The Demon King Strikes
Seth Rollins, looking for Finn Balor all night long finally gets what he wanted. Finn Balor comes out as his alter ego and the makeup and body paint is spot on. The crowd loves it and the fight begins. He hits a few kicks and a few dropkicks, connecting with a dive to the outside. Seth Rollins retreats and The Demon King stands in the middle of the ring.
I thought this was EXACTLY what WWE needed to do with Finn Balor. Tease it for a few weeks and then have Balor come out painted up and make a statement. It really is a coin flip for me right now when thinking about who will win on Sunday. Yes, Finn could use it more than Seth, but if Rollins wins he becomes one the most hated guys in WWE. Yes, he will still be cheered based on his talent, but every internet dweeb wants Finn to walk away with the gold around his waist.
When you look at tonight’s developments, you give hope that WWE knows how to book Finn Balor moving forward. If I was them, I would not have Balor channel his inner Demon King on Raw until another CRITICAL storyline. This was just enough and was perfect.
Reigns vs. Rusev
They go at it as soon as Reigns hits the ring. They end up on the floor and Reigns nails the Drive By. Rusev tries to get a break but Reigns follows. Rusev counters and sends Reigns ribs-first into the barrier. Rusev sends Reigns into the ring post next. We go to commercial without even getting the bell.
Roman Reigns gets rolling with a Samoan Drop, but the champion fires back with a flurry of kicks and punches. He throws Roman into the steel steps a few times and then Roman gets back to his feet. He tosses Rusev into the barricade, looking to injure his arm. They trade finisher attempts and Rusev hits a diving headbutt. Rusev with another headbutt for another 2 count. He sets up his massive kick, but Reigns nails a Superman punch in mid-air. Reigns only gets a two count and then he gets a big kick to the face. The Accolade is applied and Reigns is able to battle out of it. Rusev blocks another punch and hits a kick to the back. Rusev locks in The Accoladebut Reigns gets to the ropes and breaks the hold. Reigns finally hits a spear out of nowhere to get the win.
Many complains will be “why did they give us this match for free a week before SummerSlam?” Well, no title on the line means the match will be worth more on Sunday. It was a great 25 minutes of television and one of the better matches since “The New Era” tag line was added to Raw. You had drama. You had power and two men who are competing over a championship that WWE desperately wants to make important again. Last week was random, but this week made sense. I still would have had Demon King end Raw, but this was a really good main event for WWE.
WWE has 10 matches at SummerSlam. When you look at the card, The two world championship matches, Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton and John Cena vs. AJ Styles are higher profiled and more important. This is a deep card and a really intriguing one at that. I am good with WWE giving us these two guys battling. I would add a No Disqualification stipulation to it on Sunday, but that is unlikely. All in all, a great match to end Raw and they did not give us EVERYTHING that they could have. They are saving some for the big stage, but teased us with what we can expect.
@JoshIsenberg4 on Twitter. WWE Raw Rating:
