Instant Reaction - WWE Raw 6/23
By Benjamin Tucker, PWTorch TV specialist

Overall Score - 5.0

Filler. Filler. Filler. Stretching a one-hour show out to three is utterly ridiculous. Yet that is precisely what WWE did Monday night. Disagree? Here's what was important on Raw tonight:

- The second Money in the Bank match roster was announced.

- Dean Ambrose inserted himself in the match.

- Wade Barrett retained his Intercontinental Title against Dolph Ziggler.

- Paige vs. Naomi was announced for Money in the Bank.

- Kane has been added to the WWE Title Money in the Bank match after a handicap re-match from Smackdown.

Four announcements, three of which were minor, alongside two matches, one of which was a direct copy of Smackdown from three days ago, encompassed everything important that happened on Raw this week. To fill the time, WWE hyped Vickie Guerrero's potential match against Stephanie McMahon, a diversion that led to yet another hideous segment for Vickie while accomplishing nothing for Money in the Bank.

WWE Creative is being crushed by its own weight. Three hours of programming a week, alongside another four hours of less important TV time, is impossible to write for with every decision having to filter through one man. What results is this weird sort of reality where only a handful of wrestlers actually develop through the week, while everyone else runs in place and hopes to become the next toy to be played with. The writing's starting to get lazy in other manners as well.

WWE didn't even bother putting in any effort to hype the ladder aspect of Sunday's event, aside from the visual of the ladders hanging around ringside. Is a Jack Swagger squash match supposed to make me subscribe to the Network? Monday's Raw was a lukewarm and misguided offering that just needed some liposuction to cut out the fat.

- Quarter 1: Despite my misgivings towards the Guerrero-McMahon angle that played out through the evening, their first segment was positive. Vickie showed a great fire on her last promo before she went out the door, but it's a shame that the follow-up was so putrid. Does no one choreograph these angles?

- Quarters 5-6: The strongest portion of the evening revolved around the second Money in the Bank match. Triple H's announcement of the participants was well done, and the exchange between RVD and Seth Rollins was surprisingly strong. Van Dam seemed like a much bigger star than he has since returning once he was actually given the time to show that he has a voice, and his subsequent match with Seth Rollins was entertaining. The star of the show, though, was Dean Ambrose. Every single thing the man says turns to gold. He could probably turn a comment about needing to drink water into a threat to kill every single wrestler on the planet. Since The Shield broke up, Ambrose has broken out the most in terms of his character, and it is fantastic to watch.

- Quarters 7-8: The Intercontinental Title match was by far the strongest contest of the show. Dolph Ziggler is so great that fans still buy into his nearfalls, despite the fact that he loses nearly every week. Ziggler and Barrett had several fantastic exchanges in their match, though it did nothing to sell me on the Money in the Bank pay-per-view.

Oh, and the handicap tag team main event was all right, too. Except for how its predecessor went four minutes longer and had the exact same result. Oops! Raw had its ups (IC Title match) and downs (Cameron is, without a doubt, the worst guest commentator I've heard in a decade, completely distracting the audience from a nice Divas match), but it's simply impossible for a show to be able to present three hours of worthy content in the state that it's in. Split up the writing teams, have longer segments, just do something. 101 episodes of Raw have passed since permanently moving to three hours, and the problems that Creative had then are still here now.

Any questions or comments? Message me on Twitter @BTuckertorch!

We suggest these recent related articles...

10/5 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Natalya vs. Paige, Owens vs. Cara, Stephanie McMahon, Sasha Banks, Xavier Woods

COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: The History of Foam Hands in Pro Wrestling

9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt