12 Things You May Have Missed From Last Night's WWE Raw (June 11)
Botches, blunders, and Braun's brilliance.
Understanding the mediocrity that plagues every Network era pay-per-view go-home show is simple: WWE already have your money, so why bother trying to sell the big event?
Your £9.99 a month is all the company care about. They don't need to convince you to part with £40-50 anymore, so their incentive to deliver a blow-away go-home is gone, and while it'd be nice to think that Vince McMahon and co. would do right by their fans and maintain a high standard regardless, WWE is driven entirely by money. If their pockets are lined, they don't care what happens.
Last night's show fell in line with the usual standards, but did at least build a moderate level of excitement ahead of Money In The Bank. Bookended by two Fatal Four-Ways (both of which were strong), it saw Sami Zayn run Bobby Lashley through an assault course, Bayley face Ruby Riott, Nia Jax tap out to a Ronda Rousey armbar, and Baron Corbin debut a freshly shorn head.
As usual, Monday Night Raw was peppered with all kinds of easter eggs, snafus, and other small details that may have gone unnoticed.
Let's run through them...
12. History Repeating
The night's opening segment began with Kurt Angle and Constable Corbin strolling out to all eight Raw Money In The Bank representatives scaled atop ladders, in the ring, ready to shoot pre-PPV barbs.
After Michael Cole had ran through his customary introduction, Corey Graves announced: "we have never kicked off Monday Night Raw like this before."
The tattooed announcer was spouting bulls***. This segment was a recreation of one that took place ahead of Money In The Bank 2016, when the men's ladder match participants gathered in the ring to banter each other off from their perches. Kevin Owens was part of both, which makes Graves' proclamation even dumber, though this is nothing new for Raw's announcers.
Corey's call was a textbook example of WWE goldfish bowl writing. They assume their viewers have no memory span, and reckon they can get away with peppering broadcasts with such fallacies. It'd be nice if they didn't take their audience for granted so, but alas...