6 Ups And 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (June 19)

A monster returns to action; Samoa Joe gets big win; and a popular duo breaks up.

Raw Braun Strowman
WWE.com

It’s tough to call Monday night’s episode of Raw “progress” simply because it wasn’t patently bad or full of disappointing moments. But you can’t give high marks just because it doesn’t offend.

Raw was OK for what it was: an episode in the middle of a lull between PPVs. A couple decent-sized angles were laid out, including a breakup that could either backfire big time or pay off in a huge way. We saw one of the top stars on the program return from surgery, providing a much-needed shot in the arm to the show.

We saw Roman Reigns finally embrace his inner heel… or was he just playing the “cool and cocky” character the Rock did all those years ago? We saw dancing bears return though neither were beaten up this time around.

We saw the women’s division being crammed into one segment again, which has to rank as a severe disappointment. And of course, we saw Enzo Amore & Big Cass in the crosshairs as a team, with one of them deciding that they were done as a duo.

All of this adds up to a Raw that didn’t offend, but also won’t make anyone’s top lists of episodes. With that said, let’s take a look at what made the grade and what’s getting held back...

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.