WWE's August 24 RAW from Ottawa featured questionable creative decisions. From Roman Reigns' absence to inconsistent title shot logic, here are the biggest mistakes.
The Bloodline remains overpushed, and WWE continued that trend on NXT. Zilla Fatu debuted two weeks ago by attacking Cruz Montana and Grayson Waller during their NXT Title number one contender's match. He signed his contract last week but was immediately inserted into the NXT Championship match at Heatwave.
Fatu claimed he didn't receive favorable treatment. That's precisely what happened. Montana had to earn his shot at Tony D'Angelo. Writers should either embrace the favoritism narrative or omit it entirely from promos. WWE also aired a vignette promoting Fatu for NXT Heatwave while giving no packages to Montana, Waller, or the champion himself.
24
Roman Reigns Continues His Spotty Schedule
The World Heavyweight Champion failed to appear on RAW from Ottawa despite being involved in two ongoing angles. Bookers are promoting this AAA tournament extensively, yet The Tribal Chief has barely acknowledged it. Having Reigns show up to at least reference the tournament would make it feel significant.
The action has been solid, but that doesn't compensate for a tournament happening two months after King of the Ring. It already feels unnecessary since the winner's chances of defeating Reigns remain extremely low. His promise to appear more frequently after winning the title worked briefly, but the inconsistent schedule undermines that commitment.
34
Je'Von Evans Gets Too Much Offense Against Big Cass
Je'Von Evans is a popular young star with exciting offense. He's scrappy but shouldn't be getting so much offense against someone like Big Cass. The big man should have dominated The Young OG on RAW. Instead, the match remained competitive throughout. Cass landed some big shots, but Evans quickly recovered.
There was even a point where Evans had Cass covering up defensively. Having him fight back repeatedly would have painted Cass more formidably. This was his first WWE match in over eight years. Squashing Evans should have been the obvious decision. Worse, Evans popped up about five seconds after the finish, making the big boot seem less impactful.
44
Inconsistent Logic For Title Shot Rematches
WWE's arbitrary handling of rematches was exposed on RAW. Damian Priest and R-Truth didn't earn their tag title rematch. Trick Williams received another shot against Baron Corbin without qualification. Jackie Redmond interviewed Sol Ruca backstage during RAW about facing Rodriguez for the Women's Intercontinental Championship.
Sol claimed she earned the rematch. But beating Lyra Valkyria doesn't automatically grant title opportunities. Meanwhile, Sami Zayn gets denied opportunities constantly. People like Nick Aldis demand stars earn title shots, but that logic only applies to certain wrestlers. The inconsistency in booking title matches undermines storytelling credibility.
