6 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Raw (31 July - Review)

Downs…

4. A Rare Misstep

Cody Rhodes Brock Lesnar
WWE

The Cody Rhodes/Brock Lesnar feud has been surprisingly great overall, with Cody really carrying the drama and narrative and Lesnar being, well, Lesnar.

But Monday’s collision between the two was a rare misfire in the rivalry, with Brock calling out Cody to shake his hand, which the virtuous babyface did. Rhodes then dove onto a departing Lesnar, which provoked Brock into decimating Cody with the ring steps repeatedly and laying him out with an F-5.

The entire encounter was just another beatdown segment, #1,287 in a series of Brock Lesnar beatdowns. Cody looked foolish trying to jump Brock and getting laid out again. Lesnar didn’t exactly look like the bully since he was attacked.

They would have been better off playing the video and leaving it at that, or just ending with the handshake and some tension. But Brock go-home segments have to include carnage, so that’s what the fans got.

Advertisement
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.