5 mistakes WWE made on Raw this week (6 August 2018)

This week's episode of Monday Night Raw was not the usual trainwreck fans are used to seeing over the past few weeks, as the creative team finally got most of the key players on the red brand to succeed in various programmes and segments.

However, most of the mistakes WWE made on Raw this week was with the handling of its midcard superstars, as the underutilized stars of the flagship show didn't get the best booking in the world this week.

From cutting a rising star's momentum short to leaving a wandering tag team still wandering, WWE didn't do much to make fans feel like the midcard portion of the red brand's roster has much importance in the company, as their appalling booking left their already hindered credibility shaky.

---

#1 Mojo losses his mojo

A superstar that was on a roll

Mojo Rawley is not the biggest superstar on Raw, but it was nice to see WWE at least give him some character development over the last few weeks, as Mojo started to develop a mean streak that separated him from the rest of the midcard roster.

But this week WWE ignored all the work they put in with Mojo character and had him get beaten clean by Bobby Roode, and while you might say Roode is the bigger star thus he needs the win, if WWE flipped their script it would've benefitted both men.

Roode on a losing streak could've added some much-needed depth to his character and Rawley beating a former NXT Champion would've helped him move higher in the ranks of WWE, but it was clear that WWE doesn't plan ahead with their roster.

#2 Bobby Lashley's unclear path

Lashley just can't keep up with "the drifter."

Elias' segment on Raw this week was one of the pleasant highlights of the entire show, as "the drifter's "obnoxiousness and self-obsessed charm oddly makes him more entertaining than most of the talent on the red brand. But it seems as if Elias will lose some of that white-hot momentum he racked up for himself as he is stuck in a one-dimensional feud with Bobby Lashley.

Now Lashley is a great talent, but he doesn't belong in a feud with a superstar like Elias, as Elias needs someone with an equal amount of charisma to truly shine while Lashley needs to be working with powerhouses like himself. WWE's attitude of booking a feud for the sake of booking a feud is a mistake, as neither of these men will benefit from this awfully put together programme.

#3 The Authors of Pain lose more momentum on Raw

A feud that does nothing for the former NXT Tag Team Champions.

Akam and Rezar were absolute beats down in NXT, as their excellent booking allowed them to that unstoppable force, but on the main roster, these former NXT Tag Team Champions are just another team lost in the shuffle.

While Rezar beat Titus 'O Neal fairly easy this week on Raw in their singles match, the fact of the matter is, no one cared. The crowd didn't care, the fans watching at home probably didn't care, and the people who booked this crap didn't care as well, as beating Titus 'O Neal in 2018 is sadly not an achievement anymore.

Moreover, that is due to WWE's terrible booking of the former Prime Time Player, and this does not benefit AOP, as most of the steam they came up with from NXT has disappeared due to WWE's stubbornness in putting them in matches with seasoned jobbers.

#4 The Raw Tag Team scene is in ruins

A division that doesn't seems to amaze fans as of late.

While the Authors of Pain are slowly losing all their momentum, you know what has already lost all credibility in 2018? The Raw tag team division. The Raw tag team division is one of the worst parts of Raw every week and that is due to the paper thin roster the red brand have, as teams like The Ascension, Breezango, The Revival, The B Team, Titus World Wide and The Deleter of Worlds are just not elevating the division beyond the wasteland it is right now.

And this week on Raw WWE's terrible booking tropes once again reared its ugly head as a match between The B Team and The Revival was predictably interrupted by Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt. The real question now is, when will this crap stop and when will WWE finally get serious about tag team wrestling? As at this rate, the Raw Tag Team division should cease to exist.

#5 A watered down Strowman

Could the real Braun Strowman please stand up?

While this entire article was based on the terrible booking of the less than important stars of the red brand, WWE made one of their biggest stars feel silly on Raw, and unsurprisingly enough it was Bruan Strowman. For the second week in a row Strowman interacted with Jinder Mahal and Kevin Owens and just like the last time, Owens tried to steal the Money in the Bank briefcase, Strowman chased him, and Strowman inevitably lost the match to Mahal.

Now it's perfectly understandable that WWE wants to show fans how Strowman could lose his briefcase to Owens at Summerslam, but for the love of God, stop making "The Monster Among Men" feel like a b-rate version of himself. While the flipping of The Kevin Owens Show set was cool, it doesn't excuse the fact that if you compare Braun from last year's build to Summerslam to this year's build to Summerslam, the result is a watered down Strowman.