How WWE should book RAW (February 12)
Putting together 3 hours worth of live television every week is not easy. Fans of wrestling constantly criticize the job WWE's creative team do putting matches together but few truly understand just how difficult their task is.
Making each show different and exciting is incredibly difficult even without considering the injuries, bans and talent turnover that WWE have to deal with. That's not to say that they couldn't do a better job and so here is how I would go about booking Monday Night Raw, starting with next Monday's show in San Jose.
#1 Elias vs Braun Strowman
Fans love to complain about the opening segments of WWE programming. They are, however, important in setting the tone of the show and so I haven't strayed too far from what the viewer expects to see.
Elias has been fantastic since being called up to the main roster and following his big win at the end of last week's raw, he's earned opening this week's show. He can head down to the ring, warning the crowd to be quiet and then begin his tune. He should talk up his win last week, before admonishing the post-match assault by Strowman and criticizing Angle for both not punishing Strowman and being a disappointing and boring GM.
This can trigger Angle to interrupt Elias and seem enraged by Elias's taunts. He can point to the night's main event, a fatal-4-way match to determine the final elimination chamber birth (a match that has already been booked in real life). He should also announce a major women's main event for later in the night (more on that later), before addressing Elias directly. Angle can announce that not only will he not be punishing Strowman, that he will, in fact, be placing Strowman in a match with Elias to begin immediately.
Elias should put up a good fight but ultimately be beaten fairly comfortably by Strowman, who needs to remain looking strong headed into the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.
Winner: Braun Strowman
Segment and match running time: 25 minutes
Transition segment: Strowman stares down Cena backstage before moving on. Cena receives a formal invitation by the miztourage to appear on Miz TV.