The WWE is coming off the heels of a tremendously profitable weekend abroad following a year of sustained financial success selling out arenas throughout the U.S. “Bash in Berlin” was the highest-grossing arena gate in history for the company—beating out France’s “Backlash” and “Clash in the Castle” in Glasgow. While there are factors like currency exchange and inflation can account for such numbers, thus providing a point of separation between attendance and pricing structures overseas.
NXT hosted “No Mercy” in front of over 6,000 fans at the Ball Arena in Denver, and tonight, Monday Night Raw will be televised from the Ball Arena yet again, this time in front of 11,308 in attendance. That means, and assuming my math is correct, that WWE sold nearly 18,000 tickets for two shows in the span of 48 hours. The run WWE is on feels special, and it has yet to hit any sign of a downturn, considering the actual peaks have yet to be seen. This run of ticket sales and viewership has only trended up, but RAW itself is on a different trend as it prepares to depart the network that the show has called home for decades.
With the move to Netflix nearing, it will be interesting to see what we get from the countdown to ‘the final show.’ Will it feel like SmackDown’s move off of FOX, where WWE just phones it in, or will we get a more proper send-off instead? The Bash in Berlin ‘fall-out’ show should capitalize off of the tremendous main event between Gunther and Orton for the heavyweight title, but with the Germany leg of WWE’s tour ended and the superstars having to endure that travel back to the States, only a portion of the RAW roster would have to carry the weight.
Luckily, Joe Tessitore – a long-time boxing and football sportscaster—debuted tonight with Corey Graves sitting play-by-play. Tessitore is one of the best in the business, and his voice and overall presence on the show made an authentic impact out the gate. Wrestling is seen as part of the fight game by many, but the authenticity is lost on some fans of traditional combat sports—so, giving the product a well-known voice in the fight community offers up a connection that was felt by the MMA world when Mauro Ranallo joined the desk back in 2015.
Jack The Ripley
Rhea Ripley opened the show in Denver after pinning Liv in Germany over the weekend following the mixed tag match that included Damian Priest and Dominik Mysterio. The match was well-received by fans, and the German crowd certainly helped elevate the scene of Rhea finally getting retribution on “Dirty” Dom. After Dom came out to distract Rhea in some back-and-forth rhetoric, Liv Morgan came out to attack the former women’s champ, and it seemed, at least briefly, that we were going to see both Dom and Liv ‘work’ Rhea. However, Priest came out to make the save.
Hot Spot
The point of this segment was to continue the rivalry between (*SIGH) Terror Twins and The Judgment Day. Rhea made it clear that they are not done with the faction to which they once belonged, and it feels like she may only be satisfied by personally bringing down the faction permanently. This is a terrific direction, and it should escalate every week with Ripley and Priest’s calculated efforts to disband the faction. Rhea came out sporting a new ankle injury following the attack from Liv, and Rhea having to work through an injury certainly helps to even the odds for Liv and company, but it also works to make Rhea’s revenge in the form of recapturing the title that much sweeter.
Main Event
Priest made it clear to Rhea that he was getting his hands on someone from TJD tonight, and he would get his chance against JD and Balor with the help of Jey in Priest’s corner. Liv eventually made her way out to interfere, and Rhea made the save. Once Liv was neutralized, all that was left was for Jey and Priest to take the “W” officially in the match following a splash from Jey onto JD grounded by a Priest “Razor’s Edge.”
No More A-Team/B-Team
In past international shows, WWE would keep a ‘skeleton crew’ stateside for weekly WWE TV. NXT even had to step in for an episode of SmackDown because of some (*clears throat) flight issues coming back to the States for a large portion of the crew.
Tonight, and in this Triple H era, it was not an issue. Forget the incredible depth of talent on the red brand, but the hottest acts on RAW are so plentiful that Wyatt Sicks was left off of the Bash in Berlin card without feeling like something was missing. Then, tonight, they delivered a segment where Gable issued an 8-man tag ‘street fight’ challenge to the Wyatt Sicks that Uncle Howdy accepted. They found a way to not over-expose Uncle Howdy and his faction by maintaining interesting storylines with various talents.
The Punk-McIntyre Orbit Continues… Should It?
There was a chance we would see CM Punk moving on from his feud with Drew McIntyre, but it now feels like they’re destined to each other like Batman and Joker. Punk even claimed he would challenge Gunther for the Heavyweight strap, a match that offers plenty of possibilities, but McIntyre eventually made his way out to deliver a heavyweight beatdown on Punk.
Despite the length of this feud, there have not been as many matches produced, so they could certainly escalate the program by introducing an even bigger stipulation for Bad Blood. That said, it feels like having Punk leave the arena on a stretcher was a way of possibly writing him off TV for a bit. With an entire month between the Atlanta PLE, they should slow play it to avoid the lull from slow playing this program based on injuries.
Search For IC Title #1 Contender
Dragon Lee vs. Ilja Dragunov vs. Dominik Mysterio
Dragunov took the win in the triple threat match to inch closer to a shot at Breakker’s IC title. Lee was taken out from JD interference, and Priest subsequently took out Mysterio, and that left Dragunov the opportunity to capitalize off of, though he’ll need to win the 4-way to fully realize the shot.
Braun Strowman vs. Sheamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser
Strowman took this one in a similar fashion to the other triple threat, in which interference played a part. The 4-way will now take place between Strowman, Dragunov, Pete Dunne, who interfered in this one, and Jey Uso next week to determine the number 1 contender.
Gunther Next Foe?
While Punk was teased, it seems like Sami Zane may get the next shot at Gunther following his career-defining performance at BIB. The matchup continues their IC rivalry and would rekindle the special program they delivered at Mania.
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