By using the tease of stipulations that threatened to affect title matches at Clash of Champions in two weeks, WWE successfully held the attention of fans on Monday during a fair but otherwise uneventful episode of Raw.
In the end, both scenarios failed to come to fruition in ways that seemed to please the majority of fans in attendance at Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore.
Sasha Banks held off Bayley and Dana Brooke in an entertaining triple-threat match to open the show, preserving her return match against WWE women's champion Charlotte. Meanwhile in Monday's main event, WWE Universal champion Kevin Owens defeated Roman Reigns amid myriad chaos to prevent Reigns from joining his own triple-threat match against Owens and Seth Rollins on Sept. 25, in the first Raw-exclusive pay-per-view since the WWE's brand split in July.
In the end, credit WWE for teasing the Reigns swerve -- a polarizing move that would've alienated a large section of the fan base, who are tired of predictable booking -- without actually following through. Instead, it was Rusev who emerged to distract Reigns and cost him the match after Owens landed his patented "pop-up powerbomb" for the pin.
The move to further separate Reigns from the Universal title picture not only added credence to the idea that the WWE is committed to its "new era" of booking, but it allowed for a restart of a very physical Rusev-Reigns feud that has elevated the importance of the WWE's United States title.
Rusev and Reigns had essentially pressed pause on their rivalry at SummerSlam following an ill-conceived match squeezed in right before the main event that ended in a no contest. But Rusev's return on Monday proved pop-worthy for anyone tricked by his tweet one week ago stating he would be out of action on his real-life honeymoon until Sept. 29.
The only cliffhanger from Raw regarding the Universal title picture surrounds which storyline punishment will be handed down to Rollins by general manager Mick Foley after Rollins defied orders not to interrupt the main event in an effort to prevent Reigns from joining the triple threat at Clash of Champions. Rollins' decision also somewhat clouds the idea of what appeared to be a natural heel turn.
With commissioner Stephanie McMahon absent from Raw this week and Triple H yet to return after helping Owens to the title in a shocking swerve two weeks ago, Foley carried the majority of the backstage segments Monday, with his acting once again proving to be a bright spot on the show.
Foley not only played well off of Rollins, showing believable anger in multiple segments, he continued to play up what will likely become a slow deterioration in his relationship with McMahon as their run leading Raw continues.
On the women's side, it was good to see Banks and Bayley turn against each other, considering their rivalry in NXT and the sensational matches they produced, especially since Sasha's character -- despite being a baby face -- has too many heel qualities to support the idea of her wanting to be close friends.
Keep an eye out, as well, for any fallout following the finish of Monday's triple-threat match after Banks scored a pin on Bayley, despite her own shoulders also appearing to be down. While it wasn't mentioned by any Raw commentators, it could end up playing into the storyline of next week's go-home episode ahead of Clash of Champions.
Hits and misses
It's getting hard to keep up with the constant soap opera turns between Brooke and Charlotte each week, despite how well both have performed. Brooke's slap of Charlotte in Monday's opening segment produced a legitimate baby-face pop from the crowd, bringing back memories of Damien Sandow and The Miz. But soon enough, Brooke was unceremoniously returned to Charlotte's side in a later segment, killing any momentum. By the time Brooke's full turn finally comes, there's a fear that too many teases will have robbed its potential impact.
What was the best way for The New Day and The Club to get us to forget about last week's unforgivably bad comedy skit? Making light of it was a nice touch (as was The New Day serving fans cereal out of an empty boot, which gave commentator Corey Graves a field day of heel one-liners in response). But the best course of action was allowing Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson the room to re-establish their physical dominance in the matchup with a largely one-sided and punishing victory.
It's easy to complain about the lack of buzz each week over the best-of-seven series between Cesaro and Sheamus, which is now 3-2 in favor of Sheamus after Monday. But it's also completely warranted. With neither superstar being particularly must-see at the moment, giving each match in their series a gimmick or stipulation would have helped. Instead, the matches have very much blended together, with Monday's tilt memorable only for the questionable booking of baby-face Cesaro cheating to win by pinning Sheamus with his feet on the ropes while selling a back injury. It's just not working.
Just like last week, I'm all for a new and improved Bo Dallas, especially if he continues to execute such stiff and realistic-looking offense on the various jobbers he is facing. But having him deliver a nonsensical poem before each match feels too much like a creepy, evil version of Lanny Poffo and undermines the effectiveness of his repackaging.
It's hard to tell whether Jinder Mahal's "the man who comes in peace" gimmick will have much legs, let alone if the WWE will give it much of a push. But just like the Shining Stars earning victories in back-to-back weeks over Enzo Amore and Big Cass, it was good to see the extension of Mahal's character in a situation other than a "jobber to the stars" role. His victory over Jack Swagger may have done nothing for the silent Baltimore crowd, but considering the success of Heath Slater's rags-to-riches turnaround on SmackDown Live, it's good to see bit players at least given the chance to organically get over.
Speaking of Enzo, who could once do no wrong from a comedic standpoint, he leveraged the goodwill of fans for the second straight week on Monday with a bit that failed to sizzle, let alone make a whole ton of sense. Like The New Day, fears of overexposure seem real for a character so beloved for his originality.
Move of the night
Nia Jax's spear on Alicia Fox through the barricade wall outside the ring showcased a kind of brutal physicality that is almost never seen in a WWE women's match. Not only was it set up effectively by Jax grabbing Fox by the hair and repeatedly swinging her body into the wall, it's the perfect way to evolve her booking past the level of squash matches. Jax is not only believable as an unrepentant monster, she's incredibly unique to the WWE roster.
Line of the night
"Before we came out here, I got a text from Kevin Owens telling me what to expect from you. Want to know what he said? I'll show you." -- Chris Jericho, before assaulting Sami Zayn with his cellphone and connecting on a Codebreaker during a segment of "Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel."