On this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw, fans noticed that there were some noticeable Superstars absent from WWE’s flagship program. Finn Balor, Bayley, and The Hardy Boyz all competed at Extreme Rules the night prior, but none of them were on Raw. While some fans might complain about these stars missing a week of television, this shows the incredible roster depth for Raw and WWE has a whole.
According to the official Monday Night Raw roster page, here are all of the Superstars that missed this week’s show for various reasons: Alicia Fox, Ariya Daivari, Austin Aries, Bayley, Bo Dallas, Braun Strowman, Brock Lesnar, Cedric Alexander, Curt Hawkins, Curtis Axel, Darren Young, The Revival, Drew Gulak, Emma, Finn Balor, Jack Gallagher, Gran Metalik, HoHo Lun, The Hardy Boyz, Lince Dorado, Mark Henry, Noam Dar, Paige, Rich Swann, Summer Rae, The Brian Kendrick, Tony Nese
29 Superstars were not featured on Raw this week and that is more than enough to create a fourth brand. The first Raw heading towards Great Balls of Fire did a very entertaining job of building toward the next Pay-Per-View, but WWE tends to have a problem with overexposing combinations of Superstars. Just recently, Sheamus and Cesaro were battling the Hardy Boyz is some fashion every week up through their Tag Team Championship Steel Cage Match.
Finn Balor, Bayley, and The Hardy Boyz among others being away is not a bad thing. Too many times, Superstars will be featured in bad-mediocre segments just so they can appear on an episode. If WWE has nothing for a Superstar, they should get a little bit of a break. It was very refreshing to see the Cruiserweight segment without Neville and Austin Aries feuding. Without Bayley, we got to see more of the Women’s Division in Mickie James, Dana Brooke, and Nia Jax. The Hardy Boyz being away gave some TV time to Heath Slater and Rhyno.
Raw is doing a good job of using a lot of their Tag Team Division as of late. Enzo Amore and Big Cass are involved in an attacker mystery that might have to do with the Revival, and Sheamus and Cesaro should inevitably be defending their titles against the Hardy Boyz. A team that used to be in the division, Golden Truth, broke up and now R-Truth and Goldust are cutting stylized promos on each other every week.
The two divisions where Raw could improve are the Women’s and Cruiserweight Divisions. While SmackDown Live utilizes its entire Women’s Division almost always, Raw tends to fall into the cycle of only focusing on the championship scene. This week was a step in the right direction with Mickie James and Dana Brooke, but they need to continue the rotation of who is featured every week for it to work.
Since showcasing the Cruiserweight Division on Raw is essentially an advertisement for 205 Live, showing wrestlers other than Neville and TJP would help fans get a better idea of what to expect on Tuesday nights. Gran Metalik, for example, is one of the most talented in-ring performers the division has, but he has only competed on Raw once, and that was in fall of 2016. Drew Gulak has been doing a great job of campaigning against high-flying, and he could promote this campaign by appearing at random times throughout Raw. This doesn’t have to just be for Cruiserweights, either. Most of the WWE roster has a high-risk offense that is just waiting for Gulak to chant in protest.
There is a good example to show why some time off can keep the fans more interested in a Superstar: Brock Lesnar. Whether you like him or not, it is clear that when Brock Lesnar shows up, it is probably important. The last time we saw the Universal Champion was at WrestleMania when he defeated Goldberg. This gives the feeling that his appearance next week on Raw will be really important as well, and fans are excited to tune in.
Now, WWE shouldn’t treat all of their Superstars like Brock Lesnar, because no one would show up for two months. When Superstars are not on TV for a week or so, fans are automatically more excited when they show up. If Bayley is given a bit of a breather before returning in a couple weeks, he eventual return would receive a huge reaction from the crowd. Having her involved in segments that don’t benefit her or the audience would just keep the reaction lukewarm. Just think of the reaction Braun Strowman is going to get when he returns from injury.
WWE has proven this week that they can put on a good show without some of their biggest stars. As long as this continues to be the case, leaving big names off of the show occasionally for the sake of a better show if more beneficial to WWE, its Superstars, and the fans watching.
