5 Ups & 5 Downs For WWE Raw (29 Sept - Results & Review)

Ups…

5. Bravo To The A/V Club

You’ve got to give a hand to the people who put together the first installment of the Cody Rhodes-Seth Rollins video package Monday night, tracing their rivalry from Cody’s return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 through their first three matches.

Cody gave his standard “I needed to leave WWE to prove myself and make it on my own terms before coming back” spiel, while Rollins continued his semi-delusional “I put the company on my back and carried it into a golden age” routine. Where it got good was Rollins’ resentment kicking in, believing he was carrying WWE but couldn’t get on the Mania '38 card, only to lose to a returning Rhodes and immediately be overshadowed.

Rollins did begrudgingly acknowledge that he admired Cody’s refusal to stay down, calling his feud with Rhodes “a defining rival of mine.”

For fans who might be a bit newer to the fold, this painted a detailed picture of their history (even if it’s not an intentional part of the story). Even if you’re a longtime viewer, the two of them – particularly Seth – framed things nicely, with Cody putting over their WM 38 match as a true test for him, and Rollins describing it as an insult to have to beg for a match against a mystery opponent.

Using this shared history to build depth to their match is a smart move. They almost didn’t need to get in the ring later in the show.

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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 fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.