6 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE Raw (26 June - Review)

by Scott Carlson

1. Zayn, Gunther Make Magic

Gunther Sami Zayn
WWE.com

There are few wrestlers who match up as well as the consummate sh*t-kicker Gunther and one of the best to take a beating, Sami Zayn. You just know you’re going to get a tremendous match. Throw in Kevin Owens on commentary and you’re watching gold.

The tag champs have been running afoul of Imperium for some time now, as their rivalry has pulled Matt Riddle into the fray, and generated several really good matches already, with more on the horizon. Monday night was the latest in a series.

Zayn took a beating, but fans rallied to him as Sami struggled to get back into the match, finally taking the IC champ off his feet with a clothesline and a Blue Thunder Bomb for a close 2-count. He kicked out of Gunther’s hard-hitting offense, firing up the fans, as well as KO. But the numbers game caught up to Zayn, and the Ring General picked up the win.

Sure, there were no real stakes, and this seemed more to further the Riddle/Gunther Intercontinental Championship feud than anything else, but damn if this wasn’t fun and make you want to see more interactions between these groups. That’s a victory in and of itself.

Advertisement
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.