Best and Worst of Raw: 6th February 2017

Portland, Oregon was witness to quite an entertaining show from WWE this week. Not only did they get two title matches, they also got to see Samoa Joe’s main roster debut and the return of the icon – Bill Goldberg, for the first time since his appearance at the 2017 Royal Rumble.

The crowd was loud and kept us hooked throughout with their energy. In turn, WWE tried their best and although they fell short a few times over the course of three hours, it was still a better show than the usual fare.

Let’s move to this week's countdown of the Best and Worst of Monday Night RAW!

#1 Best: Goldberg put himself on the list!

Goldberg and Jericho renewed their age-old rivalry

Owens and Jericho have been feuding with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins seemingly since the beginning of time. This week, thankfully, there was a change in their program as they teased wrestling each other at Wrestlemania.

They were eventually interrupted by the return of Goldberg, who got a deafening reaction that nobody on the current roster gets. When Jericho toyed with the idea of putting Goldberg on the list, Goldberg ended up putting himself in.

Goldberg just comes across as a total bad-ass who is way tougher than the rest of the talent in the present WWE roster. Now that he’s not bleeding from the head and giving himself concussions, Goldberg can really help the company significantly boost ratings.

The good news is that we have two booked matches featuring Goldberg in the near future - Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship at Fastlane and Brock Lesnar, presumably also for the title, at Wrestlemania.

Moving on!

#1 Worst: Jobber matches for Strowman again?

This was once a great gimmick, now way past its due date

We do realise that the 4-on-1 jobber match for Strowman was a way for him to get an opportunity to face off against Roman Reigns at Fastlane. However, this was an old gimmick that has been done to death, and in whatever format it is presented, it has the same old predictable outcome every time.

Couldn’t Titus O’Neil or Bo Dallas get some TV time from facing Braun Strowman? Or heck, here’s an idea for WWE. How about a legitimate match against an actually established WWE superstar?

We assumed he'd graduated to that stage with Zayn. Evidently, we were wrong.

#2 Best: Super strong booking for Samoa Joe

Another Samoan superstar gets set to deliver a Superman Punch

Samoa Joe spent too much time in developmental. This wasn't because he wasn’t ready to compete at the highest level, but because he would help the other guys in NXT work against him and grow to their fullest potential.

His main roster debut sent shockwaves around the world. The very next week on Raw, he got to start the show as well as main event it. WWE is clearly making up for the time lost during his days in NXT.

The only complaint with Joe’s booking this week is that he did not win the match with a Muscle Buster or Coquina Clutch. However, he did beat Roman Reigns in his debut and not too many other people can really claim this.

Let’s hope Joe gets booked for a solid match at the Fastlane pay-per-view.

#2 Worst: Seth Rollins’ injury update

This was a bigger buzzkill than The Royal Rumble match

Seth Rollins missed Wrestlemania last year. Unless he is a very fortunate man, it looks like he may miss Wrestlemania this year as well, thanks to an injury he suffered at the hands of Samoa Joe last week on Raw.

When it was advertised that we would get an update on his injury, we were really curious to check up on our favourite superstar. Sadly, it turned out that all we got was a social media update. Yes, on a television show!

Just how lame is that? Sorry, Seth. We did not mean to crack a leg joke. Let’s hop on to the next leg of our countdown. Turn the page.

#3 Best: Two title matches

Unlike vampires, we love stakes. Especially in a wrestling match

What made this week's Raw interesting was the fact that there were two title matches. While none of the titles did change hands, there is that degree of uncertainly that just adds a whole new dimension to the actual show.

Special note for Sami Zayn. While he’s being booked as an underdog, it’s pretty obvious that he’s being built for something big. The Underdog from the Underground seems poised to have a big moment soon.