7 Ups And 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Feb 22)

A mixed bag with a shocking return and two big Mania matches, but fan revolt against Reigns.

After a disappointing Fastlane Sunday night, WWE ramped up for the final six-week push to WrestleMania, dropping a couple bombshells on fans on Raw. Monday€™s episode was bookended by shocking moments, but for very different reasons. Raw opened with the Prodigal Son returning to soak in the cheers and closed with the Chosen One being booed when that clearly was not what WWE was going for. We saw Shane McMahon make his first significant appearance on WWE television in six years to confront his father and sister, instantly making him the biggest babyface on the roster, which is a problem in some ways, but awesome in others. We also saw Triple H dish out an epic beatdown of Roman Reigns that resulted in fans cheering for Hunter rather than rallying around the brutalized #1 contender. So much for the Roman Empire. We also got two major matches confirmed, as we now know who part-timers Undertaker and Brock Lesnar will tangle with at WrestleMania (hint: they aren€™t facing each other), and we got a glimpse of another title match that should be coming in the next couple weeks. All in all, it looks like Mania is coming together, though some feuds certainly feel forced at this point. Still, for a first episode in the final stretch, this was a pretty good effort. We€™ll see how the next few weeks go, though. So what rocked Detroit Rock City, and what should be deported to Canada? Let€™s get to it€

Contributor
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.