5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Raw (21 Oct - Results & Review)

The two-hour era of WWE Raw continues to present a mixed bag for viewers, with Monday’s episode offering the latest juxtaposition.

A shorter program means there’s less time for the show to drag or be filled with meaningless dreck. However, that also means there’s less time for matches to develop, and segments can become overloaded to try to get several storylines across in a smaller window.

Raw featured four matches that ended thusly: distraction rollup, disqualification, clean win, outside interference leading to pinfall (and a title change). Two of the wonky finishes were telegraphed in such a blatantly obvious way that it was almost insulting, with wrestlers ringside who had a clear beef with one of the participants, and things played out exactly as one might expect.

Still, Raw also opened on fire with Seth Rollins and Bronson Reed turning up the heat on their feud by brawling in the back, then into the arena, before finally being separated only to continue to fight throughout the evening until they got their big match for Crown Jewel. The show then closed with a storyline-heavy main event that will factor prominently into the Bloodline Civil War angle, so it’s hard to dismiss the strength of that ending.

Once again, the shorter program makes it easier to give Raw passing marks, even with some glaring shortcomings.

Let’s get to it…