6 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (May 15)
Injuries, heel turns, IC title defended and matches made for Extreme Rules.
You have to feel bad for WWE in some ways. A lot has gone wrong for the company, and even when something goes right, it seems like something finds a way to upend it.
Case in point, the big news from Raw Monday night was that rising star Braun Strowman, who was becoming more of an invincible monster each week, could be sidelines for up to six months. (Whether that’s kayfabe or storyline is up to a person based on his/her skepticism.) Consider also the Revival, which came in strong after WrestleMania and got put on ice almost immediately when Dash Wilder got injured. It’s just horrible timing.
Still, Raw soldiered on Monday night, producing a strong Intercontinental Championship match, and set up a few matches for the upcoming Extreme Rules PPV, including a #1 contender’s match for the WWE Universal Championship. We also saw two “first time ever” matches, which could be good or bad depending on your perspective. We saw at least one heel turn (more on the possible discrepancy later). We saw a newcomer stand tall. And we saw “injured” wrestlers battle each other in a better-than-advertised match.
With that said, let’s take a look at what weathered the storm and what got swept away. Let’s get to it…
Downs...
6. Annoying, Distracted Crowd
What in the blue hell was up with the crowd during the cruiserweight tag match?
The ongoing storyline involving Austin Aries, Jack Gallagher, Neville and TJP has been one of the better ones out there, as Aries has hung around to annoy Neville, who had to enlist Perkins to help do his bidding. That led to the tag match Monday night, involving four of the best performers in the division.
And still, the crowd seemed like it couldn’t care less. They were distracted by something going on, chanted for Derek Jeter (and possibly CM Punk), and at one point, a “This is boring” chant could be faintly heard.
True, the four cruiserweights weren’t setting the world on fire, but it came across more as an impatient crowd just blasting a match for no tangible reason. It’s just a shame considering the four workers.