As I Was Watching WWE Raw

I really could be a WWE Creative Writer because I could write more interesting story lines than what I saw last night. As I watched WWE Raw last night and saw the opening segment - nicely summarized in this article - https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2786388-wwe-raw-results-winners-grades-reaction-and-highlights-from-july-16 - I knew what was to come. From that article is this summary of the opening segment, but I made each wrestler a list item in an ordered list to make it easier to read:

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1. Bobby Lashley interrupted the proceedings and said he accomplished his first goal of beating Roman Reigns at Extreme Rules and now wants to accomplish part two by beating Lesnar at SummerSlam.
2. Drew McIntyre interrupted and said phase one of his return was ensuring the Intercontinental Championship remained around the waist of Dolph Ziggler and now he wants to accomplish phase two: win the Universal Championship.
3. Seth Rollins interrupted and came face-to-face with McIntyre before announcing his candidacy for a match with Lesnar.
4. Elias was out next, as the stream of Superstars continued. He touted his debut album as the reason he should face Lesnar at SummerSlam.
5. Finn Balor, who used his status as the first universal champion to cement his claim as a legitimate contender.
6. Roman Reigns interrupted, the last man to enter the squared circle, drawing a huge chorus of boos.

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I saw those 6 wrestlers, each claiming to be better than the other 5. I knew, before he said it, that Kurt Angle was going to assign those 6 wrestlers to a bracket of matches with the ultimate winner facing Brock Lesnar @ SummerSlam in August. I didn't predict triple threat matches, but that is what Angle announced: 2 triple threat matches with the winners fighting next week to earn the match with Brock Lesnar @ SummerSlam.

I knew, at that moment, when Angle put Bobby Lashley & Roman Reigns in separate matches, Lashley would win his match & Reigns would win his match and that they would face each other next week.

1. I knew that Drew McIntyre wouldn't win, even though I would have wrote that, as a WWE Creative Writer.
2. I knew that despite being a crowd favorite, Seth Rollins wouldn't win, especially since he wasn't in the same triple threat match as Roman Reigns (WWE likely doesn't want to end The Shield reunion until after Dean Ambrose returns from injury).
3. I knew that despite being a crowd favorite, Elias wouldn't win.
4. I knew that despite being the first Universal Champion, Finn Balor wouldn't win.

I knew it would be Lashley v. Reigns on Monday, July 23, 2018.


I would have wrote the matches differently.

Instead of the Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor vs. Drew McIntyre match,

I would have put Reigns v. Lashley in a singles match, with Reigns winning.
I would have put Drew McIntyre v. Finn Balor in a singles match, with McIntyre winning.
I would have put Elias v. Rollins in a singles match, with Rollins winning.

Then, for next week, I would have put those three winners in a triple threat match. Reigns v. Rollins v. McIntyre in a triple threat match, with Rollins "accidentally" causing Reigns to be pinned by McIntyre. By doing so, you have an opponent for Reigns at SummerSlam in Rollins and you have fresh meat going up against McIntryre, which has never been done before. Then, for the weeks leading up to SummerSlam, on July 30th, I would put McIntryre in a victorious singles match against Reigns. On August 6th, I would put McIntyre in a victorious singles match against Rollins. On August 13th, the final Raw prior to SummerSlam, I would put McIntyre in a victorious singles match against Finn Balor.

In effect, McIntyre would be in a Braun Strowman role of 'rolling' over the wrestlers he had to wrestle to get to where he is alone with each victory building the crowd's engagement.

If the plan is for Lesnar to lose the Universal Championship at SummerSlam, I can fully envision passing the torch to McIntyre. I wouldn't care if both Lesnar & McIntyre are both heels. I would completely capitalize upon the WWE Universe booing last night when Lesnar was not on Raw. By default, McIntyre would become a temporary fan favorite in the weeks leading up to SummerSlam. Even if you allow Lesnar to defeat McIntyre at SummerSlam, I would have Strowman cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase and pin Lesnar. That would allow Lesnar to walk out of WWE - if he's going to in fact leave WWE for UFC - as a Beast that was slayed by a Monster (Strowman), all the while building up McIntyre as the one to take down Strowman at the next PPV.

I think doing all of that would require a full-scale "all in" bet on McIntyre. I like McIntyre's character, especially when he talked about why he returned to WWE, which was to effect change. It all meshes into the same narrative (storyline) of being new blood and 'shaking things up.' Instead of the heavily booed Reigns being shoved down our throats as much as John Cena was, it actually would be proof that the future is unwritten.

As the current setup goes, with the Reigns v. Lashley winner fighting Lesnar at SummerSlam, my problem is that Reigns has done that dance before with Lesnar. Riegns didn't win over the crowd. He was consistently booed. I am not convinced that Lashley can carry a feud with Lesnar as he is unconvincing on the mic. His promos during his feud with Sami Zayn were terrible. As currently booked, if Lashley is to really defeat Lesnar at SummerSlam, Lashley should then be paired with Paul Heyman, who could be shown as being a businessman and doing what's "best for business." You could even throw a sub-plot of Heyman being told to work with Lashley by Stephanie McMahon or Triple H, depending upon if either are wanting to be on-screen in the future.

Once again, being a WWE Creative Writer would be an awesome job, but because I know it requires a lot of travel, I do not envision myself applying for it in my future.