The following editorial was written by Tyler Treese and does not reflect the views of WrestleZone as a whole. Feel free to chime in on the Dean Ambrose heel turn in the comments below.
The general consensus after WWE Survivor Series was that fans were treated to a good show. The last two matches in particular featured some incredible moments (Daniel Bryan nearly coming back from pure domination and Charlotte Flair unleashing all hell on Ronda Rousey), and it made me excited to watch RAW. I wanted to see what would happen next with all the seeds that were planted.
What is Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose going to do now that the match with Shinsuke Nakamura was over? How would Braun Strowman capitalize upon dominating Survivor Series and earning his two promised matches? What will WWE do to sell the beatdown that Ronda Rousey took from Charlotte Flair? There were dozens of interesting storylines up and down the card, and what we got was a lackluster RAW that killed nearly all the momentum that was built.
Turning Braun
The past couple months have seen Braun Strowman seemingly random become a top heel just because Roman Reigns needed a challenger and then suddenly become a face once RAW needed a top-level babyface to compete for the Universal Championship. That’s two turns in a ridiculously short timespan, and it looks like Strowman is being booked a lot like Kane and Big Show were in the past: utility players that are used in times of emergency to fill whatever gap is needed.
That’s incredibly disappointing, and it’s hard not to feel like a lot of Strowman’s natural connection with the fans have died down. Earlier this year I wanted to see him conquer Brock Lesnar and win the title, and instead he kept losing in big spots. It might not be a permanent predicament, but it certainly feels like the perfect time to push Strowman has already passed. Now he’s being booked as a monster that is attempting to overcome the odds by being injured before his WWE TLC match (unless WWE announced a match just so they could cancel it) against Baron Corbin. This story didn’t work with Roman Reigns, and it’s not going to work with a guy that was shown overturning trucks with his pure strength.
Rollins and Ambrose Should Be Red Hot
Remember when Dean Ambrose did that shocking heel turn that broke all of our hearts? Doesn’t that seem like a shockingly long time ago? We’re still a month out from seeing Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose actually have a match, and it feels like their feud has really fizzled out. Some of the dialogue from Ambrose was cringe worthy on Monday. Like, really? The best that the evil guy can come up with beyond the cheapest of heat is saying that the people smell bad?
Hopefully WWE can reignite this feud, but neither side have been cutting great promos on one another. Both Rollins and Ambrose shine when they’re in the ring, and yet they’re being kept from it for the most part. RAW ending with a fun brawl between the two, and hopefully that will continue, as two people in a blood feud should be trying to demolish each other not come up with lame insults.
Moving Forward
SmackDown will be important tonight as its side of the Survivor Series stories will be told. How will Shane McMahon react to losing at Survivor Series? Will Daniel Bryan still be an incredibly cocky heel after a loss? What is going to happen between Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair now? Those great moments on Sunday still linger on my mind. I just wish that I believed that WWE would deliver on them in a satisfying way.
