7 Ups And 9 Downs From WWE Raw (Jan 20)

1. Rusev Squashed Day

Bobby Lashley Rusev
WWE.com

Uggh. Just uggh.

This entire Rusev/Lana/Bobby Lashley/Liv Morgan storyline has been a trainwreck since the start. Proponents have pointed to ratings as evidence that it’s working, while most people who actually watch it have figuratively gouged their eyeballs out and prayed for it to either get better or finally end.

Monday, we got a main event mixed tag match that lasted less than five minutes and ended with Rusev once again taking the pinfall loss. The hero, humiliated repeatedly by his ex-wife and her paramour, looked almost impotent Monday night, getting some quick offense before Lana grabbed his leg, allowing Lashley to spear Rusev for the pin.

Liv has been utterly useless since her return, trying to help Rusev last week and getting taken out by a soda, and then being on the losing end Monday night.

By all accounts, this has to be the end, right? Lana and Lashley have had the upper hand since the wedding itself, and there’s no real direction at this point. Rusev is divorced (in storyline) and Liv’s “relationship” with Lana wasn’t even mentioned Monday night.

Advertisement
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.