5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Raw (7 Nov)

US Title open challenge goes awry in best kind of way, sparking double-turn.

Austin Theory
WWE

Well, you certainly can’t say nothing happened on WWE Raw Monday night.

Title change? Check. Surprise Money in the Bank cash-in? Check. Belt thrown in the trash? Check. WarGames match announced? Check.

There was a lot going on thisMonday night, and it was mostly decent to really good, all the way to excellent. Raw had a few “meh” moments, with two singles matches not rating one way or the other (Otis versus Elias in a battle to regain a last name, and Shelton Benjamin versus Austin Theory). It also had some total head-scratchers.

But Raw will be remembered for its main event, which included a Money in the Bank cash-in for a secondary title that went horribly awry. It also featured a brilliantly executed double-turn that saw two main event stars solidify turns that seemed to be happening recently, and then came crashing down in 15 short minutes to close the show.

It also was a bold choice to use the opening 30-40 minutes of programming to hype and preview a tag title match taking place on SmackDown this week, but even that worked surprisingly well… albeit it was a bit too long (but what else is new with a three-hour Raw?).

Let’s get to it…

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Contributor
Contributor

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 fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.