8 Ups And 5 Downs From WWE Raw (Feb 10)
Shayna gets primal, Orton gets sadistic, KO and Rollins get repetitive.
If you’re grading Monday Night Raw these days, it’s been earning a solid “B” or "B+" since the Royal Rumble, with some standout performances, but some areas that are still lagging.
This week’s show was similar, with an outstanding, visceral segment to really sell a new rivalry, while we saw a ongoing major storyline continue to tread water rather than churn forward.
Becky Lynch finally dispatched a great and tough rival, only to find a new challenger who really wants to sink her teeth into The Man – literally. However, we also endured objectively good promo and match segments involving Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins, but they could have been re-runs from previous episodes.
Rhea Ripley has been thrust into the spotlight, but it remains unclear whether she’s ready to shine against Charlotte Flair. But Drew McIntyre looked like a million bucks. Aleister Black delivered once again. And Randy Orton is sowing the seeds for a barnburner of a feud with Edge.
There’s plenty to be excited about on the Raw side heading into WrestleMania, but there still are several question marks. There’s plenty of time for things to work themselves out, or for things to fall apart. But Raw has been enjoyable recently, and it gets better than passing marks this week.
With that said, let’s get to it…