4 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (9 February - Results & Review)

1. Focused Finn Gets His Title Match

Ever since the Judgment Day became more of a cartoonish group of mid-carders, Finn Balor has never been further from the world title picture. Monday night, he continued a push to return to that conversation.

Balor interrupted CM Punk’s scheduled in-ring interview before it even got started, hijacking the ring and refusing to yield the World Heavyweight Championship picture – and an injured Punk – to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 42. He challenged Punk to a title match at Elimination Chamber.

This brought out Raw GM Adam Pearce, desperate to protect his WrestleMania main event, and Punk himself, who was fired up about the beating from two weeks prior. The two sparred across Pearce, who was so exasperated by the end that he made the match for Elimination Chamber for the world title.

This surprisingly has become a fun little side quest for Punk, and a perfect distraction from the fact that the WrestleMania main-event challenger is a part-timer who only will show up a handful of times these last two months. The feud also serves to jumpstart Balor as more of a superstar than a caricature of a singles champion. If played correctly, Finn could parlay that into one last singles run.