Overall
A lot happened on last night’s Raw. In fact so much happened that I commented that I felt like WWE’s typical 3-hour program felt like a 5-hour super episode. Stories criss-crossed and weaved in and out of each other. Retribution showed up at the beginning, Shawn Michaels showed up at the end and I honestly feel like I see where most of the major Raw storylines are headed going into the biggest party of the summer.
I will say there was a lot of stuff going on and a lot of stuff that I was not a fan of but overall I was entertained throughout the night. The highs of the night were really high but the lows really weren’t that low compared to some of the more boring episodes of Raw as of late. What felt like a 5 hour Raw didn’t feel like it because it dragged more so just because of how much happened. What does worry me is that a lot happened to get ready for SummerSlam that I’m not quite sure how they are going to pull off Payback with just one week of build.
Overall, Raw was good last night and got me properly hyped for SummerSlam weekend. So, let’s look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of Raw 8/17/20!
The Good
- I liked how Retribution messed with the “Then, Now, Forever” card. I still think the group is dumb but this was creative.
- The intensity in Drew’s promo was really good. I loved that the camera was right in his face.
- I liked the stipulation that Apollo came up with of beating Shelton Benjamin to keep The Hurt Business from ringside at SummerSlam.
- I got excited for the 6-man tag elimination match when it was announced.
- I’m a fan of Ivar having meat force powers.
- Tez coming back to attack Andrade and Garza!
- As usual Sasha and Bayley are one of the best parts of the show.
- I actually ended up really liking the bit with Shayna leaving the match only to come back and win the whole thing.
- Erik and Dolph in Raw Underground was actually pretty good.
- I enjoyed seeing Dom get revenge on Seth even though I am pretty sure he will be taking the L this Sunday.
- MVP trying to turn Cedric is such a good concept.
- I really liked the 6-man tag elimination match! All of these guys are great!
- Apollo put up a good fight but couldn’t pull it off. Luckily I think he will retain at SummerSlam.
- I actually enjoyed a 24/7 title match.
- Shawn had a good promo!
- I loved the back and forth between Orton and McIntyre at the end of the episode. It got me really hyped for their match!
The Bad
- I don’t know if they were trying to say Retribution was still messing with the production but the weird way that they stayed in the wide shot for MVP’s entrance and most of his promo was bad.
- 24/7 title interrupting the Apollo/Benjamin match.
- It was weird how they didn’t just cut to the video that Dawkins was talking about. Samoa Joe made it work but it really did feel like everyone was just milling about before commercial break.
- Mickie James doesn’t even get her entrance???
- Just wondering why Nia attacking Shayna doesn’t result in a DQ and the match stopping. I get why they did it but they have been weird lately about what results in a DQ.
- Can we please start giving The Riott Squad and The IIconics longer matches? They are all good workers that people really love. Give them some more time!
- I don’t get why the 24/7 title had to change hands so many times tonight.
- I’m really worried that there is going to be nothing to watch at Payback. I don’t see any legit set up for a second pay per view going on here at all.
The Ugly
- I’ve never produced something on as large of a scale as a WWE television show, but I don’t think that Retribution could control the cameras quite like it was implied that they were. It made the back and forth between Apollo and MVP nearly unwatchable and it really wasn’t addressed.
- Mickie James and Natalya getting their match that was hyped up so much online just totally sidelined for Seth to come out and yell something at Joe was so dumb. It didn’t really build Seth or Joe in anyway it just was a distraction that felt super dismissive of the entire division as well as both James and Natalya who are legends and likely future Hall of Famers.
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