This week’s Raw, live from the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia, PA did have its moments, but it was also much of the same stuff that WWE has been doling out on a weekly basis.
What is heartening to see these days is that there’s a thread that runs through Monday Night Raw, from the first segment to the last making it seem like one big cohesive unit. But there are certain annoying things that WWE continues to do on a weekly basis, that simply ruin the experience for many of us.
Here’s what worked for us, and what failed to deliver!
#1 Worst: One mega botch and several mini botches
It wouldn’t be a Monday Night Raw without fumbling and general sloppiness on the commentary by Michael Cole and Byron Saxton, would it?
Even this week, they stumbled on certain words, on many occasions. One comical segment consisted of the three announcers trying to sell the WWE Network, and Eric Bischoff's last soldier, Saxton mentioning WCW ahead of WWE. Oops! But that wasn’t the biggest botch of the night.
When Rusev and Lana showed footage of them destroying Enzo Amore, Enzo’s buddy Cass would step out to deliver his promo. Except his music would not stop. So Cass would talk through the music! It looked and sounded extremely awkward all throughout the segment.
#1 Best: Gentlemanly interference
The cruiserweights on Raw get absolutely no reaction, nor is 205 Live setting the world on fire! The only chance for salvation for the Cruiserweight Division can come from the gentlemanly Jack Gallagher.
The promo he cut, completely in character, was a thing of sheer beauty and utmost class. Quite politely, Jack Gallagher expressed his desire to interfere in the Ariya Daivari vs Lince Dorado match; and the cherry on the cake was him calling Daivari a scoundrel. ‘Scoundrel’ may soon replace ‘stupid idiot’ in fan vocabulary, if Gallagher keeps at it.
Truly prim and propah!
#2 Worst: No Emmalina?
When your audience consists primarily of hot-blooded males, you do not just announce Emmalina’s appearance and not have her show up!
Not merely because she’s looking absolutely gorgeous at live events, but because her appearance can truly spice up the stale women’s division, which just has 2 real players. Bayley needed a new feud, and Emmalina would have been the perfect opponent for her.
Okay, we’re just making excuses. We just wanted to see Emmalina in this avatar because holy mother of God... she’s hot!
#2 Best: End of record-breaking nonsense
We can assure you, Mr. McMahon, that nobody in the WWE Universe cares about New Day breaking records as much as you do, sir! But now that they have finally reached the coveted milestone, we can finally move on with life again.
Raw has far too much talent in the tag team division, and sadly because of the record nonsense, they were all made to look like absolute jobbers. One of our staff raised a very scary possibility. What if McMahon becomes obsessed with making New Day the first tag team to have a 500 day reign in WWE history.
We sure hope not, for the sake of WWE’s talented roster.
#3 Worst: No more best friends?
Let’s be honest to ourselves. Smackdown is a better show than Raw in every single way, except for the presence of these two very talented best friends. They kept the brand competitive at a time when Smackdown clearly had the better product, better storylines and dare we say, an even better roster.
Their segments with Tom Phillips were as amusing as they were endearing. They made the first episode of Raw Talk a complete laugh riot. While the JeriKO split can lead to a very competitive and entertaining feud, it may be a little premature for that to transpire now.
Let’s hope this is a mega swerve, and the two men are working together to defeat Rollins and Reigns. If not, WWE’s booking team are really stupid idiots.
#3 Best: Cesaro on fire!
With due apologies to the main event, Raw started with probably the best match in the show. The Triple Threat match between The New Day, The Club and Cesaro/Sheamus was a real sight to behold.
But the most amazing thing about the match was the sudden flurry of offence from the Swiss Superman - Cesaro. In a blitzkrieg flurry of moves, he showed us just why he is the best worker in the red brand.
Go Superman! No, not you, Roman!
#4: Best thing ever
While Raw disappointed you by not showing you any glimpse of Emmalina, we present Emmalina in her true splendor. Because, Sportskeeda Wrestling News delivers when Raw doesn’t.
For latest WWE News, live coverage and rumours visit our Sportskeeda WWE section. Also if you are attending a WWE Live event or have a news tip for us drop us an email at fightclub (at) sportskeeda (dot) com.
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