6 Ups & 3 Downs from WWE Raw (30 June - Results & Review)

Downs...

3. Talk About Telegraphing The Finish!

Look, there should be no issues with the thought of both Bayley and Lyra Valkyria challenging Becky Lynch for the Women's Intercontinental Title come Evolution, but Adam Pearce announcing the number one contendership match made it super-obvious that it’d go to a stalemate so WWE can get to a Triple Threat. Phew! Lengthy sentence alert. Everybody take a breath.

Pearce announcing Bayley vs. Lyra perhaps had to be done in the creative team's mind, but the backstage skit actually did nothing for the match itself. Fans around ringside were visibly and audibly just sitting around waiting for the result they got. Everybody knew it was coming, so it was no surprise when both sets of shoulders were on the mat and the ref ruled this one a a draw.

Normally, yours truly doesn't mind this sort of booking, but Pearce telegraphed the finish earlier in the night. That made it more difficult for people to get invested in what they were seeing. Peeps in Pittsburgh knew one of two things would happen: One, Becky would run in and cause a non-finish. Or, two, Bayley and Valkyria would wrestle to a draw. It was far too pronounced.

In other words, you really didn't need to see anything both women worked before the double pin decision. They weren't exactly going through the motions (that'd be unfair to claim), but the atmosphere was flat as a pancake because this live crowd sniffed out where WWE planned to go ahead of time.

Maybe that's something to be mindful of in the future. Just a thought.