Rate Raw 07/25/2016

[Jacob Fox]

Please rate Raw in the poll above and then let us know what you think of the first Raw of the new era in the comments below!

Spoiler: Raw Results

Opening

The show opened with Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon introducing the entire Raw roster to the WWE crowd. Stephanie then directly blamed Roman Reigns for not bringing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to Raw.

Stephanie and Mick then announced that RAW needs a champion and that they were going to create a new belt and name it after the fans. This became the WWE Universal Championship. In order to determine the champion they announced two fatal fourways to happen on Raw tonight. The winner of both matches would face each other in the main event. Then, the winner of that main event would face Seth Rollins at Summerslam to become the inaugural WWE Universal Champion.

In addition, since Charlotte was pinned by Sasha Banks, Charlotte was informed she would be defending the title tonight against her.

First Fatal Fourway Finn Balor vs Cesaro vs Kevin Owens vs Rusev

Finn Balor pinned Kevin Owens to win the fatal fourway and advance to the main event of Raw.

Nia Jax vs Brit Baker

Nia Jax defeated Brit Baker by pinfall.

Chris Jericho vs Roman Reigns vs Sami Zayn vs Sheamus

Roman Reigns won the match by pinning Chris Jericho following a spear. Reigns advanced to the main event to face Finn Balor with the winner advancing to the main event of Summerslam for the new WWE Universal Title.

New Day Celebration

The New Day came out to celebrate their record setting WWE World Tag Team Championship reign. They picked a fan out of the ringside to be an honorary member of the New Day. The fan insisted his name was Sonny Boy when the New Day grilled him about it not possibly being able to be his name. After celebrating, the Club came in and beat up the New Day as Sonny Boy fled the ring.

Neville vs Curtis Axel

Neville defeated Curtis Axel by pinfall

Sasha Banks vs Charlotte for the WWE Women's Championship

Sasha Banks defeated Charlotte when Charlotte tapped out to the Bank Statement to become the new WWE Women's Champion. During the match, Sasha performed a version of the legendary Eddie Guerrero chair trick. She was outside of the ring and she tossed the WWE Women's belt at Dana Brooke. Then Sasha fell to the ground as if she had been hit by the belt. The referee saw this and assumed that Dana hit Sasha and he ejected her.

Braun Strowman vs James Ellsworth (SP)

Braun defeated James in a really fast and cheap squash match by pinfall.

Enzo and Cass vs the Shining Stars

Enzo and Cass defeated the Shining Stars by pinfall in rather short fashion.

Roman Reigns vs Finn Balor, the Winner Advances to Summerslam

Finn Balor defeated Roman Reigns after hitting the coup de grace. With the victory, Finn Balor moves to the main event of Summerslam to face Seth Rollins for the new WWE Universal Championship

 

[Messiah1]

It was better than expected.. Not much entertained me still, and Seth Rollins didn't take over the show like i expected him to.. There's too many people i hate on RAW.

5/10 is a good rating for this show.

 

[Gman003]

Big one-oh. 10/10.

The new look gives a new feel. Most definitely. The red ropes got me like wow.
Action packed episode. The first one in a while that I didn't fast foward at all. I'm pumped for this split

 

[Jacob Fox]

10/10. This is the best and most enjoyable Raw I have seen in a very, very long time. It was strong, from the new set design, to the new camera work to the new storylines. It had good matches and even the couple jobber matches didn't detract from the show. I was entertained thoroughly throughout the entire three hours of the show. I was happy with the not predictable ending as well.

I liked:

The opening segement

First Fatal Fourway Finn Balor vs Cesaro vs Kevin Owens vs Rusev ***1/2 A strong and very very entertaining match from the opening bell to the end when Finn advanced to the final match.

Chris Jericho vs Roman Reigns vs Sami Zayn vs Sheamus *** Not as strong as the first one and the ending was more predictable, but this was a good and fun match. A great follow up to the first fourway.


Sasha Banks vs Charlotte for the WWE Women's Championship **** Match of the night for me. This was a phenomenal match. I loved Banks' version of the Eddie Guerrero chair trick with the woman's belt. I was happy to see her win but I was more happy to see her put on a good match and to win the championship after a good match. Awesome and we have a great new women's champion.

Roman Reigns vs Finn Balor *** The match wasn't the best but it was a good and enjoyable match. And I totally marked out when Finn won and he moved on to the Summerslam match.

The ironic thing is that I wouldn't mind seeing a Rollins vs Reigns rematch, but I am happy to see Balor vs Rollins. I am so much looking forward to it.

I was indifferent to:

The rest but none of it was really bad, other than the Sonny Boy bit. But still, regardless, none of the bad stuff took away from the good stuff. This was an excellent Raw and I hope to see the Brand Split continue to produce quality shows like this.

 

[Rogue]

Should've been Owens.:ko:

Results look good besides that, though.

 

[¡Tranquilo!]

The Good:

Pretty much everything there were no weak segments/matches tonight. All fun and entertaining.

Charlotte Vs. Sasha Bankz has to be one of the greatest matches on RAW ever, right? Pretty shocking that Sasha won tonight but it was the first RAW of the "new" era and they had to do something big--had to expect at least one title change tonight.

Finn Bálor's first night on RAW and he beat Roman Reigns clean...that man is over as fuck in stamford(and Roman is deep in that dog house). He was incredible tonight and my god...Finn Bálor Vs. Seth Rollins at Summerslam...

The Club Vs. New Day should be good...just gonna put it out there...now would be a good time to sign and throw Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks on RAW...just sayin'.

Love the show's makeover. +10 for red ring ropes.

The Bad:

Not feeling the new title name. It'll grow on me eventually; can't wait to see the design.

10/10.

 

[DK JAMES]

Damn I'm really glad everyone enjoyed it. I also enjoyed it quite a bit and gave it an 9/10.

-NEW INTRO VIDEO. RED ROPES. NEW STAGE. NEW ANNOUNCE TABLE SPOT. CHANGES. I loved it right off the bat.
-Finn fucking Balor
-First fatal four way was dope, really good way to start the show. Was hopin Cesaro/Owens woulda won but I enjoyed seein Finn get his first win.
-Nia Jax was cool but was never a big fan of her so this was meh to me.
-Sasha the GOAT. Great promo.
-Regins winning the second fatal four way was predictable as fuck but still good match.
-New Day segment was ight. Sonny Boy the real MVP. Expected the Club to come out. Still fun.
-Hope Curtis Axel gets more TV time with this split. Good seein Neville again.
-WOMENS MATCH WAS AMAZING. Best part of the night. Really coulda went either way but Sasha "The GOAT" Banks got the W and I couldn't be happier. Charlotte definitely proved herself though. looking forward to the rematch
-Strowman lol wrecked that noob. Was pretty entertained by all that though.
-Shining Stars getting mic time...that's what the brand split's about, people. Love how Enzo/Cass didn't even bother trash talking them haha just immediately went to SAWFT. Decent match, looking forward to the fallout.
-Grrrrrreat main event. The whole match I was thinking "Well Roman is obviously winning this..." but HOLY FUCK FINN BALOR DID IT. Finn vs Seth is going to be fuckin insane. Good to see Roman taken down a step. Hope he does some sort of mid-card feud. But fuck yea, Finn.

The New Era is clearly a success so far. Makes me happy seein everyone enjoyin it as well. I'll be at Smackdown tonight so i'm fuckin hyped after that great RAW.

 

[Wacokid27]

Opening

The show opened with Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon introducing the entire Raw roster to the WWE crowd. Stephanie then directly blamed Roman Reigns for not bringing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to Raw.

Stephanie and Mick then announced that RAW needs a champion and that they were going to create a new belt and name it after the fans. This became the WWE Universal Championship. In order to determine the champion they announced two fatal fourways to happen on Raw tonight. The winner of both matches would face each other in the main event. Then, the winner of that main event would face Seth Rollins at Summerslam to become the inaugural WWE Universal Champion.

In addition, since Charlotte was pinned by Sasha Banks, Charlotte was informed she would be defending the title tonight against her.

I thought this was an amazing opening segment. I worry about how Steph talked down to Roman. It's like they want the fans to still cheer for the guy (hell, I don't know...maybe they do). However, Roman was pretty roundly booed, even by the kiddos. I'm also not a fan of the name "WWE Universal Championship", but, hey...whatcha gonna do?

Having Balor come forward like they did was amazing and the crowd gave him the biggest pop of the eight.

First Fatal Fourway Finn Balor vs Cesaro vs Kevin Owens vs Rusev

Finn Balor pinned Kevin Owens to win the fatal fourway and advance to the main event of Raw.

This match was mind-blowingly good. All four men hit their spots and worked well together. The chemistry was unmistakable. Balor going over tells me that they're strapping a rocket to him, which is the right call.

Nia Jax vs Brit Baker

Nia Jax defeated Brit Baker by pinfall.

Not much to this match. They wanted Nia to look strong and she did. Dominant performance.

And how about a local jobber match! Took me back to my childhood.

Chris Jericho vs Roman Reigns vs Sami Zayn vs Sheamus

Roman Reigns won the match by pinning Chris Jericho following a spear. Reigns advanced to the main event to face Finn Balor with the winner advancing to the main event of Summerslam for the new WWE Universal Title.

This match wasn't going to be what the opener was, but that was okay. It was excellent in its own right. The storytelling was impressive and Jericho and Zayn did most of the heavy lifting. Roman going over was the right call because, if he hadn't, there would be the question out there about whoever won the main event being worthy.

New Day Celebration

The New Day came out to celebrate their record setting WWE World Tag Team Championship reign. They picked a fan out of the ringside to be an honorary member of the New Day. The fan insisted his name was Sonny Boy when the New Day grilled him about it not possibly being able to be his name. After celebrating, the Club came in and beat up the New Day as Sonny Boy fled the ring.

The New Day is hilarious. This is well-established. Their take on "Who's on First?" was entertaining and well-done. The Club's arrival was actually something of a surprise (particularly since you knew somebody had to be coming out) and their beatdown of the New Day was the right note to end the segment with to set up the Club challenging the New Day for the titles.

Nit-pick: As @Jacob Fox pointed out in the LD, it's not technically the same title, but it still doesn't really make sense that TND are the "longest-reigning Tag Team Champions when Demolition held another version of the WWF/WWE Tag Team Championship for longer (478 days to 338 and counting)...but I digress.

Neville vs Curtis Axel

Neville defeated Curtis Axel by pinfall

The "Mr. Irrelevant" tag was just cringeworthy and the match was short, but it re-established Neville well and gave him a win for his return. So, it was good.

Sasha Banks vs Charlotte for the WWE Women's Championship

Sasha Banks defeated Charlotte when Charlotte tapped out to the Bank Statement to become the new WWE Women's Champion. During the match, Sasha performed a version of the legendary Eddie Guerrero chair trick. She was outside of the ring and she tossed the WWE Women's belt at Dana Brooke. Then Sasha fell to the ground as if she had been hit by the belt. The referee saw this and assumed that Dana hit Sasha and he ejected her.

Some will call this the match of the night and there's a definite argument for that opinion, whether I agree with it or not. What I can say is that this was the best women's match we've seen on the WWE main roster in a long time. The real value of NXT is proven when we can see a match built around two of the brand's standouts being this big and this well-put-together on the main roster. Sasha winning here was the right call and sets up a huge rematch for the title at SummerSlam.

Braun Strowman vs James Ellsworth (SP)

Braun defeated James in a really fast and cheap squash match by pinfall.

So, Bram...er, Braun goes from being part of the creepy, cultish Wyatt Family to being a punk rock-viking guy. Okay. This was a dominant performance by Strowman (obviously) and starts him back out on a path of being a monster. So, Local Jobber Match #2 was a success.

Enzo and Cass vs the Shining Stars

Enzo and Cass defeated the Shining Stars by pinfall in rather short fashion.

This was probably the worst match of the night (I don't count local jobber squash matches when I say that, although they did what they were designed to do) and I wish these guys had been given more time so we could see if these guys have the ability to perform together. The Tag Team Division on Raw is still a small pool and these four will be a part of it for the foreseeable future, so it would help to know if these guys click in the ring. What we got was a short match with a few decent spots, but the whole thing felt rushed.

Roman Reigns vs Finn Balor, the Winner Advances to Summerslam

Finn Balor defeated Roman Reigns after hitting the coup de grace. With the victory, Finn Balor moves to the main event of Summerslam to face Seth Rollins for the new WWE Universal Championship

Very well done match if for no other reason than the shocking ending. I know a lot of us were hoping for a Balor victory but fully expecting to see Roman end up on top. What we did see was Roman selling Finn's offense very well. One has to wonder if HHH or Vince sat Roman down and gave him the "you're going to eat shit and you're going to have to learn to like it" speech a la Vince to HHH after the Curtain Call. Either way, they draft Finn third, give him two big wins in one night on his debut and he's set for a co-main event spot at SummerSlam. Not a bad night's work for Ferg.

OVERALL:

I gave the show a full 10/10. There were weak spots, but they were far overshadowed by some magnificent storytelling throughout. One hopes that the SD writing staff was watching and feels challenged to put together just as spectacular a show for their first post-draft live episode tomorrow night. Time will tell but I think we can feel optimistic about it.

wk

 

[Aurtle The Turtle]

Roman is getting punished significantly for juicing. All is good in the world.

10/10

 

[Harrison]

Roman is getting punished significantly for juicing. All is good in the world.

10/10

The double standard with that is really annoying, though

 

[britishheel]

basically the set looked fucking awesome, the announcers looked awesome sitting upon the ramp. And well the total ripping into Roman made my day. Let's face it Balor in that beautiful leather jacket is best for business.8/10

 

[Majour]

The only thing I didn't care for was the new theme song. Everything else was great.

 

[C.M. Shaddix]

This has to get 10/10
Now there was those Golden Truth Pokemon Go Segments, but I can't really give that a minus 1. The name "WWE Universal Championship" was a name I was actually thinking of for a belt for a long time, not surprised. The big points of this night:
-both fatal 4 ways
-Sasha Banks wins the Women's Title
-Great match between Roman and Finn in which Roman actually operated like a heel, oh and FINN WON

 

[C.M. Shaddix]

The only thing I didn't care for was the new theme song. Everything else was great.

Love Shinedown, that was a surprise hearing Enemies

 

[Majour]

Love Shinedown, that was a surprise hearing Enemies

It was pretty generic. The last theme wasn't great either.