WWE RAW Recap, August 21: Braun Strowman gets Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar gets a challenger for No Mercy, a surprise guest shows up to have a chat with Roman Reigns, and much more on the RAW after SummerSlam.
Let’s get right into recapping everything that happened Monday night during the post-SummerSlam edition of RAW.
Monster-Handled
It’s always great to see Brock Lesnar wear that shiny Universal Championship around his waist, and it’s an image that we should all try to remember fondly, since you can count the number of Lesnar appearances on RAW per year on your hands, and unless Lesnar is in the middle of a blood feud (usually reserved for the Big Four shows), he seems to go MIA after a big PPV win, at least for a month or two. NOT THIS TIME!!!!
While Lesnar and Heyman came out for the “I told you so!!!” that we’ve come to expect (people still doubt this man?), another contestant from SummerSlam’s main event was not interested in any celebrations. Braun Strowman walked to the ring, body slammed the champ multiple times, and left. It was something that we couldn’t imagine seeing any other superstar do to the Beast, not even someone like the Big Show.
The match I have been fantasy booking and drooling over for my entire life is Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman, and thanks to our beautiful GM, we are five weeks away from seeing them square off at No Mercy. This build-up could be one of the greatest of all time, and when you have two guys who can inflict violence at a semi-automatic rate of fire, there’s no predicting what the next month is going to bring.
A Surprise Guest
With rumors swirling around who Kurt Angle’s invited guest would be, my first thought was Bobby Roode, who is fresh off of losing his NXT Championship at TakeOver. Since this whole weekend was in Brooklyn, it was totally plausible that Roode would get a promotion and make an appearance on RAW. Turns out, we got someone way more popular — or unpopular, if you hate bright colors and children — in John Cena. Cena has been using the phrase Free Agent to describe himself since his return to WWE television last month, so it felt like it was inevitable that he’d be bouncing back and forth between RAW and SmackDown Live, putting over any and all comers who need it.
As it turns out, the person who Cena would be challenging doesn’t need any putting over, as he’s been the most put over superstar of the decade, Roman Reigns. A spark between Reigns and Cena was ignited by an unlikely source (just kidding, it’s very likely): Twitter. Reigns interrupted Cena’s promo, where Cena would have eventually called out Reigns, but RR wanted to expedite this process. Reigns and Cena took turns getting yelled at by the Brooklyn crowd — who doesn’t deserve SummerSlam weekend after being mostly known for beach balls and whining about belts — but it was the Miz who would do the majority of the yelling in this segment. The entire Miztourage came to the ring, and Cena immediately mocked Miz and his pronunciation of “Barclays,” but that doesn’t mean the crowd wasn’t willing to side with Miz, especially after his proclamation that Reigns and Cena get too much love from WWE upper management. (Even I cheered for that.)
This segment was awesome, not only because of the great (AWESOME!) work of the Miz, but because Reigns and Cena have been two of the company’s top stars, but have somehow never faced each other one-on-one. It’s more of a dream match than Cena vs. just about anyone else, including Shinsuke Nakamura and Jinder Mahal. The Miz was challenged to a Tag Team match by Cena; the Miz would be able to pick either member of the Miztourage to partner with, while Cena would be teaming with Roman Reigns. Miz didn’t even have enough time to decide between Bo Dallas or Curtis Axel before Samoa Joe interrupted, and demand to be Miz’s tag team partner in what would be the the main event of the night.
Cena and Reigns ended up winning the match, but it wasn’t without turmoil. Reigns ended up hitting Cena with a Superman Punch in the middle of the match, but somehow Cena hit the Miz with an Attitude Adjustment, picking up the win for the team. This match kicked off the program between Reigns and Cena, but where does Samoa Joe fit into all this? If it leads to him fighting the Miz at No Mercy for the Intercontinental Championship, then boy oh boy, we are in for a treat.
Highlight Reel
Enzo Amore
An open letter to Enzo Amore: Enzo, my man. You have to move on from Big Cass. He beat you clean at Great Balls of Fire, and then he not only beat your closest friend Big Show at SummerSlam, but also knocked you out in the process. I assume WWE made Big Cass turn on you so that he could eventually go on a dominate singles run, but if he can’t get past you — even though he’s done just that on multiple occasions — how is he going to make it to the Universal Championship picture? I understand that’s not exactly what you want for your ex-partner, but what is it you do want? Do you want to get knocked out by him week in and week out? Because if you keep challenging him to matches, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
Look, I get it, you defeated him in a Brooklyn Street Fight thanks to a shopping cart full of weapons, and an untimely injury to Cass’ knee (TBD whether this is storyline injury or not) which is a much-needed boost for your career. Now, instead of going back for more next week, how about you ride this high into another feud. I hear Elias is looking for someone to hit over the head with a guitar. Or maybe you should stay out of the ring completely, and keep putting over KFC.
Regardless, Enzo, on behalf of the WWE Universe, we are so (SO!!!!!) over this feud, and you should be too.
Bye, Emma
Emma was squashed by Nia Jax, and that’s all that needs to be said about that.
Who wants to walk with Elias?!
If I were WWE, I’d save money by not buying songs made by platinum artists for their pay-per-views, and make Elias the in-house composer for everything. His remix of R-Truth’s “What’s Up?” was the best sequel to a song since Ignition Part 2, and his match against R-Truth was the best squash since… well, since Nia Jax did it to Emma.
The random, 8-man cruiserweight match
Cedric Alexander helped his team pick up the win in an Eight-Man Tag Team match, but the biggest story coming out of the Cruiserweight Division happened backstage, when Akira Tozawa challenged Neville to a Cruiserweight Championship rematch on 205 Live. Tozawa did what nobody had done before when he beat Neville, and took the Cruiserweight Championship from him, but it was a comically short-lived reign, lasting only six days.
I have a feeling that he won’t be beating Neville on 205 Live, only because it doesn’t make any sense having Tozawa win the title twice in eight days. Then again, I didn’t think a beach ball would have been the official mascot of SummerSlam 2017, so what is reality, really?
Dream tag match on RAW
Our new RAW Tag Team Champions began their reign being interrupted by the Hardy Boyz. Honestly, it was incredible, and seeing these three great wrestlers, plus Dean Ambrose, standing together was something I’d never thought I’d see. The Hardys came out to congratulate the new champions, and challenge them to a match, which Rollins & Ambrose graciously accepted, and won. It may have been the most exciting match of the night, but didn’t really advance anyone’s stories. Sometimes, a good, fun match is all the story you need.
What is even happening with Jason Jordan?
Jason Jordan knows exactly which strings to pull to get what he wants, so he did just that when he asked his father for an opportunity for some competition. Jordan demanded Finn Balor, who was fresh off a SummerSlam win against RAW’s other resident demonic figure, Bray Wyatt.
For all the hype that surrounded Jason Jordan with the Kurt Angle storyline, he can’t seem to buy a win. He lost in front of seven people during the SummerSlam pre-show, and lost to Balor on Monday. If he loses again next week, he may need his dad to use some of that red, white, blue and golden influence of his.
Just because JJ keeps losing doesn’t mean he definitely won’t be in a title picture real soon. Why else even make this relationship a story?
Next: 15 WWE Superstars who could take on White Walkers
We’re getting a title match next week
Sasha Banks’ championship celebration was less violent than Rollins & Ambrose’s, but there were still peaceful protests made by Alexa Bliss, who looks incomplete without a title around her waist. Next week, Bliss gets her contractually obligated rematch, but for this week, the Boss was safe.
After Nia Jax’s squash of Emma, and with Bayley on the shelf, it’s only a matter of time before Jax gets a chance at the RAW Women’s Championship. I only want to live in a world where Braun Strowman and Nia Jax are champions, and I feel like we are inching closer and closer to that beautiful world every week.