8 Ups & 10 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Apr 22)
In which Bray Wyatt - yes, BRAY WYATT - inadvertently steals the show from Rollins & Styles.
A strong sense of expectation hung over last night's WWE Raw.
As messy as the Superstar Shake-Up's execution was, Vince McMahon's annual roster reshuffle left both mainline brands feeling suitably refreshed. For Raw, the changes were much-needed, and while Monday nights lost key players like Roman Reigns and Finn Balor, the promise of new things is often enough to transcend such concerns - at least for a few weeks.
For the most part, these expectations weren't met throughout three hours of chaotic, scatter-brained television that did more to frustrate than delight, though things like Seth Rollins learning his first Universal Title opponent, a couple of low-key in-ring bangers, and Bray Wyatt's overdue reinvention hit the right notes.
Samoa Joe, Rey Mysterio, Baron Corbin, AJ Styles, Drew McIntyre, and The Miz battled for number one contendership, while Lacey Evans' quest to "educate" double-champion Becky Lynch continued. Elsewhere, we got new versions of Bobby Roode and The Viking Experience, another smarmy Sami Zayn segment, Cesaro and Cedric Alexander's Raw debuts, and the latest non-title loss for The IIconics, who might as well melt those Women's Tag Team Titles down at this stage.
Let's get to the bottom of this weird, weird wrestling show...