The Real Reason Behind THAT Reaction To Elias & Kevin Owens WWE RAW Segment Last Night

Elias was feeling Supersonic last night. That's a reference UK viewers might even get!

Kevin Owens Elias
WWE.com

The problem with the cheap, region-specific pop in 2018 is that, as WWE has told us on signatures for years, "the world is watching". Now, WWE fans aren't stupid - at least those who don't chant "What?" incessantly - and so we can infer the meaning of Elias' verbal attack on the Seattle crowd at RAW last night. Elias agreed with Kevin Owens that the idea of Bobby Lashley teaming with John Cena "doesn't make sense".

All babyfaces are automatically friends, but very rarely save one another from heel beatdowns - what's so hard to understand about that?

Elias continued, generating a molten reaction in the process: "It's like having a basketball team in Seattle."

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Those oblivious to basketball - much of the world beyond the U.S. - were left wondering why the crowd reacted quite so angrily as they did. Is the local sports team having a nightmare of a season, so much so that they are completely pointless? That seemed like an overreaction. Did the local sports team, like Bobby Roode, get absolutely shafted in this year's draft?

As it happens, there is no local sports team. The former Seattle SuperSonics became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008 after much scheming from Clay Bennett's purchasing group and dithering from the state. It was alleged that, despite a "good faith agreement" designed to secure a suitable arena in the city - the KeyArena badly required renovation - Bennett's group had conspired to relocate the team all along. Lawsuits followed this clandestine clusterf*ck, and the resentment, evidently, has not diminished.

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The other problem with cheap heat, in WWE at least, is that the heel acts are invariably more entertaining than their distraction-prone, generic babyface counterparts. This wasn't the case here; Elias, fittingly, played the crowd like a complete pro, and Owens' loud voice work was a spot of supreme improvisation.

The key to WWE success? Annoying fans on purpose!

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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!