8 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (19 Aug - Results & Review)
Terror Twins fight valiantly, Reed finds a worthy opponent, Punk's bracelet obsession returns.
An episode of Raw like Monday night’s offering should leave one feeling like it was a big success. Several segments went over well, with a hot crowd elevating some middling material. There were few missteps along the way, which has been a hallmark of the Triple H Era.
But WWE really stepped in it in one significant way with one of its biggest feuds. CM Punk versus Drew McIntyre felt like it would feed families with brilliant plotting dating back to Punk’s return at Survivor Series, through the Royal Rumble, his injury, WrestleMania, Clash at the Castle, and all the Raw programs between.
Then the rivalry became fixated on a bracelet, and they seemingly lost the plot at SummerSlam, resulting in a match that didn’t live up to the hype. A course-correction seemed in order last week, but they veered back into the ditch Monday night, putting forward a groan-inducing segment that deflated this once white-hot feud.
There’s still plenty to like about this episode, however, and Punk/McIntyre could very easily right the ship again – there’s a ton of goodwill built up during the past several months here - but this episode could be characterized as a bunch of small-to-medium-sized positives, a couple of big ones, and then that ginormous negative.
Let’s get to it…