6 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (Oct 2 - Results & Review)

3. Still Not On Board

Shinsuke Nakamura Seth Rollins
WWE.com

Sorry sports fans, WWE has taken everyone down this road before with Shinsuke Nakamura and Seth Rollins.

Their rivalry has been one of flashes of brilliance, gobs of hope, and bursts of disappointment. Monday was a serious attempt to get fans to buy a World Heavyweight Championship title switch at Fastlane this weekend, but it’s really difficult to take everything at face value when Michael Cole says Rollins’ back is “holding on by a thread”… after Seth has danced to the ring and paraded around with nary a wince.

If there was faith that Rollins would sell the back in a way that reflected reality – switching his in-ring style for the match, not flying around with his usual explosive offense – then this might have rated more positively. But most likely, Rollins will be himself, just grabbing at the back and grimacing at several points.

Still, Monday’s in-ring interview and Nakamura attack was laid out well, but it’s just too difficult to buy in at this stage. This likely is going to be a 3.5-star plunder brawl with Seth writhing in pain one minute and pulling off a Phoenix splash through a table the next.

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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.