Shane McMahon introduced Raw Underground and that certainly missed a spot
WWE Raw saw Shane McMahon debut Raw Underground and that was one of the major talking points from this week’s show.
This was a weird underground location where almost MMA style fights were taking place. However, WWE made a mess of it all as this Raw Underground bit didn’t hit the spot.
This week’s Raw certainly wasn’t a great show and here are the hits and misses from the show.
Misses
1) Raw Underground
Shane might have been trying to make Raw more edgy with this content but he failed big time. There are a few who liked this presentation and taking Raw in a different route bit, but there was no structure to this all.
Random fights were shown, The Hurt Business stood tall and there was a faction throwing fire around, and it was all a bit of a mess.
WWE should be praised for trying something new but this fell flat. Hopefully, they can improve upon this soon.
2) Suspension tension
Nia Jax had only returned recently and seemed set for an interesting rivalry with Shayna Baszler. However, she was involved in a brawl last week and she hit a few officials.
She was called out this week and was expected to apologise to Pat Buck, however, she refused and was handed a suspension.
Jax did attack Buck after this announcement, but it made little sense to take her off TV right after she came back.
Hopefully, Jax doesn’t have another injury and this is still an angle for WWE.
3) Who poisoned Ford?
Montez Ford collapsed twice during this week’s Raw with news later coming out that he was poisoned.
However, this was a very questionable segment as the first time this happened, there was genuine concern that something serious took place.
WWE seems to be taking such angles without any thought process. Jeff Hardy and his drinking problems have been highlighted but this was another low for WWE.
4) Titles woes
The 24/7 title became a joke again as Shelton Benjamin lost it a week after he won it. WWE also made a mess with the Raw women’s title as Sasha Banks decided to pit Asuka against Bayley before handing the Japanese a title shot.
WWE need to get some things right regarding these titles. They have done a good job with the WWE title, the tag titles and even the Intercontinental title. However, they seem to be struggling to ensure things work fine with the women’s titles and the less said about the 24/7 title the better.
Hits
1) Orton and McIntyre
Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre clashed but not in the ring. They traded barbs on the microphone and we got to see a side of the Scot that we hadn’t seen before.
McIntyre looks every bit the champion in the ring but what all he said about Orton was spot on. The Viper shot back and the back and forth was excellent in cementing their rivalry.
McIntyre vs Orton in the ring will be great, and it will be interesting to see how it goes at SummerSlam.
2) Riott Squad is back
This was slim pickings from this week’s Raw but Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan teaming up was a bit of a plus.
Riott had been rudderless on Raw for a while and taking on the IIconics didn’t really help her. However, she is with her former teammate now, and this should lead to some better matches for the pair and more TV time too.
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