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WWE RAW, JUNE 17, 2024
THEY’RE HERE
The Wyatt Sicks have arrived. Full disclosure. I hated The Fiend character, and everything surrounding it. I loved the original Bray Wyatt character, but the whacky, supernatural and over the top production of The Fiend just never did it for me. It was more silly than scary in my opinion. When I think of the worst of modern Vince McMahon’s WWE, I immediately think of The Fiend and it was my breaking point with WWE. It was the thing that made me stop watching WWE weekly for the first time in my life. Paul Levesque spoke in the great Bray Wyatt Peacock documentary about the issues with the character and how outlandish the ideas got. The ideas became more and more difficult to fit into the confines of pro wrestling. Which seemed to be the breakdown between Bray Wyatt & WWE, which led to his departure from the company.
So now the question will be, just how will this new interaction of the Bray Wyatt world fit into this new WWE? Paul Levesque’s WWE is a more realistic, sports like product, moeso than WWE ever has been. So if this act has the same level of “spooky” that The Fiend did, it may be even less of a fit than it was in Vince’s WWE, which was a whole lot more false and cartoonish than it is now.
As for the angle itself, it was WWE’s production at its most spectacular. Especially the simplicity of it being one long camera shot, and Nikki Cross showing the cameraman where to go made it feel that bit less pre-planned. The characters look very cool, and obviously fit right into the look created by Bray Wyatt, and will provide a lot of nostalgia for those that loved and miss Windham Rotunda. Are we supposed to believe that these horror movie characters have attempted murder on those in the backstage area? That’s when it becomes hard to buy in my opinion, and becomes difficult to slot into a world, which at its core, is a “sport”, and not a horror movie. It will be very hard to form an opinion on this straight away. We will have to wait and see what the follow up is, and how this act will be incorporated into pro wrestling matches. Love it or hate it, this was an incredibly impactful and memorable end to Raw, that no doubt will heat up a show that has gone cold in recent weeks.
ROLLINS IS BACK
Seth Rollins' return was a great surprise to open Raw, and it created a massive crowd pop when his music hit. It will also bring some much needed star power back to the brand. It seemed like we were heading towards Damien Priest vs Gunther at Summerslam, but that may not be the case. Rollins vs Gunther certainly feels like a much bigger Summerslam title match. I liked that Priest was the one to challenge Rollins, as he continues his slow babyface turn as a fighting champion trying to prove his doubters wrong. As the Judgment Day drama continues to develop, we may be looking at Priest vs Balor at Summerslam?
I QUIT
Drew McIntyre’s obsession with CM Punk may have cost him his career, as Drew “quits” WWE. It’s just a pity Drew’s contract status isn’t still up in the air to really blur the lines. This was another great twist in the best story in wrestling as things begin to kick into top gear heading towards Punk’s return to the ring, presumably at Summerslam. There was great effort made to add as much realism to this as possible, with both Adam Pearce and Paul Levesque trying to talk Drew around. The “bad” production values in the hallway made this all feel even more unplanned. So what’s next? CM Punk will be at Smackdown in Chicago this Friday, so where better for Drew to ruin Punk’s homecoming like he did to him.
Are the crowd becoming sympathetic with Drew? I can understand why some might be, as you can question if what Punk did to Drew is deserved after what Drew did to Punk. A heated beatdown in Chicago would rectify that.
A NEW IC SITUATION
After five failed attempts, Chad Gable looks to be moving away from the Intercontinental Championship. After another loss, Otis and The Academy have finally had enough and walked out on their boss. As expected, there was a monster pop from the crowd as Otis snapped on Gable, but has yet to fully explode and turn on Gable. Gable is expected to link up with The Creed’s soon, so we may not be too far away from Gable and his new group laying out Otis and friends to really kick this rivalry into high gear. Especially if Otis manages to cost Gable his shot at Money in the Bank too.
The IC title picture is moving in a new direction, as we look to be heading towards Sami Zayn vs Bron Breakker, which could be incredible. We were reminded of Sheamus’ long failed quest to win the IC title, to complete his grand slam of WWE titles, and Ludwig Kaiser may be entering the mix too. Breakker vs Sheamus was a good match, but never got out of third gear for the most part. But everything surrounding the match was more important than the match itself. Bron’s spear on Kaiser was spectacular and I loved the intensity between Bron & Sami as they were pulled apart. Breakker vs Zayn sounds like a great Summerslam match to me.
I can be reached at matthewmacklin90@gmail.com
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