4 Ups And 7 Downs From WWE Raw (June 29)

2. Opening With A Bang

Asuka Sasha Banks Bayley
WWE.com

Changing things up can be a good thing, as evidenced Monday night, when Raw opened with not an introduction for a lengthy in-ring promo, but an already underway brawl between Asuka and Bayley & Sasha Banks.

The three were taking part in a double contract signing, but before Samoa Joe could bring out the WWE Championship match participants, the women had to be physically restrained. Then once Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler came out, things got going. They got through the prattling and signings before things broke down again, leaving the heels on the outside.

Even though Raw was taped, opening with an in-ring brawl made you sit up and take notice right away. You barely had a chance to settle in, which was a good thing. It made the show feel more important from the get-go, even though it really was just a simple contract signing(s).

So kudos for mixing it up in a clever way.

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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.