WWE RAW HITS & MISSES 5/2: RK-Bro and Bloodline miss to start show, Priest vs. Styles shines, more

Opening Segment – MISS: The reason this ended up in the Miss column is due to what happened after the first commercial break. What happened? Nothing. They seemed to be setting up some type of big confrontation in that opening segment between The Bloodline and RK-Bro & Drew McIntyre. But instead, it was a commercial for Smackdown. I like what they did in the segment itself with Randy Orton & Matt Riddle hitting RKOs Out of Nowhere on The Usos to set up McIntyre to get in the face of Roman Reigns. If this had been the end of the show, as a cliffhanger for Smackdown, I could accept it. But having it be the opening segment made fans think something else was going to happen on Raw, so it was disappointing when nothing did.

Street Profits & Ezekiel vs. Alpha Academy & Owens – HIT: This was a match that I liked while I watched it, but it didn’t leave much of an impression on me. I don’t really recall any of the details. I’m not sure what the end game is with the Ezekiel character, and I’m not sure I actually care that much. So, we’ll call this a minor Hit.

Priest vs. Styles – HIT: This match between Damian Priest and AJ Styles had good wrestling action with an important stipulation as Priest would be banned from ringside for Styles vs. Edge at Backlash if he lost. This fit in well with the storyline they’ve been telling since WrestleMania, as well as last week’s Priest vs. Balor match in the way that Styles won despite the attempted distraction from Edge (as opposed to Finn who lost last week). I would rather see Styles win with a finishing move instead of a roll up to keep him stronger heading into the PLE, but they want to protect Priest. Everyone has pointed out that Priest being banned from ringside will just be an excuse to introduce a new member of Judgement Day. I have a feeling it will be Balor turning on Styles after the tease of the Bullet Club when he made the save.

Ali vs. Theory & Miz – MISS: MizTV was ok with Mustafa Ali as The Miz’s guest. I am a big fan of Ali. He did a nice job on the mic here, but the antics of Miz with the failing mic were lame. I don’t need insider references to what Ali did in real life. But, Ali just returned last week and having him lose this week even in a handicap match doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. I am intrigued by the attacks from Tommaso Ciampa and want to see that feud, but shouldn’t Ali have addressed the attack from last week? He didn’t seem upset at all. These segments were not needed to further the Ali vs. Ciampa story.

Rollins Appreciation Night – HIT: I don’t fully understand Seth Rollins’ character, but I always get a kick out of his performances. I like the idea that he would try to throw himself an appreciation night after the Randy Orton celebration last week. He was good in his role. Cody Rhodes was also good in his interruption. Rollins making fun of Dusty Rhodes worked well to add some spice to the feud heading into their match on Sunday. The physicality at the end was good too.

Doudrop and Nikki Cross – HIT: This Hit is for the simple hope that this leads to a name and gimmick change for Nikki A.S.H. back to Nikki Cross. A more serious presentation and a team with Doudrop can be good. Hopefully it will be.

Lynch & Ripley & Deville vs. Belair & Asuka & Morgan – HIT: I enjoyed the main event quite a lot. There was a ton of talent in the ring with Becky Lynch, Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair and Asuka being four of WWE’s best women wrestlers, plus two solid wresters in Sonya Deville and Liv Morgan. It was a good match that went a good length without overstaying its welcome. The only thing I question is what’s next (or should I say, who’s next?) for Belair? It would be totally unbelievable to give Deville another Women’s Title match after she lost last week, but she could have gained some momentum with a win here. Instead, she got pinned by Morgan. They have Morgan vs. Ripley and Lynch vs. Asuka clearly set up. But, there doesn’t seem to be a worthy challenger for Belair and I fear that despite everything that has happened, it is going to be Deville again which won’t have any credibility.

Everything Else – MISS: There was a lot of stuff that happened this week Raw that I just don’t care about. This includes the 24/7 crap (which took up a lot of time over multiple segments), what they are doing with Omos and Bobby Lashley (which also took up a lot of time over multiple segments), and the Veer Mahaan squash. There is a lot of time to fill on these stupid 3 hour WWE Raw episodes, so I know there are going to be filler segments or angles and matches which I don’t care about. For some reason, it just stood out more than usual this week. Again, I’m not talking about bad matches or segments. I’m talking about the collective blah of several things adding up to a Miss.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com’s WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw and Smackdown each week. Email him at jmezz_torch@yahoo.com.

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