6 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE Raw (Aug 31)

1. RETRIBUTION Still Has No Purpose

WWE Retribution
WWE

It’s been a month since “the group that calls itself RETRIBUTION” debuted on WWE programming, and we still know nothing about them. Monday brought about yet another appearance from the hooded faction, with nothing revealed other than another beatdown on WWE stars.

To date, the group has made zero public pronouncements – yet we know their name – and their attacks have no common thread or purpose. The result is confusion from fans rather than curiosity. With factions like the nWo, the Alliance, and the Nexus, there was an almost immediate promo cut after the invasion so it was explained why the wrestlers were upending the program and company.

With RETRIBUTION, they storm the gates, cause chaos, and no one know anything else. But yet, it’s part of the show. The group gets video packages on PPV. The announcers react with horror, but then move on to the next part of the show matter-of-factly like it was just something that happened. On Monday, Tom Phillips fled his desk when the group attacked the Street Profits, Andrade & Zelina Vega, but then was back on air after the commercial break just chatting away bout how wild the night was.

The disconnect just doesn’t make sense, and not having any inkling what the group stands for after a full month isn’t a mystery; it’s poor storytelling.

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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.