WWE Raw: Burning Questions to Address After Aug. 15 Show

The Aug. 15 episode of Raw should have answered any remaining questions fans had about the red brand, but instead, it left fans facing a plethora of questions ahead of Sunday's SummerSlam extravaganza.

Should they even bother tuning in after the company gave away two of the most compelling elements of the show on free television?

Why should fans take Rusev seriously as a marquee attraction on the flagship show when he has been cleanly pinned by his opponent at this Sunday's spectacular?

Is the best-of-seven series between Cesaro and Sheamus the laziest bit of booking WWE Creative has executed in the New Era?

On a night when WWE Creative was responsible for several booking decisions that left fans wondering whether it had SummerSlam's best interests in mind, those three questions stand head-and-shoulders above the others.

1. Did WWE Creative do irreparable damage to SummerSlam intrigue with Monday's booking?

The revelation of Finn Balor's Demon King persona is the type of thing Vince McMahon, at one time, would have held off until SummerSlam in an attempt to build interest. Fans have seen Balor in full makeup, both during NXT and in promotional materials, but a large portion of the general audience had never experienced the entrance live.

That all changed Monday, and as a result, WWE no longer has that aspect to lean on in an attempt to draw WWE Network subscriptions and pay-per-view buys.

The Roman Reigns vs. Rusev match is off the table, too, after the company inexplicably booked the same showdown in the main event of Raw. Why would anyone be even remotely interested in taking 20 minutes out of their schedule to watch a match they just witnessed six days earlier?

With Raw's two big matches not including Brock Lesnar adversely affected by the decisions made during Monday afternoon's creative meeting, the answer to this question appears to be "yes."

2. Can fans buy Rusev as a credible headliner when he has already been beaten by Roman Reigns?

One of the big surprises of the New Era has been the elevation of Rusev as one of the premier heels on the Raw side of things. A scheduled SummerSlam match with Roman Reigns looked to have him in a position to ride a wave of momentum into the remainder of the year.

Then Monday happened, and a clean loss to Reigns has some wondering why so much effort went into building The Bulgarian Brute into a threat, only to have Reigns beat him clean in the center of the ring six days before his biggest match since the John Cena series in 2015.

Rusev has been a revelation. He is among the most interesting and complete characters on WWE television. He has come so far from the generic, green powerhouse he was when he arrived in 2014. When he makes those strides, proves himself as a talker and delivers some of his finest in-ring performances to date, he deserves better than to have his momentum erased by such a careless and reckless creative decision.

3. Cesaro vs. Sheamus? A Best-of-Seven Series? Really?

Today, fans look back at the best-of-seven series between Chris Benoit and Booker T as one of the highlights of WCW in 1998—primarily because of the outstanding ring work that occurred on a weekly basis. In reality, though, it was peak laziness in terms of booking by WCW hierarchy.

The same can be said about Cesaro and Sheamus.

Neither is doing anything of real significance. As the event approaches, they are stuck in the same midcard hell that has defined their WWE careers of late. Neither has seen any advancement to this point, nor has WWE Creative been overly concerned with putting them in positions to succeed.

How can this appease them and fans?

By pulling the best-of-seven series out of mothballs, WWE Creative can pretend it is doing something innovative or fun with the Superstars while, in reality, masking the fact that their worlds will be stuck on a treadmill of booking for the foreseeable future.