6 Ups & 8 Downs From WWE Raw (Sep 20)

4. Soak It In

Roman Reigns Bloodline
WWE.com

On paper, not much of anything was accomplished during the opening segment with New Day and then the Bloodline joining them in the ring.

But in reality, that opening was all about letting Big E soak in the cheers and the reality of being the new WWE Champion. He won the title in the waning moments of Raw last week, so this was his first chance to truly bask in it on the red brand and enjoy being the standard-bearer. It also gave the fans the opportunity to really cut loose and enjoy the moment, rather than having to listen to a 20-minute opening promo.

Instead, they cheered on a very grateful Big E, booed the very existence of Roman Reigns, and then geared up for a six-man tag match, all in the span of 12 minutes. For WWE, that’s downright efficient.

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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.