5 Ups & 5 Downs For WWE Raw (4 Aug - Results & Review)

Ups…

5. Should’ve Done This Sooner

WWE Raw Rusev Sheamus
WWE

You’ve got to feel a bit for Rusev and Sheamus, who clearly have been engaged in a back-and-forth series, hitting each other hard to determine who’s the hardest between them.

The problem is that wrestling today is full of guys who clobber each other harder, muting the impact of these encounters a decent bit. Then throw in that WWE audiences aren’t exactly the most responsive to this style, and you’ve had an underwhelming reaction to these matches.

Monday, they went to WWE’s favorite cheat-code: the wild, pull-apart brawl that involves officials and whatever equipment is available at ringside. Break free from the officials a few times to continue fighting, and fans will invariably chant, “Let them fight!” and cheer on the mayhem. Just like that, you’ve turned a middling feud into something that looks hot on television.

WWE went a step further and had Rusev and Sheamus brawling all over backstage throughout the night, which was a cute little touch (“They just can’t stop fighting each other and can’t be contained!”).

The feud is still going to divide fans, but at least this breathed some life into 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 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.