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

DOWNS...

6. Copy & Paste Copy & Paste Copy & Paste Copy & Paste Copy & Paste Copy & Paste Copy & Paste Copy & Paste Booking

Matt Hardy RAW
WWE.com

When a certain, cynical quarter of the fandom complains about copy and paste booking, it is not in itself a copy and paste complaint: WWE almost invariably adheres to the shortcut formula.

Matt Hardy squared off against Curtis Axel, as individual members of feuding tag teams tend to do ahead of a pay-per-view clash. Prior to it, for the third consecutive week, The B Team impersonated the Deleters. As with so much else, WWE, in completely failing to grasp comedy’s rule of three, achieved the opposite of something good. This wasn't played for laughs so much as an echo of laughter. Had this been edited in from last week's broadcast, nobody would have fluttered an eyelid.

Nobody fluttered an eyelid at the action, which was an overlong, basic affair featuring the most pointlessly painful apron bump in recent memory. The questionable wisdom behind a comedy title feud aside: why bother diluting that vicious spot in service of broad, stopgap comedy?

Did the road agent paste sequences from the main event formula?

As for next week: delete one Deleter, paste in another, and we arrive at Bray Wyatt vs. Bo Dallas. The WrestleMania X opening match it will not be.

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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!