7 Ups And 9 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Nov 23)

5. When Bait & Switch Is OK

For the better part of six months, WWE fans were treated to a weekly open challenge from John Cena for a United States Championship title match. Those bouts routinely were among the best matches on Raw and provided a lot of wrestlers an opportunity to match up against the face of the company. So when New Day advertised a country music jamboree and open challenge for the Tag Team Championships, it looked like we would get a fun promo from the tag champs and a title match. New Day certainly delivered a great promo, but they quickly pulled the plug on the tag title match when both the Lucha Dragons and Usos attempted to answer the challenge. Both teams have been jockeying for position in the tag title hunt, so it made sense that they€™d both go for it. Sin Cara suggested they hold a triple threat match to accommodate both teams, but Xavier Woods quickly canceled the challenge and ate a double superkick for his troubles. While some will say that advertising a title match and not delivering is a dangerous precedent, it can work if it€™s done correctly and for the right reasons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5WojBuv9QY New Day bailing on a triple threat after an entertaining segment works on this occasion, but the writers have to be careful not to fall back on this as a crutch multiple times. New Day can be somewhat cowardly, but they can€™t use false advertising too much or it will backfire.