6 Ups & 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE RAW (July 2)

In which fans chant for a portable toilet, and boo the top babyface.

Braun Porta
WWE.com

Last week’s RAW promised elusive narrative development for a brand mired in boring and baffling stasis. The tortoise-slow build to Money In The Bank, converged with the complete absence of a main event-level focal point, has rendered RAW something worse than a chore since WrestleMania 34.

The Sasha Banks and Bayley programme finally imploded, resulting not in a wrestling match but the opposite of a wrestling match, more or less: counselling! Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley remain on a collision course, with The Revival acting as collateral damage. If Bobby and the Big Dog must measure up, can’t they use tape? Or, to avoid paper cuts, a ruler? And not, for two weeks in a row, at the expense of a beloved tag team? The spectre of Dean Ambrose looms over the two-on-one beatdowns delivered by Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler to Seth Rollins, creating some intrigue for the future.

Even The Authors of Pain returned! It means we’re going to see Titus O’Neil wrestle soon, but still!

To borrow a phrase from the WWE manual of copy and pasting, momentum was built last week, Brock Lesnar obviously excepted. He was on the farm, as he often is.

Did WWE create separation from it?

NOTE: Scott Carlson resumes his regular role next week…

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!