6 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (Results & Review - 15 Jan)

WWE is barreling toward the Royal Rumble and is actively setting the table for their signature event, which will then kick off the road to another signature event. For wrestling fans, it’s heartening to see the company doing several things incredibly well.

But even with momentum on their side and the inevitable boost that comes from the Rumble and lead-up to WrestleMania, Raw was far from a flawless show. In reality, there was almost as much they got wrong as they got right – though the highs were higher than the depth of the lows.

Raw delivered a promised main event with Jinder Mahal challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship, and surprisingly, that wasn’t one of the lows of the evening. In-ring action varied from fantastic to “meh” to downright dismal. The strength Monday night came in the form of two in-ring promos from Drew McIntyre and Becky Lynch, who both delivered compelling cases for each of them to return to the main event of WrestleMania – though only one of them has a legitimate shot at achieving that goal.

Less than two weeks out from the Rumble, there are several plausible contenders for the men’s and women’s matches, and that’s an accomplishment from a storytelling perspective. It makes it easier to get and stay invested in the product, even when there are some drab moments.

Let’s get to it…