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  • Opinion: The biggest winners and losers of last night's Raw (June 24)
Poor Seth and Becky!

Opinion: The biggest winners and losers of last night's Raw (June 24)

WWE had the opportunity last night to hit a reset of sorts following a lackluster Stomping Grounds pay per view. The company refused to do so. Instead, it served up another horrid edition of Monday Night Raw that failed to generate any real excitement for the company as it moves into the height of the summer and closer to SummerSlam, and with All Elite Wrestling's next event, Fyter Fest, being held this Saturday.

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Did anyone manage to get anything out of this week's show?

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Losers: Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch

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What do you do when you have two lackluster matches on a pay per view, which were rematches of lackluster matches from previous pay per views, why do the match for the third time in a row, of course!

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Yes, we're getting Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin and Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans AGAIN. And unfortunately, it's happening at Extreme Rules, instead of just getting the matches out of the way last night. That means we have several more weeks of these rivalries that have done the champions no favors.

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Filler is as filler does. And WWE wonders why ratings are tanking?

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Losers: Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre

The big story here was Undertaker returning for a surprise appearance (or something more?), but this match and rivalry still does no one any favors. The Shane o' Mac show continues to devastate anything and anybody it comes in contact with. The Undertaker being involved when he looks like he can barely move isn't going to improve the programming in the slightest.

Meanwhile, Roman Reigns has lost his special mystique - he's just another rote guy on the roster. It's actually depressing to watch this play out week by week. Another prime opportunity squandered.

Losers: Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley

Two years ago, Braun Strowman was the hottest thing going, and he would only get more over as he headed into his breakout performance in that amazing SummerSlam fatal four-way main event. Now, look at him.

Same thing with Bobby Lashley. A little more than a year ago, fans fantasized about Bobby Lashley returning and having a brutal, physical match with Brock Lesnar. Now, look at him.

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There's really not much more to say. These guys have been spinning their wheels for a long time, but this was a unique move in wheel-spinning.


Winners: The Viking Raiders

It doesn't look like Gallows and Anderson have signed a new contract yet, as some people were wondering, given their new angle with AJ Styles. It still boggles the mind that the Viking Raiders unceremoniously vacated the NXT tag team titles to do this of all things, but they need wins to build their push, which has stalled thanks to the "wild card" rule.

This was a small step in a bigger direction. For now.

Winners: Kofi Kingston and Samoa Joe

Kofi Kingston battled Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, but the real story was Samoa Joe attacking him, thus setting up a feud. Sign me up. Joe has no chance of winning the title. He never wins the big one, but he's such a talent that he has the ability to make anything he's involved with gold.

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Kofi Kingston, meanwhile, badly needed an exciting opponent after the flop of a feud with Dolph Ziggler. This sets his title reign back on the right track. Let's just ignore the "wild card' stupidity and the squandered opportunity for a match between Joe and Rollins rather than Corbin again.

Kofi vs. Joe should rule.


Loser: Ricochet

Just 24 hours after winning the United States Championship, WWE's formulaic booking reared its ugly head and he, like most champions, lost a non-title match. A loss to AJ Styles is no shame in itself, but it just shows how backward the company's booking philosophy is. Why have him lose so quickly after what should have been a defining moment?

Perhaps Ricochet will get his win back at Extreme Rules, but that's only the same 50/50 booking nonsense that doesn't permit anyone to get over. Ricochet has been a surprising success story, so why hamstring him with that predictable formula?

This isn't a huge setback for him, but it just shows how hard it is to get over in today's company.

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

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Edited by
Zaid Khan
 
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