5 Ups & 4 Downs from WWE Raw (12 May - Results & Review)

DOWNS…

4. Special Treatment

Pat McAfee’s escapade during the past few weeks proved to be a decent diversion for Gunther, mostly inoffensive, though falling far short of what could have been.

Monday night, Raw opened without McAfee at the desk, leading to a thought that maybe he was taking the show off to sell the impact of the match.

Nope. In fact, McAfee was bestowed his own entrance before the opening match, drawing chants from the fans. Later on, they aired highlights from his match against Gunther, eliciting more chants and leading him to standing on the desk to acknowledge the cheers before sitting down and putting other Gunther.

If they wanted McAfee to put Gunther over as a world beater, then he should have been battered in the match and then taken a week off (which he should have done after the initial attack a few weeks ago).

The frustrating part here – and why it gets a “down” – is that there are plenty of wrestlers on Raw who would love to get that spotlight, or at least the time dedicated to McAfee. Ludwig Kaiser was “interviewed” backstage and didn’t even get a word out before Jackie Redmond rushed off to cover Jey Uso being attacked. What has Karrion Kross done since his acclaimed post-WrestleMania promo? (However, he was seen in the background talking to New Day.)

A lot of this would get more leeway if McAfee was a beloved announcer who added value to the product for the viewing audience. But that’s not the case. He adds mainstream value to WWE due to his ESPN show.