6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (17 Aug - Results & Review)
Mysterio turns back the clock, Solo stands up to Roman, luchador tournament underwhelms.
For a company that doesn’t really seem to prioritize in-ring action as much these days, WWE delivered one of its better TV matches Monday night, followed by a closing segment that had fans finally rooting for and jeering the correct Samoans.
Despite WWE’s best efforts, the luchador tournament to find Roman Reigns’ challenger for the Raw emanating from Mexico City next month has been pedestrian at best, and it was outclassed by one of the best luchadores of all time producing one of his better matches in some time – all on the same show.
Still, the wrestling on Raw this week was better than usual, with Sol Ruca turning in a better performance, Je’Von Evans showing some fight, and Dragon Lee doing yeoman’s work to pull off a decent tournament match. None of that means that the in-ring entertainment was mind-blowing, but when judging against some of the dismal performances we have seen in recent months, this was much better overall.
One storyline that WWE has been giving great care to – Oba Femi versus Bron Breakker – fell a bit short Monday night, relying on uber-mouthpiece Paul Heyman to move the plot along rather than allowing the characters to advance the story. The feud still has a good trajectory and a high ceiling, so there’s no reason to fear.
With that said, let’s get to it…