WWE News: NJPW calls out lack of wrestling on Monday Night Raw
What's the story?
It's no surprise that one of the main complaints fans and critics alike have about the WWE's main roster is that there's a certain lack of wrestling in five hours of weekly programming. It seems that other promotions have decided to get in on the joke, as New Japan Pro Wrestling took a shot at Monday Night Raw on Twitter.
In case you didn't know...
Over the past few weeks, the first hour of Monday Night Raw has been incredibly promo heavy. Superstars such as Roman Reigns, Shane McMahon, Brock Lesnar, and Universal Champion Seth Rollins would take up the first twenty minutes, while various backstage segments, vignettes, and skits involving the 24/7 Championship would fill out the rest.
This led to many fans pointing out the overall lack of in-ring competition on Monday nights. And with the Wild Card Rule in effect, we've also seen a lack of unique talent on both Raw and SmackDown, with many of the same superstars appearing on both shows, which essentially put superstars on the lower end of the totem pole off of television. Between a lack of competition and seeing the same matches, promos, and vignettes repeated twice a week, some fans have decided to look elsewhere for their wrestling fix.
It seems that a certain promotion has decided to capitalize on the ever-growing frustrations of the WWE Universe.
The heart of the matter
Before Monday Night Raw went live tonight, New Japan Pro Wrestling took aim at WWE with a clever tweet, offering free matches from their library.
This week's free match was the classic bout between Katsuyori Shibata and Tomoaki Honma. NJPW will be posting each match on their official YouTube page.
What's next?
Monday Night Raw took a few steps in combating the criticism they've had as of late. But in the latest episode, we got some great matchups, including a Raw Tag Team Championship Triple Threat match, a non-title match between Kevin Owens and Universal Champion Seth Rollins, and Lars Sullivan getting his revenge on the Lucha House Party.
NJPW isn't the only company to go after the WWE for their lack of in-ring performances. All Elite Wrestling has, several times, called them out for being more about the sports entertainment aspect and less about the wrestling. With their latest show, though, WWE may be looking to silence their critics.