7 Ups And 9 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Oct 17)

2. Creative Bankruptcy

We could say that at least WWE’s creative team has given the Shining Stars and Titus O’Neil some kind of characters, but that would be a flat-out lie. And it would be an insult to real, actual characters that have been developed in recent weeks.

Apparently, the writers feel that Titus O’Neil launching his own brand – and then promptly losing three straight matches on Raw – is a character. And the Shining Stars trying to sell timeshares in Puerto Rico and fake Rolex watches is a character development. It’s not.

Those are actions or behaviors of a person, but it’s not a character, and it certainly doesn’t offer any depth. Want to see the difference? Look at the relationship between Brian Kendrick and TJ Perkins. It isn’t Shakespeare, but you get a sense of who both men are and their motivations (particularly the aging, desperate Kendrick).

Titus saying, “hashtag, make it a win” and Primo & Epico trying to rip off wrestlers (in ultra-brief segments with zero follow-up) is not an improvement over them having nothing to do. At least if they weren’t on Raw, you could bring them in when there’s actually a half-decent idea and they’d feel fresh.