5 Takeaways From Monday Night Raw - 7/9/18

This is my series, simply known as "5 Takeaways", where I will share my personal main talking points coming out of Raw and SmackdownLive.

These are all my opinion, so I may miss a nugget or two. If you have something to add to my list, or a list of your own, feel free to share in the comment section below!

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In a decent tag match, Nia Jax and Natalya defeated Alexa Bliss and Mickie James. After the match, Bliss took it upon herself to remind us an extreme rules match is. She mercilessly beat on Jax with a kendo stick, while donning a sadistic grin.

The challenger eventually caught her weapon, and broke it in two over her leg. This portion was pretty good, as the two brought a weapon into the mix, and Jax displayed dominance by breaking the kendo stick herself.

For the first time, we've seen an interesting altercation between Reigns and Lashley. A big fight broke out between the two, as they had to be restrained by the Raw locker room (the lower-mid card roster and Finn Bálor, anyway).

This kind of animosity is just what this feud needs to consist of, in order to add that touch of realism to it. This rivalry works best when it's personal between those involved, and not based on the fact that Roman is unable to beat Brock Lesnar time and time again.

I loved the B-Team when they started (and I still do), but their novelty is beginning to wear out. Bo's impersonation of Bray is on point every time, but we can only see that so much before getting a bit tired of it.

With that being said, there are a couple of teams who would work great in improving the credibility of the tag team division. The Authors of Pain and The Revival are the main two teams I have in mind, specifically the latter. The Revival have two wins over Roman Reigns, so that absolutely should help them get a tag title match soon, yet Kurt Angle called them "meaningless" matches... so who knows what they're going to do.

Ever since debuting on the main roster from NXT, all Ember Moon has done is put on fantastic matches. Sure, she isn't involved in any significant storylines, but that will come in time. I believe she will be a champion soon enough, whether it's on Raw or Smackdown.

I can't wait for future big time matches between Moon and the likes of Sasha Banks, Bayley, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch.

In an upset main event, Drew McIntyre scored a pinfall victory over former Intercontinental champion Seth Rollins. This was a great match that included many counters, and feats of athleticism. McIntyre has the makings of a future Universal champion for sure.

The fact that Drew won means he won't be banned from ringside at Extreme Rules. This also helps out the Intercontinental title match, as there is a story no matter who wins. It will either be Seth Rollins overcoming the odds to reclaim his championship, or Drew helping Dolph retain. Either way, there will be some sort of intrigue coming out of Sunday's event.