6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (4 May - Results & Review)
Fatu snaps on Roman again, Ruca snatches a soul, Oba wows fans, and 6 men cosplay as luchadores.
WWE has been facing a fair amount of criticism as a company in recent weeks, not just for the product it has put forward onscreen, but also for the soulless business practices that have seen dozens of wrestlers released from their contracts - some apparently on the heels of being asked to take a pay cut while the company brags about record profits.
Despite those churning waters, Monday Night Raw managed to thread the needle this week with a pretty good episode by staying focused on a few key storylines and wrestlers: The World Heavyweight Championship feud, the Intercontinental Championship scene, a debuting NXT call-up, and the man who sent Brock Lesnar into retirement.
Whilst WWE pulled off an above-average show on Monday night, it’s far from what could be termed “great.” If one were to measure this episode against a Raw from mid-2023, they wouldn’t even be on the same planet.
Still, riding along a short runway between WrestleMania 42 and Backlash, and having a dialed-in Roman Reigns and a spectacle like Oba Femi on hand seem to have anchored Raw a bit.
Even with all the positives Monday night, it’s hard to not feel like something is missing. Perhaps the recent releases have sucked the joy out of the program and its inhabitants. When WWE was riding high, there was a palpable energy radiating from everyone that could carry a subpar episode.
These days, it feels like more of a struggle to achieve something approaching that same energy, even when things go well.
Let’s get to it…