Folks, normally I write the intro to the Nutshell before the show really gets rolling. Or, early on in the show when there is a lull. I fully admit I write it with the idea that I am hyping what you are about to read, which is why the headline tends to be not indicative of what happens. Sometimes when something staggering happens, that makes me change things up. Tonight, for all the wrong reasons, is one of those nights. I opted for the headline Thank You Roman, because so many on social media are doing the same things. If you didn’t already see it live, you will be unable to miss this-WWE Superstar Roman Reigns came down to the ring to open RAW, not in ring attire, but rather in street clothes. He addressed the fans, acknowledged that he was diagnosed with leukemia eleven years ago, and that, sadly, the disease had come back. He relinquished the Universal Title, and just like that, nothing else mattered on this show. With a heavy heart, we crack open this Nutshell.
Best Match of the night:
Without a doubt, the main event tag title match. After a shocking start, we had a great match end it…and then a shocking twist to silence the crowd as we go off air.
Ambrose is definitely playing up the lunatic bit…I mean, who else wins the tag belts, only to beat up his partner right after the win? Has to be one of the weirder turns in a while, even if we all expected a turn sooner or later. It makes sense that they did it tonight, because who would expect it tonight. It didn’t make sense though, because…well…tonight.
Makes me wonder if a-they got the belts just because of Reigns. And b-if WWE accelerated the heel turn because they wanted a hot feud at the top of the show to fill the void.
Worst match of the night:
I have nothing for this spot tonight.
Crowd Chants of the Night:
Thank you Roman
Star of the Night
This one, hands down, goes to Roman. Forget about battling Brock Lesnar or Braun Strowman. Reigns has a major fight in front of him now, and we wish him all the best.
Seth and Dean deserve honorable mentions. For one, it couldn’t be easy to wrestle a main event with a ton of emotion. For another, to pull off that heel turn after? Crazy professionalism there.
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
It would take a lot to top this. I won’t even think they can. Tonight, as has happened before, real life invaded the scripted bubble of WWE. Superstar and now former Universal Champion Roman Reigns shocked us all when he came out to open the show and relinquished the belt due to his leukemia coming back. So many wrestling fans have, over the last several years, loved to rag on Reigns, but I am fairly certain there isn’t a single one of them ragging on the man now.
Remember how I said it would take a lot? How about the long awaited Ambrose heel turn tonight…AFTER winning the tag titles with Seth Rollins. The only other recent turn I could say was remotely similar would have been when Roderick Strong turned on Pete Dunne as the pair were seconds away from winning the NXT tag belts.
But folks, in terms of emotions and whatnot, that’s about the most insane way to turn someone and get vast amounts of heel heat in one shot. I have to think some of that was altered by the show-opening news, so it will be curious to see what and how….but…wow.
Botch of the night:
Not a wrestling move. A wrestling decision.
With the controversy swirling around Crown Jewel-delayed ticket sales, Superstars (both anonymous and not) declaring they do not want to go to Saudi Arabia, with United States Senators urging WWE to reconsider-WWE decided to double down and make what was a scheduled triple threat match for the Universal Title into a one on one match to fill the vacant title.
I totally get needing to fill the void. But considering that, in spite of the vast amounts of Saudi cash that Vince wants to bring in, WWE should not be holding this event in November. I argued back in the beginning of the year that they probably shouldn’t have held the Greatest Royal Rumble either. I get the idea that they could be a vehicle for change in the region, but I didn’t see it in the first event, nor am I seeing it now. Regardless of that, however, I think by allowing the title to be filled on the event is almost like a reward to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, when no such reward should be granted. While you want the title to not be vacant…I would rather see it filled on RAW if you wanted it filled quickly, or Survivor Series if expediency didn’t matter as much.
So yes, I do think this decision was a botch.
Tweets of the night
Honestly, just go to Twitter and look at all the tweets with the hashtag “Thank you, Roman”. Just seeing faces and heels alike echo the same sentiment serves as a reminder or two: one, at the end of the day every one of these Superstars, good guys and bad, are real people. And two, they are a family.
“I’ve been living with leukemia for 11 years, and unfortunately it’s back.” @WWERomanReigns announced plans to step away from the ring on Monday Night #Raw. https://t.co/sOw3yVpCJo
— Twitter Moments (@TwitterMoments) October 23, 2018
LOL Moment of the night:
Hard to laugh tonight
Noteworthy Moment:
In order to fill Reigns’ now-vacated Universal Championship, the Crown Jewel match becomes one on one for the title.
What’s interesting is, Lesnar has been a heel. Strowman has become one too, up until last week-but even then, it was not clear if he was still a heel. Now, on the heels of the Reigns bombshell, Paul Heyman came out and delivered a largely heart-felt promo that you could see as very much from a babyface. But then Strowman came out and did much the same, promising that Reigns would get a shot at his title as soon as he returned. The only thing that makes me think that Braun will be in the babyface spot come Crown Jewel was the attack at the tail end by Drew McIntyre.
Also, I think we are finally getting a full on Elias face turn? How else could he go after clubbing Corbin with the guitar?
Overall lowlights:
Beginning the show with a gut punch. Cancer sucks, my dear readers. Love Reigns or hate him, you have to feel for the man and his family.
Overall highlights:
Reigns having the poise to deliver that speech.
The response, during the show and on social media, by fans and wrestlers.
After the final bell:
A final thought about the decision on how to fill Romain Reigns’ Universal Championship: forgetting for a moment that Crown Jewel is now a bad idea.
You have the World Cup tournament happening at the same event. Effectively, make it a sort of tournament. Brock and Braun battle to earn one spot in the Universal Championship match. The winner would face the winner of the World Cup tournament, with THAT winner becoming the Universal Champion.
Those possibilities are intriguing. Could Cena get his record tying title reign? Would the deposed RAW GM get another taste of gold? Would Seth Rollins climb the mountain one more time? Or would the recently returned Rey Mysterio jump quickly from SmackDown to RAW in order to defend a new piece of hardware?
But, what do I know…I’m just a blogger.
