WWE Monday Night Raw results and observations (07/25/16): It really is a new era

WWE has been touting for months that it is in the midst of a new era.

On Monday night, it finally felt like a real shift in WWE, as the company began its second incarnation of the brand extension with a stellar edition of Raw.

A lot took place during the show so let's not waste anymore time and get right to the match results from the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

- Finn Balor def. Kevin Owens, Rusev & Cesaro

- Nia Jax def. Britt Baker

- Roman Reigns def. Sami Zayn, Sheamus & Chris Jericho

- Neville def. Curtis Axel

- WWE Women's championship – Sasha Banks def. Charlotte

- Braun Strowman def. James Ellsworth

- Enzo Amore & Big Cass def. The Shining Stars

- Finn Balor def. Roman Reigns

New look, feel to Raw

The first thing I noticed when watching Raw this past Monday was how fresh and new it felt.

Some of the wrinkles WWE added to the show were not necessarily brand new, but they felt that way simply because it has been so long since WWE has some of these tools.

Right off the bat we were treated to a new set design for Raw. The set itself didn't look completely original, as it looked very similar to the SummerSlam sets WWE used when the show was in Los Angeles all those years in a row.

Regardless of whether WWE used that set before or not, it was nice to finally see a new look to a WWE show.

WWE uses the same exact stage for every televised show except WrestleMania. The only other exceptions to that are when WWE produces a live special for the WWE Network such as Roadblock or Beast in the East.

The only reason WWE didn't use its usual set was because those specials were originally untelevised live events that got turned into televised ones after the fact.

It got quite tiresome looking at the same exact stage week in and week out with the only difference being the graphics package being used. It made every WWE show, including pay-per-views, looked so formulaic.

The new set still has the same elements all of the ones WWE has used over the years, which is a big screen with a ramp and walkway, but even a slight tweak sufficed for me.

Another new wrinkle was the position of the commentators, who were usually stationed ringside. Now, they are positioned near the stage, much like Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler when the first brand extension began back in 2002.

Again, it's not brand new, but it is something different from what we have seen from WWE for the past decade.

The announcing itself was a welcome change as well. Gone are the days of John Bradshaw Layfield constantly yelling the same things week after week and in their place was a more sports-like sound to the broadcast team.

Michael Cole, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton actually felt like an announce team calling a sporting event, as oppose to three men just yelling and sounding silly. Also, Cole actually got to call the matches instead arguing with JBL or plugging every little thing WWE has going at the moment.

Cole actually got to call the action inside the ring and was much more tolerable because of it. In fact, he shined Monday night because he got to actually showcase his talent as an announcer and not have to play the role of traffic cop.

Other troupes WWE unearthed were post-match interviews, which there multiple Monday night. There was one after Banks won the WWE Women's championship and at least one more after Reigns lost to Balor in the main event, where he approved the new kid on the block. There was even a pre-match interview with a man named James Ellsworth before Strowman squashed him in a matter of seconds.

Speaking of squashes, there were enhancement matches on the show, which I believe WWE should be doing more of on all of its shows. NXT has used enhancement matches to build up a thriving brand and WWE has gotten far, far away from them over the years, mostly due to its competition with World Championship Wrestling in the late 1990s.

But that was 20 years ago and WWE doesn't have any competition in the wrestling business so that means it should be using enhancement matches more and I was glad to see Strowman and Nia Jax get introduced as singles competitors with them.

Something that was actually new was all of the new camera angles WWE busted out Monday night. WWE's production has always been very good on the production side, but its style had grown quite formulaic and stale over the years.

Monday night, WWE broke out some amazing shots of the ring before and during matches, which gave the show a new look and feel. Something that was taken away from the production was the constant zooming in and out during matches and the constant shaking of the cameras.

Sitting through three hours of Raw was not only tiring but also quite nauseating with how WWE instructed their camera operators to shoot the action. For the most part, I noticed very little of that Monday night.

All of these new and returning tricks helped make Raw an overall enjoyable program. Not to mention, we weren't beat over the head with appearances by authority figures throughout the show.

Balor is a made man

In one night, Balor went from the new guy on Raw to one of its top guys.

He did so by winning a fatal four-way in the evening's opening match and then defeating Reigns to clinch a championship match against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam. The name of the championship they're fighting for sounds ridiculous, but I'll get more into that later.

What was also ridiculous was how much of a star WWE made Balor out to be in just one night. The company went out of its way to make Balor look like he already belonged at the top of the card.

He wasn't a plucky underdog either. He went toe-to-toe with guys like Rusev, Owens, Cesaro and Reigns and got the job done. That second victory was especially compelling, as it came over the guy that was hand-picked by management to the company's top star.

I've said on many occasions that Balor was probably the most important call-up to WWE in the history of NXT. It looks as though WWE felt the same way.

But Monday night was just one night. There is obviously more to come from Balor on the main roster. The key for WWE is to capitalize on his momentum and keep him in a top position, as it could mean plenty of dollar signs moving forward.

Reigns is a not-so made man

While Balor is on the ascent, Reigns looks to be on a bit of a decline after what I saw at Battleground Sunday and Raw Monday.

At Battleground he took the pin during the WWE championship match and although he won a fatal four-way of his own Monday night, he took a clean loss to WWE's new future face of the company, Balor.

So what does this mean for Reigns moving forward?

Well, it looks like he is going to be taking a step back from the main-event picture for a little while due to his highly publicized suspension. That's not to say that he can't find his way back into that mix. As a matter of fact, I'm willing to bet that he will before 2016 is over, but for the time being, he will be receiving a demotion of sorts.

It is crazy thing to think about, as it was just a little more than a month ago that Reigns was clearly the man WWE wanted to lead it for the next decade or more.

On Monday night, however, he was forced to sit and watch another guy gain more favor in the eyes of the powers that be.

The Boss is now the champion

I've touted for months that Banks is one of the best overall performers in the world — male or female.

She now has a championship title as proof.

That is because Banks forced Charlotte to submit to win her first WWE Women's championship after one of the best matches on Raw all year. It was very boss-like of Banks and Charlotte to put on a performance that good.

Banks even managed to sprinkle in a tribute to her childhood idol Eddie Guerrero by lying in order to get Dana Brooke ejected from ringside.

Although I thought Banks' time would come at WrestleMania, it was nice to see it happen on Raw to kick off the so-called new era in WWE.

The victory was not just about Banks, though. This was about how far women's wrestling had come in the last year or two.

I'm not sure anyone could fathom a women's match receiving that spotlight, that amount of time and that type of reaction from the fans two years ago, but it did, and it was testament to all of the hard work of the female of the athletes on WWE's roster.

It was also a testament to WWE actually giving these women a chance to be wrestlers and not just catty divas that are really nothing more than eye candy for sex-deprived men.

As I always say though, what happens next is what counts when it comes to WWE. WWE is very good at creating great moments, but it is not-so good at sustaining the greatness it created over a period of time.

Monday night was not only a great night for Banks and all of her fans that had waited years to see her ascend to the mountaintop, but it was also a great night for women's wrestling in general, as it was proof that people can get behind talented female wrestlers when they are in the ring.

The key now is for WWE to keep it going.

WWE Universouuullll championship

Not all things were good on this week's episode of Raw, and chief among the bad was the name of the new top championship for Raw.

Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley began the show by saying that the fans of Raw deserved a major championship and announced that one would be crowned at SummerSlam.

The winner of the SummerSlam match, which eventually became Rollins versus Balor, would be crowned the new WWE Universal champion.

Wait. So the winner would be the champion of the entire universe? Does he advance to face Mr. Universe in a match at Survivor Series?

All kidding aside, that name is terrible and I can't imagine anyone being taken seriously as the Universal champion. The first thing that popped in my head when I heard that was the Universoul Circus, which is what I shall refer to the championship as from now on. It will now be known as the WWE Universoul championship.

When I think Universoul, I don't think Rollins and Balor.

Gallows, Anderson target The New Day

I typically like everything The New Day does, but Monday night was a swing and a miss in my opinion.

However, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows showed up to save the day when they attacked The New Day and left them lying.

If this means Anderson and Gallows will finally challenge The New Day for the WWE Tag Team titles then I am all in.