3 Ups & 8 Downs From WWE Raw (Oct 11)

1. Can They Co-Exist?

WWE loves its tropes, and we’ve gotten to see one of their favorites in back-to-back episodes of Raw.

That trope? Can future opponents co-exist as a tag team, or will there be friction?

Last week, Drew McIntyre challenged Big E for the WWE Championship, but before we could go too far down that road, the two were thrust into an impromptu tag team match together against the Dirty Dawgs. And so, these babyfaces had to work together to defeat Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode, which they did successfully, but there was a bit of tension afterwards.

Then on Monday, the duo were challenged to another tag match by the Usos, forcing Drew and E to team up once again.

Also, we got a women’s tag match between four superstars who just flat don’t get along. Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks, who have been at odds for months, were forced to tag together less than three weeks before they face off in a triple threat for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Their opponents? The third in that match, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair – two wrestlers who also can’t get along.

Seriously WWE, get your tropes under control. Three times (four if you count both sides of the women’s tag match) in two weeks is excessive, lazy and unimaginative.