6 Ups & 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Jan 3)

6. Must Protect Big Slug

WWE loves its big men in two-person acts, and it loves to protect them at all costs. It’s like they think every one of them is going to be the next Diesel.

But that rarely works out. And as a result, you have the smaller, often more talented wrestler taking losses so the big slug never is seen as week. This week’s example is Commander Azeez, who had his first Raw match Monday night in a tag effort alongside Apollo Crews versus the Street Profits.

Azeez, who has wrestled all of 10 matches in the past year, bumbled around against Montez Ford before both men tagged out. Apollo got zero offense in before Ford nailed the Cash Out frogsplash for the win, with the Commander posted and knocked to the floor. And so Azeez was protected while Crews continued his streak of not winning on Raw or SmackDown for the past six-plus months.

Crews is a really talented wrestler, and seeing him jobbed out because his running buddy happens to be taller is frustrating. If Azeez draws a dime, nine of those cents will be comped.