10 Things You May Have Missed From WWE Raw (Jul 2)
Lowlights aplenty on Raw's most tedious show in months.
In what will likely go down as one of 2018's weakest episodic wrestling shows, WWE served up stinker after stinker on last night's Raw.
A couple of half-decent matches aside, its three hours were laborious from start to finish, succeeding only in dampening excitement ahead of next week's Extreme Rules pay-per-view. The traditional summer slump is upon us, dear readers. Get used to it.
Roman Reigns dominated the show, his whiney, "nothing's my fault" character pushed to the forefront through two tag matches and multiple segments. 'The Big Dog' has a lot going on at the moment, from the latest Shield mini-reunion to the Bobby Lashley feud, but none of it is interesting or exciting. Elsewhere, Kevin Owens fell victim to Braun Strowman's literal toilet humour, Matt Hardy pushed the Deleters Of Worlds vs. B-Team rivalry along in Bray Wyatt's absence, and the Bayley/Sasha Banks counselling sessions kicked off in disastrous fashion.
With genuine highlights and meaningful progression becoming increasingly sparse, Raw's wheels are spinning at the moment. Regardless, the show wasn't completely devoid of Easter eggs, hidden gems, and other finer details, though they were in shorter supply than usual this week...
10. The Missing Memorial
Former WWE tough Enough winner Matt Cappotelli passed away last week, having sadly lost his long battle with brain cancer.
Health-wise, Capootelli had endured a torrid few years. A tumour ended his in-ring career in April 2007, but his first surgery was successful. Nonetheless, Matt was released from his WWE contract in 2009, and encountered new problems in July 2017, when his cancer returned. In May, it was announced that he was ceasing medical interventions, and he passed on 29 June.
Viewers would normally expect Raw to open with a memorial graphic under these circumstances, but there wasn't one. WWE chose not to acknowledge Cappotelli's passing at all. This is a shame, and while Matt wasn't exactly a huge name with this universe, the company need to be called out for this.
Cappotelli was under WWE contract for four years, and was still with the company when his health problems first arose. He never made it out of developmental, but he is alumni, and at least deserved a nod of respect. Poor show on the company's behalf for passing him over.