Reason Behind Unusual Opening Segment On Raw

A new report has lifted the lid on the reason behind the opening segment on Monday Night Raw.

The July 25th episode of Monday Night Raw was the dawn of a new era in WWE. Not only was the show being held at Madison Square Garden, it was the first-ever episode of the red brand to take place without Vince McMahon calling the shots.

Over a number of years, fans have become accustomed to the show opening with a lengthy promo setting up the rest of the show. However, the most recent edition began with a brawl between The Miz and Logan Paul. The segment immediately got fans talking, with many speculating that it was a new direction for the show.

However, speaking on a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed that the angle was actually set up that way to prevent an expected negative crowd reaction to Logan Paul.

“So, the deal here, the reason that they did this, aside from a hot open, Logan Paul, you know, celebrity and everything like that. If you noticed, they opened – obviously you noticed – they opened with them brawling as opposed to, let’s say Logan Paul in the ring going, ‘Miz, get out here, let’s fight right now’, which he actually tried to do later in the show.

The reason they did it is because they figured that people were gonna boo Logan Paul when they saw him – a lot. So, they would have him come to the ring and do all this with no cameras on so you don’t see it. His coming to the ring with music and everything like that happened off-screen before Raw started, and in fact, he was booed very heavily, so they figured he’ll do that, he’ll do the thing with The Miz.”

Logan Paul will be back in action at SummerSlam when he takes on The Miz in his first-ever WWE singles match.

H/t to Inside The Ropes