4 Ups & 9 Downs From WWE Raw (Feb 15)

1. WrestleMania?

While it’s a fair observation that WWE has to navigate its way through two PPVs before it gets to WrestleMania 37, it’s utterly amazing how empty things look on even the likely Mania card.

No one expects WWE to have confirmed a bunch of matches already for Mania, but in a decent year, fans who are paying attention to storylines would be able to predict a handful of matches that have been hinted at in the preceding weeks and months.

This year? Crickets.

Oh sure, Lacey Evans versus Charlotte Flair seemed to be in the cards, but now that appears to be off the table. Edge will get to challenge the world champion of his choice, but that storyline is stalled under after Elimination Chamber, and he didn’t even show up on Monday night. Raw Women’s Champion Asuka has been without a real singles program (we’re not counting the random matches against Alexa Bliss) in months. Bobby Lashley hasn’t defended the United States Championship against someone not named Riddle since November. The tag champs have been at odds for weeks.

Yes, there are still nearly eight weeks to line up feuds and matches, but this is the biggest PPV of the year, a two-night affair, which means we will likely need plenty of bouts. (Last year’s two-night WM consisted of 19 matches.)