Best and Worst WWE Raw Storylines of 2018

2018 has been an interesting year for pro wrestling, especially when it comes to the world's largest promotion, WWE.

The company has had its fair share of ups and downs over the past year. We have seen WWE reach record numbers in the stock market while continuing to expand its influence around the world.

We have also seen it deal with multiple controversies, such as choosing to hold shows in Saudi Arabia—where its female Superstars are not allowed to perform—while claiming to be revolutionizing women's wrestling.

WWE's storylines have also been hot and cold this year. Sometimes, it seems like the company is on the right track. And other times, it feels like the creative team is making decisions on the fly.

This article will look back through 2018 at some of the best and worst storylines on WWE Raw.

Best: The Miz and Seth Rollins

The past couple of years have seen a bit of a career renaissance for The Miz. Not only has he become one of the company's best talkers, but he has continued to improve in the ring.

His feud with Daniel Bryan on SmackDown is what people will remember most, but his rivalry with Seth Rollins over the Intercontinental Championship was just as good.

Along with Finn Balor, The Miz and Rollins competed in one of the best matches at WrestleMania 34 in addition to numerous singles and tag bouts on Raw.

The Miz is one of SmackDown's most valuable talents, and it's his feud with Rollins on Raw that helped make him the star he is before he was sent to the blue brand in April.

Worst: Brock Lesnar's Universal Title Reign

Brock Lesnar is simultaneously one of the most beloved and hated WWE Superstars of all time. Every fan has an opinion about him, and it's usually a strong one.

His reign as universal champion lasted 504 days. That's almost a year and a half of Raw's top champion only showing up every couple of months to hype his next big match.

On top of WWE's strange obsession with having The Beast as one its champions, Lesnar faced the same people over and over during his reign, making it even more predictable and boring as time went on.

To make matters worse, management put the belt back on him after Roman Reigns relinquished the title in October.

Lesnar is a big star and a draw, but fans have grown tired of seeing him hit the same two moves a few times before ending a match. The top champion of WWE's flagship show should be there every week, but WWE CEO Vince McMahon apparently disagrees.

Best: Ronda Rousey Conquers Another Sport

Lesnar's title reign may have been disappointing, but WWE hired another former UFC champion who has been getting better with each match she has.

Ronda Rousey came into WWE with a lot of hype, but some fans saw it as little more than a publicity stunt after Rousey's movie career didn't take off as she had hoped.

But Rowdy is not the kind of person who half-asses anything. She has thrown herself into the world of pro wrestling and proved she is not just there for a paycheck.

Her promos were the biggest weak spot in her game, but she has shown significant improvement in that area in recent months, especially while building up her feud with Nikki Bella.

Rousey had a great 2018, and it's going to be fun seeing what she does in 2019. 

Worst: Braun Strowman Keeps Coming Up Short

It's obvious WWE wants Braun Strowman to be a big star, but for some reason, the promotion keeps pulling out the rug from under him every time he comes close to winning the universal title.

He won the Greatest Royal Rumble but failed to capitalize on the victory. He won Money in the Bank and came up short once again.

He has had numerous title shots against Reigns and Lesnar, and despite being booked as unstoppable on Raw, opponents always manage to stop him at pay-per-views.

Having him win the tag team titles with a kid at WrestleMania, only to relinquish the belts 24 hours later, was bad enough. But having him repeatedly fail at big events is even worse. 

He has had some of the best moments of the year, but he has also suffered the biggest losses. Maybe 2019 will be different.

Best Dean Ambrose Turns on His Brothers

Dean Ambrose's heel turn could be seen coming from a mile away, but that didn't stop it from being one of the best moments of his career.

On the same night Reigns gave up the universal title, The Lunatic Fringe turned on his other best friend, Seth Rollins, moments after they won the Raw Tag Team Championships.

Ambrose has always been a wild card, but he has also always been clear about his intentions. This time, he is keeping us in suspense about why he turned on Rollins.

This is going to lead to an amazing feud that will likely carry both Superstars into next year. It's too bad they will have to feud over the intercontinental title instead of the Universal Championship. 

Worst: Bayley and Sasha Banks' Rivalry Leads to More Hugs

When it seemed like WWE was preparing to give us another Bayley vs. Sasha Banks feud, a lot of fans got excited because they have put on Match of the Year candidates many times.

Then, for some odd reason, WWE decided not to turn one of them heel and had Kurt Angle send them to counseling for their issues.

As great as it was to see Dr. Shelby again, Banks and Bayley's storyline of going from friends to enemies and back to friends again missed the mark.

The Boss is a natural antagonist and would be better suited playing a heel against Bayley's perpetual babyface character, but that's not what we got.

Instead, The Hugger made peace with Banks, and they have since been teaming together instead of giving us show-stealing performances against each other.

Best: Bray Wyatt Becomes Broken

Bray Wyatt has had more ups and downs during his WWE career than anyone else on the roster, but 2018 saw him become reinvigorated thanks to Matt Hardy.

What began as a rivalry between turned into one of the more entertaining tag teams on the roster.

Their Ultimate Deletion match at the Hardy Compound was either awesome or awful depending on the person you speak to, but almost everyone was happy to see the two unite once Sister Abigail had been expelled from Wyatt's head.

Their tag title reign came to an end at the hands of The B-Team, but it was mostly because of Hardy's to take some time off to evaluate his future.

Wyatt hasn't been seen much since they lost the titles, but WWE is likely keeping him off television until it can find a good reason to bring him back. Maybe The Wyatt Family will reunite in 2019.

Worst: The Brothers of Destruction and DX Show Their Age

Crown Jewel was a huge mess, but it wouldn't have been quite as bad had it not included The Brothers of Destruction vs. D-Generation X.

This match was indicative of a bigger problem in WWE. Instead of relying on its current crop of talented Superstars, WWE feels the need to use nostalgia to sell tickets.

What's even worse is that Shawn Michaels was brought out of retirement to have one of the worst matches of his career. We expected him to have ring rust, but it was made worse by Taker's limitations in the ring.

Watching the two guys who stole the show two years in a row at WrestleMania be reduced to a glorified gimmick match was sad, to say the least.

The buildup to the match was boring, and the execution was awful. If WWE needed a reason to stop relying on legends, this was it.

---

These were some of the best and worst storylines on Raw in 2018. What were your favorites and least favorites?