4 Ups & 8 Downs From WWE Raw (Aug 23)

5. The Most Contrived Setup

More on Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley and Sheamus later, but its setup was a worn-out WWE contrivance you have all seen hundreds of times before.

Lashley's show-opening promo led to an interruption from Priest and a singles match being booked between the two. That ended when Sheamus ran in for a disqualification, before Drew made the save, resulting in the tag team bout.

It's the kind of thing even those who've only been watching for five minutes could book in their sleep, and effectively filler, as WWE know it's an easy way to occupy 30 minutes of television. MVP and Lashley's promo on Goldberg and his son Gage was fine, but not enough to bring this deal to a net positive, and Priest being positioned in the World Title scene is at least refreshing. Still, angles are no fun when you can see every beat coming from a mile away.

There's also the issue of running back tired rivalries only a few months after they have expired, with McIntyre's old feuds opposite Lashley and Sheamus both brought back to the forefront here. While this came from a team labelled "creative," there's nothing creative about what was served up in Raw's opening slots, despite the totally fine performances from each man.