5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Raw (18 Mar - Results & Review)

1. Now You’re Just Repeating Yourselves

One of the criticisms of WWE in Vince McMahon’s latter years at the helm was the ever-changing, last-minute booking style, including one year where WrestleMania’s card was largely up in the air just three weeks out from the show.

WrestleMania XL has most of its card filled out, with some matches having been locked in nearly a month ago. That’s great in certain respects, but it can lead to storylines peaking too early, or repetition from the wrestlers as they try to keep their feud hot but don’t have the material to advance anything.

Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre bore this out Monday night as they delivered a perfectly competent exchange in advance of their World Heavyweight Championship match on Night 2 of 'Mania. McIntyre continued to harp on Seth for getting in the Bloodline’s business when he should be singularly focused on their title match, but that still won’t stop the Scottish Warrior from hauling the champ’s carcass down to the ring to take the title off him.

Rollins addressed Drew’s comments about being a “spotlight junkie” and turned it into a positive, then accused McIntyre of being the same spotlight addict… except Drew fumbles the ball when the lights are brightest.

There really was nothing wrong here, but there also wasn’t any real new ground covered. It felt more like they’ve said everything they need to say for their match, and all they need is for WrestleMania to get here. Maybe next week’s show will reveal a new wrinkle, but if there isn’t anything new to chart, it might be best to give them a week off. Maybe give McIntyre a tune-up match or something.