Reason for lack of announcements before WWE RAW, backstage update [Exclusive]

For wrestling fans, Monday can only mean one thing — WWE Monday Night RAW. Tonight's episode has had a rather subdued build, though, with absolutely no match announcements until 90 minutes before the show kicks off.

Shortly before the announcements, I reached out to try find out the reason for that radio silence, and received a response detailing just why nothing was announced until under two hours before the show, and the difference between the Red and Blue brands right now.

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WWE's flagship show apparently hadn't even been thought about until today, with Vince McMahon not looking at the show "until this morning" when he got on the corporate jet. Talent were pitched last night under the provision of McMahon having not read the show just yet.

I reached out an hour ago when nothing was announced for #WWERAW, just got a response from someone in the know:Apparently Vince McMahon hadn’t looked at the show until this morning and talent last night was being pitched under the provision "Vince hasn't read the show yet."

— Gary Cassidy (@WrestlingGary) September 7, 2020

The reason? Apparently there's a creative force driving the writing and booking of SmackDown, while there's a lack in that department when it comes to RAW. Sportskeeda has learned that the two names spearheading the writing team for Monday nights are "not up to the task of getting the show done in time" or "getting input from talent" in a timely manner.

"RAW has fallen apart without Heyman"

One major quote that stood out was, "RAW has really fallen apart without [Paul] Heyman driving the creative," which is interesting in itself as the departure of the ECW legend from his executive role was apparently an effort to streamline the creative writing process for TV, which saw both teams consolidated.

One major quote stood out from the conversation:“RAW has really fallen apart without Heyman driving the creative.”

— Gary Cassidy (@WrestlingGary) September 7, 2020

One thing worth noting is that it seems like every week either ourselves or someone else reports that RAW underwent several re-writes, while those reports are few and far between on the Blue brand.

Meanwhile, 90 minutes before the show is set to start, three matches were announced for RAW:

TONIGHT on #WWERaw [T H R E A D]:@RealKeithLee goes one-on-one with @RandyOrton in a rematch from #WWEPayback! ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/t3teykjt4u

— WWE (@WWE) September 7, 2020

Keith Lee will take on Randy Orton, Aleister Black and Kevin Owens will go one-on-one, while Murphy will seek revenge when he faces Dominik Mysterio,

Will tonight's RAW deliver? Only time will tell.