Top 2 things that went wrong on the April 18 episode of WWE Raw

As mentioned when discussing the things that went right on the April 18 episode of WWE Raw, WWE sort of exists in this space where the product is what the product is and little about it will change.

Taking this approach to consuming WWE content (especially if you have to watch these shows) really helps you appreciate when the promotion books something well. That said, it’s still important to point out when WWE presents matches and angles that are detrimental to the company building and maintaining fan interest.

So, in that spirit, let’s talk about the not-so-good things that happened on Monday’s show.

These are the top two things that went wrong on the April 18 episode of WWE Raw.

Edge and Damian Priest are weird and spooky

WWE should be thankful that Edge and Damian Priest are as respected by the fans as they are, because if they weren’t, this hocus pocus stuff that they’re doing would get skewered much more than it is.

To be fair, Edge working to piece together this backstory in a way that somewhat makes sense is commendable and the pairing with Priest has potential (and most fans really hope that this catapults Priest to the main event picture). But between the “I finally found a reason to use this thesaurus” promos and the goofy-looking supernatural effects, it feels like Edge is trying too hard to be spooky and cerebral.

To be clear, this isn’t to say that this sort of stuff is inherently bad, and there’s nothing wrong with embracing silliness in wrestling, but the context in which it’s presented matters, as do the characters that are trying to pull stuff like this off. As it stands, playing these parody-level promos and lazy sleight-of-hand tricks with a straight face isn’t the correct move.

Theory wins the United States Championship

It’s typical WWE to pick the blandest, most uninteresting young wrester at its disposal (and one with allegations that should immediately disqualify him from selection) to fulfill its need for young stars. It’s Drew McIntyre as “the chosen one” all over again, and we all know how that turned out (yes, McIntyre is a star now, but it took him figuring some things out on the indies before returning to the company).

Because of those issues, this push — which continued with Theory winning the United States Championship from Finn Balor — lacks the excitement that should come with earmarking someone Theory’s age for bigger things.

Some of that has to do with him beating a champion that rarely defended his title and often lost non-title matches (many to Theory, which also chipped away at this being a momentous win; why would is be a big deal to beat the guy you’ve already beaten several times over?), but it also speaks to how Theory’s presentation as a geek who gets browbeaten by a 76-year-old non-wrestler on national TV undermines the blu chip prospect status WWE wants him to have.

But, yeah, he’s boring and can’t generate any interest without being in a segment with Vince.