4 Ups & 9 Downs From WWE Raw (Oct 18)
Ups…
4. Mansoor, Ali Inject Some Heat Into Rivalry
Anyone who argues against the fact that WWE doesn’t know how to do long-term storytelling should look at Mansoor and Mustafa Ali as a great example of the piss-poor planning of this company.
They knew Crown Jewel was coming up for some time now, and they always give Mansoor something to do at the PPV since he’s their first Saudi superstar. Rather than spend the past couple of months telling a real story with wins and losses and promos, it was a disjointed tale of segments that never tied together. (Sure, they might have done some Raw backstage interviews for YouTube, but what percentage of the Raw TV audience sees that?)
Mansoor lit into Ali after winning his match, showing a fire that put Mustafa on his heels. It was really, really well done. And that’s what’s so frustrating – this climax to the feud on the go-home show comes after next-to-no build, save for last week’s beatdown. If WWE put half the effort into this than they do into the 24/7 Division or how they managed to put Lana through a table nine times last year, this would have been a barn-burner of a rivalry.
Instead, it’s just decent with the potential for a really good match on Thursday.