7 Ups & 3 Downs from WWE Raw (26 May - Results & Review)

5. Exposing The Fans As Hypocrites

WWE’s penchant for long, meandering, show-opening promos will never cease to be a source of frustration. Most of them are simply mindless prattle, a long exposition dump that could have been a two-minute recap or preview from the announcers.

Monday’s opening promo segment needed to accomplish two important goals: explain Bronson Reed’s presence as part of Seth Rollins’ stable, and establish what’s next for the group.

Paul Heyman provided the rationale for welcoming Reed into the fold: The Aussie superstar grabbed the spotlight himself by attacking Rollins last year, putting him out of action for months with a brutal attack that was worse than almost any other assault Seth had suffered in his career. Rollins altruistically recognized that Bronson was the kind of force of nature needed to bring his vision for WWE to reality, so he set aside any personal animus.

Rollins would go on to explain that their ultimate goal still is to control the World Heavyweight Championship, and the easiest way to ensure they capture the title is to win the Money in the Bank briefcase so they can cash in at the most opportune time, rather than a fair fight singles match.

In addition to accomplishing their two goals, Rollins also pointed out the hypocrisy of the fans who were chanting, “F*** you, Rollins,” noting that they had been singing his theme just moments earlier. The fans, because they don’t understand irony, determined that this was their cue to start singing Rollins’ theme again, thus proving Seth’s point. That was genuinely funny.