Radical Change in the Fight for the World Heavyweight Championship
An unexpected turn shook the landscape of the World Heavyweight Championship 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 at “Saturday Night’s Main Event” on November 1st. CM Punk, another 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 seems legitimate, dispelling the possibility of a “scam of the century” due to the logic of losing the title. Rollins is one of the most outstanding wrestlers of his generation, and his return is expected before Wrestlemania 42 in April. Imagine the audience’s reaction upon his return at the biggest event of the year.
Jey Uso overcame a considerable group of contenders, including his twin brother Jimmy, to earn a shot at the heavyweight title. Dominik Mysterio, who successfully defended his Intercontinental Championship against Rusev, was quickly eliminated but returned to the match taking advantage of a distraction from the referees. Jimmy saved Jey from elimination, but Jey did not return the favor near the end of the match, eliminating Jimmy and LA Knight. Finally, Jey eliminated “Dirty Dom” to secure his title opportunity.
The match between Punk and Jey promises to be exciting. A victory for Punk and his subsequent title defense until Rollins’ return would be a great moment. Punk has multiple potential challengers, including “Dirty Dom”.
Other Raw Highlights
- Paul Heyman knows how to highlight the talent he supports. Breakker and Reed were already on the rise, but their promo in the ring after Pearce’s announcement made them seem like future Hall of Famers.
- AJ Styles is a top-tier talent of this generation. He’s a team player, a great leader in the locker room, and someone who can have a “match of the year” level match with John Cena and then go back to tag team title contention. This isn’t a criticism of tag team wrestling, but a testament to “The Phenomenal One’s” ability to excel in any situation.
- The tag team title match was very entertaining, thanks to Styles, Dragon Lee, Finn Balor, and JD McDonagh. There were near falls, especially McDonagh’s save after a Phenomenal Forearm from Styles almost gave Balor the win. CM Punk even praised McDonagh’s performance while commentating on the main event Battle Royal.
- I don’t mind that Becky Lynch narrowly retained as Women’s Intercontinental Champion against Maxxine Dupri, as it makes Dupri feel like a worthy adversary with the ability to beat the veteran Lynch. A rematch between the two for the title would be a definitive conclusion to their story.
