5 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (Jan 31)

by Scott Carlson

1. They Can Do This In Their Sleep

Rey Mysterio AJ Styles
WWE.com

It really is a shame in one sense that we got a Rey Mysterio/AJ Styles match with zero hype in an abbreviated main event on Raw Monday night.

These two have only faced each other three times before, twice in WWE more than two years ago. Both men are so accomplished that they turned in an effortless match that really was just them countering each other for the first part, and then turning it loose on the back end, with more fast-paced counters to their signature spots.

AJ evaded a 619, so Rey avoided the Phenomenal Forearm. AJ tried the Calf Crusher, but Rey rolled through and kicked him. A Mysterio top rope hurricanrana was turned into a Styles Clash attempt, which Rey blocked. Finally, AJ rolled through a top rope senton and nailed the Styles Clash for the win, and punched his ticket for the Elimination Chamber.

Again, this wasn’t an Earth-shattering match, but it was just two really good professional wrestlers doing their job, and on a show with decent wrestling, this stood out.

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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.