8 Ups And 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (July 20)

by Scott Carlson

1. Happy Returns

Cedric Alexander Mustafa Ali ricochet Raw
WWE.com

After seven months off WWE TV, Mustafa Ali returned Monday night to team up with Ricochet and Cedric Alexander to provide some high-octane, high-energy wrestling.

The three cruiserweights teamed up to defeat MVP, Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin when Ali hit a 450 splash on MVP, getting to showcase his skills and look strong his in return to action. You hoped that he wouldn’t get sandbagged in his first match, but you weren’t sure until Ali nailed the 450 to pick up the win.

It will remain to be seen whether Ali – a wrestler once targeted for a main event push before injury derailed it – is utilized properly and gets a decent push, or if he’s just the third member of a jobber-to-the-stars team that loses more than it wins.

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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.