SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Opening Segment – HIT: Raw got off to a good start with Rhea Ripley, Dominik Mysterio, and J.D. McDonagh coming out to address the strength of The Judgment Day. It was interesting to see McDonagh out there with them, but still not an official member of the group. The real thing this segment will be remembered for was Sami Zayn’s impassioned interruption. His promo was very strong. As many have pointed out, he seemed to be channeling his passion over current world events into his wrestling promo. That can work, but it did seem a little over the top here. While it was good and I am giving it a Hit, it doesn’t quite feel like his feud with Judgment Day is at the level of the promo. But, considering how long they’ve been feuding, the fact that they cheated him out of the Tag Team Championship, and what they did to try to injure Cody Rhodes last week, his passion is somewhat understandable.
Mysterio vs. Ricochet – HIT: The opening segment ended with Ricochet coming to Zayn’s aid against Judgment Day. That led into this match against Dirty Dom, which was also a follow up on their encounter with Logan Paul last week. The match was good and fit in with the storyline of McDonagh continuing to try to join Judgment Day. Dominik continues to win via the numbers game with both Ripley and McDonagh helping to distract Ricochet leading to the cheap win. Presumably, we haven’t seen the last of this matchup.
Creed Brothers vs. Alpha Academy – HIT: I thought that Alpha Academy was going to win this match, giving the Creed Brothers a loss in their first main roster match. I figured the rub would be a strong showing in a good match. We got the good match that I was expecting, but thankfully the Creed Brothers got the win in their debut. It seems this is a main roster call up, not just a one week thing, which is good as they are clearly ready and can add some much needed life into the tag division on Raw.
Miz TV – MISS: The performances from The Miz and Gunther were fine in this segment. Gunther was particularly good in his dismissive attitude towards Miz. The problem is that I don’t buy Miz as a babyface. I have no interest in babyface Miz. His talking up his accomplishments as a face doesn’t make sense, considering how he constantly cheated and had outside help in all of his achievements. When he brags about beating John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania, it works as a heel, but not so much as a face. The idea that he somehow made the Intercontinental Championship prestigious in the past is a joke. Of all the potential opponents for Gunther in the #1 contenders fatal four way match next week, Miz is likely going to win, but he’s the one I have the least amount if interest in seeing.
DIY vs. Imperium – HIT: This was a good first match back together for DIY. It is unfortunate that Johnny Gargano failed in his return as a singles star. But, watching him team with Tomasso Ciampa is fun. They were a great tag team in NXT and can be again on Raw. But, WWE needed to do a better job of retelling their story to help them connect with the fans who might not be as familiar with their NXT work (plus, that was several years ago now). The loss also plays into the growing disdain that Ludwig Kaiser has for his partner Giovani Vinci.
McIntyre Video – HIT: I find Drew McIntyre to be a fully more intriguing character than Seth Rollins at this point. McIntyre is a human, not a silly cartoon character. It is interesting how he is relating his experiences as the WWE Champion during the Covid pandemic. He continues to come across as mostly a babyface, but depending on your point of view, some heel tendencies as a complainer. Rollins certainly is selling the idea that McIntyre is whining too much and needs to get over it. His follow up promo was good, but not nearly as good as this video package was for McIntyre. Rollins still doesn’t have a character. He is lucky that fans love to sing his music. He acts like they sing because of him, when in reality, they like him because of his music more than anything. I would love to see a Title change at the PLE, given how much more interesting McIntyre is right now, but I doubt that it will happen.
Rollins vs. McDonagh – HIT: McDonagh continues to show his skill in the ring with good matches like this one against Rollins. It isn’t surprising that these two would have a good match against each other. Rollins was obviously going to win, but Damian Priest’s presence at ringside with his Money in the Bank briefcase was a reminder that he can cash in at any time. Will he cash it in on either Champion at Crown Jewel?
Green & Niven – HIT: I could do without the annual Trick or Street Fight match on whichever show falls closer to Halloween. But, I got a huge kick out of Chelsea Green & Piper Niven dressing up as The Hart Foundation. It was a great costume, and Niven particularly shined as Jim Neidhart. It would have been funny enough, but doing it as a way of getting under the skin of Natalya made it even better. The match was not particularly good, but I will forgive it for the funny costumes.
Sami vs. Priest – MISS: The disqualification finish for the main event was lame. There is too much interference and too many distractions in matches involving Judgment Day. The wrestling action between Sami and Priest was perfectly fine. You don’t expect to have a bad match between these two. So the issue is the booking. They want to keep Sami strong and keep Señor Money in the Bank strong too. That makes sense. You don’t want him to lose when he was teasing cashing in MITB on Saturday earlier in the show. So, this felt like a copout finish.
Cody’s Show-Closing Promo – HIT: Cody Rhodes was still selling the ankle injury from last week when he made the save at the end of the show to help Zayn and Jey Uso fight off Judgement Day. I appreciated that, as opposed to the Super Cody bit from the end of last week’s Raw. After the disappointing main event, it was good to see Raw end strong with this good promo from Rhodes about facing Priest at the PLE. The seeds he planted for Priest walking behind the rest of Judgment Day including Dominik was interesting. With Priest being the least fond of McDonagh, and this idea that he is last among the equals despite having MITB, it will be interesting to see what happens with his character going forward.
Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com’s WWE Raw Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw each week. Email him at jmezz_torch@yahoo.com. Follow Jon on Twitter/X @JonMezzera.
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: Powell’s WWE Raw Hit List: Seth Rollins vs. JD McDonagh in a non-title match, Dominik Mysterio vs. Ricochet in a non-title match, Alpha Academy vs. The Creed Brothers
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