#2 Promo Quality – Winner: Raw
Both shows had a very strong week in terms of promo/talking segments. Not all fans are keen on the WWE filling their shows with mic work as opposed to matches, but I for one think they are badly needed. There has to be some differentiation between episodes of Raw and SmackDown, and their respective PPV events. Raw just about won it this week, owing mainly to a very interesting and well-worked segment involving The Miz, Maryse and Dean Ambrose. The reigning Intercontinental Champion is a special talent on the microphone.
He can handle crowds better than anyone in the company at the moment, mocking the fans in attendance for chanting ‘You deserve it’ at him, for example. Usually, when a heel is being cheered, they just lap it up and don’t attempt to turn the fans against them, Miz does that effortlessly.
At first, when the dancing bear was in the ring, you just assumed it was going to be Dean Ambrose, which might have let the segment down quite a bit, but instead they played things out a little longer, revealing that it wasn’t Dean in the costume after all, but some poor randomer than received the brunt of Miz’s frustration.
Then Miz set about dismantling a grandfather clock bought for him by his wife, again thinking that Dean was inside. This segment did more than it actually needed to do, and for that, it was probably the highlight of the week overall.
In addition to this, Samoa Joe was finally given the time and space to remind everyone of his talents on the mic. He talked about his upcoming match with Brock Lesnar and was eventually interrupted by Heyman, leading to the latter being placed in a Coquina Clutch. There’s no doubting Paul Heyman’s ability to get fans excited for upcoming matches, but he’s especially effective when he’s not being utilised every single week. Very much like the man he is advocating for, a little bit of the former ECW GM goes a very long way.
A close rival to the Miz segment, in terms of comedic value, was the dialogue between Enzo Amore and Big Show. After learning that Big Cass was unable to compete in the tag match against Gallows and Anderson, Amore recruited the Big Show as his tag partner and attempted to do an ‘Enzo and Cass’ style introduction.
It’s easy to forget how much of an asset Big Show is when it comes to the more lighthearted side of WWE. His chemistry with Enzo was fantastic here, and I don’t think too many people would be upset if they did form a proper tag team at some point in the future.
SmackDown did have a number of good promo segments too. For example, the opening of the show saw all five of the women’s MITB ladder match sharing a ring with each other. While not all of the women’s roster are particularly talented talkers, all of them got their message across and the segment as a whole went by without a hitch.
One notable addition to the segment was the debut of Lana. Considering she used to be the advocate for Rusev, and was, for a time, one of the best heat magnets in the entire company, Lana’s abilities on the mic should not have come as too big a surprise. I’m really looking forward to how they incorporate Lana into this very stacked division, and it was great to see how well the fans responded to her.
And of course, the Fashion Files deserves mention. While Breezeango are entertaining enough by themselves, involving the New Day here made this a big highlight of the show overall. If it wasn’t for the Miz segment, this could have potentially tipped the balance in SmackDown’s favour. This has the makings of brilliant television as it allows Fandango and Tyler Breeze the opportunity to let their personalities show.
This is the kind of segment you wouldn’t have seen before the brand split, which is why, so many lower mid-card talents used to be so underused. These segments remind me a little of the anger management pieces involving Daniel Bryan and Kane a few years back and look at the effect they had.
Teddy Long snaps when Swerve Strickland's race is brought up HERE
