WWE Raw: Brock Lesnar manhandles Otis, Dolph Ziggler appears
By Ryan Satin
FOX Sports WWE Analyst
Monday’s episode of WWE Raw featured a brutal beatdown from Brock Lesnar, as well as an appearance from Dolph Ziggler.
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Brock Lesnar opened Monday Night Raw, vowing to finish the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns once and for all when Paul Heyman added to The Beast’s fury.
Here’s a quick recap of the match results:
— Finn Balor defeated Rey Mysterio via pinfall after landing the Coup de Grace from the top rope
— Carmella defeated Bianca Belair via count-out due to a distraction from Becky Lynch
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Bianca Belair faced against Carmella in a Raw Women’s Title Match when Becky Lynch decided to get involved, ending in a shocking final result.
— AJ Styles and Ezekiel defeated The Miz and Ciampa via disqualification
— Alexa Bliss and Asuka defeated Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H. via pinfall
— Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso and Omos defeated Montez Ford, Angelo Dawkins and R-Truth via pinfall from Omos over Dawkins
— Bobby Lashley and Riddle defeated Theory and Seth Rollins with assistance from Dolph Ziggler
Moment of the night: Dolph Ziggler turns babyface?
Ziggler, re-emerging in a suit, sans Robert Roode, with his focus on Theory, was an unexpected turn of events.
Since Theory is one of the show’s main heels, the attack to close the show seemingly signaled a babyface turn, too.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, however, we should wait to see how things to play out. It’s possible the perennial heel will continue to be that.
Storyline-wise, the direction seems obvious.
Ziggler’s character most likely sees a part of himself in Theory, and now that he holds a Money in the Bank contract like Dolph did back in the day, "The Show Off" wants to stop his ascent to the top.
Dolph can have a good match with literally anyone, so this should be a good program for both Superstars.
Additional highlights:
Brock Lesnar was in a jovial mood this week on Raw.
So much so, in fact, that he F5'ed Otis through a table.
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Brock Lesnar was in the middle of warning Roman Reigns of what’s to come at SummerSlam and taunting Theory when Otis and Chad Gable got in the way, prompting The Beast to make an example of them.
Logan Paul sent a video message into the show to say he'll be on Raw next Monday to confront The Miz regarding SummerSlam.
Watch what he said below.
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The Miz doubled down on Monday Night Raw on his offer for Logan Paul to join him as his tag team partner instead of facing off against each other.
Another mysterious vignette aired during the show.
This one was much more obviously teasing Edge.
The Foley flannel on fire. The RKO shirt. The Cena hat.
Edge is coming back with a vengeance.
For a segment-by-segment breakdown of the show with more of my thoughts, listen to the WWE Raw Roundup podcast in the "Out of Character" feed on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Don’t forget to follow all your favorite WWE Superstars and shows in the FOX Sports app to receive alerts on what they’re doing and more!
Ryan Satin is a WWE analyst for FOX Sports. Satin previously appeared on FS1's "WWE Backstage" and founded Pro Wrestling Sheet, where he broke countless news stories as editor-in-chief.