9 Ups And 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (March 7th)

6. Big Guy/Masked Guy

So this really looks like it€™s happening, doesn€™t it? Rumors started swirling recently that Kalisto would defend the United States Championship against Ryback at WrestleMania, and the first pieces of that feud fell into place Monday, with the Big Guy interrupting Kalisto€™s backstage promo.

Ryback repeatedly said he respected the Mexican high-flier, but then proceeded to insult him about his size and mask. This presented a weird dynamic, with Ryback not quite playing a full-fledged villain (he later faced Curtis Axel of the Social Outcasts, which seems to be settling in as a heel group), and Kalisto having drastically cooled off thanks to a substandard feud with Alberto Del Rio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXu2vdS3QLY

Don€™t get it wrong, this could be a good match. But as a feud, it didn€™t feel like anyone in the crowd really cared about either wrestler. Poor booking the past couple months hasn€™t done either man any favors, and it€™s going to take some work to build both of them up.

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 fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.