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This week's episode of Monday Night Raw felt as if the WWE were going to hit the reset button on their terrible booking strategies. As a Tag Team Title match, a huge announcement by the McMahons and the high stakes number one contenders match that saw Bobby Lashley take on Roman Reigns, had fans glued to their televisions or maybe just the few who actually tried to watch the trainwreck of a show that Raw was this week.
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And while that may sound like an exaggeration to many, this episode had high expectations considering the monumental events that were happening throughout it, and everyone expected every other programme around those important events to fall in place.
But, as you might know by now, it didn't, as WWE did not even try and do anything of significance on this night, and wasted three hours of television they will never get back. Moreover, everyone knows next week's episode will probably be as pointless as last nights broadcast because while WWE might feel they are taking one step forward, they are actually taking ten steps back, as the booking of their flagship product is frustratingly boring.
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#1 The Tag Team Title match ends in a confusing booking
Going into this match, every fan knew that The B Team and Deleters of Worlds were not going to produce an 'instant classic'. There was nothing to marvel at, as this match was a dull, uninspiring snooze fest that further exposed the weak foundation of Raw's tag team division.
And it came as no surprise that Axel and Dallas won this match after another convenient miscommunicated action by Bray Wyatt. Why would WWE even care to book The B Team as strong champions? And even though Hardy and Wyatt assaulted The B Team after the match, thus making The B Team feel like bigger jobbers, WWE could have done much better here. This was a meaningless match that only further dug the hole for the entire Raw tag team division.
#2 The women get no significant booking
The announcement from Stephanie McMahon centred around the women's division this week, as WWE is set on 'evolving' their somewhat successful women's revolution. Raw predictably opened up with that announcement this week, as Stephanie, Triple H and the Chairman himself made an appearance to celebrate this meaningful announcement that WWE will host its first ever all women's pay-per-view on the 28th of October this year.
This was a long time coming for the hardworking Superstars of the women's division as they continue to excel even with the terrible booking they receive from the people making the announcement. And while the first ever women's pay-per-view will receive praise and criticism from WWE's fanbase, it was hard to feel any evolution of the Raw women's division on Monday night.
As it felt like WWE basically booked their narratives last minute, as absolutely nothing significant happened with the Raw women's division this week. From pointless squash matches to repetitive bouts that fans have seen a hundred times, the Superstars of the women's division brisked through Raw this week with no purpose, motivation or goal in mind, which asks the question, is WWE even capable of booking an entire pay-per-view around these elite stars?
#3 AOP are sent scurrying by Titus Worldwide
As mentioned in the first point of this article, the Raw tag team division is in absolute peril, as the so-called creative team has no freaking idea what to do with the paper thin division they constructed. But wait, not all hope is lost as Raw has one team that can turn the entire misfortune of this uneventful division around- the Authors of Pain.
These silent badasses were absolute world beaters in NXT, and that is a show the main roster creative team clearly doesn't watch, as the disconnect in booking from NXT to Raw for the Authors of Pian is blatantly obvious. In this week, WWE did the one thing they should have rushed, let Akam and Razor cut a promo. Its all well and good that WWE wants them to build up their mic skills, but the truth is they are not very good at it and need some more time.
Secondly, WWE let Titus Worldwide make Akam and Razor looked like a couple of unseasoned rookies when they sent them running from the ring. This was a bizarre moment as to why would WWE sacrifice AOP's credibility like that and that too for a team that hasn't been able to stand the test of time in the company. This was not a good booking, and now it seems as if NXT's hottest stars would only continue their hot streak on the main roster when Triple H is running the show.
#4 Jinder Mahal
Oh, Jinder Mahal, how far have you fallen? The fact that a former World Champion is being booked like a clown on Raw in 2018 should come as no real surprise to you, as WWE has no real intention to make "the Modern-day Maharaja" anything but a mid-card jobber. This was a surprising move, to say the least. This entire segment with Braun Strowman and Mahal was fun for the initial few seconds, as Kevin Owens and even Baron Corbin made it better than it was supposed to be. However, making Mahal looking like a jobber is a mistake.
Unlike most heels on the roster, Mahal is one of the very few heels that garner pure hate from the crowd because he is not cool, does not do flashy moves or panders like some puppet to the crowd, which makes him the perfect person to lead the Raw mid-card division. However, by WWE sacrificing his credibility on a weekly basis, is a loss for them as he may not be the best wrestler on the roster but he is certainly the biggest heat magnet as far as real heat is concerned.
#5 Reigns vs Lesnar again?
If you really think that Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar is an idea accepted by the other members of the WWE Universe, just take a look at the like-dislike ratio of this match on WWE's youtube page. It is probably the first ever WWE video of this year that received so much backlash. But the truth is this, it is no fault of Roman Reigns as the man does everything he can to try and excel in an environment that is hostile as ever. In fact, his promos and in-ring work have drastically improved. But putting him against Brock Lesnar for the, again and again, is a mistake.
As many problems arise from that terrible booking decision, and the main question is, what happens to Bobby Lashley now? There is nothing for him to do at SummerSlam, and wasn't the whole point of him returning was to go on one with Brock Lesnar? Reigns is a fantastic growing talent, but he will never succeed with the John Cena like booking fans had to endure for over a decade.
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