7 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE RAW (Jul 27)

Great wrestling undermined by wacky booking. Typical Bruce Prichard, then...

Drew McIntyre Randy Orton
WWE.com

SummerSlam 2020 is on the horizon and if today's PWInsider, Fightful, and Wrestling Observer reports are to be believed, Vince McMahon is planning something "wacky" for the 23 August pay-per-view. The WWE Chairman is tired of the empty arena norm, we have been told. A cruise liner, beach, or other outside-the-box location may replace the Performance Center and its mask-clad denizens.

It's an interesting choice of adjective because the current WWE product is already wacky enough.

Swamp Fights and Boneyard Matches are the new pay-per-view normal and the writing is all over the place since Bruce Prichard assumed sole creative lead, with last night's RAW further the blueprint established at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules: good (and sometimes excellent) wrestling sullied by bad booking.

Two SummerSlam bouts were set as Randy Orton named his next victim and the Street Profits' latest tag challengers were set, while Sasha Banks wrestled Asuka for the RAW Women's Title she stole at Extreme Rules. Elsewhere, Dominick Mysterio was in the house to confront Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre met Dolph Ziggler in a PPV rematch, and Ali got into it with The Hurt Business.

Let's dive into it...

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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.