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  • 7 mistakes WWE made on Raw before Wrestlemania 35 

7 mistakes WWE made on Raw before Wrestlemania 35 

The go-home show of Monday Night Raw before Wrestlemania 35 promised to be a stacked broadcast from end to end, as WWE had one more shot at hyping up the main feuds and narratives for the showcase of the immortals this weekend.

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From all three Wrestlemania main eventers being in the same ring, to Kurt Angle wrestling his last ever match on Raw - how could this episode of Raw fail? Well, as much as fans want to appreciate everything WWE does, the creative team just can't seem to get all their booking decisions correct, and that leaves us with an uneven episode of Raw.

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This week's edition of the flagship show was not terrible by any means, and if this was an episode of Raw on any other night of the year, it could have succeeded, but this is the last episode before Wrestlemania. The go-home show before Wrestlemania needs to be exhilarating, chaotic and most importantly, it must get you hyped up for the pay-per-view in a few days time. However, this week's episode of Raw did not achieve that goal.

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#1 A Wasted Opportunity

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WWE announced beforehand that Stephanie McMahon had a huge revelation to make on the flagship show this week, and you could be sure that it had something to do with the current situation of Wrestlemania's main event; in fact, many fans already knew what the announcement was going to entail.

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McMahon came out at the start of the show to make her announcement which was related to the Women's Title triple threat match, and that there was an added stipulation of 'Winner Takes All'.

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This means that the winner of the triple threat match at Wrestlemania will become the Undisputed Women's Champion - and everyone knows that the superstar who will achieve this accolade will be none other than Becky Lynch. But even with the stakes being raised, there is one big wasted opportunity in this entire narrative, and that is the exclusion of Asuka.

WWE squandered the perfect chance to rejuvenate Asuka 's career, and by including her in this feud, WWE could have truly made stars out of the four biggest women wrestlers in the industry right now at Wrestlemania. Even if Asuka was not included in the match, it would be fine, but at least have the former Women's Champion confront McMahon. That would set her up for an interesting inclusion at the event.

#2 Filler

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If there is one thing that ruins Raw and SmackDown Live's go-home shows, it is filler. These time-wasting booking strategies by WWE have been plaguing WWE's go-home shows for years now, but many felt relieved when they saw the preview of Raw this week, as the lineup WWE had prepared for the show looked worthwhile.

However, fans were mistaken once again, as we had to witness matches such as Jinder Mahal and Apollo Crews in a lumberjack match and Heavy Machinery vs the team of Bobby Roodt and Chad Gable. These matches did not affect the Wrestlemania match card, they add nothing to the build-up, and they reduce the high stakes tone these go-home shows aim for.


#3 Dream Match Ruined

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Kurt Angle was going to wrestle his last match on Raw this week, and his opponent was the Luchador legend himself, Rey Mysterio. Before this match got underway, Angle came down to the ring to address the live crowd. What followed was a touching thank you from the former WWE Champion, and WWE put the icing on the cake with an exceptional video package that paid tribute to Angle.

While WWE's booking methods may be outlandish at times, you can't help but admire their video editing skills; however, bad booking from the creative team ruined this special moment. Baron Corbin came down to the ring to discredit Angle's achievements, so Angle challenged his Wrestlemania opponent to an early exhibition match, which never happened because Rey Mysterio challenged Corbin to a match later on the show.

This was supposed to be Kurt Angle's last ever match on Raw, and Mysterio was a perfect opponent, but WWE once again made a terrible decision. The match between Corbin and Mysterio was a mistake in itself, and we will never see Angle get a proper farewell on Raw.

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#4 Back to Square One

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Braun Strowman will be just another superstar in the meaningless pre-show Battle Royal at Wrestlemania. This is the third year in a row where WWE has absolutely no plans for Strowman going into the biggest pay-per-view of the year.

While the company tries to justify Strowman's presence in this match by having him feud with SNL's Michael Che and Collin Jost, it doesn't change the fact that Braun is going backwards.

In 2016, Strowman's booking consisted of squashing jobbers on a weekly basis, until the man himself grew tired of this trend and demanded more competition from then-general manager Mick Foley.

This led to feuds with Sami Zayn, Roman Reigns and then Brock Lesnar, but on Raw this week, Strowman went back to squashing jobbers. WWE has no idea how to properly utilize a superstar such as Strowman, and it is sending his character in a slump he can never crawl out of.

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#5 A Mockery

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Is Finn Balor overrated or underrated? This is a question many fans struggle to answer when assessing Finn Balor's contribution to Raw every week. It's hard to say whether it is WWE's booking or Finn Balor's character work that falls short on Raw.

No one is questioning Balor's in-ring prowess - the man is technically gifted in every category, but when it comes to presenting himself as a compelling character, Balor just falls short, and that might be WWE's fault.

This week Finn teased his alter ego, 'The Demon', for his match with Bobby Lashley at Wrestlemania, and what should have been a terrifying display turned out to be one of the most hilarious moments of this week's episode. Balor sticking his tongue out and growling was a terrible moment in his alter ego's history.

#6 A Lacklustre Main Event

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The main event of the Raw before Wrestlemania needed to be a white-hot segment or match that truly had fans on their feet and ready for the pay-per-view this weekend, but surprisingly that isn't what we got from WWE, as Baron Corbin vs Rey Mysterio was the final match this week. This was a match that had no purpose, no history, and no hype. What was the purpose of this contest closing Raw?

There were so many better options when it came to closing the go-home show of Raw - from the cheesy brawl between Rousey, Lynch and Flair, to Seth Rollins low-blowing the living daylights out of Brock Lesnar. WWE going for the most random match possible ended the entire three-hour broadcast of Raw with a disappointing finish.


#7 Over The Top

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Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair vs Ronda Rousey had its final bit of Wrestlemania build-up on Raw this week, as WWE booked a six women tag team match which saw the three foes team up to take on the Riott Squad. The poor Riott Squad were once again victims of WWE's booking, as Lynch, Flair, and Rousey easily defeated Ruby Riott's gang of misfits - but that wasn't the end of this segment.

A brawl ensued between the three competitors which took them from the ring straight to jail. The brawl was hilarious, outrageously over-the-top, and most importantly, it was a mistake. The concept WWE had in mind made sense on paper - the main-eventers brawl with security, police, and referees, which makes for a chaotic scene. But there was one problem with this entire segment, and that was the realism.

Wrestling is set in a world where dead men exist, where you can assault your boss without getting fired, and it is a place where anything is possible, but this Women's Title program has heavily relied on realism to justify its place in the main event of Wrestlemania; however, this segment proved to be a little bit over the top.

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To see full results & highlights of Monday Night RAW (1st April) visit here

Meet the man who called CM Punk the softest man alive HERE

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Edited by
Duncan W. Lievi (Dhruva Verma)
 
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