6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (26 Aug - Results & Review)
Downs…
3. Jury’s Out On IC Tournament
Time will tell if the 12-man Intercontinental Championship contender’s tournament is a stroke of genius or a WWE mess of multi-man matches.
When announced, the notion of a tournament sounded like a fun way to have a series of singles matches with stakes, allowing for feuds to further develop and for wrestlers to elevate themselves. Fans were already speculating on who would be in the tourney and how the brackets would shake out.
Monday, fans learned that instead of an actual tournament in the traditional sense, WWE was simply holding four triple threat matches, with the winners facing off in a four-way match to determine the new number one contender. If you’re keeping score, that’s five multi-man matches over a three-week period. Expect to see pin-stealing, referee manipulation (there already was both of this in some fashion in one match Monday), and some weapons shots, as there are no disqualifications in WWE multi-man matches.
The first two triple threats were decent, but they lacked drama. While there was nothing technically wrong with either match, perhaps the realization that WWE was seemingly shortcutting this tournament cut the enjoyment. WWE multi-man matches often rely on the above-mentioned tropes (and others), and there’s a feeling that the next three matches will continue that trend, making for a lackluster “tournament.”