6 Ups And Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Feb 23)
Is Bray Wyatt hyping a match with the Deadman or the Invisible Man?
This used to be the time of the year that WWE couldnt screw up. Think back to 1998 with Stone Cold Steve Austin, or 2004 with Chris Benoit, 2005 with Batista, 2009 and 2010 with Shawn Michaels and Undertaker. The period between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania is supposed to be the time of the year when WWE is clicking on all cylinders, with major storylines humming along and fan interest in the product at its highest point. So less than five weeks out from WrestleMania XXXI (which isnt even officially numbered anymore, its just branded with a play button), what is there to get excited about? On paper, WrestleMania might end up delivering some pretty good matches, and it probably wont end up being as bad as the worst Manias. But its hard to get excited at this point. Five weeks out, and storylines are just starting to gel. Officially, only three matches have been announced, and one of them is the 2nd Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Whats going on here? So did Monday nights Raw clear things up or just make it muddier? Its pretty obvious where a couple storylines are headed, but it feels like a lot of stuff is just stuck in neutral until the writers decide to go home with everything in the last few weeks. As a result, theres little to get invested in. Is anyone outside of Roman Reigns most loyal fans willing to buy WrestleMania solely to see him beat Brock Lesnar? Why would anyone care about who wins the Intercontinental Championship? Lets get to the bright spot and the blemishes from Monday Night Raw.