2 Ups & 9 Downs From WWE Raw (March 29)

Hurt Business dissolves, Miz in a bunny costume, Shane's bad Photoshopping.

AJ Styles
WWE.com

Here we are, less than two weeks before the biggest show of the year, and the first show to have real, live, breathing fans in more than a year, so you know WWE pulled out all of the stops to deliver a home run of a Raw to really sell the show, right? Right?

Unfortunately for everyone, it was quite the opposite on Monday night. WWE delivered an abysmal program that missed nearly everything it aimed at, falling short repeatedly to the point where this writer came away less enthused about WrestleMania than any previous year. There are no big stars wrestling, no dream matches, no long-term feuds (save for Randy Orton versus The Fiend), no matches that truly feel like a Mania main event… especially on the Raw side.

Oh sure, Drew McIntyre/Bobby Lashley will probably be a hoss fight, and Rhea Ripley/Asuka could be the Nightmare’s coming-out party, but Raw on Monday night did nothing to fire you up about Mania. It just left you feeling flat and scratching your head about why you should care. Just read the recap and save yourself three hours of your life.

The worst part is that on paper, this still could be a good wrestling show if the grapplers are allowed to do their thing. And if they do, people will talk about WM 37 being a success, and that’s a true tragedy.

Let’s get to it…

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.