10 Terrible Recent Decisions That Led To WWE Raw’s Worst Week EVER

Rock Bottom reached without a 'Great One' in sight...

Vince McMahon The Revival
WWE

Last July, the tragic sight of Kevin Owens sprayed blue by the liquid used to clean portaloos moved your writer to have a look into the very worst habits within WWE's busted creative flush. The hunt was expedited when WWE reached what most assumed to be the final destination for their latest creative malaise.

The lowest viewership in the history of the show was posted following this particularly grisly mid-summer slump edition of the broadcast, but this was literally old news when the company went on to top it three more times that year.

The records tumbled so often in 2018 that only the qualifiers could be adjusted to try and work through a slide that wasn't being arrested. Quiet time for television, bad weather, cable cutting, peak periods for various sports/other shows and all the other typical excuses were trotted out as WWE mined every last bit of star aura they could from existing giants Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey without overhauling anything else badly in need of repair.

As of May 2019, Lesnar and Rousey are gone but the same troubles remain. It's taken some going to get so much wrong in the 10 months since the Montreal hard-hitter was locked in a plastic sh*tter, but May 6th's abysmal effort highlighted the horrendous problems still in place.

A relatively low 2.24 million tuned in to watch it on the promise of Vince McMahon and Roman Reigns turning up, but it's hard to imagine that same number maintaining patience with the product...

10. Baron Corbin: Authority Figure

Vince McMahon The Revival
WWE.com

In hunting for a kayfabe excuse for some very real life problems, WWE's writing team and McMahons themselves pointed their weapons at Baron Corbin.

'The Lone Wolf' was gleefully (and unforgivably) castrated by John Cena during his inaugural push the prior year, yet was expected to approach an ill-fitting quasi-GM role with gusto and enthusiasm because the company still has a wrong-headed approach to something as simple as a "push".

Baron Corbin, in 2018 WWE was "pushed", because he was on television every week setting up matches and smart-talking the babyfaces. This "push" also amounted to him almost always getting more comeuppance than the committed crimes justified, him being required to wrestle across multiple segments to the point of instant overload. A stalled "push" that required such constant refuelling that he was booked to go 60/40 with Finn Bálor across the summer, damaging 'The Demon's goods in the process.

It was, subsequently, the polar opposite of a well-booked authority figure, if such a thing even exists now.

Without the pressure of pretending to run the show, Corbin slotted back into life in the upper-mid card, but his position as a ratings-killer had sadly become a self-fulfilling prophecy in the meantime...

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett