SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
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.
-We’re saying the “then,” “now,” and “forever” line at the top of the open now, WWE? You guys just can’t get out of your own way can you?
-I can do without the formulaic “every person in the multi-person match walks out and promos on each other” segment in almost every situation, but it worked this week. The webs of connectivity flowed in every direction between the combatants in the match, so it made sense to give each of them an opportunity to speak. If this weren’t a crutch WWE leaned into so often, it would have stood out in a bigger way. WWE has done a nice job of making the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship feel like a very big deal with very high stakes.
-Oh, Bobby Lashley. All you needed to do was just stand there and look cool! MVP, where were you? Lashley fumbling through his promo was a mess. Shame on him for not saying no and shame on WWE for putting him into a position they know isn’t optimal.
-The Street Profits have been one of the high points of Raw for over a month now. Their match this week was no different. They bring energy with them to the ring and it’s contagious.
-Time for a rant. WWE got things right conceptually with Tommaso Ciampa appearing on Raw. He’s facing Dolph Ziggler at NXT Vengeance Day, so why not get him a little screen time to build the feud and introduce a larger audience to him in an effort to attract a few more eyes? I’ll answer my own questions. Nothing is wrong with that. However, what about the presentation of Ciampa that we saw would sway someone to turn on NXT? He didn’t get an entrance and he barely showed off his character. WWE put him on the show, but didn’t give him an ounce of space to actually work.
-Kevin Owens hates Texas? Gee, I wonder what could be up there? If only there was a Texas babyface that could shut him up? Ohhhhhh well.
-On paper, Damian Priest vs. A.J. Styles is a put the phone down kind of match. We got a yawner. Five minutes? Sorry, but we needed to see more there, especially given the story arch that Priest is on and with Styles in the main event of a title match in just a few days.
-I didn’t have Becky Lynch essentially walking to the ring in pajamas on my bingo card this week, but alas, there she was. The angle and tone of Lynch depressed about what she will do to her childhood hero in Lita is fresh and obnoxiously heelish. That and Lita bringing it on the microphone makes this the most over feud for Elimination Chamber.
-Not sure why it took so long for Rhea Ripley to be presented the way she was Monday night, but her performance in this week’s gauntlet match was star making. In it, Ripley found the aggressiveness that rooted her act in NXT.
-Jimmy Smith needs to learn how to put over outcomes in matches the correct way. Alpha Academy talked a huge game on their promo and ran down cheating. Then, they cheated. A smart heel move, but Smith extinguished the heat it created saying, “regardless of how they won” on commentary. Wrong, Jimmy. Wrong all the way.
-Randy Orton and Seth Rollins have a special chemistry together and they displayed that in the main event. WWE juggled a lot in that match with the AA/RK-Bro angle, Riddle in the Elimination Chamber match, and Rollins beating Orton. Not the best go-home show closing angle, but serviceable.
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