Summer Slam Is Done! Let RAW Guide You to the Next Stop...

Greetings Enthusiasts!

How did Summer Slam treat you?  Well, for me I thought it was lacking but not exactly a bad show.  It was like a really solid RAW.  There wasn’t so much the pomp and circumstance that I was anticipating for a Summer Slam. That’s the main reason I thought there’d be a lot of “last minute changes” but it went pretty much as advertised so, all I hope for now is that this was the plan.  This is fine if it's a step towards a larger unveiling/reveal but if this was all they had this year, I hope they take note and set a higher standard for next year. It really didn’t feel like that big of a deal.

As for the content itself, a few segments stood out. As many of you know, The Fiend made his in-ring debut and for me, I wasn’t all that impressed yet, I accept that I am in the minority.  That being said, this got me more excited for the return of Finn Bálor.  I know he’s going to take a little time off and this absence is the perfect opportunity to retool The Dæmon. Since "The Fiend" is clearly up to no good, that means something has to come along to keep it in check.  That is where the feud can begin and in my opinion, Bálor should always have the upper hand because myth supersedes psychosis. If they can double-back and utilize The Dæmon correctly and have the character get into The Fiend’s/Bray Wyatt’s head, like really spook us out, they may just have something.  This has to be well-thought out.  Can’t stress it enough.  Any misfire, and We the Audience won’t buy it.  I feel so bad with how they just missed the mark with Bálor, I think he deserves a real chance.  If he can get into the spookiness of his character, we’ll have ourselves a full-fledged horrorfest with Bálor serving as Overseer to the Darkness that The Fiend and all those similar represents. Like I said, they’ll have to be crafty in establishing this but it can be done.

The other interesting moment of the night is the crowd completely rejecting the Double Countout between Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton.  This is something the WWE has to be wary of as the Future progresses.  They cannot underestimate the audience and this could be considered an instance of just that.  We know this is scripted and the crowd straight called the script out for sucking.  They weren’t having it and I can understand.  I wasn’t that outraged but it is looking like a fair amount of us don’t want to be “dicked around”.  If they don’t have a rematch for Smackdown, they’ll probably have it for Clash of Champions in September. I believe they were trying to have both wrestlers save face but we don't want any bullshit endings.  They'll have to think the no-decision through.  It will have to serve more purpose now.

Then to close, the main event with Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins. Well, I’m proud of Rollins here because he went from being written off to hero of the evening.  This was the best match of the night and it was practically destined to be the worst.  Rollins was scrappy and tough while Lesnar sold being the “real fighter” in the match but Rollins just appeared to want it more.  I’m glad he pulled it off.  Now, the true test: holding our interest.  The WWE Mob is quite fickle and will turn for the silliest of reasons.  I think the key for Rollins from here on out is not letting that get to him.  Looks like Lesnar will take his usual break as he’s not slated for a rematch so, we’ll see how they bring him back into the fold.  First, we see who’s next to challenge for the Universal Title.

We’ll probably get a bit of that for tonight’s RAW but there’s not much advertised.  Looks like the new Women’s Tag Team Champs in Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross will take on the Kabuki Warriors, no word if the title is on the line.  And The Miz will face-off against his fellow/rival in-house “Douche” in Dolph Ziggler.  As for anything else, we’ll have to sit tight and wait.  So, funny tweets will get retweeted and as for Likes/Favorites, well since it’s the Fallout, we should monitor how the WWE proceeds from here.  Do they prompt us to forget everything that just happened or do they embellish?  Regardless, what matters is if we’re entertained in the process.  This is about execution.  They either demonstrate a larger plan or they distract and redirect with action and comedy.  Ideally, I think it should be a healthy dose of both, but that’s just me.

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)