6 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (May 15)

3. Roman Battles Through Injury

Roman Reigns gets a ton of grief from fans and from this column – most of the time deservedly so – but let’s give him credit for playing the role of wounded warrior Monday night.

Sure, we could quibble that after being tossed off a loading dock on a stretcher and then having the ambulance you’re in flipped over, you probably should have more than bruised ribs and a bum shoulder, but regardless, Reigns consistently sold his injuries during his match with Finn Balor Monday night, and did the only thing a wounded animal could do in a fight: hurt his opponent more.

Roman targeted Finn’s back and ribs, driving Balor into the ringpost a few times, which softened and slowed him up enough to leave an opening to hit a spear (on the bruised ribs) and win.

And yeah, we can argue about having Roman winning, but the fact he sat there afterward still selling how hurt he was, let’s give the Big Dog his due. It was far from a dominant performance, and fans got a good match with a decent story. Still, the fans didn’t really buy it, as the air went out of the arena when he won.