12 Burning Questions For WWE Raw (April 18th)
Who will the Bullet Club hit next? Is Cesaro the real deal?
Who says that WWE is creatively bankrupt? OK, besides many critical wrestling fans.
In all seriousness, WWE has spent the past several months grasping at straws and piecing together some semblance of a cohesive, entertaining product, with some bursts of success. But let’s face it: Overall, the past few months have not been a renaissance for professional wrestling.
That brings us to the present moment. After a lackluster WrestleMania, WWE tossed its stipulations for the Hell in a Cell match with Undertaker aside and put Shane McMahon in charge of Monday Night Raw, giving us a babyface authority figure in charge of the company’s flagship show for the first time in ages. Throw in the usual post-Mania debuts and a returning Cesaro and WWE has gotten a much-needed shot in the arm.
We have a tag team tournament to crown new #1 contenders. Cesaro has been inserted into the hunt for the Intercontinental Championship, and for the first time in a while, it feels like this isn’t a punishment. The Divas Championship is gone, and hopefully that is signaling the entire division being treated a little more seriously, rather than a handful of “wrestling” divas and then the catty ones. Two weeks does not a new direction make, but if WWE continues to string together better programming, we’ll have to consider it an improvement.
With that said, let’s take a look at the big questions that need answering on Monday night…
12. Will Kalisto Get Back To Being U.S. Champ?
When Kalisto took a spill during the Lucha Dragons’ first round tag team tournament match against the Dudley Boyz, he did a good enough job of selling the injury that many fans believed he was legit injured, rather than it being an angle to make it easier for the Dragons to lose with Sin Cara having to shoulder the burden himself.
Now with the Dragons out of the tournament, will Kalisto get back to defending the United States Championship? After a nice start to his first run with the title, the luchador has been treated as an afterthought – capable of beating Alberto Del Rio multiple times, but taking the pinfall in meaningless tag matches.
If WWE is going to continue to keep the U.S. title on him, then they should book him like a champ. Otherwise, it’s just a fancy belt to wear.