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

5. A Minor Victory

Seth Rollins Jinder Mahal
WWE.com

Jinder Mahal was not built up as a world title challenger. In storyline, he didn’t deserve a title match. He wasn’t going to win, and the match was never going to be any good.

Then why does his World Heavyweight Championship match against Seth Rollins get an “up” here? Essentially, they worked a minor miracle in making Jinder match watchable – with a healthy dose of smoke and mirrors. Indus Sher provided numerous distractions and even an attack to keep Mahal in the match. Damian Priest at ringside with the Money in the Bank briefcase added a layer of intrigue, and then Drew McIntyre coming out to brawl with Priest provided a bit of ga-ga to the affair.

Don’t get it wrong: this shouldn’t be regarded as a success story. But given the circumstances, this managed to work just well enough, and it’s now in the rear-view mirror. Everyone can stop grumbling about everything, and Jinder can go back to managing Indus Sher and jobbing to Ricochet, Otis and R-Truth.

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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.