5 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (Jan 16 - Review)
At least Cody Rhodes is on his way back, because this was painful.
Woof.
Seriously, what else can you sawyabout Monday Night Raw at this point? We’ve given it a wide berth for a while now, said that you can’t make wholesale changes to undo years of bad booking, but it’s clear now that the systemic issues that have plagued Raw for the better part of a decade are… well, systemic.
It doesn’t seem to matter who is in charge of creative, we’ll still get impromptu matches booked, distraction finishes, hapless and hopeless babyfaces, horribly scripted promos, tired match formulas, and less-than-enthusiastic fans.
All of this makes for a product that once again is feeling stale. It’s pretty clear that the excitement that came from Vince McMahon’s forced retirement, Triple H’s ascendance and all the rehires and debuts that came with it has long since faded.
Bianca Belair getting distracted by Uncle Howdy? Pathetic. Elias being too stupid to realize MVP is talking about one of his clients winning the Royal Rumble? Ridiculous. Bayley and Becky Lynch sputtering through a dismal promo? Painful.
But it’s not all bad. Cody Rhodes’ return has been perfectly scripted. The six-man elimination match main event to crown a United States Championship #1 contender was good fun to close the show. And the Judgment Day continues to make the most of their opportunities.
Overall though, ugggh.
Let’s get to it…