8 Ups And 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Oct 24)

2. U.S. Title Build Falls Flat

Had it been the only Hell in a Cell match, the separate promos between Rusev and United States Champion Roman Reigns might have been a little better received. But the U.S. title is one of three HIAC matches, and it had the weakest build on Monday by far.

Rusev and Reigns each gave backstage promos directly to the camera, with Rusev talking about how he’s not afraid of Roman, and that he would exact revenge for what Reigns did to him, Lana and his family. Reigns noted that he actually has won a HIAC match before and that he took defending the U.S. title personally.

It was a lackluster build, especially when compared to the in-ring contract signing between Sasha Banks and Charlotte. It was just a totally forgettable part of Raw.

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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.