Let’s just state for the record that unlike Backlash last night, where Jinder Mahal shocked the world to become WWE Champion, Raw was not a memorable affair. It was a show with highs and lows, crescendoing into an absolutely brilliant main event contest.
With Extreme Rules less than two weeks away, things fell into place as we geared up for the pay-per-view event. There were some components of the show that we enjoyed and others that simply irked us, and we shall detail them for you in this article. Read on.
#1 Worst: Botchfest
Botches are bound to happen in a live environment. Unfortunately, there were just too many in this week’s episode of Raw. The most notable one was at the start of the main event when Seth Rollins’ music was played during Samoa Joe’s entrance (thankfully, announcer Corey Graves and his presence of mind saved this fiasco on commentary).
Finn Balor was tongue-tied at one point during his promo, and could not get the word- ‘Fatal’ out. Michael Cole too was at his botchy best, as he referred to Alexa Bliss as ‘Bees’ at one point, and just flubbered at another during Matt Hardy’s encounter against Sheamus. We could nitpick and pick out more botches, but let’s move on with the review.
#1 Best: Brilliant main event match
Despite the fact that three hours of Raw always ends up feeling far too long, this main event made us sit up and pay attention once again, with some high intensity, furious action. Seth Rollins was the absolute star of the match, following the hot tag, and we got a glimpse of the Seth Rollins of old.
The storytelling was great, and it was amazing how the babyfaces, originally united, were at odds at the conclusion of the fast paced match. The heels, however, seemed to have found common ground. The dynamics next week should be very interesting.
#2 Worst: Just too much filler
The third hour of Raw earns WWE millions of dollars in revenue. However, because of it, there is a sharp decline in the quality of the show, almost every week. It is nigh impossible to program three hours of interesting content on a weekly basis, and the declining viewership is a testament of the same.
Be it Sasha Banks' feud with Alicia Fox or even the underwhelming Alexa Bliss vs. Mickie James match, the show suffered from an overdose of mediocre content.
#2 Best: Paul Heyman's return & praise for Balor
Paul Heyman's return made this episode of Raw feel important. By keeping the Universal Championship as a special attraction, WWE has made it seem larger than life, and Heyman's return just catapulted this show from ‘just another event’ to a Raw of significance.
The Beast's advocate cut a brilliant promo and put Balor over as the best in-ring performer in the company right now. This is honestly the best thing that Balor could have hoped for, heading into Extreme Rules as the underdog in the Fatal 5-way.
He does not have the size or the physique to be a believable opponent for The Beast Incarnate. However, Heyman’s testimony made him appear as a main event player, and for this, we are grateful as sports entertainment fans.
#3 Worst: Bray Wyatt’s promos
This is 2017, and while it’s a good attempt at being different, people do not have the attention span to sit through Bray Wyatt's mumbo jumbo. Raw began this week with Bray Wyatt's mysterious music and the fireflies were out in full force.
Unfortunately, their attention began drifting during Wyatt’s promos because quite honestly, his prophetic monologues make no sense. His character is losing steam every day, and because he’s just a decent in-ring worker at best, even his matches cannot get him over with fans.
Wyatt needs better promo scripting to connect with the audience and make them sit up and pay attention.
#3 Best: Old is Goldust
If you missed our feature detailing the oldest WWE Superstars on the current roster, you’ll find that Goldust (48) is the oldest full-time performer in the locker room, as of right now.
In the sunset of his career, Goldust is presumably embarking on a singles run, against his former tag team partner. Today, we saw him take us back in time to 1995, when this enigmatic character and his wife, Marlena wreaked havoc in professional wrestling. We’re curious to see how this storyline plays out, over the coming weeks on Raw.
#4 Worst: Just a steel cage match?
C’mon! The Hardyz had a chance to pick a stipulation for their Extreme Rules tag team contest and they chose a steel cage match? While a match at the Hardy compound may have been too much to hope for, a ladder match would have sufficed.
Oh, well, let’s just be thankful that we get to see the Hardyz on WWE television.
We end with a picture of the gorgeous Alicia Fox!
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