3 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (31 Aug - Results & Review)

2. Inconsequential Television

WWE Raw Roman Reigns
WWE

Historically, taped episodes of Raw do not have a great track record for captivating, consequential programming, and Monday night was no exception to that rule.

WWE delivered a mostly bland, ultimately skippable episode after a string of much-improved shows, ending its post-SummerSlam streak just shy of a month post-PLE.

Raw opened with an eye-catching backstage segment, and it closed with an eye-popping match between brothers Penta and Rey Fenix, but nearly everything in the middle – including Roman Reigns – could be recapped in a few short paragraphs, saving people an hour of their night.

Most storylines were tended to with video packages or backstage segments that repeated previous weeks’ lines (see Stephanie Vaquer and Becky Lynch) and didn’t really advance any stories. It was treading water for one more week before Sunday Night’s Main Event and when Raw returns live next week.

Otherwise, you could watch the first five minutes and the final 20 and get the best of the show and not miss anything truly of consequence. It’s disappointing that WWE couldn’t figure this out when they’ve got numerous active angles and a PLE-quality SNME coming up this weekend.

Advertisement
Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.