5 Ups And 8 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (March 9th)

The Deadman responds and we finally get to "hear" Sting!

If people are pointing at signs and there is lightning indoors, then it probably is WrestleMania season. For many wrestling fans, WrestleMania season evokes strong feelings, much in the same way the Super Bowl gets (American) football fans fired up. It typically is when WWE puts its best foot forward with storytelling and matchmaking. This year€™s WrestleMania, however, is shaping up to be one of the biggest letdowns in recent history, including WrestleMania 27, which was a colossal flop. If WWE can€™t bring its €˜A€™ game here, when it matters most, then you have to question whether they even have an €˜A€™ game anymore. Sure, over the course of three hours, there are some bright spots, and there is always the potential for things to turn on a dime and everything to work out well, but if you tuned in Monday night on the fence about whether to order the WWE Network for Mania€ well, meh. Welcome to Raw Is Apathetic. Don€™t believe it? Like WWE€™s newfound savior and John Cena successor Roman Reigns would say, €œBelieve that.€ Raw delivered a flat show that might as well have taken place during the Christmas holidays than three weeks before WrestleMania. So what connected and what whiffed? Let€™s find out€

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.