Instant Reaction - WWE Raw 2/9
By Ben Tucker, PWTorch TV specialist

Despite being a decent episode, Monday's Raw continued to feel like the equivalent of bashing your head into a wall over and over again. There are a half-dozen face wrestlers on the roster ready to break out - Dolph Ziggler, Ryback, and Dean Ambrose quickly spring to mind. But, instead of WWE capitalizing on any momentum they may have, many of these competitors find themselves in the exact same bit roles they had back in November, acting as the mid-card foils for the Authority or serving as the antagonist to a mid-level heel.

The main event scene continues to evolve at a glacial pace, with Cena/Ambrose-Authority contests slowly changing over to Reigns/Bryan-Authority matches. Long-term planning for WrestleMania has effectively given WWE tunnel vision, as the impending arrival of various part-time faces for the big event has made it feel like WWE does not need to develop any stars for when the likes of The Undertaker and Sting disappear once again. But, can faces such as Ziggler wait that long for another chance to shoot up the ladder? It's yet another case of the glass ceiling coming into play, and tonight's episode of Raw exposed it more than ever.

The Rybacks and Ambroses of WWE are going to continue to lose momentum because the company is insistent on keeping them in some sort of holding pattern for the next month-plus. While Ryback and Ziggler should be in the middle of semi-high-profile stories, they are instead fading in and out of relevancy throughout the course of a show, their star power slowly fading as they continue to be used as a stepping stone for main event heels, such as Ziggler for Bray Wyatt tonight. The lack of storytelling in WWE's upper mid-card is an alarming sign that exhibits how many Superstars are in dire need of Creative support. Otherwise, they'll just continue their tumble down the ladder of importance.

In spite of this view, WWE did manage to deliver a competent episode of Raw that successfully furthered Roman Reigns's slow burn heel turn. Whether that is what WWE is going for or not, it is effectively the result they've created. Roman Reigns continues to come across as an individual with bully-type tendencies and a hair trigger. The dynamic he developed with Bryan over the course of the night, while simple, was also effective in establishing tangible resentment between the two. Bryan continues to be portrayed well as the scrappy underdog, and The Authority (though tired) is striking a solid balance of being both overpowered and conquerable. That doesn't mean that I agree with WWE putting on two Big Show/Kane matches in one evening, but it did produce solid results.

Meanwhile, Triple H's confrontation with the fake Stings provided more of the smoke and mirrors that many fans have been waiting for from the vigilante. The multiple Stings appearing in the crowd has always been a personal favorite of mine, and tonight was no different. The set-up was weak, considering Triple H effectively held a confrontation with Sting to establish that Sting was going to be at Fast Lane to have another confrontation with Triple H, but as a whole the segment was perfectly effective.

Hype for the February pay-per-view ended up being a net-positive by the end of the night. Paige and Brie Bella delivered a much more competent match than expected, and John Cena and Rusev have established a solid foundation for what began as a relatively random storyline. The U.S. Championship continues to feel about as prestigious as the WCW TV Title (post-garbage can), but the promo exchanges between Rusev, Cena, and Lana regarding Cena's eventual need to hang up his boots has been very effective, using real life sentiments to bolster the kayfabe storytelling. It has also been pleasant to see multiple lower-card feuds arise, including Cody Rhodes's identity crisis story and Damien Sandow's increased beef with The Miz.

However, ont he whole, Raw still had its usual problems. Over-exposure of main event talent, exposure of one main-eventer, mid-card champions losing matches, repeat segments (was BNZ really that great last week?), and inconsistent ref'ing (no DQ in the main event?). Did the show make me more excited to see Fast Lane? Yes. Could more have been done? Quite. The storytelling minds of WWE feel as frazzled and tired as they did when Raw moved to three hours back in 2012. Three years in, we continue to discuss the same problems with fresh talents not getting over, overexposure, etc. Will something change? Probably. Hopefully within the next decade or so...

Any questions or comments? Message me on Twitter @BTuckertorch!

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