4 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (30 March - Results & Review)

DOWNS…

7. An Abrupt Course Change

WWE must have felt like the war of words between World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk and Roman Reigns wasn’t working, because they made an abrupt shift Monday night, opting to forgo any promos and get straight to the fisticuffs.

Roman barely had time to ask fans to acknowledge him before Punk made his way to the ring while finishing taping up his fist. The two brawled for a bit before referees and officials tried to break it up. But rather than a wild pull-apart, they only broke free a couple of times before Punk landed a GTS and powerbombed Reigns through the announce desk to close the show.

And that was it.

This came after last week’s Samoan drama with the Usos getting involved and Jey demanding that “Joe” get Punk and “smash him.” And then, when Punk was the one driven through the table, he laughed it off as proof he had gotten to Roman.

What changed in one week that Punk went from chuckling about being attacked to charging the ring for a fight Monday night? It felt more like WWE didn’t like the diminishing returns of the promo battles between the two, which clearly peaked with the post-Royal Rumble confrontation, and they’ve been chasing the dragon ever since, so they decided to eschew the talking for fighting.

In some ways, this is what some fans have been clamoring for, and it was just simple hatred instead of cinematic melodrama. That’s why this is ranked so low on the “downs” list; it could easily be a positive. But the abrupt change came across more as desperation and reactionary than the next logical step of this feud.