5 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (June 28)

3. That’ll Put Butts In The Seats

Jaxson Ryker Elias
WWE.com

After weeks of Elias running away, we got the epic blowoff of his feud with former follower Jaxson Ryker in a strap match.

The charismatic (*coughcough*) Ryker exchanged strap whips with Elias before nailing the Black Hole Slam out of nowhere for the pin, putting this riveting feud to rest (hopefully). In the lead-up to this highly anticipated match, we saw Ryker backstage whipping himself to purge himself of any weaknesses.

R-Truth tried to make the segment interesting and funny, but even he couldn’t break through with Ryker. All we were able to discern is that Jaxson is a very strange dude. And yet somehow, we’re supposed to rally behind him as a character? The weird guy with the faraway stare who whips himself to purge himself? That’s the babyface?

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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.