HEYDORN’S RAW RECEIPT 7/5: Drew McIntyre dragged down by Money in the Bank ladder match participants

This week’s episode of WWE Monday Night Raw has wrapped. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the madness.

-Story time with Drew McIntyre isn’t helping his character, but neither is his involvement in this year’s MITB ladder match at this point. The mid-level acts like Ricochet, John Morrison, Riddle, and others around him in the match are bringing him down to their level instead of the other way around. His demeanor conveyed that sentiment during Raw’s opening segment, as he appeared as if he wanted to just start laughing at the acts around him. He was the college kid hanging out at a high school party and recognizing the awkwardness as he lingered around. The fact that Drew McIntyre, Raw’s central babyface for the better part of 18 months, doesn’t have a concrete and viable heel to work with gives the necessary context as to why Raw is off the rails at the moment.

-Another week, another good match between Ricochet and Morrison. WWE could get more out of these matches, if they framed them and the talent in them as important.

-The Raw women’s division is in shambles. Not only do you have a main event program that is drenched with two unlikable talents, but also the rest of the division is stagnant and without a budding star.

-We’re sword fighting with crutches now? Really? Even if both Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley are supposed to be unlikable, they should never ever sword fight with crutches like a couple of unruly toddlers. Let’s say that the endgame here is WWE gets this feud out of the way and both women are still heels who could seemingly be positioned to face a returning Becky Lynch. Nonsense like crutch sword fighting hurts their aura in that new role. The angle this week helped nobody.

-We saw a top five promo from Bobby Lashley inside that backstage vignette with MVP. He portrayed as an alpha champion, but one that was incredibly unlikable. Plus, he sold the match with Kingston, giving the audience expectations for the match. Textbook stuff and a perfect example of why he needs to continue to be featured in this prominent spot.

-The Mustafa Ali/Mansoor stuff is low card material, but it’s working in that spot.

-Well, at least Jinder Mahal vs. McIntyre didn’t happen on PPV would be the optimistic point of view to have on their match. The pessimistic point of view would say WWE runs their feuds through anywhere between two and 500 matches throughout their life span, meaning, this match was the beginning of a long arduous summer. Which one do you prefer?

-Kofi’s promo clicked, especially when matched up with Lashley’s. Kingston also set expectations from his side of things for Money in the Bank and it created a clear delineation of who to cheer and who not to cheer.

-Mace and T-Bar don’t need to be a thing anymore. It’s over, WWE. Let it go.

-Another good night in the ring for Riddle. A.J. Styles as an opponent certainly helps. He continues to be given time to do his thing on a weekly basis, which tells you that the company is behind him. Will live audiences be? We’ll see soon enough.

-The Jaxson Ryker babyface tour rolls on. The clock is ticking. In about two weeks time, live audiences will eat that push alive.

-A smart main event. Solid action star to finish, while giving Kingston a win over MVP that he can utilize as a stepping-stone of credibility in talking about beating Lashley. And, Lashley stays protected. Win, win.

CATCH-UP: 7/5 WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW RESULTS: Keller’s report on Money in the Bank developments, MVP & Lashley vs. New Day, Ricochet vs. Morrison, Miz TV