5 biggest missed booking opportunities by WWE in January 2018
There was a lot to like as a WWE fan in January 2018. The men’s Royal Rumble, for example, was one of the best we’ve seen in years, while the NXT title match between Andrade “Cien” Almas and Johnny Gargano at TakeOver: Philadelphia was an instant classic.
But, as all WWE viewers can appreciate, not everything we see on pay-per-view, Raw or SmackDown Live reaches those lofty heights, and sometimes we’re left scratching our heads wondering how a match or storyline could have been booked differently.
In our review of 2017's missed booking opportunities, we questioned why Chris Jericho didn't face Brock Lesnar, why Luke Harper vanished for six months, and why the Survivor Series main event failed to create more new stars than it did.
And now, after a month of hits and misses, we take a look at five booking opportunities that WWE failed to capitalise on in January 2018.
#5 The Revival’s return
What happened: Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson returned to Raw in mid-December 2017 but, reportedly because the creative team had no ideas for them, they were off television for four weeks before they reappeared in mid-January to defeat two rookies in a squash match. The following week, they lost in clean and convincing fashion to The Club at Raw 25 and took finishers from members of D-Generation X and Finn Balor.
What could have happened: Literally anything except that! The Revival are one of the best tag teams in NXT history and, while injuries set the duo back a few months following their main-roster call-up, it looked as though they would be ready-made challengers for the Raw tag titles upon their return. Instead, they were made to look incredibly weak at Raw 25 and the victories they traded with The Club didn’t do much to help either team.