“WWE Raw” kicked off in an unusual way this week, with Logan Paul and The Miz already being in the ring brawling, but that was done intentionally, according to Dave Meltzer on the latest “Wrestling Observer Radio.”
Traditionally, the company will start the show with someone’s entrance to get a big reaction, but WWE opted to have them already fighting when the show began to avoid the initial boos that Paul would receive. Right now the social media star is being booked as a babyface, but he is not always getting that type of reaction, which WWE wants to avoid.
Because WWE knew that the first time fans saw him would likely be the heaviest boos on his entrance, the company opted to have all of that take place before the show started, so when things appeared on air they were already in the thick of the action. It was noted that Paul received heavy boos when he appeared at the start of “WWE Raw,” therefore it was likely a wise decision considering how he is being portrayed in this storyline.
Paul did appear again later on to host his own talk show segment which saw Maryse return and The Miz appear as they continued to build toward their WWE SummerSlam match. Ultimately, Ciampa got involved and Miz dropped Paul with a Skull Crushing Finale, which did receive a chant of, “One more time” from the WWE Universe.
Ever since Paul returned to the company and signed his contract with WWE he has been working as a babyface, which is different from his WWE WrestleMania 38 spot, where he and Miz teamed up as heels to defeat Rey and Dominik Mysterio. But, since Miz turned on him after that match, Paul has been working on trying to get the fans behind him for their upcoming match.
It had previously been reported that Paul had negotiated to become a babyface by the end of his run at WWE WrestleMania into his contract, which is why he was taken out to try and gain sympathy. It is unknown whether or not he had a similar clause in his latest deal, but he has previously said “I’m just not a heel anymore.”
