4 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE Raw (Jan 24)

by Scott Carlson

1. Barnburner Of A Match

AJ Styles Austin Theory
WWE.com

Even in defeat, Austin Theory looked fantastic Monday night and took a big step forward.

The blue-chipper had a standout match against AJ Styles, with the two countering each other and going back and forth throughout the entire contest. Theory hit a lot of his signature moves, but added a spinning backbreaker, standing blockbuster and a fisherman’s suplex. But AJ is AJ, so naturally, he brought his offense to bear, including his moonsault inverted DDT, Pele kick, Calf Crusher, and of course a Phenomenal Forearm to secure the win.

But the story here was Austin keeping up with AJ and looking like he belonged in the ring. Sure, Vince McMahon isn’t going to be happy with the result, and we’ll have to endure that segment (shot from six different cameras in Vince’s office) later, but if you were looking for proof that WWE isn’t wasting their time with Theory, this was an outstanding example.

Let’s just hope they actually are trying to build a star and don’t drop the ball for the 93rd time.

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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.