7 Ups & 4 Downs from WWE Raw (5 May - Results & Review)

1. A Perfect Encapsulation

Raw post-WrestleMania 41 has been an interesting case study. The show has improved from the lead-up to the big show and the actual event itself, with some new directions giving fans hope for a better outlook.

But there are always going to be blind spots and bumps in the road, some of which aren’t outright negatives, but are more a symptom of being inadequately adequate.

Case in point, Sheamus versus Austin Theory Monday night was little more than a welcome back match for the Celtic Warrior that went on for too long and generated strange reactions from the fans. The crowd couldn’t care less about Theory or his never-ending falling-out with tag partner Grayson Waller, going silent whenever Austin was on offense. The match itself was pretty standard fare for Sheamus – which is a solid, workmanlike effort – and yet elicited a “This is awesome” chant despite fans sitting on their hands for parts of it and nothing really rising to that level.

Technically speaking, there wasn’t anything to point to that would prompt a negative, but regardless of the fans’ chant, this wasn’t anything anyone will remember by the time NXT airs. It probably was forgotten before the Raw main event concluded.

Here’s the issue: How do you give a decent match a “down”? Sheamus returning is always a net positive. Doing anything with Theory and Waller has to be better than having them sit in catering. But it’s all just average, forgettable churn, content that fills time and evaporates as soon as it’s in the past.

One or two of these segments a week is understandable, but too many of them and they will start to pull the overall product down.