5 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Dec 1st)
1. Booking On A Cocktail Napkin
WWE is careening toward a PPV at terminal velocity seemingly with either no one or everyone (as in, too many) at the controls. The opening segment turned into angle-a-palooza, with four announced or rumored matches converging: John Cena versus Seth Rollins, Kane versus Ryback, Dolph Ziggler versus Luke Harper (probably a ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship) and Big Show versus Erick Rowan (in what looks like a steel stairs are legal match). In addition to fast-forwarding through these feuds, the bookers/writers gave us New Days first loss, number one contenders for the Tag Team Championship with a motivating factor that came up afterward, a new and improved FanTango getting over by winning by forfeit and the Bellas inexplicably on the same page. We also saw Rusev, after decimating Mark Henry and Big Show, going back to his singles feud against Jack Swagger. While Swagger will put on a good match, this represents either a step backward or is another example of the writers treading water. Swagger is there to fill a spot until Royal Rumble much like TLC.
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.
