Raw Reax - 6/4/18

Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
- Elias/Rollins/Jinder/Roman:
Glad to see Elias getting such a push.

Elias has wisely stood out by having a character that isn't based on "I was a good wrestler elsewhere and I work hard to win titles."

How long until we get a guitar on a pole match?

Elias and Jinder are outmatched here.

NOW HOLD UP JUST A MINUTE NOW PLAYA

- Elias/Jinder vs. Seth/Roman:
I like this start.

The heels need to win this one to look like they have a chance.

I'm surprised Jinder hasn't recruited the Indian wrestlers from NXT to take bumps for him. They're not doing anything else.

Rollins is the workhorse here, and Reigns has grown quite a bit, too.

Not bad!

- Hawkins promo:
We've been waiting months for this!!

Catering has really taken a spotlight lately.

- Hawkins vs. Harden:
NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Hawkins almost had it!!!

- Post-match:
Looks like Hawkins is on the road to 201 and then some. I'm glad he got some TV time, though. He's been a real trooper about all these losses.

- Angle/Corbin:
Um, Corbin just MADE an opportunity. Grabbing that brass ring and all.

Pairing Baron with someone even more unlikeable. Interesting.

- Nia vs. Natalya:
I already miss face Nia. She's gone back to square one.

They did the most they could with that blueprint.

- Post-match:
Poor Nattie.

- Roode interview:
Bobby's kind of bland as a face. I think he relies on the glorious catchphrase too much, but at least  that's not as bland as most face promos.

- Braun vs. Roode:
I love Roode. It's unfortunate this is his ceiling on Raw. He should have stayed on SDL.

HOLY SHIT cool spot with the ladder.

OK, that was pretty fun.

- Owens interview:
That didn't really add much to MITB.

- Natalya/Ronda/Nia:
This is a mess, but maybe Natalya is turning heel at MITB? I'm OK with this.

- Deleters interview:
They've become very paint-by-numbers catchphrase machines. It's not as stale as Bray as a heel, but there's not much to it.

- Battle royal:
WHOAAAAAAA unless the Authors are winning, Dolph and Drew going out first is crazy.

I did like the post-elimination stuff. I hope Drew can soar past Ziggler.

Eh. I guess they're just giving Matt and Bray some tin cans so the Authors can win the gold at Summerslam.

- Lashley/Sami:
So they're feuding over Instagram?

Oh, wow. This is bad.

Lashley needs to kill Sami at MITB to save this.

- Jinder/Roman:
This isn't bad, but I can't shake the feeling they're just killing time with Roman.

- Alexa/Sasha/Ember vs. R. Squad:
Well this is an odd combination.

Haha Bliss' fake injury. I love her.

I hope the Squad can beat two women, but I'm not holding my breath.

I like the heel teamwork.

That was going well as a handicap match.

- Bayley/Sasha/Ember vs. R. Squad:
Boom. I guess Bayley's face again.

- Corbin/Angle/Bayley/Sasha/Ember:
OH MY GOD BARON IS SUCH A PUNK NOW.

Man, that was a mess. I still say Sasha's the heel here. Maybe they're going with that. She could be a solid heel if they let her play off real frustrations with fans and her place in the company.

- Show appearance:
That was pretty cool. Nice to see Show back in that capacity; I'm curious what's next for him.

- Balor vs. Owens:
Good start.

OK, Kevin's going a little heavy on the stalling and restholds. We know these two are capable of more.

Now this is getting solid.

NIIIIICCCEEEEE popup powerbomb counter.

Wait.... really? Weak ending. At least hit him with a ladder or something if you're going to do the DQ.

- Post-match:
That would have been an insane frog splash.

NICE double stomp.

I liked the ending to the show.

More wrestling coming up.