6 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (June 26)

Strowman splats Reigns, Joe chokes out Lesnar, Nia dominates and Banks triumphs.

Raw Enzo
WWE.com

WWE continued its run of mediocrity Monday night with another episode of Raw that had moments of “wow” mixed with the blasé. If you DVR’d Raw and could skip the commercials, then it was a perfectly digestible show.

But Raw really should be more than that on a weekly basis. It hasn’t been must-see television for some time now. Sure, there have been several moments that are truly memorable, and we got a couple more of them Monday night – Braun Strowman launching Roman Reigns into an ambulance, Big Cass suckering Enzo Amore into another beatdown, and a nicely done women’s gauntlet match – but Raw also has too many dead spots these days.

Before commenters say that this column is way too harsh and we should just enjoy what’s presented to us, go on the WWE Network and fire up old episodes of Raw. Listen to the crowd reaction throughout the show. Watch how fans are deeply invested in the show. Then ask yourself why they aren’t like that these days.

That doesn’t mean Raw is bad, but Monday’s episode is reflective of the ongoing ennui that envelops the program. Consider that the tag and Intercontinental champs were in meaningless, separate six-man tag matches. That's not a good recipe.

Still, Raw Monday night managed to crown a new #1 contender for the Raw Women’s Championship while putting over another female superstar. Braun looked like a killer and Cass made his mark. Meanwhile, Bray Wyatt put us to sleep, Seth Rollins needs a new finisher and Goldust underachieved.

By the way, this column doesn't rate the Ball Family's appearance, because it was godawful, but it also probably was a hit in terms of putting the LA Lakers' top draft pick on TV four days after he was selected... in his home arena. That's a rare example of WWE being on-point.

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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.