7 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (June 1st)

We are in a weird, intriguing period of WWE booking right now. Fans who have been clamoring for the company to push different stars to the top of the card are getting their wish, while guys who have been on top for years are seemingly taking backseat roles as WWE moves ahead. Look at the main event scene: All three members of the Shield are dominating it. John Cena, a 15-time world champion, has held the company€™s tertiary belt since WrestleMania and just lost clean as a sheet to WWE€™s top developmental star, Kevin Owens (thus making Owens a huge star in one night). Randy Orton took two weeks off without an injury angle and nary a mention on television in the interim. (When Orton last was in the ring, he ate the pin in the fatal four-way at Payback.) Rather than put the Intercontinental Championship on Bad News Barrett or Dolph Ziggler again, WWE finally gave Ryback a chance to sink or swim with a singles title. That is the backdrop against which WWE Raw performed Monday night. With only two weeks to build up to and fill out a card for the Money in the Bank PPV, Raw certainly took its sweet time, dedicating three matches to one spot in the MITB ladder match. Still, a WWE World Heavyweight Championship ladder match was announced and new stars continued to shine, but we also saw a couple frustrating jobs and a heel turn that was met with more yawns than shocked looks. So what climbed the ladder of success and what fell off the first rung? Let€™s do this.