A look at the Three Stars Of The Night for the July 16 edition of WWE Monday Night Raw!

WWE visited a hardcore hockey town in Buffalo, New York! Elias didn’t think it was quite as great, buuuuuuuuuuut much like this column, that’s the gimmick!

The Third Star:
Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle has not had a great run as Raw General Manager. He often mixes up his words, and that’s if he doesn’t forget his lines altogether. He’s also often made out to be an idiot.

But tonight he took charge of Raw. He took steps to give Ronda Rousey her opportunity at SummerSlam, and then got Paul Heyman to back off of his stance and agree to have Brock Lesnar defend the Universal Championship at SummerSlam.

Kurt Angle’s career as Raw General Manager might not be remembered as one of eloquent lines and polished delivery.

But on this night? Kurt was the man. Oh it’s true…

The Second Star:
Alexa Bliss

I know many of you don’t think Alexa Bliss deserves to be in the spot she’s sitting in.

Many of you would be wrong.

Roman Reigns is the reason Bobby Lashley is as over as he is right now, and Alexa Bliss has taken the mantle of responsibility for Ronda Rousey. She’s skilled beyond her years, and the eventual showdown between Ronda Rousey and Alexa Bliss at SummerSlam will be elevated by the current Raw Women’s Champion.

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Andrew Balaz and Mathew Sarpraicone bring you day-by-day coverage
of the 28th New Japan G1 Climax!

Click for results, standings, schedule, and full analysis!

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And now… a distinction usually reserved
for the top performer of the night …the first star!

The First Star:
Bobby Lashley

Bobby Lashley is a four time TNA World Heavyweight Champion. In TNA he also added an X-Division reign, won a King Of The Mountain  and carried the company for several years.

Before that, Bob was a two time ECW Champion in WWE, an Intercontinental Championship, and was responsible for Vince McMahon’s WrestleMania 23 shaved head at the hands of then-future President Donald Trump (it hurts me to type that).

Bob has an MMA record of 15-2, a mark far superior to that of Brock Lesnar.

Yet at WWE Extreme Rules, Bob scored a win bigger than all of that. He pinned Roman Reigns, the “Big Dog” of WWE, clean in the center of the ring.

Now Bob has a pinfall win over Finn Balor and a chance to face Reigns again, with the winner challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam.

Bob vs. Brock Lesnar actually makes sense, a move that I wouldn’t be shocked to see. The parallels are amazing, and even if conventional wisdom tells us that Roman Reigns is getting his win back and is headed to SummerSlam, there’s part of me that would actually buy into BOBvBROCK. So let’s see what they do.

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Who are your three stars of the Network? Comment on social media @ChairshotGreg, @theCHAIRSHOTcom, and use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

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In hockey, a game’s “Three Stars Of The Night” represent the top three performers of the night. For more clarification, I defer to this Pittsburgh Gazette explanation:

“The tradition dates to the 1936-37 season, when Imperial Oil became the principal sponsor of Hockey Night in Canada radio broadcasts and was seeking a way to promote one of its products, Three Star gasoline. The idea of doing so by selecting the top three performers in a particular game purportedly came from a Canadian advertising agency.

Many clubs do recognize the player with the most three-star selections with an award or trophy, usually in conjunction with a corporate sponsorship, at the end of the season (or sometimes, each month). All six Canadian franchises, for example, have an affiliation with a well-known brewery.

The NHL keeps track of its own Three Stars Of The Night selections, but that is done on a league-wide basis. The league employs a system that awards 30 points to a first star, 20 to a second star and 10 to a third – a running total can be found on the league’s website – but it does not present an award based on them.”

In hockey tradition, the first star represents the best of the three, but all three are considered to be receiving a high honor.