The theme for this RAW In A Nutshell is pretty simple…will we have a big show against football?
No, not a Big Show…he’s long gone and now sometimes channeling his inner Captain Insane-O.
Big show as in…the NFL kicked off it’s season, and now RAW is head to head with Monday Night Football for the next few months.
And, as far as games go…it’s two popular New York or New York adjacent teams, so it’s a decent test.
Fastlane is still a bit away, but we can see some hype for that, maybe.
Main Event Jey Uso continues to settle into his new home. Cody Rhodes is back too.
Plus, we have a women’s title match tonight too. Should be great.
So, is it a big enough show to counter the NFL? And, it’s the last one before the Endeavor purchase goes through, so it’s sort of the end of an era too.
So let’s get into…
Big Show Against Football : RAW In A Nutshell
Let’s kick this one off and see how this Nutshell goes!
Best Match of the night:
Lots to like.
Jey and Kevin against Judgement Day? Sure.
That six man with Gable getting the win? Absolutely.
Rhea and Raquel, with Nia Jax standing tall by show’s end? Why not!
Worst match of the night:
If only because something has to go here…Miz and Tozawa.
Wasn’t bad…just…wasn’t notable either.
Crowd Chants of the Night:
No specific chants, but a hot crowd.
Huge pops for Jey and Cody, and Dom could barely be heard.
Star of the Night
Main Event Jey Uso? Cody Rhodes?
How about…Nia Jax?
Spot of the Night:
I really did enjoy the finishing sequence of our six man tag.
Would have loved it somehow getting us a returning Johnny Gargano too…but maybe eventually.
Jobber of the Night:
I suppose Tozawa gets this one.
Upset of the Night:
Not a huge one, predictable for what it was, but Alpha Academy and Tommaso Ciampa over Imperium.
Had someone other than GUNTHER take the loss, of course.
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
Just to be clear…we’ve been expecting Drew to turn heel, right? Because…Xavier cut a heel promo there.
And…I will be honest, I expected Nia Jax to help Shayna, but then I was like, duh, Zoey.
But…Jax was here tonight. She helped Rhea Ripley keep her title…but then destroyed Ripley after the match.
Seems like she’s back for real, she’s in great shape…is she going to be joining the Bloodline so they can go toe to toe with Judgement Day?
Botch of the night:
Nothing I have to call out, which is saying something for a show that Nia Jax was on.
Sorry, I had to.
Commentary of the night:
Again, nothing of note.
LOL Moment of the night:
I mean, maybe not an LOL, but this had to go somewhere, and I enjoyed the segment.
Noteworthy Moment:
I don’t hate the idea of Shayna and Zoey teaming…but this guy has a point…
To me, this is another reason why adding a women’s mid-card belt makes a great deal of sense.
Overall lowlights:
As much as the women do get chances…and I think they do…I think it’s beyond time to see two mid-card titles.
Now, it’s like we have the world title feuds (and, NXT title feud), so that occupies like six to ten women at any point.
Then, whoever is left? You go work as a tag team until we need you.
There isn’t often much in between. I am not sure why we don’t often see great women’s feuds that need no gold.
Sure, we had Trish and Becky and that was good…but it also started with gold.
All I am saying is, I have a feeling if we had a women’s equivalent to the United States and Intercontinental Championships, each new belt helps with creative direction and whatnot.
Overall highlights:
For all the grief she has taken, she has been working her tail off and she’s back.
Per Fightful, she’s been signed for at least a month, too.
Outside of a pretty nice surprise ending…I liked the show.
After the final bell:
For a first RAW of the football season, this was not a bad way to go.
Solid tag action, we had Cody and Jey and Seth and Shinsuke and a lot more.
Plus, tomorrow looks like it should be worth tuning in, though something tells me Stratton has help to keep her title.
