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Monday Night RAW is a program that has seen a fair share of several highs and lows. Recently, the show itself has faced a lot of criticism regarding its storylines. The general direction of the red brand has led to a steep ratings decline.
Nevertheless, the December 10th, 2018 edition of Monday Night RAW pulled off something that almost nobody was expecting to see.
The very first segment of the show saw Seth Rollins standing in the ring for a live promo, and what followed soon has been appropriately termed as one of those rare moments where WWE tends to break the 'fourth wall' (when performers ignore the imaginary “wall” that keeps the actors from the audience) in order to serve a particular storyline.
Here's how the Kingslayer managed to break the fourth wall successfully during this week's edition of RAW.
Seth Rollins blamed Baron Corbin for all the creative problems regarding Monday Night RAW
The opening segment for the December 10th, 2018 edition of RAW featured Seth Rollins getting right to the point where he went on to acknowledge the fact that RAW TV Ratings have dipped to an 'all-time low', all because of Baron Corbin.
Of course, "General-Manager Elect" Baron Corbin interrupted Rollins a few moments later.
But Seth Rollins didn't back down from mentioning that three-hour segments involving McIntyre, Lashley, and Corbin patting themselves on the back is the exact reason behind the recent dip in RAW ratings.
One of the most important things to note here is that by using Rollins, WWE indirectly acknowledged the steep ratings decline for RAW, which is quite rare, since one would not have expected them to do so on live television.
This is one of the ways Rollins managed to break the fourth wall - by meta-referencing a fact that has rarely been used as a plot device to service fictional storylines in the world of WWE.
Rollins highlighted some examples responsible for the show's decline
During the same segment, Rollins pointed out some recent examples which have been poorly received by many critics.
As mentioned before, "three-hour segments involving McIntyre, Lashley, and Corbin patting themselves on the back" certainly didn't help make things any better.
Rollins talked about how The Revival should be getting Tag Team Championship opportunities instead of participating in 'Lucha House Rules' matches week after week. While 'Lucha House Rules' can be viewed as a light-hearted segment, it is hard to ignore the fact that those rules make no sense whatsoever.
He also criticized the 'urination' segments involving Drake Maverick recently, which have been subject to criticism given the fact that WWE likes to rely on slapstick humor a lot.
By using Seth Rollins' character to criticize some age-old TV tropes we have been seeing on RAW for a long time, WWE also accepted criticisms for their portrayal of segments that have been over-used quite frequently.
This also brings us to the last and perhaps the most important aspect of this segment.
He voiced the frustrations of a modern wrestling fan
"Monday Night RAW Sucks"
The above words are something that you would expect to read in an internet forum where fans discuss Professional Wrestling. However, believe it or not, those are the words that came straight out of Seth Rollins' mouth, even if the entire blame behind the show's state was cleverly put on Baron Corbin's shoulders.
All the examples mentioned in the previous slides clearly showcase the frustrations of a modern wrestling fan, and WWE's decision to embrace these criticisms in order to mold an interesting segment for live television was a clever direction indeed.
This particular opening segment succeeded in breaking the fourth wall because of one word on WWE's behalf, and that is 'Acceptance'.
The very fact that Vince McMahon is slated to appear on next week's RAW shows that things are going to shake up, albeit temporarily...
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