6 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (17 July - Review)

2. Pure Viking Spectacle

Valhalla Maxine Dupri
WWE.com

Chad Gable might be capable of putting on a wrestling clinic, but no one will mistake what Alpha Academy and the Viking Raiders did on Raw as a clinic.

Rather, their Viking Rules match was just an insanely fun spectacle, masterfully laid out to maximize every spot. Ivar got to show off his aerials with a moonsault; Gable threw the Vikings around with ease; Erik hit some vicious shots; Maxxine Dupri nailed a diving crossbody and got her letterman jacket back; and Valhalla speared Maxxine through a table and provided the decisive distraction to allow her team to win.

But the highlight of the match had to be Otis rising up behind Erik and Ivar after Gable and Dupri had been laid out and proceeding to run wild with a flurry of offense that sent fans into a frenzy. It was just tremendous stuff, and the fans ate all of it up.

The Raiders winning was a bit of a letdown, but considering this was their match, they kind of needed to win, and the Alphas looked fantastic in this and can bounce back.

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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.