5 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (22 May - Results & Review)
1. With A Whimper
When we look back on the World Heavyweight Championship tournament, it’s pretty safe to say that running through both Triple Threat matches and the singles bout on Raw and SmackDown in one week was a pretty big mistake.
Yes, scheduling was clearly a factor with Seth Rollins due to his film commitments, but it means we’ve limped into the final days hyping a new world title, and it’s been done with pre-recorded interviews and video packages, not impassioned promos in front of live crowds, or an in-ring confrontation between the finalists.
The World Heavyweight Championship has been criticized as a secondary world title since its unveiling, and despite putting two former world champs – Rollins and AJ Styles – in the finals, it still feels like an afterthought of a world title. You have Rollins phoning it in, literally, and Styles last week was doing a talk show segment with Grayson Waller rather than speaking directly to his opponent.
The match itself will probably be tremendous, but it’s pretty safe to say that the entire build to the establishment of this title has been one speedbump after another. That can’t bode well for it, and it means the winner is starting at a deficit.