Last night, WWE officially kicked off their new brand extension era on Monday Night RAW, and it was a very busy show.
Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley kicked off the show by announcing that since Dean Ambrose successfully defended the WWE title at Battleground and took it to his new home on SmackDown Live, a new championship, the WWE Universal Championship, would be up for grabs at SummerSlam. Seth Rollins, the No. 1 overall pick in last week’s WWE Draft, already has a spot in that match and his opponent would be determined via a set of fatal four-way matches with the winners meeting at the end of the night.
The first four-way would be Rusev vs Kevin Owens vs Cesaro vs Finn Balor, who was making his main roster debut. In the end, Finn Balor would get the pin after hitting a dropkick and the coup de grâce on Rusev. Roman Reigns, whom Stephanie had called a “loser” at the beginning of the show, ended up winning the second four-way match as he defeated Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn, and Sheamus. In the main event of the evening, Balor would get the win over Reigns and will go on to face Rollins at SummerSlam.
[Image via WWE.com]While most on social media seemed to love the idea of Finn Balor going over so big on his first night, there was at least one person who absolutely hated the way that the angle was put together, former WWE, WCW and TNA writer, Vince Russo. In a column for Fightful, Russo, who’s certainly never one to hold back, slammed last night’s RAW with authority.
“After tonight’s RAW aired, I came to the sad conclusion that the professional wrestling business as we knew it is dead. Gone forever are the days of unique characters, compelling story lines and fights that actually looked real, and here to stay are the days of a middle-weight (at best) beating not one, but two heavyweights in the same night, in matches that told no stories and looked more like Swan Lake than fights.
[Image via WWE.com]The main focus of the column, however, was certainly on the booking of Roman Reigns and Finn Balor, and Russo let it fly with even more comments on how things went down.
“In a night that was written to shame and embarrass Roman Reigns for failing a drug test, Stephanie kicked off the festivities by calling him a ‘loser’ at the top of the show, claiming that he cost RAW the WWE Championship the night before. So what does Stephanie do to the said ‘loser’? Why, she books him in a fatal four-way match, in turn giving the said ‘loser’ yet another opportunity to gain a shot at the WWE Title. Makes sense, right?
Again, while a majority of those on social media loved the final match between Reigns and Balor, Russo wasn’t a fan.
“Balor beat Reigns in an unbelievable match that would have never happened if the fight were a shoot. Reigns would be flossing his teeth with Balor. But, we had to cater to the IWC, while making Reigns pay his penance.
If all of those comments weren’t enough to get the IWC going, Vince Russo is continuing his tirade on his Twitter account today.
Thank God I’m being unfollowed by NXT marks. It’s like picking weeds after a rain storm.
Now, on one hand, wrestling fans have to remember that Vince Russo was a very important part of the Monday night wars…on both sides. Once WCW started to gain momentum following the formation of the nWo, it was Russo that helped get the then-WWF back in the game with some great ideas and storylines, essentially bringing in the Attitude Era with edgier content. On the other hand, “Brawl For All” was his idea and it was also on his watch after jumping to WCW that David Arquette won the World Heavyweight Championship. And let’s not forget that Russo himself once held that prestigious title and holds victories over Hall of Famers Ric Flair and Booker T.
So while Vince Russo certainly was a genius at times, his judgment could also be questionable at times as well. So which side are you on? Is Russo on point in his criticism of Monday Night RAW? Or were you part of the WWE Universe that loved the way the show was done? Feel free to sound off in the comments section.