7 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Raw (Mar 15)

5. Drew & Miz Work A Formula (And Work It Well)

Drew McIntyre vs. The Miz was everything it should have been, with Miz playing an opportunistic heel against an increasingly frustrated McIntyre, who worked with an aggressive edge.

Miz was sneaky throughout, laying traps and taking shortcuts, while Drew was smashmouth, straightforward, and angry. Still hurting from the opening segment, he overcame Miz quickly early on to work submissions around the ropes and beat him up on the outside. John Morrison was sent away from ringside for interfering one too many times, so Miz lost his one big advantage. Unsurprisingly, the tide drifted in Drew's favour after that, as McIntyre refrained from pinning The A-Lister following the Claymore, opting instead to send a message to Bobby Lashley via Hurt Lock.

This told a good story. Big bruiser vs. conniving heel is a timeless pro wrestling deal and while McIntyre could have done with selling for longer in the opening stages rather than mounting a near-immediate comeback, both wrestlers played their parts here. TV wrestling isn't always about popping a nice star rating, but the right players spinning the right yarn, as was the case here.