7 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE Raw (Oct 25)

1. The 8:05 Promo Train, Right On Time

You can always count on certain things in life: death, taxes, and WWE Raw opening with a promo train that sets up a main event for later that night.

Raw appropriately opened with Big E celebrating his title defense and asking for his next challenger. This opened the door for Seth Rollins, Rey Mysterio, Finn Balor and Kevin Owens to each come out and recite their resumes, as if that should be enough to warrant a title shot.

Things broke down, with Rollins trying to attack everyone, and Sonya Deville came out to make a fatal four-way match for the #1 contender’s spot. Then to up the ante, she made it a ladder match. Because, sure, why not?

If nearly every Raw didn’t open this way, if nearly every Raw didn’t book its main event on the fly, then this would have been fine. But instead, it’s just another promo train to open the show to set up a main event. And thank goodness for that, because otherwise, what would have closed the show?

Lazy, lazy booking, with the same old WWE trope once again. It’s just another example of how old and tired this show has become.