7 Ups & 8 Downs From WWE Raw: In Your Face (Sep 14)
Solid work undone by wretched storytelling - and the worst stable in wrestling.
Last night's WWE Raw was weird. Very weird.
A more Jekyll and Hyde professional wrestling show won't go down in 2020, as WWE's red brand veered from genuinely great to borderline unwatchable, often from segment to segment. Devisied by WhatCulture's Michael Hamflett, the phrase "trust the workers, not the process" was made for shows like this, where wrestlers earnestly worked their hides off despite the indigestible tripe fed to them from the writers' room, which served up some of the Empty Arena Era's worst content last night.
This show was branded "In Your Face" in the build-up. This was seemingly a product of Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton booting each other in the mush repeatedly in recent weeks, as the only in-your-face thing about last night's Raw was the staggering gulf between effort and creativity.
With Dolph Ziggler and MVP on commentary, not the absent Samoa Joe, the night was ravaged by RETRIBUTION. Orton vs. McIntyre got a new stipulation, Keith Lee faced the WWE Champion in the main event, a new force ran riot in Raw Underground, and Mickie James wrestled for Asuka's Women's Title - perhaps for the final time.
Let's go...