8 Ups And 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (July 13th)

Hard to go wrong when Brock opens and closes with a classic match in-between.

The wait is nearly over, and soon WWE will bring its fans Battleground, a PPV that had the vast majority of its matches announced within days of the previous special event. That has left people involved in feuds where they already know they€™re facing someone in three weeks, but they still have to go out, battle a third party and still keep the focus on their scheduled PPV match. It€™s an odd way to build to a PPV, but it€™s thankfully almost over. Putting that aside, WWE went for the full hard sell Monday night, not just bringing out Brock Lesnar to open the show, but to close it as well. It also boldly launched a new chapter in women€™s wrestling that could have huge ramifications for the future€ or it could just be lip service. And a trio of talented wrestlers left it all in the ring, winning fans€™ respect and showing just what they can do if given the chance to shine. Battleground might be a €œB-show,€ but it is being pushed as a big deal, with Lesnar coming back a month early, and John Cena and Kevin Owens squaring off in their rubber match. Raw definitely did its job in piquing interest in the special event, so it will be interesting to see how things pan out. With that said, what went in with a bang, and what went out with a whimper? Let€™s find out€

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.