5 Ups And 9 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Dec 10)

4. So Is Slater A Heel?

Little things can make a huge difference in how a scenario is perceived.

Case in point, Heath Slater’s turn as a referee did not go well for him Monday night. Slater reffed two matches, providing biased officiating in both. He allowed blatant interference from Bobby Lashley in Lio Rush’s win against Elias, and he helped Baron Corbin try to win the Intercontinental Championship from Seth Rollins.

Considering that Corbin hired Slater as a ref, it’s a safe inference (as Michael Cole said) that he was obligated to do Baron’s bidding. But what was missing here was a simple comment backstage where Corbin tells Slater that he needs to do what he wants or he’ll be fired. That conversation – and Slater’s troubled reaction – would help pain how conflicted he was.

Instead, Slater was simply told to referee a match, showed up, and helped Corbin. There are times when WWE’s sledgehammer of plot is useful, and this is one time it would have been helpful. Knowing Heath has little choice allows you to easily feel sympathy for him.

Alas.