7 Ups And 9 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (May 16)

6. How Its Supposed To Go

rusev kalisto
WWE.com

Look, its one thing for a champ to look strong going into his title match, but if you have an underdog champion whos going to lose anyway, you might as well build the challenger up as an inevitability. Sometimes, you can overthink things a little too much.

Case in point, Rusev should theoretically dominate Kalisto en route to winning the United States Championship at Extreme Rules, especially if hes going to be programmed into a feud right away with a returning John Cena. You cant have Rusev looking like a geek before he faces a 15-time world champion.

So Monday, when Rusev obliterated Sin Cara backstage and cost Kalisto his match against Alberto Del Rio (via distraction), then folded the U.S. champ in half with the Accolade, it worked. It worked on two levels: it reminded everyone that the Bulgarian Brute can be a dominant heel, and it reinforced Kalistos status as an underdog.

Well have to see how things go on Sunday, but at least the table has been set.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.