8 Things WWE Want You To Forget About The Raw After WrestleMania
4. Lions And Lambs
Now more than ever, the post-WrestleMania Raw is the perfect place to unveil a new (or NXT-level familiar) star thanks to the in-built knowledge of the ardent fans in attendance. No Way José - a peripheral developmental brand performer for nearly two years - received a warm response in his New Orleans squash despite the 'now or never' air already hanging over his one-note-joke gimmick.
The (almost) universally positive reaction so often fails to materialise the following week though, not least if the company never really had plans for the performer in the first place. The false dawn subsequently becomes an uneasy albatross.
Apollo Crews' bungled main roster ascension in 2016 came seemingly from Vince McMahon catching glimpse of his chiselled physique and nothing more. His debut featured on the episode, but barely made the cut in a Network documentary specifically tackling that topic thanks to his rapid slide. Kai-En-Tai were sh*tkicking outlaws in spring 1998, but were chopping Val Venis' 'pee-pee' before the summer. Sin Cara and Lord Tensai were high profile catastrophes in 2011 and 2012 respectively, despite the best promotional efforts put into their perfunctory personas.
The list goes on and on and always will - the company's introductory formula is too perfect for the deeply imperfect system it supplies with talent.