5 mistakes WWE made on Raw this week - 16 July 2018
After a slightly controversial Extreme Rules pay-per-view, WWE rushed straight ahead into the build-up to SummerSlam 2018, and for what its worth they tried to do something eventful on the red brand this week, but as always nothing worked out to perfection for the company.
From matches that held no significance to matches that held significance but soon revealed its self to actually having no real significance, yeah it's confusing, but that's what this broadcast of Raw was, confusing at best.
As from a narrative standpoint, almost none of the segments made any sense and from a creative perspective, well it's hard to ask for something creative from a booking team that prides themselves on booking repetitive matches and skits every single damn week.
Anyhow, all that could have been avoided if the people behind the scenes just sat back and thought to themselves - "maybe that's a stupid idea and we shouldn't do that", that could have saved a lot of fans three wasted hours.
#1 Giving people false hope
When Kurt Angle said he would strip Brock Lesnar of his Universal Title if he did not do what normal people do and show up for work, everyone in the WWE Universe thought; "it's about damn time". But people as you already know, this is WWE and for them to have the proverbial 'grapefruits' to actually do something as drastic as that is almost impossible.
However, Kurt Angle kicked of the Raw broadcast this week, and within the first few minutes stripped Brock Lesnar of his title because Lesnar didn't respond to his Wrestlemania 19 opponent's threats, and the crowd cheered in excitement thinking; "yay! now Finn Balor can reclaim the belt he never lost", okay maybe that's wishful thinking.
But Paul Heyman out of nowhere sprinted to the ring and tried to bargain with the Raw GM, Heyman excellently said that Lesnar holding the Universal Title and challenging for the UFC Heavyweight Title is good publicity for WWE.
And what do you know, Angle un-stripped Lesnar of his title and announced that he would defend it at SummerSlam to a loud chorus of boos from an angry crowd.
Now listen here, the whole Heyman promo was excellent cause it made sense, Angle booking a match for SummerSlam was predictable, and the possibility of Roman Reigns being the number one contender for that match is pretty certain, but for the love of God - why did WWE give the fans false hope?
After months of watching Raw without a World Champion, Angle's announcement at Extreme Rules got everyone pumped to see what the Universal Title looks like after four freaking months, but WWE's trolling antics were on full display as Lesnar stayed at home and fans stayed frustrated, good job WWE.