6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (28 August - Results & Review)
Nakamura's a serious threat, Gable is under Gunther's skin, The Man handles her rivals.
The Triple H Era of WWE can be defined by a tendency to minimize the silliness that its shows often descended into, particularly the three-hour odyssey that is Monday Night Raw.
That usually means longer matches, fewer backstage segments, more linear booking and a general focus on competency rather than a shock-and-awe ratings grab attempt. It might be “boring” to some, but the ratings into mid-2022 definitely proved that what Vince McMahon was doing wasn’t working.
As a result, Raw has fewer moving parts to critique than it previously did. Longer matches mean fans get fewer random segments that were designed to entertain one crazy septuagenarian. Does that mean Raw is better? Yes. And sometimes no.
Raw Monday night was one of the show’s better recent offerings, giving fans a good reason to tune into Payback to see a better-than-expected World Heavyweight Championship feud come to a head, and strangely enough, a Miz match in 2023 that is actually intriguing.
Raw also set up an Intercontinental Championship match for next week by delivering a really good champ promo and challenger prep match. It even heated up the tag division a bit, giving three teams something to do while not vying for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship.
The red brand is also home to the never-ending Becky Lynch/Trish Stratus feud, and the Women’s World Championship feud is lacking. But this was a good effort heading into Saturday’s PLE.
Let’s get to it…