2 reasons why Monday Night Raw has been better

WWE Monday Night Raw has spent months struggling in the ratings. But there are two big reasons for optimism as the red brand has recently rebounded.

Monday Night Raw has been on a tear the past couple of weeks. The program also got a huge boost, as Paul Heyman, the advocate for Money In The Bank winner Brock Lesnar, was also named Executive Director of Monday Night Raw. Some of his ideas were used right away and the result was an improvement in the ratings.

The July 1 episode had a 40,000 increase in viewership from the previous week. You can read more below from Fightful.

"ShowbuzzDaily reported that this week’s episode of WWE Raw (June 24) landed at an average of 2.275 million viewers, which is a 40,000 increase from last week’s episode, and up 150,000 from June 10’s non-holiday low."

Why has Raw been better lately? It is because of better storylines and character development.

Storylines and matches

It seems like over the past couple of weeks, we have been getting some new matches with talents. Ricochet and AJ Styles have started a feud for the United States Championship. The matches those two have had so far have been very exciting, and very fast paced. They have also main-evented Raw for two straight weeks.

Raw, especially the July 1 edition, started off with a bang, literally, as Braun Strowman ran through the LED board, which destroyed the stage.

We also saw The New Day and The Viking Experience face each other on the show for the very first time. Though it ended in a disqualification as Samoa Joe came in and interrupted the match by going after The New Day, it still was an entertaining match.

These are just some of the ways Raw has been better. The only recycled feuds we have been getting is Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin, Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans, Bobby Lashley vs. Strowman, while the Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre stuff continues, but now with The Undertaker added.

Since then, we have seen new feuds and new matches put together. By far, the best of these is the aforementioned Ricochet and Styles pairing. Both are huge fan favorites, and this feud should go very well with the fans, especially if it is not overbooked.

Another new storyline on Raw appears to involve Maria Kanellis and her husband, Mike. They were facing Lynch and Rollins in a mix tag match, Maria announced she was pregnant to the WWE Universe and Lynch backed off, then went back into the ring with Mike being shocked that his wife is pregnant. Lynch would then apply the disarmer on Mike, and he would tap out.

These type of storylines seems like the WWE is going back to the Attitude Era, and moving away from the PG-era, which is something fans have been wanting for a long time.

Another thing that has been going very well with the fans, is the 24/7 Championship. The booking for these segments have been excellent, and have done very well on WWE’s YouTube as well. The way they have it booked, so that wrestlers can win it no matter where they are as long as they have a ref adds a lot of intrigue, especially for the fans because the title can literally change hands at anytime. The belt might not look great, but the booking is — and that’s the most important thing.

Character development

The best example of Raw‘s improved character development is Nikki Cross — They have done so well developing her character over the past couple of months. She is still a crazy woman, but she now has a friendlier side. Pairing her with five-time women’s champion Alexa Bliss has done wonders for her. These two have worked off each other well, with good chemistry. These two could and should be women’s tag team champions in the future.

The fact that they are having Cross cashing in all the wins and taking the credit, while giving Bliss opportunities for championship matches if Cross wins, certainly seems that we are headed towards a future split between the two. More than likely it’s Cross turning on Bliss, by being jealous of Bliss getting the title opportunities over her. Or, Bliss could turn on Cross, and be the back-stabbing “friend” once again. The former would be the better move.

Meanwhile, Lacey Evans has emerged as the top heel in the women’s division in the short time she has moved to the main roster. She has done a great job on the microphone and her matches have been good, even though she has forgotten her spots a couple of times owing to her inexperience. Overall, her improvement as a character as a whole in the short time she’s been a member of Raw has been really impressive. The WWE should not have had her be partnered up with Corbin, but it makes sense due to both the storyline and the relationship between Lynch and Rollins.

Overall, Monday Night Raw has been a better show and product overall, which is great news for the company moving forward. With Heyman being brought onboard to the Raw brand, expect the product to be better, more edgier, but with great storylines overall. With Raw being a hit to open July it will be interesting to see how they follow it up in the coming weeks.