6 Ups And 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Jan 2)
The Road to the Road to WrestleMania is upon us.
New Year, same old Raw.
WWE rolled into 2017 with some purpose. One of the top draws of the upcoming Royal Rumble PPV was on Raw Monday night and would end up going face-to-face (and nose-to-nose) against both the Universal Champion and his challenger
We also saw a #1 contender’s match for the Raw Women’s Championship that ended abruptly due to a returning Sasha Banks. We also saw a United States Championship defended against a wily veteran looking to win the one title he’s never held. We saw cruiserweights spend more time advancing angles than letting their fists and feet doing the talking.
So while there still was a lot going on Monday night, more seemed to happen outside the ring than inside. Titus O’Neil tried to join the New Day while Sami Zayn battled Braun Strowman in a last-man standing match. And Bayley might have finally found her foil in Stephanie McMahon.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad episode, but there is still a lot to be desired. As a first episode of the year, Raw was decent Monday, but the quality and storytelling will need to improve as the Road to WrestleMania ramps up.
So what had its hand raised and what was looking up at the lights? Let’s get to it…