8 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw After WrestleMania 40 (8 April - Results & Review)
Rock brings the MANA, Cody basks in the cheers, new stars arrive, title challengers step up.
After a disastrous Raw after WrestleMania 39 last year, WWE managed to put together a solid and entertaining program to officially close out WrestleMania Season in Philadelphia on Monday night.
The program followed a familiar pattern: new champions got a spotlight; new superstars debuted; returns were hyped; some new directions were charted; and fans hijacked segments to really add to the unpredictability of the night.
The Rock made a return to confront Cody Rhodes one last time in an epic showdown that leaves a huge Final Boss challenge out there for the new Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion. Meanwhile, three other champions saw challengers step up in different ways, setting the table for future matches, one of which is already slated for next week.
But as usual, not all was great on Raw. Even when things were going well overall, the show dragged a good bit in the middle, with a decent amount of stuff that will soon be forgotten. And taking a stable that has two World Champions in it and making them a jobber unit for the night to a comedy tag team was… certainly a choice.
Overall though, this was a pretty good offering. It will be interesting to see if WWE can maintain its momentum now that Cody has finished the story and we’re in a post-WrestleMania world. Business tends to drop off, and it will be a challenge to keep the energy and interest high.
Let’s get to it…