8 Ups & 10 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Apr 22)
9. Ricochet Gets Grounded
So here's the thing about this Robert Roode reinvention: the guy is far from 'Glorious' between the ropes, as proven by last night's match with Ricochet.
This bout was painfully dull. All grinding restholds and heatless babyface comebacks, it was Roode 101, with the former Impact Wrestling main-eventer accomplishing the remarkable feat of making the hyper-athletic 'One And Only' look like a normal wrestler. That's borderline criminal, though the road agents must take a share of the blame for failing to allow Ricochet to spread his wings.
The outcome compounds this Down, with Roode posting Ricochet then hitting the Glorious DDT for the victory. Here, WWE pitted two wrestlers who really shouldn't be losing against each other. This created a no-win situation. They had the chance to do something special with Ricochet, who isn't the best talker, but has a once-in-a-generation skillset between the ropes. Unfortunately, their Normalisation Machine has already had its way with him.