8 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (20 Jan – Results & Review) – WhatCulture
A steady WWE Raw bolstered by Owens and Zayn’s WrestleMania dream.WWE Raw had a tall task heading into Monday night. The show,
rebounding last week from a subpar Netflix debut the week prior, needed to sell
an upcoming Royal Rumble PLE as well as a Saturday Night’s Main Event program
this weekend.While not the most electrifying show, WWE successfully navigated
those challenges, delivering a solid effort that set up a new match and
effectively promoted two more for this weekend’s television special. But more importantly, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens began
overtly sowing the seeds of a WrestleMania main event dream match that felt more
like a fever dream a couple of years ago and seemed just wishful thinking a few
months ago. Nonetheless, there they were on Monday night in the middle of the ring
saying all the things that make you believe it’s possible.Bayley officially joined the Raw roster and turned in a
solid underdog performance against Nia Jax, while Penta continued his introductory
tour of Raw, winning another well-received match against Pete Dunne. However, WWE’s effort to make heel New Day happen faltered on Monday night, with the group finally theoretically advancing the story beyond
backstage promos, and it fell flat in several ways. While not a disaster – the crowd reaction was still strong enough – it wasn’t on par with the initial
turn, and one can’t help but worry that we’re going to be in the land of
diminishing returns.Still, Raw gets passing marks with another solid show.Let’s get to it…
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Bayley officially joined the Raw roster and turned in a
solid underdog performance against Nia Jax, while Penta continued his introductory
tour of Raw, winning another well-received match against Pete Dunne. However, WWE’s effort to make heel New Day happen faltered on Monday night, with the group finally theoretically advancing the story beyond
backstage promos, and it fell flat in several ways. While not a disaster – the crowd reaction was still strong enough – it wasn’t on par with the initial
turn, and one can’t help but worry that we’re going to be in the land of
diminishing returns.Still, Raw gets passing marks with another solid show.Let’s get to it…
Advertisement
Still, Raw gets passing marks with another solid show.Let’s get to it…
Advertisement
Let’s get to it…
Advertisement
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. 10 WWE Innovations That Nobody Wanted
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Source: https://whatculture.com/wwe/8-ups-3-downs-from-wwe-raw-20-jan-results-review
