3 Ups & 9 Downs From WWE Raw (Jan 25)

1. WWE Nitro Main Event

Longtime wrestling fans remember with horror how WCW Nitro would promise these huge, marquee matchups in the main event, only for them to end in shenanigans and never deliver what was promised.

On Monday night, WWE promised us a Raw Women’s Championship match between Asuka and Alexa Bliss. What we got was a jump-cut fantasy that featured a wooden rocking horse, some lighting tricks, a couple of costume changes, and an RKO from Randy Orton.

Bliss and Asuka had a semblance of a match, even continuing after Alexa suddenly appeared on her horse in the middle of the ring. But once she magically ditched her overalls to appear in her old ring gear, it went off the rails. Bliss once again changed outfits, switching to her dark alter ego like last week, shrugging off Asuka’s offense and locking in a Mandible Claw before Orton struck.

The RKO ended Raw, with both women laid out, no bell, no winner, no nothing. It was another acid trip of main event, and it just isn’t clicking. Worse, the Orton/Wyatt/Bliss debacle has now ensnared Asuka, dragging her (and the women’s title) down into this black hole of suck.

Pretty soon, this vortex will just pull in all of Raw, leaving only an empty three-hour window on USA. And the jury is still out on whether three hours of static would be better than the crap WWE has been putting on television for the past couple of months.