Not every episode of Raw can be a home run. Thats a given. It takes several elements all interacting perfectly for Raw to hit one out of the park: an electric crowd, fired-up performers, compelling drama and well-crafted segments. Take any one or two out of the equation, and youre likely left with a subpar episode that leaves you feeling a little flat. But every now and again, theres an episode that isnt just missing one or two of the vital ingredients, its missing virtually all of the elements that make for an entertaining evening of professional wrestling. And Monday nights Raw really was lacking in many of these areas. It was downright painful to watch at times, which is disappointing when you consider that WWE is heading into Night of Champions with its mission to win over fans whose WWE Network subscriptions were expiring. Instead, Raw gave fans more reasons to change the channel than it did to stay tuned. Some fans and viewers might have enjoyed Raw overall, and thats fine, but a dead crowd and some questionable creative decisions provided several moments where someone might have reached for the remote and clicked off Raw. Here are some of the low points:
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.
