6 Ups And 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (April 24)

1. Manipulating Reality

When Braun Strowman pushed a stretching carrying Roman Reigns off a loading dock and then tipped over an ambulance with the Big Dog inside, it “made” Strowman. Those actions drew such a huge reaction from the fans that it was obvious that Braun had finally arrived in fans’ eyes.

But it’s apparent that wasn’t the only goal with that beatdown. It’s clear that Vince McMahon thought that Strowman would be seen as the vile, evil heel, while the convalescing Reigns would be the sympathetic babyface.

Want proof? Monday, Strowman gave some forced lines about calling the fans trash to get them to boo him. Then, during a video package on Roman, we got scenes of Reigns at WrestleMania and Raw the following night, with cheers piped in and all boos removed. Bear in mind, the boos were deafening on Raw and lasted for a solid five minutes, maybe longer. The video showed only positive signs that cheering fans were holding, and shots of fans cheering him on.

It was so blatantly manipulative… and you just know it’s not going to work. When Reigns’ music hits at Payback, it’ll be at best a 60/40 split against him, and if he and Braun have a slugfest exchange, Roman’s punches will be met with the “boo” portion.

But hey, that video package told me Roman’s great and that everyone loves him, so it must be true! It’s his yard now!

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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.