5 Ups And 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (July 13)

4. Diminishing Returns

Aleister Black Murphy WWE Raw
WWE.com

Several months ago, Aleister Black and Murphy engaged in a hard-hitting series of matches that some felt could be a double-star-making moment. They’re trifecta of bouts were one-sided, but they showcased both men’s talents really well.

Fast-forward to the Empty Arena Era, where Black and Murphy have battled twice more in singles matches, both shadows of their predecessors. Monday’s match was a bit better than the 3-minute May contest, but it still fell well short of what these two are capable of. It didn’t help that the match was simply a backdrop to the Rey Mysterio/Seth Rollins feud.

Sure, the rosters are smaller than ever between the April releases and fewer wrestlers available during this pandemic, but can we keep these two apart if they’re just having a match to fill time – and aren’t going to deliver the quality bout we’ve seen before?

Advertisement
In this post: 
WWE Raw
 
Posted On: 
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.