8 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (Nov 1)

2. Talking Us Out Of The Match

Big E Seth Rollins
WWE.com

The in-ring promo used to be a way to talk fans into buying a PPV to watch a big match. You get a world champion and #1 contender in the ring, give them a couple of mics, and let them sell you on the contest.

Today, WWE has turned this art form into “Go out there and fill 10 minutes of our three-hour program. If you happen to convince three people to watch the PPV, bully for you.” Seth Rollins’ promo did nothing to make anyone want to see his impending match against Big E for the WWE Championship.

Rather, Rollins’ grating laughter and obnoxious delivery made you want to change the channel. See, it isn’t even the kind of heat where you want the champ to shut Seth up. You just feel like turning the volume down until he’s off the screen. You know the match itself is going to be good because of who’s involved, but there’s nothing that makes you want to go out of your way to catch this match or make it hotly anticipated.

But again, the promo in WWE isn’t about selling a match – it’s about filling time and producing content. In that situation, mission accomplished.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.