8 mistakes WWE made on Raw this week (10 September 2018)

To be honest with you, Raw this week was not what you hoped for, and with the recent episodes of Raw tanking harder than a jobber's chances on the main roster, it's not your fault if you already lost all hope.

Now while Raw was not a thoroughly awful show this week, it did repeat many of the mistakes fans hoped WWE would learn from, but this is WWE people, the creative team hardly gives us what we want.

This week's episode was filled with moments and matches you have seen a hundred times, there was nothing exciting or engaging about the entire bulk of the flagship show, and that's what failed this episode, a lack of originality.

#1 A tired opening segment

Again?

Heels come to the ring, bragging about destroying the babyfaces, and the babyfaces kick the heels asses, sounds familiar? Yeah, that's the plot for every single redemption story that exists in the WWE today. While it was cool seeing Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns take out everyone at ringside, do you know the men that were jobbing to The Shield in this segment are the entire Raw mid-card?

WWE saw it fit to sacrifice the credibility of all their heels just to give The Shield a nice moment, stars like Kevin Owens, The Authors of Pian, Elias and Jinder Mahal all had to play Strowman's lackeys just to save his credibility. This storyline could have been great, but could it just conclude already, as this was a weak opening to a go home show of Raw.

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#2 Ruby Riott losses credibility

We knew it was coming, but at least Riott could have saved some momentum.

Last week on Raw, The Bella Twins took on The Riott Squad, and unsurprisingly beat them, this week WWE repeated themselves by having Ruby Riott take on Nikki Bella in singles action.

While the match was great for what it was, the slow descent of Ruby Riott and her buddies down the card is disappointing to watch, as these are superstars that are the only legit faction in the women's division.

Nikki Bella was not going to lose her comeback match, and fans knew that, but at least WWE could have given Riott an opportunity to save some credibility, as WWE consistently downplaying the heels makes the babyfaces characters feel less investable.

#3 AOP squash some jobbers...again

Another day, another squash match.

The Authors of Pain are ruined on the main roster at this point, and even though WWE finally got them a mouthpiece in Drake Maverick, it is not going to change the fact that these two behemoths feel inconsequential on the main roster. And by squashing more and more jobbers on a weekly basis, WWE is not doing themselves any favors, as fans have seen this scene play out for a long time now, and their boredom will affect AOP's aura.

Moreover, a backstage interview with AOP and Maverick saw Maverick exclaim that the entire tag team division are on his hit list. So, are we missing something here? Then why did Akam and Rezar help the freaking Raw Tag Team Champions earlier in the night? The writing for this once promising tag team has been disappointing, and hopefully, WWE can change that.

#4 McIntyre and Ziggler's reign may be short lived

A predictable decision.

Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler's Raw Tag Team Title run is hard to judge, as other than kicking the crap out of the B Team two weeks in a row and destroying The Revival, these men have been involved in the Universal Championship programme more than in their own division.

This week on Raw, McIntyre, and Ziggler fended off a resilient Dallas and Axel to retain their titles but was soon informed by Baron Corbin that they would take on Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins at Hell in a Cell 2018 and their titles will be on the line. This match would be a cracker at the event, but it feels as if WWE is rushing to put all the titles on The Shield, while that is an awesome thing, it is bad for Raw.

After witnessing how WWE handled The Shield over the last few weeks, it's clear that all the titles on these three men would leave the mid-card and tag team division without full-time champions, as WWE is insisting on having these men booked in a faction war at the same time. While Ziggler and McIntyre could win at the event, it doesn't seem likely, as The Shield is set to run Raw.

#5 Gable and Roode go in circles

Gable and Roode could have had better competition.

Chad Gable and Bobby Roode's narrative continued this week, but did it really? Last week, these men battled The Ascension, and Gable ran circles around them to pick up the win, this week, the exact same thing happened, which makes you think that WWE is lazy to progress this narrative.

Firstly, these men could have at least faced off against a new challenge and secondly WWE could have given this narrative a subplot, as the out of nowhere heel turn that we all know is coming from Bobby Roode is not going to be as shocking as WWE would think it is going to be. Gable is a hot talent, and Roode is a great worker, but by WWE giving fans the same match, in the same manner, this narrative is taking a lot of time to truly kick-off.

#6 Elias and Balor's shtick has become lame

Revamp these character, please.

Elias and Finn Balor may be the most underused superstars on Raw, as these men both have the talent, the charisma and the potential to succeed, but all WWE could give them one week before a pay-per-view is a throwaway match. How could this be a good idea? And this all boils down to the fact that Balor and Elias' personas have been run down into the ground so much it has become lame.

And calling Elias boring is the last thing that any fans would say, but that is exactly what is happening, as Elias and Mick Foley's segment this week on Raw, highlighted how WWE has no idea how to use this man, and with regards to Balor, the man has just hit rock bottom in his singles run.

#7 Making the heels on Raw Strowman's lackeys

A roster in ruins.

It is clear that WWE has ruined a part of Raw in attempts to get The Shield over as ever, as entire heel portion of Monday Night Raw has lost a bit of their credibility by being involved in the Universal Championship fued. Sometimes its hard to believe that this fued is about the Universal Title, as WWE is not sure what they are trying to achieve at the end of all this, and this has affected the superstars involved in this fued.

Take Kevin Owens for example, the man has been booked so poorly that his motivations and actions seem confusing at this point, another prime example is The Authors of Pain, who promised to tear through the Tag Team Champions, but instead, are helping the men. WWE has really done long-term damage to their roster, and this was the most disappointing sight on Raw.

#8 A boring conclusion

A lacklustre spot.

The Shield were kicked out of the building on Raw this week, but once again managed to come back, and Braun Strowman wanted a piece of the man he is going to face at Hell in a Cell, Roman Reigns. Reigns then came out to the ring and brawled with Strowman until he Samoan dropped Strowman through some tables at ringside. While the spot should have been exciting, it wasn't, as the narrative is letting these men down here.

Backtrack to when Reigns and Strowman were breaking arenas and each other last year, it felt fresh and exciting, but now it feels boring and overdone. As the narrative that drives these two men is so messy and complicated fans are confused whether to be engaged or detached, as WWE isn't sure what they want anymore. A terrible closing to Raw, that only seems to highlight why Raw is terrible right now.