7 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (8 Aug)

3. Bayley Stumbles In Routine Opening Segment

For all the talk of swooping changes to WWE's creative processes, Raw still started with a promo train.

A promo train captained, admittedly, by a fresh crew. Bayley, Dakota Kai, and IYO SKY enjoying a rare opportunity to kick things off was a welcome sight. That Triple H allowed the women's division to take centre stage from the show's first moments is encouraging - and builds further confidence in how the scene is to be presented with Vince McMahon out of the picture.

But a promo train is a promo train. The layout is tired, worn-out, and entirely predictable. When a wrestler or group of wrestlers hit the ring, you know their rival(s) is destined to follow.

So it goes.

Excellent work from the involved wrestlers can compensate, though. If they are sharp enough and compelling enough on the microphone, that we've seen thousands of these segments before becomes less important. Unfortunately, given the participants, this wasn't the case here. Bayley sounded shaky on the microphone, perhaps through a lack of practice. She stumbled over her lines several times and came within seconds of being thrown off her game as she shook the rust off. Her talk of lighting a fire beneath a re-energised women's division and emphasis on Kai and SKY as underutilized, underappreciated talents made for solid content, though her delivery was atypical of the confident 'Role Model' persona.

Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss, and Asuka arrived, setting up a trios match for Clash of the Champions. Belair saying that while the heels were trying to keep control, she felt like losing it, then launching into an electric brawl at least ensured things closed on a spike.