Fallin’
This was an absolutely tepid edition of Monday Night Raw. It started ominously with a weigh-in that wasn’t, then continued with a concert featuring Joe Hendry, Danhausen, Minihausens, and the Clippers dance squad. We also got several video packages with wrestlers looking at the wall instead of the camera, and an entertaining segment with The Bloodline, LA Knight, and Solo Sikoa. More on that later.
I had no idea what to write for
about two hours. I almost went with a picture or clip of a dumpster fire and calling it a night. But then Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins stood in the ring across from each other with microphones in their hands. This was more about Roman for me. He’s always interesting when he drops the veneer and shows he’s not as aloof as he wants us to think. Besides sending a subtle shot at CM Punk by calling himself the only true champion in the company, he emphasized the point he made weeks ago: He needs to beat Seth Rollins. He then ran down the list of people who also need him to beat Seth: the family, the industry, the company. According to Roman, everyone needs to see him pin his nemesis for three seconds on a summer night in Minnesota.
Yeah, BS.
Roman needs this for Roman because he’s still not over Seth betraying him more than a decade ago. No matter how many accolades or how much money he makes, that night haunts him. Even Seth calling him the biggest star in the game isn’t enough. Maybe Roman secretly agrees that Seth is the better professional wrestler, which surely can’t help that nagging insecurity.
That same insecurity foretold Roman’s downfall in this segment, and doesn’t bode well for him at SummerSlam:
Look at it! Roman had Seth dead to rights. Or he could’ve left the ring with the upper hand. But no. Just like at WrestleMania XL, just like any other time they’re in the ring together, Roman cannot help but look to exact his revenge. He still wants to hurt Seth the same way Seth hurt him despite his former buddy admitting Roman is on a level in the business that he may never reach.
As long as Roman holds on to that feeling, Seth has him beat. As long as he lets that night define him, Seth will always be better. And the longer he can’t let go of the distant past, it means a bad omen for his immediate future.
B-Sides
- Solo Sikoa saying “pew pew pew” into the microphone to mock Jey Uso’s “warning shot” catchphrase made me cackle. That was the highlight of a segment that was built around a showdown between Royce Keys and Jacob Fatu. Besides the hilarious face version of Solo, Royce and Jacob’s thing interest me the most. They’re too big dude who throw hands, but they have history. I hoped their past got more exploration but hopefully that’s on the table for a later date.
- Raquel Rodriguez is the new Women’s Intercontinental Champion. This was a physical match, which seems obvious anytime someone suffers a bloody nose. Raquel bled while cheating her way to victory. Plenty of interference from Roxanne Perez & Liv Morgan, which means Sol should definitely have a rematch coming her way. Should.
- I don’ know what else to say about the concert. Well, I can say Judgment Day interfered (thankfully) and now we have a “Human Monies on a Pole” match at SummerSlam between Danhausen and Dirty Dom. Hopefully the Minnesota crowd is into that more than the LA crowd was into this concert.
- I said last week that I hope this thing between Alpha Academy and The Vision isn’t just the bullies beating up on the good guys with no comeuppance. Well, looks like that’s what it might be. The Vision defeated Alpha Academy in a tag match, thanks to Otis still not realizing Maxxine is trash. That distraction caused them the match. Well, that and what Michael Cole called “Double Vision.” The thing they do where Austin Theory holds someone in the middle of the ring while Bron Breakker hits the ropes and builds momentum before executing the spear? That’s now called “Double Vision.” First off, I hope Foreigner sues. Secondly, why?
- The less said about the weigh-in the better so I won’t.
SummerSlam is coming up but I wouldn’t know that watching this episode of Raw. It was a mess from start to almost finish. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins salvaged what they could but this show didn’t work for me. I was very disappointed for the go home Raw before one of WWE’s marquee shows.
