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

4. Penta Triumphs, Targets IC Title

The ongoing experiment of Penta as a singles star in WWE continued Monday night with some really successful brushstrokes.

First, Penta defeated Ludwig Kaiser in a No Holds Barred match. Setting aside that a WWE version of the match was never going to be as crazy as Penta fans might have wanted, the bout itself was perfectly fine, with Kaiser taking some good bumps at the end with a steel chair. Penta kicked it back into Ludwig’s face and then nailed a Mexican Destroyer and a Penta Driver on the chair.

With Kaiser behind him, Penta announced he was targeting the Intercontinental Championship. He ran into Bron Breakker backstage before his IC title defense against Finn Balor, and then the luchador ran down to save the champ from a Judgment Day beatdown at the end of the show. That left fans with the parting image of Breakker and Penta staring at each other, seemingly setting up a singles match for the title at WrestleMania 41.

Obviously, WWE could very easily start adding people like Kaiser, Balor, Chad Gable, and Sheamus to the mix, but letting fans envision that one-on-one match for a week was a pretty nice touch, and it’s a success in and of itself that Penta is in this position heading into the biggest show of the year.