Is it possible that WWE deliberately had an awful Raw to start the New Year so everything after it would look progressively better? WWE Raw continued its strange trajectory Monday night with another episode that got a little more right, but as with most efforts, it was two steps forward, two (maybe three) steps back. WWE held its Raw Reunion Monday night, welcoming back superstars from yesteryear. Instead of being an opportunity to deliver a shock remember last years Old School Raw that was punctuated by Jake The Snake Roberts return? fans saw mostly guys who already are under contract and appear sporadically. Not just that, but this was like a high school reunion where the last state championship football team returned and wondered what happened to their once-vaunted program. The go-home show before the Royal Rumble typically ends with a hard sell for the Rumble match itself, often with a bunch of participants brawling in the ring and getting tossed out until one man stands tall. Rather than focusing on the opportunity to headline WrestleMania XXXI, the focus turned to the triple threat WWE World Heavyweight Championship match. Raw did end with a legit shock, but was it the right call? And how did Brock Lesnar mark what could be his last Raw as champion? WWE continues to tread water almost in spite of itself, so lets see why despite some positives this still is another subpar Raw.
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.
