7 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (18 April - Review)

by Scott Carlson

1. ‘Short-Term Villainy’

The Judgment Day The Bloodline
WWE.com

It’s not uncommon to see heels partner with each other simply because they’re both heels. But if you’re evil, why would you befriend someone else without a given reason? It’s just something we as fans overlook for simplicity’s sake.

Monday, however, WWE chose to have Paul Heyman give a lengthy and well-reasoned explanation for why the Judgment Day and Bloodline were sharing the ring and not trying to tear each other apart. He noted that Roman Reigns had negotiated and authorized a short-term deal for both factions to take care of each other’s problems: Solo Sikoa would take out Rey Mysterio, while the Judgment Day would battle Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn & Riddle.

What made this work exceptionally well was how both camps stared down each other, with Rhea Ripley and Solo refusing to break their glares, with Ripley following Sikoa after Heyman moved in their lineup. And Paul made sure to reference the fact that Finn Balor hasn’t forgiven the Bloodline for costing him the WWE Universal Championship.

This was great storytelling, exposition that served a purpose, was true to the characters and was entertaining at the same time. It was great work all-around and made it believable that the two sides could still break out in a fight at any given moment, even despite the détente.

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Contributor
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.