8 Ups And 6 Downs From WWE Raw (Aug 10)

Credit where credit is due: Raw was certainly watchable Monday night, with few cringeworthy moments, some good wrestling and some really solid angles.

But the red brand is far from firing on all cylinders, and WWE looks like the big, old establishment corporate giant trying to do its version of mayhem, which is almost laughable.

Of course, we’re talking about Retribution. Yes, a group that hasn’t made any public pronouncements has been name-dropped ad nauseum, with articles and video packages produced as they cause chaos all over WWE – by tossing Molotov cocktails and cinderblocks and wielding chainsaws and spray paint – while the announcers put them over. Because WWE.

We also got more Raw Underground, which is a mixed bag so far, but has some potential – to either work out or flame out. Watch this space.

The brightest spots involved some of Raw’s top stars, with Randy Orton and Seth Rollins doing nice work Monday night, and Samoa Joe delivering a promo that helped sell a big match for SummerSlam better than it had any right to be sold. And we can’t forget Ric Flair providing some emotional support to the main event spot.

With that said, let’s dive in and see how this week’s episode shook out. Let’s get to it…