WWE Monday Night results and observations (07/18/16): We have controversy!

For the foreseeable future, WWE Raw will look at least slightly different from the latest edition we saw this past Monday night.

That is because it was the final episode before the WWE Draft, when WWE will split up its main roster between its two main television programs, Raw and Smackdown.

Because of that, a lot happened during the show. A lot of what happened had nothing to do with Battleground this Sunday, but I'll get more into that later.

Before I delve deep into the program, here are the full match results from the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, R.I.:

- Cesaro & Sami Zayn def. Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho

- Darren Young def. Alberto Del Rio

- The Club & The Wyatt Family def. The New Day, John Cena, Enzo Amore & Big Cass

- Baron Corbin def. Sin Cara

- Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch def. Charlotte & Dana Brooke via disqualification

- Rusev & Sheamus def. Zack Ryder & Dolph Ziggler

- WWE championship – Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins ended in a draw

WWE championship match ends in unnecessary controversy

Everyone had to figure WWE had something up its proverbial sleeve when it announced a WWE championship match between Ambrose and Rollins just six days before they are scheduled to take part in a highly anticipated triple threat match for the same title.

And WWE did not disappoint. Well, sort of. WWE didn't disappoint in the sense that it most certainly had something up its sleeve, but what was actually up there left a little to be desired, in my opinion.

It would have been easy for WWE to use this match as a way to split up the WWE championship so that there is a champion on each brand — something I am not advocating for, as I believe there should only be one world champion — but WWE didn't take that route.

Nope, WWE created controversy merely for the sake of it. Near the tail end of the match between Ambrose and Rollins, the referee was inadvertently knocked down. While he was down, Rollins delivered a suplex to Ambrose from the top rope.

When both men hit the mat, they hooked each other's legs for a pin attempt. The referee suddenly recovered in time to count both men's shoulders to the mat.

Everyone, including Shane and Stephanie McMahon, stood around in a confused state wondering who actually won the match. Stephanie McMahon then grabbed the microphone and announced that Rollins won and was the new WWE champion.

Rollins grabbed the title belt and began celebrating with it as the telecast went off the air. But wait! There's more.

This may not have happened to everyone, but it definitely happened to me and other people shared a similar story with me. Moments after the show went off the air, WWE sent out a mobile alert telling people to go to the WWE Network to see more fallout from the controversial finish.

Since I was already on a computer, I attempted to load up the WWE Network on it. To my displeasure, the Network didn't load up properly. It took so long that I missed the fallout.

Upon checking my Twitter timeline, I saw that the match was declared a draw and that Ambrose was still the WWE champion.

As you expect, I have many gripes with how all of this played out. First of all, if you're not going to actually crown a new champion, give Ambrose a successful title defense or leave things up in the air so that a second world title is warranted, why even book this match?

We are essentially right back where we started and it looks like the match was booked to pop a rating on what WWE knew was going to feel like a lame duck show.

Another problem I had was the ending where you have the old double pin spot and then have everyone standing around wondering what in the world was going on. We've seen that before so let's do something slightly different next time.

Maybe my biggest issue was having this spill over to the WWE Network. Why do that? Especially when the title is going to revert right back to Ambrose anyway. You mean to tell me WWE couldn't just accomplish that during the three-plus hours of Raw?

I understand that it was a way to plug the WWE Network, but WWE does that 100 times every show anyway. Plus, if you're going to send people to the Network, please make sure it's working properly.

Everything about this could change Tuesday night on Smackdown anyway, but the way this played out was clunky and unnecessary.

Raw, Smackdown general managers named

Shane and Stephanie McMahon named the general managers for their respective brands Monday night. One was a bit of a surprise and the other was supposed to be a surprise, but WWE let the cat out of the bag a little too early.

Stephanie McMahon took everyone by surprise when she chose Mick Foley to be the general manager of Raw. It was a bit of surprise considering Stephanie McMahon is a heel and Foley has been a babyface for as long as I can remember.

Despite the contrast in characters, I like Foley as the choice. People love seeing Foley and he has the obvious experience of once being the WWE commissioner back in 2000, which was pretty entertaining.

It also prevents Raw from feeling like the all-heel show, which what it would have been the case if Stephanie McMahon had chosen someone like her husband Triple H.

Not to mention, it gives WWE a chance to promote Foley's new reality show that is debuting soon on the WWE Network. It's all about cross-promotion.

Shane McMahon didn't surprise anyone by picking Daniel Bryan as the general manager to run Smackdown. WWE inadvertently spilled the beans on Bryan getting the position on its mobile app last week, but that didn't hurt the fan reaction as Providence went wild when he entered the arena.

That should come as no surprise though. If you remember, Providence was the same place where Bryan turned on The Wyatt Family back in 2014.

Bryan's presence on Smackdown will definitely go a long way in making people want to watch the show and will help it come across as the brand the fans want to get behind. Smackdown, amongst the fans and among those within WWE, is always the lesser of the two shows, making it the underdog. Who better to represent the underdog brand than the ultimate underdog in Bryan?

Cruiserweight division returning as Raw exclusive

What will keep people tuning into Raw every week is the return of the cruiserweight division, which will be exclusive to Raw.

I know some people will cringe at the thought of WWE getting behind a real cruiserweight division, as the company has shown very little interest in doing so in the past, but I believe there has been a change in philosophy within WWE and evidence of that is the WWE Cruiserweight Classic.

No one could have ever imagined WWE sponsoring a tournament just for cruiserweights 10 years ago, especially with the vast majority of the participants coming from outside promotions, but that is the world we live in now.

WWE's main roster may not have a bunch of people that fit the bill of cruiserweights, but they have a tournament full of potential candidates to fill out the division in the Cruiserweight Classic.

Right off the top of my head, I can think of guys like Kota Ibushi, Zack Sabre Jr., Drew Gulak, Cedric Alexander Gran Metalik, Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano that would be great additions to the division. Let's not forget about names such as Kalisto, Sin Cara and Rich Swann, who already signed to WWE contracts.

Since Raw is three hours, it will need all the help it can get with a split roster.

Battleground firmly in the background

As I mentioned earlier, Battleground is nowhere near the top of WWE's priority list at the moment, almost making it a forgotten show in the process.

All of WWE's attention the last two weeks has gone to the draft. The draft is a big deal and warrants plenty of attention, but it has come at the expense of Battleground, which typically needs all the hype it can get.