7 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE Raw (13 Feb - Results & Review)

1. Cody Pumps Up Sami

So… WWE went there, huh?

Conventional wisdom would have said to keep Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn far apart for fear that fans would turn on Cody and back Sami, thus ruining Rhodes’ WrestleMania journey.

Instead, WWE went all-in by having Zayn call out Rhodes, only to ask the American Nightmare if he meant what he said last week that he believed Sami could beat Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Elimination Chamber this weekend. Cody pumped Sami up, saying he did believe it, but then turned the tables and asked if Zayn believed it himself.

This prompted Zayn to show immense vulnerability, that while he knew he was capable, he didn’t know if he believed he could walk out of Montreal with the titles. Rhodes went into overdrive putting over Sami for cracking the Bloodline’s foundation, a masterful way of one title contender selling out for another. He went a step further, noting that his ticket is punched for WrestleMania, and that Sami needed to finish his own story to see him at Mania.

Good Lord. What a way to put these two together and have them interact in a way that doesn’t betray either character, doesn’t diminish one or the other, and most importantly, doesn’t force fans to choose one over the other. You can have both! You can cheer both! Here’s Cody being the only shoulder Sami has to lean on just five days before the biggest match of his career. That’s just insanely courageous and daring booking.