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WWE’s chief content officer, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, has managed to take the entire Monday Night Raw episode and tease it in a very special way. This episode is where many title belts will change hands and the great Nikki Bella will collide with the hopeful Roxanne Perez, thus leading to the Saturday Night’s Main Event. The over-the-top announcement coincided perfectly with a very important World Heavyweight Title match between CM Punk and Jey Uso.
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Triple H gave a very optimistic vision of the shocking matches coming up for the worldwide audience. The Women’s Tag Team Championship finale will be the event’s last bout. A new undisputed contender for Dominik Mysterio’s Intercontinental Title will be identified. As a match that really stands out, WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella will face the much younger Roxanne Perez in what is described as a “generational clash.” Additionally, the event starts with a risqué segment featuring CM Punk and Jey Uso, thus transferring the momentum directly to the World’s Heavyweight Championship match between them at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
The announcement triggered a deluge of public responses that revealed a significant split in the appreciation of the current product. Some viewers were super excited about the matches that had been unveiled, however, a major part of the input was negative and directed at the creative policy of Levesque’s producing team.
One of the major issues mentioned most often in the comments section was the need to include the super popular character LA Knight more. The opinions of users showing their discontent about his present position in the roster were quite strong. One user even argued, “I switched it off before the last match. Perhaps you should start and then better use LA Knight.” Another voice basically echoed the sentiment when they simply wrote, “LA KNIGHT” as their comment. A third person was even more explicit in their condemnation, “You are the worst bro it’s ridiculous how you are burying LA Knight.”
Even though criticism was predominantly about the proper booking of superstars, it was also directed at general programming and storytelling quality. One user provided very long commentary that was essentially condensed to: “Hey HHH, do your job and fire your writers, they are terrible! Your shows are so boring! Every week it’s like watching the same thing again! How about doing something fresh and different?” Others agreed saying that the product was “boring” and “a fking joke.” A commenter suggested, “I have not watched WWE Raw for five weeks now!!” indicating that the product displeasure has led to a considerable decline in viewership.
The choice of pay-per-view matches was also pointed out as a reason. A fan of the fight between Bella and Perez expressed his doubts over the decision when he said, “I think it was a wrong booking if your main event girl has losing streak but suddenly wins a match on Raw with no storyline and in a quick non-televised match.” This indicates that the audience expects more to be told and really not “in a hurry” to obtain.
Such a situation was not that simple and there were still fans backing their heroes or asking for that hero. One very thrilled fan was almost shouting “LFG!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥” in response to the advertised card while another suggested already mentioned strategic change, “H, Give Jimmy USO his shot! Time for his title.” Another less enthusiastic would say the main event scene was confirmed and woud state, “Would like to have seen AJ Styles in a three-way with Punk & Jey, he deserves the title! As much as the two of them do.”
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The different opinions on Triple H’s preview are a mirror of the difficulties that come with managing a global sports entertainment brand. The company may be firmly promoting its potential, using its stars’ potential to the maximum through the different generations, but there is still a rather vocal fan group that strongly demands revolutionary changes in creativity and positionings of superstars. The writers and management are under a lot of pressure to come up with a show that will not only win the critics over but also satisfy the loyal fans. The road to Saturday Night’s Main Event will certainly be a great test of the current storytelling strength. This event is being promoted as a WrestlePalooza, and the situation has drawn comparisons to the fan backlash over Vikingo’s championship run. In other entertainment news, the musical atmosphere of the evening reminded some of Jhene Aiko’s album ‘Trip’.