6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (17 Aug - Results & Review)

1. Another Half-Speed WWE Lucha Match

WWE Raw El Fiscal Rey Fenix
WWE

In theory, having an all-luchador tournament to determine Roman Reigns’ challenger in Mexico City next month was a great idea. It could also serve as a primer for WWE fans about AAA and the rich lucha culture.

Instead, WWE’s first two tournament matches on Raw were just examples of how the company has taken lucha libre and put its own spin – and speed bumps – on the style.

Penta versus Laredo Kid last week was wrestled at 0.75 speed and broke no new ground. Monday night, Rey Fenix followed in his brother’s footsteps in wrestling a slowed-down match against another AAA luchador, El Fiscal.

Rather than showcasing the talent that is exclusive to AAA and demonstrating to fans that there is something different and exciting happening south of the border, WWE produced a match that was outclassed by the impromptu opening match between Je’Von Evans and JD McDonagh. Sure, Fenix had a couple of nice spots, but a world-class athlete delivering “a couple of nice spots” is the bare minimum.

This wasn’t a badly worked match, but once again, it was another luchador tournament match that underperformed expectations, and that has to count against them.

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Contributor
Contributor

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.