7 Ups And 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Jan 30)

2. Triple H, The Creator

After failing to appear the the Royal Rumble, Triple H had to show up last night. Many expected The Game to appear as a mystery Rumble participant and for Seth Rollins to throw him out, but that didn't happen, and Seth's "arena ban" remained intact. Stephanie McMahon wasn't best pleased with the outcome of her confrontation with Rollins earlier in the evening, and at his wife's behest, Triple H made his first Raw appearance since August.

The Game cut an excellent promo. It's easy to balk at the idea of an authority figure closing the show, but it's hard to complain about a performance like this. Triple H not only dived into the things he'd done to build Seth Rollins, but the methods he'd go to to tear him down. He claimed that he didn't want to "end careers and crush" dreams anymore, and wanted instead be known as NXT's creator, but he had been left without a choice.

Seth Rollins soon arrived, and while the best as yet to come, The Game's opening pitch was perfect. He did an excellent job in tying together his roles as both a backstage mastermind and an on-air antagonist, and his feud with Rollins finally has some solid ground to build upon. After weeks of slow, cold progression, this story is gaining traction at exactly the right time.