Raw put on another amazing show. That point really can’t be argued, but there were some issues here and there as there will always be as we all have different opinions and it’s pretty tough to put on a perfect show. Often, the lows are because of the highs. It sounds weird, but it makes an odd sort of sense as we’ll see below.
Without further ado, let’s get to the chaos
- Strowman steamrolls everyone. Despite coming out to the loudest pop (second to Bray Wyatt’s Fiend) and running over and through the Revival and Ziggler and Roode (How’s Glory-Us for a name? Saw it on an Instagram account. lol) during their celebration, this felt like a waste. Sure, it’s expected that Strowman would want to take his frustrations out on someone after being shafted once again by the powers that be when it comes to a major championship, but this just didn’t fit in. Maybe a match with Samoa Joe (another often shafted superstar) would’ve been better. It would have been a great way to put each other over.
- AJ Styles and Derek Alexander’s feud. Okay, this feud would be great if it was just these two. While having a stable like the OC ready to interfere regularly is a legitimate threat, is it possible we see these two have one match that doesn’t resemble gang warfare? The Viking Raiders and OC are a great matchup, so why not split them off to do their thing while Styles and Alexander do theirs? It’s becoming a joke with all the “messages” being passed back and forth.
- Marie Kanellis. Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. Nothing like claiming her child is Ricochet’s, then Rusev’s, which resulted in her husband being throttled. If the entire thing was a ploy to bring Rusev in, is it too late to ask for the time these segments have taken back?
- The announcers. Their jokes were tired and meh during Mike Kanellis’ beatdown by Ricochet and then Rusev. Considering the babyface announcers put on heel hats just made the whole thing weird. It probably didn’t help they had to do something to lighten the chaos caused by Maria’s announcements.
- Flair and Lynch outshine Nikki Cross. While Lynch and Flair coming together isn’t a bad thing, the fact it came after Nikki Cross did a phenomenal job against Bayley and Sasha Banks after Alexa Bliss had to leave with an injury is. Of course, Banks wanted to use a chair on Cross. Of course, Becky Lynch had to come out and have a horrible chair duel. And, of course, Cross’ efforts were quickly forgotten as she was overshadowed by the bigger stars.
- Baron Corbin winning the King of the Ring tournament. While it was one of the best matches of the year, the fact the fans don’t agree with Vince McMahon on this will make it a tumultuous victory for Corbin. The problem is, no one knows what his gimmick is and he hasn’t been helped by his in ring competition for the most part. While we got to see the type of match he’s capable of against Gable, what are the odds the other superstars will put forth the same effort? While Vince may have been right to ignore the naysayers, the pressure is now on Corbin to make it work, whether others want to or not.
Final Thoughts
Most of last nights moves made sense aside from a couple here and there. Even keeping Strowman active in the fans’ eyes was a good move. It’s the execution that is lacking. While most won’t notice or care about some of the moves as the WWE is improving, there may come a time when those hiccups cost them. Of course, it’s impossible to make everyone happy, but one would think they’d see certain superstars aren’t going over like they want. How many times do they have to waste time and money before they actually listen to the fans?
