What we learned from the WWE this week: 26th June, 2017

The Princess and her crown.

The WWE had a fairly steady set of shows this week with one or two stand out moments. Smackdown did the right thing by holding a repeat of the Women’s MITB Ladder match, while NXT also took things to new heights with their main event. RAW continued to build towards Great Balls of Fire with new matches announced for the show.

All in all, there were very few complaints about the action, and much to look forward to heading into the rest of the summer. Here is what we learned from the WWE this week:

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#1 LaVar Ball can cut a promo better than most of the current roster

Sign this man

The Miz TV segment involving LaVar Ball and his two sons was car crash television this week. Unfortunately, there were parts of the segment that have drawn serious controversy due to the use of a certain word, but the segment as a whole was very entertaining. 

These are the days of carefully planned and manufactured WWE programming, which obviously has its advantages from a public relations perspective. But as Stone Cold recently said in a podcast, the current RAW shows lack a lot of the urgency and energy of the Attitude Era days.

Many of the promos are scripted beforehand, and the superstars either don’t have the talent or are simply too afraid of repercussions to dare stray from the lines. As a result, many feuds start to blend into each other. After all, is there really any difference between what Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman are doing, compared to Samoa Joe, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman?

LaVar Ball’s involvement this week really sent a shockwave through the RAW episode. Even The Miz, one of WWE’s most professional stars at the moment, looked out of his comfort zone, unable to respond accordingly. When Dean Ambrose came out to interrupt Ball, he just stood out as a formulaic WWE superstar who only says things he’s allowed to, and he’s supposed to be WWE’s resident lunatic! 

It’s disappointing that more of the WWE roster doesn't have the spontaneity and excitement levels as a LaVar Ball. WWE is mainly about the in-ring action in 2017, which is a shame for fans who remember when car crash TV was what Vince McMahon used to do best.