6 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE Raw (Aug 31)

by Scott Carlson

1. Orton Slithers Back Into Title Picture

Randy Orton Keith Lee
WWE.com

It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Randy Orton would face Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship again, but it really wasn’t a guarantee.

One of the few edicts issued in the past six months that has stuck is the one saying that automatic rematches are no more: A challenger would have to earn his or her way back into the title conversation.

So what we got Monday night was a mini-tournament for a WWE Championship match at Night of Champions later this month. And while Orton’s win was all but guaranteed, it provided a decent match, as well as some good character development for Orton: Agreeing to a goal and then rolling out of the ring; Arranging for Aleister Black to jump Orton just moments after it happened.

In theory, this is great, because a challenger can’t just wait until the following week or PPV to get a title rematch. Instead, they have to earn it to continue.

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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 fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.