9 Ups And 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Jan 21)

Balor stands tall with giants, Banks won't back down.

sasha banks ronda rousey
WWE.com

If you were looking for a home run of a show to close out Raw’s build to the Royal Rumble, you would be slightly disappointed Monday night.

Raw was solid, really good in some parts, awful in others, and decent in the rest of the show. We got solid builds for Finn Balor’s fledgling campaign against Brock Lesnar, and Sasha Banks’ crusade to stop Ronda Rousey’s reign. We also saw Seth Rollins build himself up in advance of Sunday’s Rumble, looking like an everyman fans could rally around.

We also got some less-than-desirable moments, with a horrid six-man tag match, a silent EC3, another Apollo Crews loss, and more Baron Corbin. We have no idea what Braun Strowman will be doing at the Royal Rumble, as he did not declare whether he’s entering the match (though thankfully we know Titus O’Neil will be in the Rumble).

Looking at Raw, there really only looks like two actual competitors who have a shot at winning the men’s Rumble: Rollins and Drew McIntyre. That’s not exactly what you want heading into the PPV. You want there to be numerous scenarios for each brand so there’s some mystery.

Regardless, let’s find out what set the standard this week. Let’s get to it…

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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.