4 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (16 February - Results & Review)

4. Angle Advancement Masquerading As A Match

WWE Raw El Grande Americano Ludwig Kaiser Chad Gable
WWE

If you’re keeping score at home, WWE now technically has three mystery storylines going on simultaneously on Raw: a masked man attacking The Vision, a giant wooden crate that arrived on Monday, and two competing El Grande Americanos (Original, and extra crispy).

The masked luchador mystery is perhaps the most perplexing because all four wrestlers involved in this angle are highly skilled performers who could be doing a lot more right now than competing against each other.

Monday night, El Grande Americano battled Penta for an Intercontinental Championship match. The two were having a decent little match until Rayo and Bravo got involved, and then Bravo mysteriously was pulled under the ring. That’s when Original El Grande emerged, providing a distraction that allowed Penta to hit a springboard Mexican Destroyer for the win.

If you’re keeping score, a title that hasn’t been defended in nearly three months saw its next contender determined in a goofy angle advancement match in which the angle didn’t involve the wrestler who won. And if you’re paying attention, crowds aren’t exactly tossing babies in the air over this Los Americanos story either.

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.