The clock reads ten minutes past the hour, and Bronson Reed is just about to leap off of the top rope to deliver a devastating Tsunami to LA Knight. It’s a typical “WWE Raw” post-match beatdown, but a few minutes ahead of schedule. Ending “Raw” before the hour-thirty mark will be a nice change of pace, you think, because surely, that Tsunami is the end of the broadcast, right?

“Raw” cuts to commercial. That’s odd.

What happens next is, legitimately, the worst twenty minutes of WWE broadcasting in the 2020s.

Monday was so bad. This is worse than Charlotte Flair’s second Royal Rumble win. This is worse than Randy Orton getting hit in the face with a fireball from The Fiend (RIP). This is worse than Eva Marie. I’ve genuinely never seen anything as awkward, contrived, and forced as the last twenty minutes of Monday’s “Raw.” Think when the curtains refuse to close on a local community theatre show and the actors have to improv — except they’re all hobby actors, and none of them are that good at improvisation. Triple H and Lee Fitting should be humiliated in the town square for letting this air.

When Paul Heyman started cutting a promo during the post-match commercial break, I knew we were in for a weird final stretch of “Raw.” Like, the episode should’ve ended, right? We at Wrestling Inc. begin to speculate just why the episode kept going. Did someone miss their cue? Did something in the card get cut? Did Triple H cut too many corners with the women’s segment times, and is now dealing with the consequences of his actions?

Heyman’s promo was okay, but Breakker’s was a dumpster fire. He called out CM Punk’s absence from Kansas City (because Punk is filming for Netflix — you know, the broadcasting giant you’re on — while probably mourning his dog), before telling Punk he was going to “take [his] wife.” Real quote. As the cameras continue to roll against the will of God and everyone, Breakker starts talking about his upcoming match with Punk on “Raw’s” Netflix anniversary. He tells Punk he’s going to take him down with a “Spear — one, two, three.” About four times. I’ve seen Steiner math, but you just need one pinfall to win, Breakker. The cherry on top? The really bad backstage beatdown between Reed, Logan Paul, and Knight. Think Reed’s car Tsunami onto Braun Strowman, except the car was not gimmicked (because they didn’t plan this spot, obviously), and it barely flinches.

If this was a planned segment, someone either needs to be fired or sent to training. WWE, if you finish “Raw” early, just cut the cameras. Please. It would’ve been better than this.

Written by Angeline Phu