What do you get with a red-hot live audience, solid in-ring action and a surprise appearance by a Hall of Famer to announce a surprise debut? You get a solid Monday Night Raw that actually kept fans entertained throughout. However, despite all those positives, Raw fell short in some areas, insulted our intelligence in others, and lost steam down the stretch. Had this been a two-hour Raw or even 2.5 hours it would have been a really great episode. WWE now has Extreme Rules in the rearview mirror and is focused on Payback, which is less than two weeks away. The card is shaping up pretty well, though most of it is speculation and assumption at this point. We did see one major development with an announced match, as WWE is either attempting to pull off a serious rehab of a wrestler or is just toying with us. The thought of the Shield in the main event of a PPV but as singles competitors is a glorious moment for fans who have longed to see new faces at the top of the card, but it also teases fans who long to see the trio reunite. Still, its a great moment that hopefully is the first of many such confrontations between the former brothers-in-arms. With that said, lets find out what rose to the top and what sank to the bottom on Monday Night 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.
