We’re heading into our first Monday Night RAW since the Superstar Shake-Up, and the show from Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines will start to reveal new storylines from all of the changes.
In total, 30 Superstars switched between RAW, SmackDown Live, 205 Live and NXT last week during the shows in Montreal. Each roster underwent significant changes. Main eventers like Roman Reigns and AJ Styles switched brands. Groups like Sanity and Riott Squad broke up. Even Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor and United States Champion Samoa Joe traded homes.
While most fans look at it as a way to refresh the opponents for the big-time stars, it’s also a time when an unlikely Superstar can start to build momentum. Therefore, several Superstars can try to emulate what Becky Lynch did last year, when she went from being an afterthought in WrestleMania 34 to the main event in WrestleMania 35.
With that in mind, here’s five things I would like to see developing on the RAW now that we know what the roster will look like:
1. Enough of the man in the mirror
For months, WWE has teased a new direction for Mojo Rawley. Yet, the former Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner has spun his wheels to this point with several backstage promos of him staring in a mirror.
The intensity in Rawley’s promos connects with viewers in a way none of his prior work with WWE has. However, he’s coming dangerously close to where Lacey Evans was before her post-WrestleMania sucker punches at The Man. Rawley needs some time to explore the character before fans lose all belief in the former Green Bay Packer’s credibility.
Given the unhinged nature of his new persona, Rawley might work well against or with another under-utilized Superstar in former Sanity leader Eric Young before transitioning into a possible mid-card title feud matchup with Samoa Joe. With his athleticism and size, Rawley also could put on great matches with Rey Mysterio, Cedric Alexander, Braun Strowman, Andrade, The Miz, AJ Styles and Universal Champion Seth Rollins.
Yet, WWE will need to make the commitment to giving him the time and opportunities first. So far, he hasn’t had much of either since the end of his Hype Bros run with Zack Ryder.
2. Let Drake Maverick combine his talent
For some odd reason, both wrestlers get taken off WWE TV whenever a tag team suffers an injury lately. RAW did it to Tyler Breeze last year when Fandango needed surgery, and they’ve treated the Authors of Pain the same way. With Akam out, Rezar shouldn’t automatically just get banished to catering. He’s a mountain of a man who could provide fresh matchups against babyfaces in line for a push or even give Strowman a challenge.
In addition, WWE could work a storyline where Maverick combines his stablemates together by having Rezar and EC3 work together. Those two would make for quite the intimidating tag team opponents for The Usos, Ricochet & Aleister Black, The Viking Experience and reigning champs, Ryder and Curt Hawkins.
As a result, EC3 may finally start to get out of whatever doghouse he’s found himself in backstage that’s caused him to get buried so frequently as of late and fans won’t have forgotten about The Authors of Pain when Akam is ready to rejoin Rezar. In fact, WWE could even have an angle where Rezar turns on EC3 when Akam is back and AOP terrorizes the One-Percenter.
3. Give El Idolo and Zelina Vega a push
Neither Andrade or Vega got the type of opportunities many hoped they would on SmackDown Live, the alleged “land of opportunities.” The year of Tranquilo got put squarely on hold as Ali’s injury birthed the eventual rise of the ultimate babyface run for New Day’s Kofi Kingston. With much of the Blue Brand’s time devoted to Kingston’s pursuit of the WWE Championship, Andrade got put on the back burner. Meanwhile, Vega’s role got marginalized to the point where her ring work went away as she appeared almost exclusively as Andrade’s manager
However, times may be changing after last week. Andrade and Vega made their RAW debut a memorable one with a non-title victory over Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor. So, here’s hoping a new brand brings new opportunities for both El Idolo and Vega. With Mysterio coming to Mondays as well, he and Andrade could perhaps start out concluding their red-hot program that ended abruptly on SmackDown. Using that as a building block, Andrade could then branch out to make a name for himself against other big-time babyfaces like The Miz, Styles and Rollins.
As for Vega, she finds herself in a RAW women’s division that grew weaker with the losses of Ember Moon, Bayley and Mickie James during the Superstar Shake-Up. There’s no reason a high-flyer like Vega, who was once a TNA tag team champ, can’t get more time in the ring. She’s worked hard on striking in recent months with her husband, Aleister Black, in videos posted online. Since it seems like WWE wants to make Alexa Bliss a babyface, Vega would make for a perfect opponent against The Goddess. Vega could also put on a show with other RAW women like Naomi, Natalya or even The Boss if Sasha Banks decides to return. I came away incredibly impressed with Vega as I watched her take on NXT UK Superstar Piper Niven at WrestleMania Axxess because of her agility, speed and Lucha Libre style.
4. Allow for plenty of play time on Mondays
According to a report from Wrestling News, Nikki Cross continues to make appearances on RAW brand WWE Live shows because she is going to be a permanent member of the roster. Unfortunately, that mean she will work and travel away from her husband, Killian Dain, who remains on SmackDown. However, RAW contains the weaker women’s division roster of the two, meaning Cross could get more opportunities to shine.
On the other hand, it’s fair to question at this point whether WWE plans to do much with Cross in the future. She’s had the least amount of TV time of any of the group of NXT callups this year. In addition, the WWE just split up her former faction Sanity after featuring them in televised matches only seven times in a year on SmackDown Live. WWE creative appears not to be a fan of the gimmick.
For her part, Cross does a terrific job on social media of keeping her fans involved and invested in her story and her character. She has her own YouTube channel and frequently tweets out videos on her Twitter account that are better than some promos featured on TV. Furthermore, her character transcends the traditional roles of heel/babyface and she could easily work in a variety of different feuds without a title being involved. Given that it’s difficult to imagine Becky Lynch defending her championships on both brands every single week, WWE will need to develop some stories in the ring that aren’t expressly involved with a championship.
Given that Riott Squad also broke up recently, Cross might provide a great fit in working against Ruby Riott or Sarah Logan. Stylistically, Nikki also matches up well with Natalya and Alexa Bliss. Cross put on tremendous matches with Asuka at NXT and it’s not hard to imagine that she could do the same on Monday nights if given the chance.
5. Must-see TV must start going main event
The Miz may just wind up being the most valuable acquisition RAW made during the Superstar Shake-Up. His mic skills, ability to sway a crowd as a good or bad guy and athleticism have heated up the mid-card belts for the past few years. Since RAW is teasing more fireworks with Shane McMahon, we may even get a gift of more from one of the best feuds at WrestleMania 36.
Yet, The Miz deserves to get another Superstar who is bringing the heat if things are over with Shane. Right now, I’d love to see the babyface A-Lister get involved with the scorched-earth heel Sami Zayn. Both guys can manipulate audiences into feeling and believing whatever they want. Furthermore, they are so evenly matched as talkers and ring workers that it would provide show-stealing scenes from the mid-card.
Ultimately, I want a program like these to vault Miz into the main event scene. It’s taken too long to give him a push for one of the top belts again. Whether it’s Rollins, Styles or Drew McIntyre holding the Universal Championship in the future, Miz would make for a great challenger to any of them.
On the other hand, Miz is versatile enough to make for an interesting beef with current US Champ Samoa Joe should WWE decide they want to go in another direction in the Universal Championship title picture. He may even be charismatic enough to carry feuds against some of RAW’s heels who aren’t great at promos such as Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley or Andrade.