5 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (20 May - Results & Review)

UPS…

5. Promos Properly Hype Main Event

Who could have predicted that Gunther – a man whose persona was wrapped up in his in-ring performance – would be such a strong promo in the land of sports entertainment?

But here we are, and there was Gunther on Monday night cutting a taped promo in the empty arena, praising his opponent Jey Uso for being “the hottest thing” on Raw, filling fans’ heads with home and illusions… which the Ring General is in the business of taking away and dragging people down to reality.

In true form, Gunther pointed out that while Jey was all about entertaining fans, it says wrestling on the marquee, and he’s superior to everyone. It was a simple, but extremely effective promo with Gunther acknowledging his opponent’s massive popularity while reminding everyone that this is not a popularity contest. Tremendous stuff.

To his credit, Uso cut a pretty good little backstage promo himself just before the main event, observing that he very nearly toppled Gunther a few months back and that he intended to finish the job Monday night. Jey has been in search of that signature singles win, and you could feel the bubbling desperation in his “there’s no tomorrow” line.