4 Ups & 8 Downs From WWE Raw (April 26)
Charlotte heels it up, Nia falls down, McIntyre/Strowman have hoss fight, Priest shines.
How is it that Monday Night Raw can start out decently and then veer off the tracks so spectacularly?
The latest offering of Raw actually wasn’t bad for the first hour, with even the negative points being minor gripes, but the show descended into the same trappings that have crippled the program for months now, leaving you just shaking your head.
If you’re a fan of women’s wrestling, you have to be severely disappointed, as the women’s division is probably the worst regular offender these days. The tag “division” is busy in a race to the bottom with “comedy” spots involving Nia Jax’s newfound clumsiness, which she absorbed from Mandy Rose somehow. Five-time former champ Alexa Bliss is playing with a creepy doll in cringe-worthy segments.
Despite bursting onto the scene and winning the women’s title in short order, Rhea Ripley has had minimal characterization – and no, using different iterations of the word “brutality” doesn’t count as characterization. Meanwhile, Charlotte Flair, one of the most well-defined characters on Raw, gets two segments to remind us that she’s a spoiled, entitled heel.
Riddle is still an idiot. The new Raw tag champs haven’t been on TV since winning the titles. And Braun Strowman/Drew McIntyre/Bobby Lashley were on screen for a combined hour on Monday night, which is just a huge imbalance.
With that said, let’s get to it…