8 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Raw (15 April - Results & Review)

by Scott Carlson

1. Epic Main Event With Epic Heel Turn

Chad Gable Sami Zayn
WWE

No one doubted that Sami Zayn versus Chad Gable was going to be a really, really great main event battle for the Intercontinental Championship.

The outcome might have been in doubt to some extent – Would Gable turn on Zayn mid-match? Would there be a clean finish? – but the quality was never in question. And true to expectations, the two veterans delivered a fantastic main event that perfectly encapsulated Gable’s fierce tenacity and Zayn’s heroic resolve and how those two things constantly butted up against each other.

Sami refused to tap out, despite basically having his ankle shredded, and Gable refused to give Zayn quarter, charging ahead right up until Sami caught Chad with an Exploder and limped his way to a Helluva Kick for the win.

As great as the match was, the ensuing heel turn from Gable was even better, as he initially raised Sami’s hand and then gave him the ring, only returning when Zayn went to hug his wife. That’s when Gable pounced and decimated Sami, eventually locking him in an anklelock on the turnbuckle while taunting his wife.

That left no doubt as to Gable snapping, which makes it feel like even more of a violation of the fans’ trust in Chad, and in Sami’s trust. Fantastic closing to the show, no notes.

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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.