7 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (3 Mar - Results & Review)

2. A Chaotic Opening

WWE has made liberal use of the wild, pull-apart brawl to open Raw, with the scene inching closer to becoming an overdone trope. However, when they do the legwork of building a rivalry that fans are invested in, and both wrestlers sell out during the fracas, then it still works.

CM Punk and Seth Rollins fit that bill perfectly.

Punk opened Raw by airing his grievances about The Rock and John Cena before turning his attention to “little brother” Seth Rollins, saying that his wife Becky Lynch needed to come get him before Punk put him in a wheelchair. That cued Rollins, and the brawl was on as they struggled to break free of the dozen security guards and officials to get to each other. They broke loose several times, fighting from the entrance to the ring, to the announce desk and into the crowd.

The fight felt like two men who hate each other trying to get push through the guys holding them back so they could maul the other. It was a chaotic brawl that worked exceptionally well to set up next week’s steel cage match at Madison Square Garden – though given how they fought everywhere on Monday night, why not do a falls-count-anywhere match?