A far cry from the red-hot episodes produced amid the heavy ratings competition from the College Football Playoff during the past two weeks, Monday's episode of "Raw" largely served as a shiny placeholder on the road to the Royal Rumble. One week out from its 25th anniversary episode, which is expected to be the biggest show of 2018, "Raw" was short on swerves and developments save for a few subtle teases in the main event regarding what the future might bring in the Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan partnership.

The three hours produced by WWE this time were largely safe with storylines stuck in neutral. Calling it a mailed-in show might feel too harsh considering the fireworks of the Braun Strowman angle, but save for some comical violence, the Strowman odyssey failed to produce much in the way of actual story development.

In many ways, it felt like a microcosm of the show as a whole as "Raw" mailed things in with the shiniest paper possible in a way that was entertaining enough not to complain. Look for that to change in next week's go-home Royal Rumble episode, featuring a mixture of legends and current stars including this week's reveal of Chris Jericho, fresh off his high-profile foray into rival New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Braun Strowman gets fired and rehired

One week after pulling down a lighting girder with a grappling hook and nearly decapitating Kane and Brock Lesnar, it was Strowman who was forced to face the music against Kurt Angle. The "Raw" general manager quickly fired him putting lives at risk and damaging the set. He also pulled "The Monster Among Men" from the triple threat title match at Royal Rumble. Suffice to say, Strowman wasn't happy and was set to make everyone pay.  

Strowman stormed backstage and began a path of destruction, which took up most of the show's first half. He tossed security guards into the garage doors backstage and screamed, "I'm not leaving until everybody get these hands!" He then tore apart Angle's dressing room and chokeslammed Curt Hawkins. After word got back to Angle, who compared Strowman to a "wild elephant," he threatened to call the police and order a S.W.A.T. team. Things then escalated considerably when Strowman entered a TV truck backstage and began harassing the staff. After threatening to shut the entire operation down, Strowman disengaged the tractor from the truck before flipping it over with his bare hands as a horrified Angle screamed for him to stop.

Strowman's final act of violence saw him enter the arena and drag announcer Michael Cole to the stage by his underwear. Angle ran out with a team of security and informed Strowman that he called off the cops. "Stephanie McMahon just called and rehired you so you are not fired and are still in the championship match," Angle said. "Just let Michael Cole go." After celebrating and walking away, Strowman paused and attacked Cole anyway, throwing him onto a pile of security guards off the stage.  

Consider this entire sequence much more entertaining than it made sense. Strowman stood out like a top star while delivering cheesy lines and destroying anyone (or anything) that got into his path. The disappointing part was how little the storyline actually advanced in the end and how easily WWE's authority team acquiesced for Strowman. Had WWE shown more consistency in terms of its recent storytelling, a firing of Strowman that abruptly would have been believable. Instead, it was easily panned considering Roman Reigns destroyed an ambulance and attempted vehicular manslaughter against Strowman last summer without any punishment from Angle.

Seth Rollins curb stomps Finn Balor in tease 

The uneasy partnership between Rollins and fellow "Raw" tag team champion Jason Jordan appeared to take another leap forward. Rollins took umbrage with Jordan costing The Bar a match by distracting them earlier in the night and ran out to let him have it. Jordan then approached Angle on his partner's behalf and requested a singles match against Finn Balor. Jordan thought the match might help Rollins get over his anger for Jordan costing them a main event match last week. Rollins disagreed, saying, "You have to understand, I am your teammate. You are not my spokesperson. I don't have a problem with what you did, I have a problem with the way you did it." An annoyed Jordan walked off without saying a word.

As expected, Rollins' match with Balor featured top-shelf athleticism, intensity and high spots. Both superstars also sold and fought through injuries as part of the storyline, only to dramatically kick out of near falls. But just as Balor appeared to have the match won, The Bar ran in to repay their earlier defeat. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson began brawling with them at ringside before Balor hit a stunning Tope Con Hilo onto all four outside. A chaotic sequence ensued in which multiple bystanders attempted to interfere. The finish came as Jordan grabbed Balor's leg under the ropes to trip him and Rollins then hit his Curb Stomp, a banned move not seen since his heel run as champion in 2015, for the pin. Balor worked overtime to sell the damage caused by the move while Rollins and Jordan celebrated walking up the ramp. WWE also showed a replay in which an earlier pin attempt by Balor was robbed by a referee miscount. Cameras panned on a weary Balor for an extended period of time until the show went off the air.  

The negative and violent connotations surrounding the move aside, it was good to have a flash of the old heel Rollins back in WWE. Which brings us to the timing of his move's return and the fact that Rollins so willingly celebrated after his partner openly cheated to help him win. Was this a strong tease that Rollins might soon join Jordan in a turn to the dark side?  

While Rollins has maintained his popularity and high standard of match quality over the past year, it's no secret that he's definitively better as a bad guy. And the fact that Rollins' former move was renamed the Black Out on Monday could be a tease toward that development, as was the extra effort WWE put in to presenting Balor, who appeared to turn heel last week, as a wounded babyface to close the show.  

As much as The Bar's appearance convoluted matters to a degree, the backbone of the Jordan/Angle story continues to be Raw's backbone, teasing multiple outcomes on the road to WrestleMania 34. Will Angle ultimately be for his son or against him? And what role might Jordan play in breaking up the reunited Shield? The good news is that we don't have all of the answers as viewers and WWE squarely has our interest and attention.

What else happened on Raw?

  • Titus Worldwide def. The Bar via pinfall: This lengthy, two-segment match saw Titus Worldwide pin yet another upset win on the former champions but this time with the help of Jordan. As Sheamus and Cesaro set Crews up for their finisher late in the match, Jordan walked out as his music hit. The distraction allowed Crews to roll up Sheamus for the pin. Rollins then came out to berate him for getting involved.  
  • Cedric Alexander def. Tony Nese via pinfall: Nese entered the ring with a limping Enzo Amore cutting promos for him. Alexander, meanwhile, retained the services of unlikely friend Goldust to help get him over with the main roster crowd. The match was uneventful save for Goldust and Amore staring down outside the ring. Alexander hit his Lumbar Check for the 1-2-3.   
  • Asuka def. Nia Jax via referee stoppage: If the goal for WWE was to keep Asuka's unbeaten streak alive while protecting Jax, it was a successful one. The match was also just about as good as it gets for free TV as both superstars put forth an intense effort, complete with constant reversals and power moves. The finish came when Asuka reversed a Jax attack outside the ring, which sent her flying knee first into the stairs. After rolling back into the ring, Jax was unable to continue due to the scripted injury. Alexa Bliss came out to help her best friend and later, inside the locker room, blamed herself for getting Jax into this mess.  
  • The Revival def. Unnamed jobbers via pinfall: You know it's a dominant squash match when the Raw announcers don't bother to even utter the names of the local enhancement talents who took the fall. Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder connected with their Shatter Machine finisher for the short victory. During an in-ring interview after the match, The Revival put over their old school sensibilities and with Wilder saying, "We are not sports entertainers, we are professional wrestlers."
  • Roman Reigns def. The Miztourage via pinfall in a handicap match: After Elias was paid to provide a musical introduction, The Miz cut a promo on his new reality show and his intention to win back the intercontinental title at Raw 25 next week. Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel then spent a good deal of the match stomping on Reigns until he rallied from underneath. Chaos prevailed late but Reigns persevered to hit a spear on Axel for the pin.  
  • Sonia Deville def. Sasha Banks via pinfall: Paige, who accompanied her Absolution stablemates to the ring, was announced as being out of the Royal Rumble with a neck injury. Banks had Bayley and Mickie James in tow. The match was ultimately short but made a necessary statement now that Paige is unable to take bumps as Deville went over looking strong. She caught Banks off the top rope with a stiff kick to the stomach for the 1-2-3.  
  • Matt Hardy def. Heath Slater via pinfall: Hardy was his weird and Woken self in this one as he creeped out Slater in the corner before going on to bite his hand. After hitting a Side Effect and a neckbreaker, Hardy joined the crowd in "Delete" chants before connecting on a Twist of Fate for the win.