WWE Raw – June 24, 2019 (Review)

Endings can be painful. Whether it’s a job you enjoyed, a valuable relationship or a move away from a familiar home, the end can often be a sad moment to stomach. But endings also bring finality – a measure of closure that allows the grieving process to begin, opening the door to further (hopefully greater) opportunities. Raw – and WWE in general – could do with a few more endings.

Much has been made of Raw’s tendency to suddenly drop storylines from one week to the next without explanation. While that certainly presents a problem with the product, it’s an entirely separate discussion. What irks me this week is something quite different. And that is the equally annoying habit of dragging feuds on unnecessarily.

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Consider for a moment some of the frustrations experienced with the top of WWE’s card of late. Seth Rollins and Baron Corbin feel like they’ve been entangled for months, unable to move onto new, more appropriate feuds. But why are these two still going at it? Seth decisively beat Corbin at Super ShowDown, because the latter let himself get distracted by bickering with the referee. The already dubiously arranged rematch at Stomping Grounds was again won by the Universal Champion, despite the challenger having the advantage of hand-picking a special guest official. And still – despite all that – the feud continues. Why?

Similarly, Becky Lynch and Lacey Evans are still brawling despite the Raw Women’s Champion having dispatched of Evans twice in the past month. And Kofi, having only recently moved on from a tiresome program with Dolph Ziggler, appears to be locked in a regular series of matchups with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.

Did @BaronCorbinWWE & @LaceyEvansWWE REALLY just call out @WWERollins & @BeckyLynchWWE for a match at #ExtremeRules?! #RAW pic.twitter.com/nMxFohfS3d

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) June 25, 2019

That’s just to name a few such examples. These stalling feuds continuously produce lacklustre matches and badly hamper the product overall. Moreover they have a dampening effect on the people involved. There can be no doubt that the excitement around Kofi, Seth and Becky has been significantly cooled off by having the trio trapped in their respective never-ending programs. Often overlooked though are their challengers, who have also suffered from being overexposed in this fashion. Nobody benefits from stagnancy, by having the status quo maintained for months at a time.

As this week’s Raw rolled around, with little in the way of promises of a new dawn, I propose a resolution. As we enter the second half of 2019, let us close a few more chapters. Let us say goodbye to the drains of the past and begin the healing process together. In short, let’s have a few more endings.

Also, let’s get to the review.

• review
• RAW
• Stomping Grounds
• wwe

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