Instant Reaction - WWE Raw 5/13
By Benjamin Tucker, PWTorch TV specialist

DVR Guide - What to Watch Later:

- Six Man elimination tag (Q7-Q9)
- Triple H-Lesnar segment (Q12-over run)

Overall Score - 4.5

Copy and paste from last week. For the most part, Raw has no life to it right now. Week in and week out, we see the exact same matches and storylines. Hardly any story is developed past bare bones exposition, and there is almost no progression of any character in the company.

The Shield is one of the main exciting parts of Raw anymore, and that's partially due to how they're evolving and slowly becoming integrated into regular WWE storylines while maintaining a "cool" factor. Who else in the WWE is evolving to any extent? Daniel Bryan had a fantastic run last year, with the fans continually reacting to him because of his multidimensional and frequently changing character. But, for the last six months he has hardly changed, joining the ranks of Brodus Clay, Kofi Kingston, John Cena, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Big Show, etc. as characters who need something new to do.

At this point, do we even know what these characters's motivations are? What are Randy Orton's motivations? This is pro wrestling, yes, but in today's world that also means that each wrestler needs to have some sort of character for us to sink our teeth into. And this week, just like the last, failed to both develop anyone and add any new layer to a developing storyline.

At least the in-ring quality of Raw hasn't been hit as hard as the stories have lately. The six-man tag was a very good match that was slightly marred by a disappointing finish (did Cena really have to overcome the odds again?). Bryan's burst of action pre-elimination was by far the highlight of Raw tonight, eliciting the largest crowd response of the show by far. The Shield looking strong at the end of the segment made sense and did a solid job of setting up their title matches on Sunday, though once again it felt like a missed opportunity to have some sort of promo segment put in to add just a little extra fuel to the fire of the Shield's respective feuds.

The closing segment with Triple H and Lesnar was a solid final sell for the pay-per-view. Brock looked weak and foolish for being so handily beaten by Triple H, but hopefully some of his aura will be built back up on Sunday. The other Extreme Rules hype largely disappointed. While I loved Jericho's brief backstage promo, the opening segment took way too long for little payoff. Sure, Fandango looked like a heel, but did it have to be a segment that took up 20 minutes of the show? Sheamus continues to look like a bully and make Mark Henry look bad, this time duping him with a strap. Henry doesn't work nearly as well as a buffoon, but that's how he keeps getting portrayed.

And then came the World Title replacement match, which is a complete mess. First off, why change the gimmick to an "I Quit" match, which is already similar to Extreme Rules and Last Man Standing matches (also featured on the card)? Secondly, why make Big E. look so weak on a routine basis? He's not a punching bag like Dolph Ziggler is portrayed; he should be a bodyguard. Did you ever see Diesel bumping like E. when he first debuted? And nothing was really done to further Swagger and Del Rio's personal vendetta - they just had a run-in because the Interference Gods said so, apparently.

While I loved The Shield's matches getting added to Extreme Rules, it's not like that actually furthered anything. The Shield have barely had enough time to build an issue with Kingston and the Tag Titles are ancillary to Hell No's conflicts with The Shield. Just one more nail in the coffin showing WWE's complete lack of desire to make any special hype for Sunday outside of the main event segment. Title matches can't substitute for personal issues anymore, yet WWE seems to make every non-main event segment as generic and bland as possible.

Finally, Ryback-Cena could have been on the same level as Triple H-Lesnar by the end of the PPV hype. Instead, Ryback was treated as inferior to Cena, and the effects are already taking effect.

Yeah, I really didn't like Raw's story arc tonight. Everything seems so bland, especially without the charismatic characters of Dolph Ziggler, The Rock, and C.M. Punk, that the show is becoming harder and harder to watch. Each pay-per-view feels like it means less and less, even with almost an entire extra month to hype it this year. No one is being allowed to stand out more than ever. The stories are one-dimensional, the characters are one-dimensional, and my mind is drifting ever more frequently.

Any questions or comments? Feel free to message me on Twitter @BTuckertorch .

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