3 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (Oct 26)

Ups…

3. Sheamus, Riddle Beat Each Other Silly

Matt Riddle Sheamus
WWE.com

To be honest, this originally was going to be a “down,” but it would have felt like piling on at that point.

Sheamus versus Matt Riddle was a really good, bruising matchup with the wrong finish. The Celtic Warrior is a decorated wrestler with numerous world, tag and mid-card titles to his name during his decade-plus on the roster. If anyone didn’t “need” the win Monday, it would’ve been him. On the flip side, Riddle is new to the main roster and has been spinning his wheels for the most part. He lost his first match on Raw last week and could have used a victory.

So naturally, Sheamus won clean, leaving the new potential draw in Riddle on the outside. Now of course, there is the reality of the “Speaking Out” allegations against Riddle, but if that was the reason for beating him, there was a simpler solution: don’t use him.

Still, this was a good, hard-hitting match, with both men meshing well. Riddle’s mix of submissions and aerial assaults were a great counter to Sheamus’ straightforward pounding style. It would be great to see more of this, particularly if they decide to push Riddle and use Sheamus as a mid-level boss for him to beat.

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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 fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.