6 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Raw (13 April - Results & Review)
The WrestleMania 42 go-home episode of Raw was mostly solid, if unspectacular.
Heading into the final week of programming before its biggest show of the year and with ticket sales flagging, WWE needed to deliver a strong go-home episode of Raw Monday night to really sell WrestleMania 42.
What fans got was a mostly inoffensive program that featured a few notable high points that managed to avoid cratering like some of WWE’s recent offerings. The wrestling was better across the board, with one match – the tag match featuring four of the participants in the Intercontinental Championship ladder match – really delivering and selling that 'Mania bout.
They kept the closing arguments with some feuds really simple, which is what you should be doing five days out from WrestleMania. By now, the case should have been made for these matches (with one notable exception), so all you want to do is remind fans of why they want to see these clashes. Oba Femi versus Brock Lesnar and Liv Morgan versus Stephanie Vaquer nailed this with their segments on Monday night.
But WWE still managed to fumble some aspects of Raw, most notably neglecting to book one of its biggest stars in a match for this weekend.
Overall, this was a perfectly serviceable episode, but it wasn’t the kind of program that is going to talk thousands through the doors or subscribe to the ESPN app. If you were on the fence before, you’re likely going to need a better nudge. And no, more Pat McAfee isn’t the answer.
Let’s get to it…
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