6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (28 April - Results & Review)
Zayn stands up to Rollins and pays the price, Valkyria confronts Lynch, and McAfee blathers.
If you are a fan of exposition, then Monday’s episode of WWE Raw likely tickled you.
WWE followed up its excellent Raw after WrestleMania – which itself followed a largely disappointing WrestleMania 41 – with a talk-heavy program on Monday designed to advance several stories in the short window between 'Mania and Backlash.
As a result, fans got to see plenty of chatter surrounding the main thread of the evening, the Seth Rollins trio’s first run-in with another superstar since their reveal. Sadly for some, Sami Zayn was the target, leading to a show-long angle that saw Zayn forced to decide whether to accept an offer to go to SmackDown or remain on Raw as an enemy of Rollins’ group. One guess which path the virtuous Sami chose.
Raw also saw Lyra Valkyria stand up to her one-time idol, Becky Lynch, finally building some depth to her character. Rusev stated his purpose, Stephane Vaquer turned heads once again, and Jey Uso’s first world title challenger revealed himself.
But Raw wasn’t all good stuff. The talking dominated the show, with action taking a backseat for the most part. That in itself was a pretty big strike against the program. There was also the matter of Pat McAfee, but we’ll save his antics for later. Suffice it to say that unless you’re a ride-or-die McAfee fan, he had you reaching for the remote.
Let’s get to it…