18 Reasons Why Last Night's WWE Raw Was An Absolute Mess

17. Anticlimactic Introductions

Heavy Machinery are the bushwhackers now and it sucks bye
WWE

Remember when NXT call-ups felt special?

Remember that big, ground-shaking pop when a beloved developmental favourite showed up out of the blue, made their mark, and left the building buzzing?

Those days are dead.

Last night saw WWE integrate NXT's four biggest stars in the least exciting way possible, with Triple H announcing their appearances in his show-opening promo, accompanied by cursory personality rundowns from Michael Cole. Tommaso Ciampa's four-year developmental journey boiled down to him being a "malignant human," and nothing else. Aleister Black? Just some mad goth, innit.

These introductions were colder than a polar bear's testicles, and Triple H knew it. 'The Game' looked ill-at-ease as he broke the news, and even had to a restart a sentence after flubbing his lines. These are his babies, spawned from his pet project, and his promo was that of a man who knew his pesky father-in-law was making a tit out of their call-ups, robbing them of the pops, buzz, and rubs that a more effective intro would've earned.

Let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come.

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.