7 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Raw (15 May - Review)

DOWNS…

4. Where Were These Videos Last Week?

Great idea by WWE to have short video packages (re)introducing fans to new Raw roster members JD McDonagh and Apollo Crews on Monday night.

Bad idea to run them on the same show as both men were unceremoniously eliminated in an Intercontinental Championship battle royal Monday night. Worse idea to run both videos after the match.

Shouldn’t the videos have run last week to welcome them to the roster, and then we’d know who they are and why they’re here? Instead, it was “hi and bye” in the battle royal for McDonagh, who then attacked Dolph Ziggler outside the ring. Later, we got JD’s video package, followed by a backstage interview where he said he wanted to make a statement.

The sequencing of all of this and execution was off. It felt like they were at a buffet and went for the main course first, then dessert, then the appetizer, and finally a salad. You have to get this stuff right if you want fans to connect and care about wrestlers. Otherwise, you get silence during their matches.