What We Learned from Monday's Edition of Raw

That's it—the go-home edition of Raw is in the bag ahead of this Sunday's Survivor Series pay-per-view, and, whilst there wasn't exactly a heap of promotion and hype for the event, the Raw still produced enough to hopefully convince people to buy the show.

There were a few nice matches set up neatly, as well as everyone's favorite segment—a returning Superstar. That seems to be a popular trend in the WWE at the moment, and with Wade Barrett, Mark Henry and Sheamus still off TV, it may well continue heading up to the festive season.

Of course, there was a huge title change and a debut that will have impressed a few people, too. So lets find out what we learned from Monday's edition of Raw.

As always, if you agree, disagree or simply think we've left anything off the list, get involved with the debate by leaving your comments below.

Big E Langston Finally Strikes Gold

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In the words of Daniel Bryan—yes! Finally Big E Langston has picked up a belt to merit his huge momentum since turning face.

It's been threatened over the previous few weeks—this match should have happened at Hell in a Cell was it not for an injury to Axel. He also tussled with Dean Ambrose for the United States Championship, but in truth, Ambrose is not in the right place to drop the belt.

This would have been a travesty had creative opted to keep the strap on Axel for any longer. He's been a noble champion, but the changing of the guard was done correctly, and Langston is a worthy champion.

Where next for Big E? Anywhere he wants, really. The crowds are buying into him as a face, and he is a superb performer in the ring.

All he needs to do now is bring his "five count" from NXT over. The crowd will love that.

Ryback Shows Us What He Can Do

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Considering the downward spiral he has been on lately, Monday night felt like a turning point for Ryback's career.

I mean, come on. He lost to R-Truth on the show last week, which is never a good moment for any Superstar looking for a push. It is a pretty big indicator that creative has zero plans for him.

It came as a big surprise when he wasn't simply squashed by the Big Show on Raw this week. In fact, Ryback put on a pretty good show. Even his biggest critics couldn't fail to be amazed at the moment he picked Show up on his shoulders and delivered a "Shellshock."

If, as believed, he is set for a face turn in the near future, this was a good way to buy him some cheers from the crowd. It was a pretty good wrestling match between two absolute monsters and perhaps the start of something new for Ryback.

Raw Country: As Predicted, a Disaster

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In my preview for Raw yesterday, I took a punt and said that the "Raw Country" theme would be a disaster.

I think it's safe to say I got it pretty much spot on. Let me make one thing clear—I've never been a fan of bands performing live at WWE events, even more so when I don't know who they are. Florida Georgia Line, then, got a big thumbs down from me.

Viewers were also exposed to the predictable, pathetic rubbish from 3MB. They were once funny, a gimmick that everyone enjoyed, but now they are just a waste of time.

Heath Slater was better as the one man band. Drew McIntyre was better as the chosen one. Even Jinder Mahal was better served as The Great Khali's translator!

Oh, and don't forget musical chairs from the Divas too. Raw Country? No thanks.

A Turning Point for Dolph Ziggler?

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As a Dolph Ziggler fan, I approved of a particular area of Monday's edition of Raw.

I honestly thought that the "Broadway Brawl" between Ziggler and Damien Sandow—two of WWE's best wrestlers—was going to be a gimmick-laden, ridiculous match; however, they both stepped up and put an exciting show on for the crowd.

Ziggler picked up the win! That feels like it hasn't happened in a long time, and it was nice to see the crowd still digging Ziggler as one of their chosen guys.

Is it a turning point? Perhaps. Now he needs to be crafted into a rivalry that will really transform him—I still feel he has unfinished business with Alberto Del Rio over the World Heavyweight Championship, but given that Superman John Cena is the champion, that won't be happening anytime soon.

A Promising Debut for Xavier Woods

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As someone who watches NXT whenever I can, Xavier Woods was one guy I was keen to see step up to the main roster.

It was an appropriate night for him to do it, given that the last big NXT protege—Big E Langston—picked up gold on the same edition of Raw.

Despite him being swamped under a dearth of jobbers, Woods actually managed to do a decent job of impressing.

Creative even let him finish off the match, and he looks to certainly have something. He could do a lot worse than take inspiration from Langston, too.

There May Be a Twist at Survivor Series

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In fact, scratch that. There will be a twist.

After Triple H and Stephanie McMahon told Randy Orton he would be getting no help in his title match against Big Show, only the most naive WWE fans could envision a match where a clean finish was achieved.

The interesting thing is, the twist could occur either way. Big Show is no stranger to turning heel or turning face, and it could even be a twist in favor of Show; however, it's more likely that Show will end up being screwed yet again, as Triple H gets the upper hand on the monster.

Whatever the case, it will make for intriguing viewing at Survivor Series.

CM Punk Is Too Good for These Ridiculous Rivalries

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I'll come out and say it—CM Punk saved the main event.

12 men was always too much for a main event anyway, and it was ridiculously stale until Punk got involved and absolutely cleaned up.

Hopefully after he and Daniel Bryan beat Erick Rowan and Luke Harper on Sunday, we can get Punk involved at the top level where he belongs.

The WWE Championship—and Randy Orton—are waiting for Punk to get involved with the main event. He would be a superb anti-authority figure for WWE fans to love—not that they don't already love him.

Putting it plain and simple, Punk can breathe new life into this interesting storyline at the pinnacle of WWE.