5 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE WrestleMania Raw (27 March - Review)

The hard sell was made: Brock/Omos tangle, Cody battles Solo, Theory cures insomnia.

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If you watched WrestleMania Raw in a vacuum without comparing it to or mentally incorporating the previous several weeks of WWE programming, then you probably enjoyed Monday night’s program.

The video packages were pretty good, closing promos sold the matches, in-ring action was decent, and the card looks strong for both nights. But we don’t watch Raw in a vacuum. A good video package summing up a terrible feud by only showing the very few good parts is not a positive; it’s perpetrating a fraud.

Ignoring weeks of a horrific build and heaping praise on a good video and excellent Mania match is too much of a goldfish mentality, and it’s something WWE has relied on to survive. They hope fans only remember the last story beat and how good the match was, and they forget a month of bad storytelling. Then it’s lather, rinse and repeat the following month.

Raw did do an effective job with its sales pitch for Brock Lesnar/Omos, Logan Paul/Seth Rollins, and Cody Rhodes/Roman Reigns, despite Paul and Reigns not being there. Dominik Mysterio continues to be a red-hot heel despite doing only the bare minimum Heel 101 stuff. And Cody Rhodes is just incredible at making you care.

Mania 39 has serious potential and at worst should be good fun. At best, it could set WWE up for the next several months of programming. But first, Monday Night 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.