New RAW Tag Team Champions Were Crowned In Manchester
Welcome back to the weekly RAW recap! The WWE is out across the pond this week in the United Kingdom, and it seems they’re dead set on giving the Brits some great shows and everlasting moments, including a hometown RAW debut from one of the best wrestlers in the world and a Tag Team Title change in the main event! Let’s talk about it!
The Miz and RAW General Manager Kurt Angle kicked the show off, and while I completely see what they were trying to do (and have been trying to do for months), I’m just not sure it’s connecting. They’re trying to recapture the chemistry that The Miz and Daniel Bryan had in a weird reverse Austin/McMahon way, where the boss is the babyface and the employee is the heel. It was the best feud of the year in 2016, and now they think Miz can just do that with any authority figure. He kinda can, and it helps that Angle can wrestle so they can actually settle things in the ring, but it’s just not the same. I think moving Miz off SmackDown during the superstar shakeup was a big mistake and still is, but he’s doing the best he can with the reanimated body of Kurt Angle and it’s not bad.
Yes to all of this. I need more ______ on a pole matches, I need more guitar smashing, and I need WWE to rename this show WCW Monday Night Nitro for like a year. Just shake everything up and go back to the good ol’ days of nosediving 2000s World Championship Wrestling. I’ve got nothing bad to say about this with the hope that they just do way more of it.
Asuka’s back to doing squash matches like she was in NXT, which should’ve been the direction from her main roster debut, but they’re on the right path now, so I’m happy.
This. Was. Awesome. I really hope we’re done with Bray Wyatt/Sister Abigail and that’s retconned, because the re-spark of this rivalry plus the AJ Styles match makes you realize how amazing Finn can be as a badass babyface when he’s not held back. Finn diving off the stage kinda defied gravity Wicked-style, too, yeah? Homeboy took flight for an hour.
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Braun Strowman’s Intercontinental Championship opportunity was spoiled by the Devil’s Favorite Demon, Glenn, when he ran in for the disqualification. I don’t hate this for Braun right now as long as he steamrolls Braun at the pay per view, but they gotta not harm other talent to build Glenn up. He’s not worth it at this point in his career.
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THE WWE UK CHAMPION! THE BRUISERWEIGHT! PETER THOMAS DUNNE!
I don’t know how many of you guys watched WWE’s UK Tournament special, or NXT TakeOver Chicago, or keep up with the indie scene in the UK, but you SHOULD know about Pete Dunne. He’s one of the best wrestlers in the world at only 23 years old, and he and Tyler Bate may be the future of the business. This was an awesome moment for him in Manchester, being introduced by Kurt Angle, getting the win, being a badass. It was my favorite moment of the night, and one of my favorite RAW moments in months.
While this match and segment were both good, the plans they’re setting up are GREAT. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this means we’re getting The Shield vs The New Day at Survivor Series (Roman will be back), and that is a BIG FIGHT FEEL kind of match. This is the kind of match, where if it were built correctly, would’ve justified The Shield reuniting. I loved the RAW roster running down like “OH NO YOU DON’T MOTHAFUCKAS!” too. Good stuff.
Overall a great show in Manchester, and tonight’s SmackDown is also a really good time. CHeck that out, then swap over to ESPN (I know, I know, they suck) for “Nature Boy”, Ric Flair’s 30 for 30.