If strong in-ring work and very little focus on advancing storylines is more your cup of tea than Monday's episode of Raw, which aired on tape delay from London, was right up your alley. 

For everyone else, it was merely par for the course during WWE's annual trip to Europe.  

In what felt like a very slow-moving three hours by show's end, a quasi-heel turn from Roman Reigns midway through wasn't enough to save a largely forgettable episode that featured one multi-segment match after another.  

Reigns' vicious attack on an already injured Braun Strowman proved to be the highlight of the show as "The Big Dog" removed Strowman's arm splint and repeatedly targeted his injured elbow.  

This wasn't an official heel turn, an idea that will likely remain an impossible dream of sorts for WWE fans, but Reigns acted like anything but a typical babyface with how calculated and deliberate his payback was for what has now become a handful of brutal attacks in recent weeks.   

The main event saw Bray Wyatt benefit from The Miz's interference to defeat Dean Ambrose in a match that otherwise served merely to preview next week's Ambrose-Miz bout for the intercontinental title.

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WWE Raw results, review 

In the ring -- Dean Ambrose, The Miz, Braun Strowman and Kalisto: While backstage, Ambrose received a call from general manager Kurt Angle that left him excited. He hit the ring and announced that he was named active GM for the evening. The Miz came out and countered Ambrose's claim, saying commissioner Stephanie McMahon made him co-acting GM. 

After some back-and-forth between the two, Strowman came down the ramp with his left arm in a sling. He said he's already taken out Roman Reigns once, and when his arm is healed, he wants to end him for good with his eyes set on Brock Lesnar and the universal championship. Kalisto's new entrance music hit after that, and while standing on the ramp, he demanded a match with Strowman claiming he didn't like being treated like garbage. Strowman said he could beat Kalisto with one arm, so Ambrose made the match despite Strowman claiming he was injured.  

That was rough. Ambrose and Miz were fine handling the retread angle, but Strowman and Kalisto are both truly lacking on the microphone. If Strowman is so injured he won't be able to fight for a while … why is he fighting Kalisto tonight?

Finn Balor def. The Miz via pinfall: Balor had the upper hand for most of the match. With Miz on the verge of defeat, Maryse distracted the referee and Miz threw Balor into the official. Miz then took the mic and stated, as co-acting GM, that a superstar putting his hands on a referee was grounds for DQ. Miz then announced his own victory over the mic, at which point Ambrose restarted the match and barred Maryse from ringside. Balor attacked Miz on the ramp, hit the Slingblade and Coup De Grace for the 1-2-3.  

Solid bounce back from an awful opening. Miz and Ambrose played their roles perfectly and the right man went over. 

Backstage -- Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax: Questioning Bliss' kind words from last week on Raw, Jax said if she truly believes Jax is great then she deserves the next shot at the title. Bliss tried to back away from the match by saying Angle is the one who makes the decisions, at which point Jax said Bliss had a new best friend at least for a short while.

Alexa Bliss def. Mickie James via pinfall: With Jax in Bliss' corner, Bayley came out to support James and even the sides. Late in the match, which was incorrectly announced as a submission match, James went to the top rope and Jax attempted to grab her leg, causing Bayley to cut her off with a flying crossbody. But Bliss used the distraction to land a stiff right forearm to get the 1-2-3. Afterwards, Bliss attacked a beaten James, causing Bayley to chase her backstage. Jax then splashed James in the corner before dropping an elbow.  

Backstage -- The Miz and Dean Ambrose: The Miz interrupted Ambrose with an angry reaction to having his Miz TV segment (featuring an interview with "one of those guys from One Direction") cut from the show. Miz sought revenge by booking Ambrose in a match against Bray Wyatt. 

Backstage -- Samoa Joe and Seth Rollins: During an interview, Joe said he's not through with Rollins. "I'm about to jack up the volume and your life is about to get very loud," Joe said. Rollins crashed the interview with a blindside attack, setting up an intense brawl backstage. Shortly after, a match between Joe and Rollins was announced for later in the night.

Samoa Joe is simply not getting enough airtime. His heel promos are the most believable in the company due to the passion with which he delivers them. Joe and Rollins exchanging words before each punch only made the scripted heat between them feel real.  

Roman Reigns attacks as Braun Strowman def. Kalisto via disqualification: A one-armed Strowman initially refused the match, citing both his injury and "the pathetic coward" Reigns' refusal to face him. The bell rang anyway, and Strowman then attacked Kalisto with a big boot. Reigns ran in to land a trio of Superman punches to drop Strowman. Reigns then began to viciously target Strowman's injured arm using a chair and the ring post, before yelling, "Whose yard is it now?" A beaten Strowman escaped through the crowd.  

Reigns may not be a good guy or a bad guy, as he likes to say, but that beat down was straight out of the heel playbook, with the live crowd providing a perfect soundtrack of boos.  

No. 1 Contender's Tag Team Turmoil Match -- Cesaro & Sheamus def. Enzo Amore & Big Cass (via submission), Heath Slater & Rhyno (via pinfall), Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (via pinfall) and The Golden Truth (via pinfall): In a match which featured four separate commercial breaks, Cesaro and Sheamus secured another shot at The Hardy Boyz' Raw tag team championships. They went the distance to do so, defeating all four teams and further cementing a recent heel turn afterwards by beating down Goldust and R Truth. Matt and Jeff Hardy came out late to chase the victors away.  

There were strong pockets of wrestling in this one between top teams. Great job by Cesaro and Sheamus to send a message to the rest of the division, including a beatdown of Slater and Rhyno on the ramp before their match even started. 

Seth Rollins def. Samoa Joe via disqualification: The finish for this strong two-segment match was set up by a handful of near falls. But after being warned for throwing Rollins into an exposed turnbuckle, Joe interrupted the referee's attempt to reattach the pad by throwing it into the crowd. He was then disqualified for smashing Rollins' head into the buckle twice more before applying a Coquina Clutch after the bell.  

This match had the intensity of a main event with Rollins attemping to steal the show from an in-ring standpoint for the second straight week. But for as good as the match was, the finish was a bit weak.

TJ Perkins def. Jack Gallagher via pinfall: With Neville on commentary to critique his apprentice's work, Perkins used a sneaky rollup (along with a handful of tights) to get the pin. He continued to assault Gallagher afterwards, applying a knee bar. An injured Austin Aries limped in with a knee brace to break it up and run Perkins off.  

Sasha Banks def. Alicia Fox via pinfall: A relatively brief match, designed to get Banks a showcase victory, featured a pretty Northern Lights suplex from Fox for a two count. Banks ultimately landed a double knee from the second rope to get the pin.

Bray Wyatt def. Dean Ambrose via pinfall: The Miz's transition from the commentary table to the ringside area played a major role in the outcome of this non-title affair. His attempt to distract Ambrose by holding up the intercontinental title led to melee outside, which ended with Miz using the belt as a foreign object on Ambrose while the referee was distracted. After Ambrose kicked out of Wyatt's subsequent pin, "The Eater of Worlds" landed a Sister Abigail to produce the 1-2-3. The Miz then attacked Ambrose before standing over him with the belt and cutting a promo to preview their title match next week.  

While the main event was decent from an in-ring perspective, failing to create a Balor run-in (especially in the United Kingdom) made it feel as if last week's finish to a strong Raw main event never happened. It also created an unexplained plot hole as to why Wyatt and Miz have now worked on behalf of each other in one way or another for three consecutive weeks.