Raw airs tonight (Aug. 31) with a taped show (spoilers here) emanating from Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. This is the fifth episode of Raw during the nine week build to Money in the Bank, which takes place on October 10.
WWE’s most predictable tournament ever ends with a thriller
The tournament to determine which luchador gets to lose against World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns wraps up on tonight’s Raw with a final match between the Lucha Bros, Penta and Rey Fenix.
I’d argue this is the most predictable 8-man tournament in WWE history. Only three of
the eight participants (Penta, Fenix, Dragon Lee) are regularly featured on WWE programming, so they were of course going to win their first round matches against wrestlers from AAA. And with the way the bracket was set up, Penta and Fenix had to win their second round matches to meet up in the final for a brother versus brother showdown. That means the first round match of La Parka vs. Psycho Clown is the only one up to this point that a WWE fan may not have been very confident about the outcome ahead of time.
As far as tonight’s final match is concerned, the winner is just as predictable as the rest of the tournament. Penta is the former Intercontinental champion who is over with WWE fans and always positioned well on Raw, while Fenix has been a low card guy for a long time on SmackDown. It’s obvious which wrestler is winning this match and doing the job for Roman Reigns in Mexico City next month.
Even so, the odds are high that Penta vs. Fenix will still end up being a great match. They are both excellent workers who shouldn’t have any trouble putting on a thriller to keep fans on the edge of their seats. And Roman Reigns is in the building, so there may even be an intriguing post-match angle where the winner gets in his face and does something unexpected to create more interest in their world title match.
Which Lucha Bro will earn the privilege to lose against Roman Reigns next month in Mexico City? Tune into Raw tonight to find out.
The rest of the card
Women’s Intercontinental Champion Raquel Rodriguez defends her title tonight against former champion, Sol Ruca. Lyra Valkyria didn’t take too kindly to Sol getting this title match before her, so don’t be surprised if the high fashion hobo runs down to ruin the finish.
There’s urgent Bloodline business to take care of after last week’s angle where Royce Keys showed up with OTM to lay waste to The Usos, Solo Sikoa, and LA Knight. The part-time Tribal Chief wasn’t around last week when it all went down, but he’s back on Raw tonight to deal with the aftermath. After Solo Sikoa and LA Knight humiliated Roman two weeks ago, will he still prioritize taking them out rather than focusing on Royce and OTM? What does Roman have to say to Jacob Fatu after the Samoan Werewolf stood by and did nothing to help him two weeks ago? Can Royce give a good explanation for why he turned on Solo and LA after they all worked well together to beat The Bloodline at SummerSlam?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Oba Femi outshined World Tag Team Champion Bron Breakker on the mic during the contract signing for their upcoming match at Sunday Night’s Main Event. The segment ended with Bron running away and that dweeb Austin Theory getting his ass put through a table. If Bron can’t rely on Paul Heyman, Theory, or the injured Logan Paul to help him take out Oba, is it now time to give Bronson Reed a phone call?
– Stephanie Vaquer is getting her rematch against Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan next week (Sept. 7) on Raw. Becky Lynch was there last week to help Stephanie fend off the numbers game of The Judgment Day. Does The Man plan to do the same thing during the title match next week, or will she leave Vaquer all alone after La Primera foolishly said she doesn’t want Becky’s help?
– Je’Von Evans is really good at eating big boots from Big Cass. Is Big finally ready to target another hapless babyface after beating Evans in a match last week? Evans was attacked by The Judgment Day’s JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio after the match, so he may need to find a partner to get some revenge on them tonight.
– Even though Chad Gable is now a babyface and no longer pretending to be a luchador, it stands out to me that he beat babyface luchador Penta to win the Intercontinental championship, and then successfully defended the title against the greatest babyface luchador of all-time, Rey Mysterio. Does WWE have any more babyface luchadors for babyface Gable to outclass next before he inevitably mixes it up with Ethan Page?
– It looks like Lola Vice is coming to Raw on September 14. Does that mean Damian Priest is moving over to the Raw roster soon?
– Danhausen needs someone new to curse and humiliate if he plans to visit Raw. What about Rusev?
– Where the f*** are Seth Rollins and Bayley?
What will you be looking for on Raw?
