4 Ups & 11 Downs From WWE Raw (Jan 11)
WWE Raw Results: Alexa Bliss Fires Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre Fights Virus, Goldberg Flatlines.
Can someone please notify WWE that Royal Rumble season is when the writing and quality of its programming is supposed to improve?
Because we’re now two weeks into a new year, and Raw is as bad as it’s ever been. The writing, the wrestling and the overall feeling of Raw has that of flat soda, or stale pizza. You dive in hoping that it’s something refreshing, but instead you’re left disappointed. You know there’s enough there to be optimistic at the outset – on any given Monday, the stars could align and we get solid matches and compelling drama – but it just doesn’t seem to click.
On Monday night, we were hit with 10 matches, more than half of which were extremely short bouts, and several were just retreads of the previous match. Worse, all but a couple were disappointing.
Sure, we can chalk some of this up to WWE Champion Drew McIntyre landing in quarantine because of a positive test, and other injuries cropped up for others like Kofi Kingston. But that doesn’t absolve all of this mess. It’s been said before, but the largest wrestling company in the world, with the most talented roster on Earth, should be able to put on a quality show every week, and a passable one at worst.
We’re still waiting, as Rumble season wears on. Let’s get to it…