r/Wrasslin Jul 21 '26

Current state of RAW

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471 Upvotes

46 comments sorted by

90

u/_JR28_ Jul 21 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/wB18Xv8Fd3Ghu8M6Ln
Meanwhile the most peaceful episode of NXT

26

u/kupozu Jul 21 '26

I think I am making a huge mistake by watching the main shows but not NXT and AAA

7

u/Impossible_Arm_879 Jul 21 '26

AAA usually has at least a couple matches I like. Also it has Money Machine which is the simplest heel gimmick ever but I love it. Damn you, Money Machine!!!

11

u/PlatasaurusOG Jul 21 '26

NXT can be hit or miss sometimes, but when it hits - there isn’t a better show imo.

4

u/BinkyFarnsworth Jul 21 '26

NXT just got their roster kinda gutted for the latest batch of call ups (especially the men’s roster) but it’s still pretty fun. Can’t speak to AAA as my exposure to it is limited. But the little I’ve seen was pretty great.

1

u/Effective_Ad4810 Jul 21 '26

You are. Raw and Smackdown are ok-ish but have been on a downward trajectory. NXT is still my favorite show across both WWE and AEW. Hits the middle ground pretty well between matches and backstage shenanigans. Although I will admit on paper, tonight's NXT card is probably one of the weaker ones recently. It will still be more fun than last night was for sure.

It is getting more and more painful getting the same 5 or 6 main eventers shoved down our throats especially across both Raw and Smackdown. Cody and Drew are really the only top main event people I like. The rest could go away tomorrow and I wouldn't care. Not counting Oba in that since he hasn't had his match yet.

1

u/BREW712 Jul 23 '26

NXT is what brought me back into the fold after a couple of decades of not watching/paying attention.

Edit: and I love me some AAA too

2

u/Reverse-Kanga Jul 21 '26

NXT and AAA are legit showing up the main roster at the moment. people see NXT as a demotion i'd see it as a preference right now.

39

u/JohnnyHelios2306 Jul 21 '26

Does anyone remember the Jinder Mahal Video where he explained how WWE contracts function (that you get a basic amount of money for each month guaranteed and can only get more by having certain achievements like a Raw / Smackdown main event or a ppv appearance or a commercial deal)? Seems to me that WWE wants to make sure that only a select few get these bonuses... this would also explain why we had much more big multi-man-tag main events in the past and mostly promos now as main events.

8

u/Grifforzer_27 Jul 21 '26

Back in 2022 I really enjoyed the Bloodline arc, rivalries and all that stuff. But watching this in 2026 is completely unnecessary and it gives me vibes from NWO back in WCW when it was a success in 1996-1997 but during its final years it became very overrated and tiring and I feel the same with the Bloodline right now.

21

u/ConstantRefills Jul 21 '26

Remember when they said Roman wasn’t going to be a part time champ?

-9

u/BlueRibbon998 Jul 21 '26

To be fair to him, he's been there pretty much every week since Mania outside of last night and then missing June because the company decided to leave him off of Night of Champions.

10

u/abcdefghipqrstuvwxyz Jul 21 '26

Which of his raw matches was your favorite so far?

10

u/Effective_Ad4810 Jul 21 '26

Yeah, that made no sense to have the PLE that was about all championship matches to feature Seth vs Bron and not another title match or 2.

-4

u/Sexyphobe Jul 21 '26

Compared to the women's world champions, he's the biggest fighting champion out there.

5

u/gellman Jul 21 '26

I was stuck in NYC coming back from Fanatics Fest due to plane issues and weather. I was supposed to be home on Saturday, I just got back today. I'm sure that was a part of it with how many people were at SNME and Fanatics Fest. Private Jet be damned, there were zero commercial flights.

6

u/cameronpark89 Jul 21 '26

it always seems like raw and smackdown are really in a competition. one week raw is good and smackdown sucks, next week raw is garbage and smackdown is fire. it’s never consistent.

5

u/RihoSucks Jul 21 '26

Ive already jumped over to smackdown 🤷‍♂️

3

u/BjornTheDead Jul 21 '26

Bloodline exists on SmackDown too

17

u/RihoSucks Jul 21 '26

Sadly it does but at least its not 20 minutes of roman coming out and standing around doing nothing.

-4

u/Dependent_Pain1110 Jul 21 '26

Smackdown is way worse

8

u/BinkyFarnsworth Jul 21 '26

A few months ago I would’ve agreed with you 100%. But the shows seem to have traded spots of late.

4

u/RihoSucks Jul 21 '26

Yeah i agree. I have been a regular raw watcher and id catch like a smackdown a month at most. Suddenly in the last like month smackdown has become so much more watchable and raw is just rehashing shit from 4 years ago. 

6

u/Omadany Voice of the Voiceless. Jul 21 '26

It has been good for a while now, and it will keep getting better because punk is there

10

u/Dependent_Pain1110 Jul 21 '26

Zero women's matches... like wtf

5

u/Reverse-Kanga Jul 21 '26

Raw stands for

Recaps

Ads

Wrestling

in that order

2

u/killjairo Jul 21 '26

It’s always been that way … and add a commercial every 45 seconds

2

u/JohnnyAverageGamer Jul 22 '26

They were doing the danhausen stuff and I was waiting for it to continue backstage and then they switched a to roman v Seth video package

2

u/Heiligskraft Jul 22 '26

Eat your peas (Roman Reigns) and you can have your pudding (Danhausen) after!

2

u/triple_try Bron Borker Jul 21 '26

How many packages did they have on Seth/Roman/The Shield last night? Way too many.

3

u/Spectre-ElevenThirty Jul 21 '26

I just get the recaps from gets posted on Reddit after the show. If something happens that interests me, I’ll think about watching that segment, but I can’t watch the full shows anymore

1

u/Dylanmay2007 Jul 24 '26

I only watched smackdown to watch finn balor thats it

1

u/Separate-Mountain973 Jul 24 '26

Siempre ah Sido asi desde 2021 últimamente a mejorado solo un poco

-9

u/AndrewCB246 Jul 21 '26

The same people who bitch about raw praise Tiny Khan for another “great” episode of dynamite when it was filled with no stories and botches galore. 

HHH is cooking a great summerslam 

9

u/Sexyphobe Jul 21 '26

Not everyone who criticizes WWE is an AEW fan. Also for someone who loves WWE so much, your history is almost exclusively complaining about AEW.

-7

u/AndrewCB246 Jul 21 '26

Correct. Because as long as sickos decide to spam Squared Circle with their love fest for Tony doing no wrong I want to do my part to educate some sense of reason into this matter. Anything outside of TKO is the minor leagues. Period 

6

u/Sick_Cards_Bro Jul 21 '26

Both promotions suck for different and same reasons. Wrestling is dead. No real baby faces or heels because the crowd cheers anyone they can sing along with or chant for five minutes after they've made their entrances. Spot show choreographed to the point where everything looks like an uncanny valley of phoniness. No real promos because it's all so overly written and badly acted.

-3

u/NigelMK Jul 21 '26

42:50 seconds. That was the total length of the 5 matches they had last night. Id be curious to see how much of that was actually broadcast.

1

u/AndrewCB246 Jul 21 '26

Promos were fire. Story builds have been excellent. You don’t need a ring to do that 

1

u/wetwetwetwetdogs Jul 23 '26

No but you do need a ring for wrestling on the wrestling show

-5

u/rosenasty94 Jul 21 '26

Raw is so bad