5 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (2 Jan - Review)

1. Theory Bests Rollins At His Own Game

There was a time when Seth Rollins was the young, smarmy champ who relied on underhanded tactics to hold onto his title.

So when Austin Theory defeated Rollins to defend his United States Championship Monday night in an excellent main event, it had an air of things coming full circle. For Theory, his redemptive arc from Vince McMahon’s chosen one, to perpetual loser with the Money in the Bank briefcase, to US champ now seems complete. That era of losing every match and failing to successfully cash in his briefcase seems so long ago now.

For Rollins, this has to create doubt in his mind about whether he still has “it.” No matter how good of a game he talks and how much fans sing his song, Seth hasn’t been able to recapture gold.

Overall, this rivalry has been a boon for Theory, giving him invaluable experience and hopefully a bit more credibility. It would be nice if he’d stop literally repeating the same promo every week, as that really did detract from what was a really good match. It’s getting pretty stale.