3 Reasons why Sami name-dropping AEW on RAW was a work and 3 why it was not
The Monday Night RAW this week was one of the most anticipated ones of the recent times, not because of the quality of the programming of course, but because it was the first major show of the company after their rival AEW's first show: Double or Nothing.
With AEW taking a lot of shots at the company on their inaugural show, fans were excited to see how would WWE respond to it. There was a genuine feeling in the air that WWE would come out all guns blazing this week to deliver a solid show.
What we got instead was a below-average episode of RAW which was, to be honest, disappointing. WWE did a lot of mistakes throughout the show, but there was one big moment that caught everyone's attention.
During the electric chair segment with Sami Zayn, he namedropped "AEW" on the mic while responding to a fan's question. This was the biggest surprise of the show for me, as would have been for a lot of you as well.
With Sami mentioning All Elite Wrestling on TV, one big question that everyone has is whether it was a "work", i.e., planned or did Sami go unscripted and said what he was not supposed to.
In this article, let's take a look at 3 reasons why Sami namedropping AEW on RAW was a work, and 3 why it was not. Do let me know your take on this situation in the comments section below.
#6 Was a work: The segment seemed to build towards it
The whole segment that was planned to have fans ask Sami Zayn questions seemed to be building up to something like this. While the fans who asked the questions looked genuine, I still think they were fake fans or were given previously decided questions.
A genuine fan would definitely have asked Sami about AEW as he himself said on the mic! If this was a work, WWE did a great job by letting AEW know that they were not afraid of mentioning them on their program and will not resort to "cheap tactics" that AEW used.
#5 Was not a work: Corey Graves quickly changed the topic
As soon as Sami spoke the 3 letters we didn't expect him to, Corey Graves suddenly changed the topic before fans could overtake the segment with their chants.
Also, Seth Rollins' music hit immediately afterward in what seemed a little hurried up decision. If this was not a work, just imagine how furious Vince would have been backstage!