when he walks through a curtain and on to the WWE stage. He just has a star power that is unmatched by a majority of people on the current WWE roster. WWE is continuing to use him great as a special attraction and the involvement of Heath Slater tonight was unexpected and entertaining. Lesnar even got the opportunity to talk a bit on the microphone and showed he can still be pretty comfortable in that situation when the time calls for it. WWE has done an excellent job since he’s been back to hype this match with Randy Orton on Sunday.
WWE gets a glimpse of The Demon King
This is where the NXT dorks can be pretty obnoxious. Yes, we know you’ve been watching Finn Balor’s demon entrance for a long time now. We get it, you watch NXT and you know things. Now is the time to give a much larger audience a taste of this Demon character and I thought WWE did a pretty good job doing that tonight. Seth Rollins saying Demon King about 100 times tonight was a tad obnoxious. However, I think it provided an interesting glimpse of what is to come on Sunday at SummerSlam with this other side of Balor’s character. I’m more curious to see how Balor holds up in the ring on a bigger platform.
Roman Reigns vs. Rusev six days before another match
I was a little skeptical booking a match between these two just six days away from the scheduled WWE United States Championship match. I was pleasantly surprised to see a very good main event with a lot of great psychology. Lana is still one of the best character actors in this company and she is a huge asset on the outside for Rusev’s character. Both guys looked like they were working over time tonight in Texas and it was nice to see them hold nothing back this close to the PPV. Having Reigns win plants a nice seed for Sunday and sets the idea that Rusev just can’t beat Reigns. Good call by WWE.
Quick Thoughts
* I have absolutely no idea why Sheamus cut that pre-match promo. Not good.
* I’m looking forward to The New Day vs. The Club on Sunday.
* Nia Jax shows lots of potential for the women’s division.
* I’m really enjoying the pairing of Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho.
* This Darren Young thing is already started to lose traction and fast.
* Neville is still one of the most impressive in-ring guys on the WWE roster.
* I’m enjoying Charlotte as heel. She’s really getting comfortable.
* Sasha Banks needs to slow down when she’s talking.
Overall Impression
After a pretty lackluster week of television from both shows last week, I thought WWE rebounded tonight and setup a lot of good stuff for SummerSlam on Sunday. I’m really looking forward to see what we get from this brand post-SummerSlam. It sure seems like they are pretty content with keeping Roman Reigns as a big focus. I’m not sure how long that holds up with a new Universal Championship in the mix after Sunday.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you thought of RAW in the comments below.
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