6 Ups And 5 Downs From WWE Raw (March 6)

The build to WrestleMania is always an interesting one: You get this strange mix of long-simmering rivalries, thrown-together clashes, respect feuds, and the random challenge. We see a mix of hot in-ring action and a ton of time on the mic building everything up, heightening the drama to make Mania the biggest show possible.

We’re now into the phase of the Road to WrestleMania where it’s all about building the storylines and feuds to a point where they peak at the right moment. On Raw Monday night, this meant less about the wrestling and more about the stories. In most cases, the matches existed merely as vehicles for the storylines, which is typically fine for a few bouts, but when it’s the entire card, it can make the show drag a bit.

Fortunately, several of the angles are pretty good, with the main Bloodline storyline now encompassing two major angles. There were no singificant missteps Monday night – which is a nice change of pace from recent years, where you would be wondering four weeks out if Mania was going to ever come together, or if it would all fall apart.

We’re avoiding nitpicking this week on the little stuff, particularly matches that were of no consequence (Omos/Dolph Ziggler and Piper Niven/Nikki Cross), and trying to focus on the big picture here. But WWE is at risk once the shine of Mania has faded of presenting substandard programing once again.

Let’s get to it…