There was a lot to like about Monday's show.
Seth Rollins' announcement felt like a big deal, as did the face-to-face confrontation between CM Punk and Cody Rhodes. In between we had some great brawling from The New Day and Imperium, while Chad Gable and Ivar had the best match of the night.
The Judgment Day's slow disintegration continued, the friendship between Priest and R-Truth took a step back, and the women's tag team division continued to be featured as Triple H attempts to drag that roster out of the doldrums and into prestige.
With that said, there seemed to be a lack of urgency surrounding the Royal Rumble throughout the show.
The event and the men's and women's Rumble matches were hyped in individual segments, but what should have been a major sell job felt more subdued than in years past.
Perhaps that is because Triple H and his team believe they have done a good enough job of selling the intrigue surrounding the Rumble matches themselves. Maybe it is the overly long run time of Raw that prevents that big go-home show feel.
Whatever the case, it was lacking Monday night.
Still, there was more good than bad and enough to earn the show a better-than-average grade.
