6 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (May 9)

5. Ali Screwed Again

Mustafa Ali
WWE.com

This is a tough one to score.

Mustafa Ali has basically been screwed with since returning to TV, but in this situation, it’s an actual storyline, with Miz and Theory teaming up to make the superstar’s life miserable. Last week, it was a handicap match. This week, Miz was assigned to be special guest referee (thanks to Theory calling in a favor from Mr. McMahon) for Ali versus Ciampa.

The match itself wasn’t terrible, but it was all about Miz’s bias throughout, right down to the predictable fast count giving Ciampa the victory.

If this leads to Mustafa getting revenge and actually doing something, then great, we’ll be happy. But if it gets dropped or just is a continuous burial before Ali is taken off TV because “he’s not getting over,” then we know what this was.

For now, a slim “up” for the deliberate screwing over storyline in the hopes it leads somewhere productive.

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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.