7 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (Oct 10)

As far as looking at Monday night’s episode of WWE Raw, the program was a success. Surprise returns continued at a breakneck pace, titles changed hands, the biggest name in the company made a rare appearance, and an iconic faction held a reunion, all on the show’s “season premiere.”

But on the flip side, WWE loaded the show up with a lot of smoke and mirrors to captivate fans. Once you got past the shocking returns of Brock Lesnar and Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows, Seth Rollins winning the United States Championship, D-Generation X’s 25th anniversary and the full Bloodline making an appearance, what was left?

The wrestling was surprisingly average. There were a couple of nice non-wrestling segments too, but there were some real stinkers in here. The concern you’ve got to have as a fan is that while you might have enjoyed Monday night tremendously, Triple H can’t bring back wrestlers in perpetuity to pop ratings and rely on that to carry the day.

The good news is that Raw’s writing has been stronger for months now. It’s only the past couple of weeks that it’s flagged a bit. Assuming they can right the ship quickly, this won’t be noticeable. But if it continues once the surprises melt away, you’re going to have problems.

For now, though, enjoy this season premiere of Raw and everything it offered. It’s perfectly fine to lose yourself in the smoke and mirrors.

Let’s get to it…