8 Ups And 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (April 11)
3.Superman Beats KO
There have been plenty of times during the past several months that this column has lamented Kevin Owens losing matches and further becoming just another guy. However, it was absolutely the right call Monday night, as his opponent needed to ascend the ladder, and KO has a hot feud to continue with Sami Zayn.
Cesaro has gotten a lot of focus since returning to action last week, and he took a potential big step forward Monday when he defeated Owens to become #1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship. Sure, theres the stigma that has been attached to the IC title in recent years, but if Cesaro were to win the title and continue to be booked like this, then he could be that strong secondary champion the company envisioned when Daniel Bryan won the belt at WrestleMania XXXI last year.
The Swiss Superman and Owens had a hell of a match Monday, beating the tar out of each other. The ending with Cesaro countering the Pop-Up Powerbomb with a hurricanrana, rolling through and hitting the Neutralizer was as smooth as it gets. If this leads to bigger things for Cesaro, then thats great. But if its just more 50/50 booking