6 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Dec 12)

2. Beat The Clock

sami zayn micks foley
WWE.com

WWE clearly telegraphed the finish to the Sami Zayn/Braun Strowman match at Roadblock by mentioning – repeatedly – that there would be a time limit to their contest.

A generation ago, time limits being announced for matches were commonplace. You would expect to hear “20-minute time limit” or “one hour time limit” for matches. But now, the only occasions that a time limit really comes into play is a beat the clock challenge or an Iron Man match (like Sasha Banks and Charlotte on Sunday!). Otherwise, the timekeeper is typically pretty bored.

So why would GM Mick Foley (and the announcers) make a big deal about Zayn lasting 10 minutes with Strowman? Because that’s an easy way for Sami to claim “victory” without pinning or defeating Braun: survive 10 minutes with him. And that’s really a cheap way to book this. Foley had to threaten to trade Zayn to SmackDown to fire him up, and even then it won’t be enough?

Maybe they will surprise this writer on Sunday and impress, but it just seems like we’re already being prepared for a pyrrhic victory.

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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.