Radical Change in the Fight for the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw
The World Heavyweight Championship landscape took an unexpected turn during Monday’s episode of “Raw.” Seth Rollins was stripped of the world title after WWE General Manager Adam Pearce announced that Rollins underwent “major surgery” and would be “out of action for quite some time” following the attack by Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed last week.
A new World Heavyweight Champion will be crowned on “Saturday Night’s Main Event” on November 1st. CM Punk, also the number one contender, commented on the “Raw” main event, a Battle Royal that ended with Jey Uso’s victory.
Raw Results from October 20th
- World Tag Team Championship: AJ Styles and Dragon Lee defeated The Judgement Day by a three count.
- Intercontinental Championship: Dominik Mysterio defeated Rusev by a three count.
- Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Maxxine Dupri defeated Becky Lynch by disqualification.
- Stephanie Vaquer defeated Roxanne Perez by a three count.
- Jey Uso won the Battle Royal.
Rollins’ injury appears to be legitimate, as it would make no sense to fake an injury that would strip him of his title. Rollins is one of the greatest wrestlers of his era, and his return is expected before Wrestlemania 42 in April.
Jey Uso had to overcome a large group of contenders, including his twin brother Jimmy, to get a shot at the heavyweight title. Dominik Mysterio, who successfully defended his Intercontinental Championship against Rusev, was quickly eliminated but reappeared in the match while the referees were distracted. Jimmy saved Jey from elimination, but Jey did not return the favor near the end of the match, sending Jimmy and LA Knight out. Jey finally eliminated “Dirty Dom” to secure his title opportunity.
The match between Punk and Jey promises to be a great encounter. It would be interesting to see Punk win and retain the title until Rollins returns. Punk has several possible challengers in the meantime, including “Dirty Dom”.
Paul Heyman knows how to highlight each talent he backs. Breakker and Reed were already on the rise, but Heyman’s promo in the ring after Pearce’s announcement at the beginning of the show made them seem like future Hall of Famers.
AJ Styles is a standout talent of this generation. He’s a team player, a locker room leader, and the kind of person who can have a “match of the year” level match with John Cena and then go back to tag team title contention.
Regarding the tag team title match, congratulations to Styles, Dragon Lee, Finn Balor, and JD McDonagh for a very entertaining match. Some wonderful near falls, especially McDonagh’s save after a Phenomenal Forearm from Styles nearly defeated Balor. Styles couldn’t have executed it better. CM Punk even praised McDonagh’s performance while commentating on the main event Battle Royal.
I don’t care that Becky Lynch barely retains the Women’s Intercontinental Championship against Maxxine Dupri, as it makes Dupri feel like a worthy adversary with the ability to beat veteran Lynch. A rematch between the two for the title would be a definitive conclusion to their story.
