RAW In A Nutshell: Lots Of Titles On The Line This Week

It’s time once again for RAW In A Nutshell. And, there are lots of titles on the line this week.

How many? Well, we have Charlotte Flair challenging Asuka for the RAW Women’s Championship, for one.

Then we’ve got the Street Profits defending against the Viking Raiders. We may even get a 24/7 Championship defense this week too!

In other words, it’s a pretty busy week. Things will also continue to build toward Extreme Rules, so let’s not forget that.

Notably, we also have WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair in the house, to hype the greatness of Randy Orton. Perhaps the biggest moment of all is Rey Mysterio being back in the building!

But hey, did we mention…lots of titles on the line this week?

Let’s crack open this Nutshell!

Seriously…there’s a lot of title matches, so we have to get into it quick!

Best Match of the night:

It felt like an odd night for matches-we had a few, but I think to some extent the segments overshadowed.

That said, Asuka and Charlotte delivered a strong match. So I shall give that match this honor.

Worst match of the night:

Part of me wants to say Profits/Raiders, but I have another spot for this one.

No, instead I give this to Apollo Crews and Shelton Benjamin. Only upside here (I think?) was that it was a short match.

Star of the Night

Honestly have to give this to Asuka. Might be a TV match, but she and Charlotte delivered.

Spot of the Night:

As I sit here, contemplating the most recent three hours of RAW…I can’t say any one spot really stands out.

Jobber of the Night:

My gut says this has Shelton Benjamin written all over it

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

Going for like a rapid fire one here…but Robert Roode is back on RAW?! I swear, having not heard that name in a while, I kinda forgot about him.

First thought was…holy cow he’s still employed. Happy to at least hear him mentioned!

Also…we have a new 24/7 Champion. Big assist to Lashley and MVP, but…congrats Tozawa?!

Botch of the night:

My only thought here was on Rey’s delivery during the promo. “He almost tried to blind me”.

Maybe I am a nitpicker, but the correct saying would be “He tried to blind me”. Or, “he almost blinded me”.

Because, Rey, as far as the story line goes…he absolutely tried to do it. No almost.

LOL Moment of the night:

The ninjas are sticking around. They make me laugh.

Noteworthy Moment:

Well, only one title changed hands, but some other happenings worth recapping.

In spite of a chunk not airing, the Profits and Raiders had a nice match which wrapped up with a nice display.

Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode were the two Superstars traded to RAW in order to land AJ Styles on SmackDown, apparently.

And, Ziggler’s first move once he showed up? To get himself a title shot against Drew McIntyre for Extreme Rules.

Speaking of title matches, how about Sasha Banks…challenging Asuka.

Overall lowlights:

Losing too much of that RAW Tag Team Championship to breaks. I’ve said it before, I shall say it again…it’s a scripted show.

Now, more than ever, you know when things will air. Given that these shows are all recorded ahead of time, it should be far easier to slot in commercials around matches, as opposed to interrupting.

Overall highlights:

Edge and Orton were excellent.

The Big Show and Orton were too.

Flair, by extension, was also good.

That closing segment was also really well done.

I am guessing that this leads to an eight man tag for Extreme Rules. By having Carillo and Black fighting alongside Rey and Dominick, that allows WWE to provide some cover to both the grizzled vet and possibly WWE-deubting rookie.

After the final bell:

I feel like I am forgetting something else good, but in a Nutshell…we may have had lots of titles on the line tonight, but by the end of the show, more are on the line for Extreme Rules.

It was a really good show. I enjoyed it a good bit, even if we got more segments than matches (or at least, it felt like that).