By Ryan Satin
FOX Sports WWE Analyst
Former NXT wrestler Dexter Lumis returned to WWE this week on Raw, but in a way you didn’t expect.
First, here is a summary of the match results:
— Seth Rollins defeated Angelo Dawkins via pinfall after achieving a Pedigree
— Kevin Owens defeated Ezekiel via referee stoppage in less than a minute
— Finn Balor defeated Rey Mysterio after getting the Coup De Grace
— Dakota Kai and IYO SKY defeated Dana Brooke and Tamina to advance in the women’s tag team title tournament
Dakota Kai and IYO SKY advance in the Women’s Tag Team Titles Tournament!
Dakota Kai and IYO SKY faced Tamina and Dana Brooke in Round 1 of the Women’s Tag Team Titles Tournament on Monday Night Raw.
— Bobby Lashley retained the United States title over Ciampa after putting his opponent in the Hurt Lock for a submission victory.
— Omos defeated two local competitors in about two minutes
— Dolph Ziggler defeated Chad Gable via pinfall
— AJ Styles defeated The Miz by pinfall in a No-DQ match
Moment of the night: Dexter Lumis’ debut takes place in the background
This started in the background of a promo when Doudrop and Nikki ASH were seen standing next to a wrecked car.
At first the shot appeared to be unintentional, but the next time the car was seen, it was being loaded onto a tow truck (once again in the background of an interview). The security surrounding the car got a tip about something and they all ran after it.
This led to the conclusion of the main event where security accosted someone in the crowd who turned out to be Lumis.
Rewarding the viewer for paying attention to background events is not a typical WWE move. Triple H, however, has shown in the past that he enjoys playing around with various production tropes to enhance his schedule.
For example, there were a few times during NXT TakeOver where he placed the show’s ending logo to indicate that it was over; then something big would happen to make the surprise even better.
Seeing him feature Lumis in the background throughout multiple segments had similar vibes.
It also made viewers want to tune in next week to see more of the story. That’s what Raw needs the most.
Additional highlights:
Kevin Owens brutalizes Ezekiel and ends the match early on Monday Night Raw
Kevin Owens absolutely brutalized Ezekiel without wasting any time on Monday Night Raw, breaking out after weeks of tension finally breaking out.
Kevin Owens destroyed Ezekiel in the ring, then cut a killer promo, proving once again that Raw is the KO show.
Under Triple H’s leadership in NXT, Owens was a beast.
The prospect of seeing a version of that character again on Raw has fans salivating at the potential.
This was a great start to get there.
Here are the complete groups for the women’s tag team title tournament.
One notable entry is Nikkita Lyons and Zoey Stark from NXT. It will be interesting to see how they fare in their main roster debuts.
Bobby Lashley defends the United States title against Ciampa on Raw | WWE on FOX
Ciampa had a chance to win gold on Monday Night Raw when he faced The All Mighty Bobby Lashley for the United States Title.
Lashley could have defeated Ciampa to retain the United States Championship, but they both won the match.
Ciampa, standing toe-to-toe with a former world champion, and even taking a few falls on him, made him look like a tough competitor.
This will help you in the long run more than you were doing before.
As for Lashley, he was shown breaking down a new offense and asserting his dominance as the best champion on the show.
If the plan is to elevate the importance of the United States Championship on Raw, this did a pretty good job of pulling it off.
For a segment-by-segment breakdown of the show, listen to the SmackDown Roundup podcast on the “Out of Character” feed on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Don’t forget to follow all your favorites. WWE Superstars Y shows on the FOX Sports app to get 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 the Pro Wrestling Sheet, where he published countless news stories as editor-in-chief.
Get more from World Wrestling Entertainment Follow your favorites to get information on games, news and more.
Source: www.foxsports.com