WWE World Title Booking Fumble, Rocket Ship for Bron Breakker and More Raw Fallout

The Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California hosted the October 20 edition of Raw on Netflix, highlight by a night filled with championship opportunities.

After Seth Rollins was forced to vacate the World Heavyweight Championship due to injury, Raw general manager Adam Pearce lined up a Battle Royal to decide CM Punk's challenger for the belt at Saturday Night's Main Event on November 1.

Jey Uso outlasted the field in the multi-man match to stake his claim to the title.

Bron Breakker barely let Rollins' title go after Paul Heyman made clear he had chosen The Badass and Bronson Reed over Rollins to lead The Vision.

AJ Styles and Dragon Lee ended The Judgment Day's reign of terror, capturing the World Tag Team Championships.

Dominik Mysterio again found a way to win and defeated Rusev to retain the Intercontinental Championship.

After more personal issues with referee Jessika Carr, Becky Lynch survived Maxxine Dupri's title change only to intentionally disqualify herself.

Monday's episode of Raw was a championship-focused show, beginning to lay the foundation for SNME.

WWE Fumbles Golden Opportunity with Jey Uso Win

It is rare that WWE has a chance to dramatically shake the foundations of the promotion with just one match, but Monday's Battle Royal could have done just that.

With a shoulder injury forcing Seth Rollins to vacate the world title, the field was open for anyone to step up.

Most of the major stars on Raw competed in the match to determine who would face CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship.

This could have been the start of Bron Breakker's rise to prominence. It could also have set up Bronson Reed as a title challenger.

LA Knight could have finally taken a step closer to his first world championship, while Dominik Mysterio could have continued his meteoric rise and teased a belt collector run.

This could have even gone to an underused talent WWE was ready to give a massive opportunity such as Penta, El Grande Americano or Grayson Waller, not even mentioning underused SmackDown names like Carmelo Hayes or Rey Fénix.

Even an NXT star like Oba Femi, Je'Von Evans, Trick Williams or Tony D'Angelo could have benefitted from at least participating and maybe even winning.

Instead, WWE chose the safe, forgettable option. The same man who won the men's Royal Rumble this year has been granted another shot at the World Heavyweight Championship he won at WrestleMania 41.

The two men fighting the gold at SNME have held the championship already in 2025, and they were competing with each other last week in a Triple Threat to earn a shot at Seth Rollins.

Both have been in the world title conversation all year. WWE could have just as easily named Jey as the challenger without a match and most fans would not have blinked an eye.

Even with his new more ruthless edge courtesy of Roman Reigns, Jey does not stand out as an interesting option to hold the world title.

All signs now point to Punk taking the title, eventually dropping it to Breakker, while a Jey win would be a disappointment instead of an exciting upset.

The best option seems obvious in hindsight. Knight is ready for a world title reign, and even a short reign ended by Breakker would allow The Megastar to forever stand as a world champion.

Strap the Rocket Ship to Bron Breakker

Bron Breakker looked right holding the World Heavyweight Championship, and it's a shame he is not in line to be the next world champion.

Outside of LA Knight finally achieving his world title dream, Bron Breakker winning it is the most satisfying story for Raw's immediate future.

Last week, The Badass ended the show standing with the world title that CM Punk had just earned a chance to compete for. It made the most sense to build upon that foundation with a win for the second-generation star this week.

Instead, WWE is delaying the inevitable, and it makes little sense. Saturday Night's Main Event may not be the biggest stage, but a short reign for Punk is just a distraction from the real goal.

At 27 years old, Breakker is nearing his prime and ready to take on his role as one of WWE's new true top acts.

Hesitation on that point just leaves the company in a holding pattern with bad creative.

Raw Tag Team Woes on Full Display

The time was long overdue for The Judgment Day to drop the World Tag Team Championships, but the wrong team dethroned Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh.

AJ Styles and Dragon Lee are talented wrestlers who were thrown together with the sole purpose of contesting The Judgment Day.

Neither Styles nor Lee is a serious tag team wrestler at this stage of his career, particularly working with one another.

Lee had a solid team dynamic with Rey Mysterio, and it is possible they would have won the titles together if The Master of the 619 was healthy.

However, there was a true tag team that represented LWO, Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde, who should have been in this position to back up Dragon instead.

Styles has never been a tag team wrestler. Even his first title win with Omos came off as a career achievement award to make sure The Phenomenal One had the Grand Slam.

Styles and Lee did nothing outside the ring to show why they should be seen as a true tag team before winning the gold.

The only real connection besides a rivalry with The Judgment Day is the running joke that their tag team name could be "AJ Lee."

This team was put together quickly and given a few wins before taking gold on a random TV episode.

Meanwhile, WWE lost interest in better established tag teams like The War Raiders, New Day, The Creed Brothers and Alpha Academy.

The Usos are considered too important to go after the tag titles. Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate have become jobber lackeys to El Grande Americano.

If Styles and Dragon had lost, no other team was even close to being ready to step up unless WWE still wanted to focus on Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed as a tag team instead of two rising singles stars.

The division is dwindling to such a point that it would not be surprising if WWE moved to unify the World and WWE Tag Team Championships again soon.

Dominik Mysterio Needs Fresh Challengers

Dominik Mysterio won the Intercontinental Championship over 170 days ago and has mostly feuded with the same few stars since then.

He has defended against AJ Styles, Penta and Rusev multiple times, never faltering in his standard "Lie, Cheat, Steal" formula.

While all have been quality opponents who could have taken the gold, the time has passed for all these rivalries.

It is time to build fresh challengers for Dirty Dom. This could be difficult on a top-heavy Raw roster, but there are still interesting options.

Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Grayson Waller could be an intriguing trio of challengers. WWE could also test the waters with a solo run for Erik and Ivar.

Sheamus is always a great option for an IC title match. If Jey Uso is fully focused on the world title, Jimmy Uso could consider a run at Dirty Dom.

Also, since Mysterio is AAA mega champion as well, this could be a good chance to get more AAA talent on Raw including Mr. Iguana, Psycho Clown and El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr.

A possible John Cena match is still an option as well, but the major focus should be building up the midcard of Raw.

End Already in Sight for Becky Lynch's Heel Run

On the night after WrestleMania 41, Becky Lynch turned heel by attacking Lyra Valkyria. For most stars, that would have been the start of a long run as a villain in WWE.

However, The Man has often struggled to stay heel. She is too likable and charismatic.

Even repeatedly calling herself the "greatest female wrestler of all time" has become a meme, repeating in jest by fans in celebration of Lynch.

Nothing she has done in WWE over the last couple months has had the same impact as Lynch threatening Paul Heyman on Raw this week.

Those were not the words of the over-the-top heel but the fiery babyface defending her husband.

While Seth Rollins could be out a while, Lynch has set the stage for her to turn face at any time.

If, as seems likely, she drops the Women's Intercontinental Championship to Maxxine Dupri, The Man's only babyface rival could be referee Jessika Carr, assuming recent teases are setting up the official to work a match on the main roster.

Beyond that, Lynch will have better luck as a face, keeping Heyman in check and rebuilding broken friendships until Rollins is ready to return.