{"id":63501,"date":"2018-07-23T14:57:11","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T19:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=63501"},"modified":"2018-07-23T14:57:11","modified_gmt":"2018-07-23T19:57:11","slug":"wwe-raw-primer-7-23-stephanie-mcmahon-announcement-lashley-vs-reigns-ii-b-team-vs-hardy-wyatt-sasha-bayley-rousey-suspension-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/07\/23\/wwe-raw-primer-7-23-stephanie-mcmahon-announcement-lashley-vs-reigns-ii-b-team-vs-hardy-wyatt-sasha-bayley-rousey-suspension-extension\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE RAW PRIMER 7\/23: Stephanie McMahon Announcement, Lashley vs. Reigns II, B-Team vs. Hardy &#038; Wyatt, Sasha &#038; Bayley, Rousey suspension extension"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3392453400\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3><strong>WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER<br \/>\nJULY 23, 2018<br \/>\nCINCINNATI, OH. AT U.S. BANK ARENA<br \/>\nAIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 P.M. EDT<br \/>\nBY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><strong>Arena \/ Opening Thoughts<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Tonight, WWE Raw will emanate from the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, OH for the first time in nearly two years as the previous show took place in September of 2016.\u00a0 We\u2019ll continue to get ready for SummerSlam, WWE\u2019s signature annual summer event, which is just under four weeks away and will take place in Brooklyn, N.Y.<\/p>\n<p>Last week we got finally somewhere with the WWE Universal Championship picture as G.M. Kurt Angle demanded Brock Lesnar defend his championship at SummerSlam.\u00a0 Angle set up two triple threat matches in which the winners would face tonight for the right to challenge Lesnar for Raw\u2019s top prize.\u00a0 Ronda Rousey returned only to have her suspension extended, but she didn\u2019t suffer all that much.\u00a0 We learned we\u2019ll have a tag team championship rematch and what\u2019s next for Sasha Banks and Bayley as their story took a bit of a detour.\u00a0 Let\u2019s dig in to what\u2019s on the menu for tonight according to <a href=\"http:\/\/wwe.com\/\">WWE.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon Major Announcement<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s been a while since we\u2019ve seen Raw commissioner Stephanie McMahon, but tonight she makes her return to make a historic announcement.\u00a0 This was announced on WWE\u2019s twitter account this past Friday and retweeted by Stephanie herself.<\/p>\n<p><em>Thoughts:\u00a0 There are a lot of theories out there as to what this announcement will entail.\u00a0 I\u2019m purely speculating here, but there\u2019s talk of a woman\u2019s tag team championship.\u00a0 Given Sasha Banks &amp; Bayley\u2019s situation, which I will expound upon later, this could go a way of getting them as well as others back into relevancy.\u00a0 There\u2019s also talk of an all-women\u2019s show some time this year.\u00a0 It\u2019s not clear if it\u2019s a one-time show, an annual program, or weekly offering.\u00a0 The second Mae Young Classic is coming which could be tied somehow to the announcement.\u00a0 Finally, \u201cConstable\u201d Baron Corbin told G.M. Kurt Angle he would inform Stephanie of Kurt\u2019s decision to give Ronda Rousey a Raw Women\u2019s Championship match at SummerSlam after violating her suspension.\u00a0 The announcement could involve the \u201cmanagement\u201d structure of Raw.\u00a0 In either case, Forbes has an article out that seems to think this will boost Raw viewership.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Bobby Lashley vs. Roman Reigns II: Winner Faces Lesnar at SummerSlam for the WWE Universal Championship<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>As I said earlier, we got some clarity on the WWE Universal Championship picture.\u00a0 Kurt Angle was about to strip Brock Lesnar of the championship when his advocate, Paul Heyman appeared.\u00a0 Angle and Heyman had a back-and-forth negotiation including Heyman expressing Lesnar\u2019s desire to challenge for the UFC Heavyweight Championship while holding the Universal Championship.\u00a0 Angle would have none of it as he demanded Lesnar defend the title at SummerSlam or be stripped of the title.\u00a0 Heyman agreed to Angle\u2019s terms.\u00a0 We then got Bobby Lashley, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Finn Balor, Elias, and Roman Reigns to come out one by one, not necessarily in that order, all expressing their desire and case to be the one to challenge Lesnar.\u00a0 Angle would set up two triple threat matches where the winners would face tonight, and that individual would go on to face Lesnar for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam.<\/p>\n<p>Reigns defeated Balor and McIntyre, and Lashley defeated Rollins and Elias.\u00a0 We essentially get a rematch from Extreme Rules as Reigns takes on Lashley for the right to face Lesnar.<\/p>\n<p><em>Thoughts:\u00a0 One comforting thought is that Rocky Balboa vs. Apollo Creed\u2019s fight in Rocky II was better than the one in the original Rocky, even though the original Rocky is a better overall movie.\u00a0 Perhaps the same theory applies tonight.\u00a0 Now, since everyone who came out was granted an opportunity to get into the match at SummerSlam where was Curt Hawkins?\u00a0 Why not Mojo Rawley?\u00a0 Since he\u2019s won a few matches recently he had more of a case than Roman Reigns who said he was just looking for a fight anyway.\u00a0 No Way Jose could have gotten in on the action for that matter.\u00a0 I joke but the way WWE told the story last week, anyone who came out in the opening segment was given an opportunity at the Universal Championship.\u00a0 McIntyre, Balor, and Lashley had all won their recent matches.\u00a0 Later on, Kurt Angle would deny \u201cConstable\u201d Corbin an opportunity to get into the fray because he lost his match at Extreme Rules.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t Reigns and Rollins lose as well on the same night?\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Raw Tag Team Championship: B-Team (champs) vs. Matt Hardy &amp; Bray Wyatt (challengers)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Following their victory at Extreme Rules the B-Team, Bo Dallas &amp; Curtis Axel had their first successful title defense over The Ascension (who earned a championship opportunity via\u2026 I don\u2019t know).\u00a0 Following the match, former champions Matt Hardy &amp; Bray Wyatt claimed they would exercise their rematch clause for next week (meaning tonight).\u00a0 The Raw Tag Team Championship will be on the line as the B-Team faces Hardy &amp; Wyatt, the team from which they won the titles at Extreme Rules.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3262903155\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><em>Thoughts:<\/em> <em>\u00a0There\u2019s not much here other than a straight-forward rematch.\u00a0 I\u2019m 50\/50 as to whether B-Team keeps the titles or flips them back to Hardy &amp; Wyatt in this program.\u00a0 Either way, The Authors of Pain have to be waiting in the wings.\u00a0 Not to be blunt, but it\u2019s a matter of whom WWE wants AOP to squash when they inevitably become kings of the Raw tag team division.\u00a0 The Revival could play a factor as well in the near future.<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Bayley &amp; Sasha Banks: All You Need is Love<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Following their therapy sessions, Bayley and Sasha Banks were forced to team up by Kurt Angle to face Alicia Fox and Dana Brooke.\u00a0 It\u2019s been quite some time since we had seen Fox and Brooke compete.<\/p>\n<p>The referee stopped the match when Sasha Banks went after both Fox and Brooke outside the ring following Bayley being attacked by Fox, who the \u201cillegal\u201d women.\u00a0 His decision was not clear, but it appeared to be a draw.\u00a0 Nonetheless, later on Sasha would confess to Bayley that she \u201cloves her.\u201d\u00a0 She admitted she loved how Bayley loves everyone, is always there for her, girls look up to her, and she knows when something is wrong.\u00a0 Sasha admitted she hates talking about her feelings, and it\u2019s one thing for her to fight Bayley but she doesn\u2019t want anyone else going after her.<\/p>\n<p><em>Thoughts:\u00a0 I immediately wondered if they were \u201cgoing there\u201d with Sasha and Bayley.\u00a0 Is this love about friendship, or is it romantic?\u00a0 Coincidentally, Kevin Eck (a frequent Wade Keller PWTorch Interview Friday guest) alluded to the same question in his \u201cAm I The Only One\u201d article which came out this past Friday.\u00a0 If memory serves me correct it would be the first same-sex romance angle we\u2019ve seen on WWE programming if in fact they are going in that direction.\u00a0 Stephanie McMahon has previously alluded to the possibility of WWE doing such a story.\u00a0 It also could be to throw us off where we\u2019re made to believe everything is OK between Sasha and Bayley and someone turns, generating strong boos contrary to the reaction Bayley got when she attacked Sasha a number of weeks ago in San Diego.\u00a0 Finally, I did speculate about Stephanie\u2019s announcement possibly being about introducing a Women\u2019s Tag Team Championship.\u00a0 If that\u2019s the case, Bayley and Sasha would be great candidates to be the first champions as their singles pushes have certainly fell flat.<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Rousey Fallout<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Last week Ronda Rousey got suspension extended by one week and was awarded a Raw Women\u2019s Championship opportunity at SummerSlam against Alexa Bliss.\u00a0 She came out of the crowd to interrupt an Alexa promo (accompanied by Mickie James).\u00a0 Ronda would go on the attack, giving Mickie a spinning Samoan drop and an armbar to Alexa.<\/p>\n<p>G.M. Kurt Angle would come out and tell Ronda she needed to finish out her suspension.\u00a0 \u201cConstable\u201d Corbin came out recommending her suspension be extended, to which Angle agreed.\u00a0 He extended it by a week, but Corbin thought it should be longer.\u00a0 Corbin couldn\u2019t find his phone to call Stephanie McMahon and thus went to look for it.\u00a0 Angle revealed he had it.\u00a0 It was at this point he re-affirmed Ronda\u2019s suspension extension and title opportunity.\u00a0 Tonight, WWE follows up on this situation.<\/p>\n<p><em>Thoughts:\u00a0 Check out Ronda\u2019s twitter account for her happenings on Shark Week, which certainly lines up with the \u201csuspension\u201d angle as her time has been consumed with that show.\u00a0 I thought it was odd she was immediately given a title opportunity when she clearly violated her suspension.\u00a0 As someone told me when I tweeted these thoughts last week, it could be Kurt \u201cgiving the child the toy to quiet her down\u201d as a parent may do when a child is acting up.\u00a0 As a father of three children six and under, I could certainly understand that theory!\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Other Items<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>As Elias told us, his debut album dropped this morning.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a link to it from his Twitter account:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WWE: Walk With Elias &#8211; EP <br \/>by Elias<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/f4LjecRjA1\">https:\/\/t.co\/f4LjecRjA1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; ELIJAH (@_Iam_Elijah_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/_Iam_Elijah_\/status\/1021245351129468928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 23, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Mojo Rawley continues to gain some momentum as he defeated Tyler Breeze of Breezango in a quick match.\u00a0 Breeze is going it alone these days as Fandango recovers from shoulder surgery<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler defeated Bobby Roode in a non-title match.\u00a0 Roode initially challenged Ziggler for the title.\u00a0 Ziggler made it seems like her accepted; however, he only agreed to a match.\u00a0 He did not agree to put the championship on the line.\u00a0 Roode continues to flounder since his move to Raw which could signal a heel turn coming or just a move to be a glorified jobber.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The Revival looked on from backstage during the B-Team vs. Ascension match.\u00a0 Things have been quiet for them since being featured in a prominent spot vs. Bobby Lashley and Roman Reigns.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Cincinnati is the home of Dean Ambrose.\u00a0 I have no reason to believe he\u2019s returning tonight, but stranger things have happened out of nowhere before.\u00a0 A loud pop would certainly be in order if he graced us with is presence this evening.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Dark Matches \/ Wrestlers Advertised<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In keeping with tradition recently, an eight-man tag is being advertised.\u00a0 The U.S. Bank Arena\u2019s website shows Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor vs. Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, and Baron Corbin.\u00a0 They also advertise G.M. Kurt Angle, Women\u2019s Champion Alexa Bliss, Bobby Lashley, Elias, Sasha Banks and \u201cmany more.\u201d\u00a0 At least they have the champions correct.\u00a0 Yes folks, the \u201ccard is subject to change.\u201d\u00a0 (Isn\u2019t is always?)<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-4255739486\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Start time shown is 7:30 p.m. with doors opening at 6:00 p.m.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani.\u00a0 Thank you for reading!<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK&#8217;S RAW REPORT:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/07\/16\/heydorns-wwe-raw-report-7-16-alt-perspective-coverage-of-the-live-show-including-extreme-rules-fallout-the-future-of-the-universal-championship-and-more\/\">HEYDORN\u2019S WWE RAW REPORT 7\/16: Alt Perspective coverage of the live show including Extreme Rules fallout, the future of the Universal Championship, and more<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3487405005\"><div id=\"pwtor-2340943797\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER JULY 23, 2018 CINCINNATI, OH. AT U.S. BANK ARENA AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 P.M. EDT BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR Arena \/ Opening Thoughts Tonight, WWE Raw will emanate <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/07\/23\/wwe-raw-primer-7-23-stephanie-mcmahon-announcement-lashley-vs-reigns-ii-b-team-vs-hardy-wyatt-sasha-bayley-rousey-suspension-extension\/\" title=\"WWE RAW PRIMER 7\/23: Stephanie McMahon Announcement, Lashley vs. Reigns II, B-Team vs. Hardy &#038; Wyatt, Sasha &#038; Bayley, Rousey suspension extension\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,4354,27,5893],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-raw-primer","category-specialists","category-tvprimers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2017\/03\/WyattBray2017eWK3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63501"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63503,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63501\/revisions\/63503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}