That was a... disjointed episode of RAW, to say the least. It's indicative of a lack of a direction for a lot of stars, despite the Superstar Shake-Up. The opening segment featuring Chris Jericho, the Miz and Dean Ambrose, turning the ring from The Highlight Reel, to MizTV, to Ambrose Asylum, was really fun. But the main event - pitting the Miz versus the babyfaces in a HANDICAP match - was odd. Heels shouldn't have the odds stacked against them, because it makes them seem gutsy and sympathetic. The arrival of Bray Wyatt was even more bizarre, and the lack of Kevin Owens heading into Payback, or even a Randy Orton appearance, was equally odd and disappointing. An underwhelming go-home show.
The rest of the night was better. Sheamus lost to Matt Hardy in singles action, before Cesaro and his partner teased a heel turn before eventually shaking hands with the champions. Elsewhere in ring action, Neville and TJ Perkins took on Austin Aries and Jack Gallagher, with the latter duo picking up the W through Aries. It was a high octane, fun bout, and the storyline with Perkins and his alignment with Neville is really promising. It has the potential to be a Matt Hardy/Shannon Moore-esque partnership, circa 2003. The only thing disappointing here, but perhaps unsurprising, was a lack of screen time.
We also saw Wyatt address Randy Orton in a backstage promo, adding further allure to his House of Horrors match this weekend. Whether it's a cheesy gimmick match full of imagery and ill-thought CGI on the ring remains to be seen, but I'm intrigued. Obviously, the fact the match is NOT for the WWE Championship perhaps hints at Wyatt picking up a win over Orton. But where does that leave the champion ahead of a sure-to-be underwhelming feud with Jinder Mahal? It hardly adds prestige to SmackDown.
Braun Strowman was booked like an absolute monster again, losing to Kalisto in a Dumpster Match before unleashing his fury. It could have been gimmicky and a bit of a mess, but Strowman was booked extremely well and it's really clever of WWE to keep giving him these huge spots and YouTube-worthy moments. YouTube is full of Strowman vids recently, and videos featuring him are WWE's most popular on the platform. Even better still, Kalisto looked gutsy and better than he has in months.
In terms of the women's division, Dana Brooke beat Alicia Fox before an alignment between the winner and Emma was teased. That's a really, really smart move by WWE. The pair of them could lend credibility to each other. Elsewhere, Alexa Bliss, Bayley and Sasha Banks clashed in the ring verbally, before the heel suffered a count-out loss to Banks, before beating down Bayley. WWE teased a heel turn for Banks via the commentary team, who discussed the prospect of her turning, which further foreshadows what will be a money feud somewhere down the line.
In other action, Curt Hawkins lost to Apollo Crews, who was congratulated by Titus O'Neil, suggesting either a feud or partnership between the duo. A tag-team between them could be really good, given the fact they're both decent competitors woefully under-utilised by WWE. The other match of the night saw Enzo injured before his bout with the Club and Samoa Joe, meaning Finn Balor joined Big Cass and Seth Rollins for a six-man tag team bout, which the babyfaces duly won. It's a shame Balor has nothing to do this weekend, but I'm hopeful he can insert himself into the Wyatt/Orton programme somehow. A feud between Balor and Wyatt has been teased, and it would be great to see, full of drama, good visuals and decent in-ring action. On the Payback pre-show, Balor will appear on MizTV.