WWE RAW 5.21.18: The Three Key Stories w/Justin C, Plus Thoughts On Rumored Smackdown Live TV Deal

1. Please Stop These “This Is Your Life” Segments

The WWE struck gold with The Rock and Mankind during the “This Is Your Life” segment. But every other segment since then has failed. Remember the Alexa Bliss/Bayley segment? How about the Old Day? The Sami Zayn and Bobby Lashley’s sisters segment did absolutely nothing for anyone involved. The crowd didn’t care and crapped on it the second the three guys dressed as Bobby’s sisters came out. Sami Zayn tried his best, but he couldn’t save it. At least this was kept shorter than the Alexa Bliss/Bayley one. The WWE needs to stop all of these segments going forward. They aren’t funny. They don’t add to any feud. And they have no one on the current roster with the talent of The Rock or Mick Foley to pull it off.

2. I’m All Aboard The B Team Bandwagon

I really hope the WWE sticks to what they are doing with Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas. This shouldn’t be a one off thing they do with the two and then forget about them. If the WWE has the patience (lol) they should build up Axel and Dallas over the summer, leading to a Tag Title match at SummerSlam. The crowd is getting into both men, and you can tell that Axel and Dallas are having a great time now that they have an actual story to tell with their characters. They aren’t just sidekicks anymore. But knowing the WWE they will rush these two into having a Title match at Money in the Bank and then they will be forgotten about afterwards.

3. The Ronda Rousey/Nia Jax Segment Was Also Not Good

Neither of these two women are proven to be good promos so far. So they had to put Stephanie McMahon out there to kind of “run” the segment. And all she was doing was antagonizing both women to start. You can tell the story will be Steph trying to motivate Nia and getting her to be the monster that everyone and their mother knows she should be booked to be. The staredown and exchange between Ronda and Nia felt fake. And while I think Ronda will still be a superstar for the WWE, this isn’t the right story for her. My guess is Steph tries to find multiple people to do her work to get rid of Ronda, before she gets Charlotte to cash in her Money in the Bank contract on Ronda, leading to their Wrestlemania match.

Random Thoughts

-Roman Reigns has Toby Flenderson levels of heat right now. He’s the worst.

-They called Roman Reigns vs Jinder Mahal at Money in the Bank a dream match. If by dream match they mean one fans will fall asleep and have dreams during, then they are right.

-Mickie James looked as good as ever tonight.

-Natalya winning Money in the Bank and cashing in on Ronda Rousey just does not sound good at all.

-No Way Jose lost again to Baron Corbin. And here lies his WWE Career.

-At this point they should just do a double turn with Elias and Bobby Roode.

-Finn Balor looked as good as anyone did against Braun.

Thoughts On Rumored Smackdown Live To FOX TV Deal

ESPN was the first outlet to break the story today that Smackdown Live is rumored to be going to FOX when the WWE’s TV deal is up in the fall of 2019. That is FOX, not FS1. That is a big deal for the WWE. FOX is available on so many more services and outlets then a network like USA or FS1. The Wrap is reporting that Smackdown will be moved to Friday nights, while The Hollywood Reporter is saying that the rumored deal is worth $1 BILLION over 5 years. (insert evil Dr. Evil laugh here)

None of this has been confirmed by the WWE or FOX. But there are enough people reporting on it that I would believe it to be true. This is a massive deal for the WWE. Their stock price went up to $57.86 a share by the end of the day, which is over a $6 increase from where it started the day. The fact that the WWE is able to get so much money out of these rumored TV deals goes to show you that wrestling is still in demand. I expect FOX to heavily promote the show during their NFL and MLB broadcasts. I would also expect Smackdown to get even more attention than RAW to start off in the fall of 2019. This is a major deal for the WWE and a chance to put out an all star product for more people than ever before.

Until Next Time,

Justin C

Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka