9 Ups And 6 Downs From WWE Raw (Feb 17)

5. Black Slays Rowan

Aleister Black Erick Rowan
WWE.com

For months, we’ve had to endure a ridiculous angle with Erick Rowan hauling a covered cage to the ring as he squashes jobbers. It’s been a tremendous bore and drain on Raw.

But Monday, Rowan finally stepped in the ring against real competition in the form of Aleister Black. The Dutch Destroyer weathered the storm and took Rowan down with a jumping knee strike and two Black Mass kicks, finally ending the giant redwood’s reign of terror.

On one hand, it’s been a total waste of time to endure Rowan’s segments for months, only for him to fall to Aleister in an unannounced, average TV match in mere minutes. But on the other hand, Black needed a strong signature win, and beating a guy who hasn’t lost on TV in months is probably as good as it gets at this stage as he continues to move up the card.

Still, we’re not getting back all the time spent on those Rowan squashes.

Advertisement
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.