SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
This week’s episode of WWE Raw has wrapped. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the madness.
-I’ve got a pretty manic opinion on the opening promo with The Usos and The New Day. Here’s the thing. Giving both teams the time to talk on the mic and sell their Smackdown showdown ahead of Friday night was excellent. Wrestling television needs more of this moving forward and they both were able to drive intrigue in the bout. Now, some of the content and premise of what they said was very silly and frankly, ridiculous. Saying out loud in a promo that you were “saddled with a gimmick” hurts the product. This type of fourth wall breaking doesn’t have a place on a wrestling show and it was surprising to see a group of four veterans go down that path the way they did.
-Boy, who did Matt Riddle piss off? Just a couple months ago he was getting reactions that signaled the possibility of a possible top tier run and now he’s doing jobs in six-man tags to newcomer talent. Worst than that, he’s back to the full on stoner gimmick without the nuance he found with his work with Randy Orton. Is this Riddle? Is it Paul Levesque? That’s important, but either way he’s not in a good spot at all.
-JBl and Baron Corbin continue to be around. Great …
-Welcome back Mia Yim! She could use some background, but starting off opposite Rhea Ripley isn’t a bad way to get featured in a return to the company. If nothing else, Yim provides solid depth to the women’s division on Monday Night Raw.
-A win for Otis is good to see in an effort to hang a little credibility on him and Chad Gable. Thumbs up there. Can we be done with Elias now? The gimmick is now one note AND over exposed. Time to pull the rip cord on it.
-I really like where WWE is going with the women’s War Games match at Survivor Series. Team Bianca Belair and Damage CNTRL have been at each other since Summerslam and this is a suitable way to pay that feud off. The question now will be who joins the two teams. I say it’s Sasha Banks and Naomi on the babyface side and then an NXT call-up on the heel side. This works really well.
-Johnny Gargano being the silly guy is not my favorite presentation of him. The guy can work and can find a real connection with his audience. He can pull this Miz stuff off too, but utilizing him the other way is the stronger way to make money. Gargano vs. Miz tonight wasn’t all that good in the ring, which is strange to say with Gargano involved.
-The Dexter Lumis story has some context now, which is good. They need to move forward, though and it’s hard to see a path to that happening in an effective way.
-Ding, dong, the 24/7 Championship is gone. Thank you Nikki Cross! A top babyface right there.
-Seth Rollins is finally embracing being a babyface and he comes across as a much bigger star in doing so. Fan reactions lining up with characters on the show is so important and Rollins is finally there. On the flip side, Lashley seems to be a heel now and both men have one another to work with in their new roles. Good stuff.
-Sorry bout ya, Austin Theory. Wow. There is a way to salvage Theory after cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase for the United States Championship and losing, but it’ll be tough. If Theory goes on a tear and becomes this crazy aggressive heel in doing so, he could change the perception of him as a dopey character. If not, he may be stuck in WWE mid-card hell for quite some time.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.