WWE RAW HITS & MISSES (4/28): If you want to be a heel, then stop acting like a babyface; McAfee’s rah-rah promo lacked credibility; ref stoppage in the midst of the main event

Opening Segment – MISS: If you want to be a heel, then stop acting like a babyface. The problem with Seth Rollins’ heel character, is that he wants the fans to cheer for him, unlike John Cena. He wants to be the leader, to have everyone following his vision. It is one of the reasons why a cult leader character doesn’t work and why Bray Wyatt got so popular back in the day. Rollins should not encourage the fans to sing his song. He should change it. He should not encourage the fans to finish his sentences. He should stop introducing himself the way he did as a face and stop calling himself Seth “Freakin’” Rollins. Yes, the opening segment gave a good hook to see what Sami Zayn would do at the end of the show, but I was confused as to why the only options were going to Smackdown or betting beat up by Bron Breakker. Why wasn’t joining the group on the table? That didn’t make sense. The work that Zayn put in here didn’t work, because the fans were happy to see him get killed in the end.

Perez vs. Ripley – HIT: WWE needs to do a better job of introducing NXT talent to the main roster, but I’ve been saying that for a decade. It is good to see Roxanne Perez on the main roster. I am intrigued to see what her team with Giulia turns into. But, they need to introduce Giulia, and not just have her do these run ins. The match between Perez and Rhea Ripley was very good while it lasted before the expected cheating from Giulia, so I am giving it a Hit. The eventual tag match with Iyo Sky teaming with Ripley against the heel duo will be excellent.

Paul – Uso – HIT: This was a good, basic storyline to set up the first World Title defense for Jey Uso. Logan Paul is a jerk who everyone hates. Jey is a good guy who everyone likes. Paul challenged Uso to a World Title match. Uso says yes and puts Paul in his place. Later in the show, Paul got some revenge by sucker punching Uso in the back. It is good, simple storytelling. The fans should really want to see Uso successfully defend his title against Paul at Backlash.

War Raiders vs. Judgment Day – MISS: There was certainly Hit-worthy wrestling in this match between The War Raiders and Judgment Day’s Finn Balor & J.D. McDonagh. But, it was unlikely that WWE would book Judgment Day vs. New Day. While it wasn’t a no. 1 contender match, it was strongly framed that the winner would be in line for a title match, so the outcome was very predictable. Throw in all the shenanigans from Carlito, and the save from Penta taking advantage of Carlito’s distraction, and you get a weak finish to a good match, which was the same as the first match. This did play more into the growing dissension in Judgment Day, and Penta’s feud with the group. But, the match didn’t work because of the end.

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Lynch – Valkyria – HIT: While I still disagree with turning Becky Lynch heel and feel it will be a mistake long term, she had a nice performance in talking about injuring Bayley and turing on Lyra Valkyria. Valkyria had her best performance on the mic in confronting Lynch. I like that she was the one to challenge Lynch by suggesting she put her Intercontinental Title on the line at the PLE. That should be a very good match.

Nile vs. Vaquer – HIT: Stephanie Vaquer is proof that if you are good enough in the ring, and have that special aura, you can get over with the fans very quickly. All she has to do give that sly smile and look to get the fans excited to see what she’s about to do. Here, she had a good match against Ivy Nile. It obviously helps to be in the ring with Vaquer, but Nile’s performance was strong here. She wasn’t going to beat Vaquer, but she had a good showing in the loss. Vaquer is a star and it will be interesting to see where they go with her as the NXT Champ.

McAfee – MISS: Pat McAfee’s promo was very well delivered. He was passionate about standing up to Gunther’s bullying. But, it was so rah-rah, look at me, look at all the great things I do, and now I am standing up for my little buddy. It felt hollow considering all of the real life criticisms that people have had about things that he’s said on his ESPN show, or things his guests have said that he didn’t push back against. And they aren’t going to build him up like this just to feed him to Gunther to squash as he should in about a minute at the PLE, so I am worried about the way WWE is going to book that match.

Zayn’s Journey – HIT: Despite the negative start of the show, I did enjoy the various scenes in the back with him interacting with people like Paul Heyman who added to the offer to leave Raw to get an automatic WWE Title match on Smackdown, and his good buddy Jey Uso. They added some question as to what Zayn would ultimately do in the end, although I was still confused as to why joining Rollins wasn’t an option. It all culminated in the second in-ring encounter between Rollins and Zayn. Zayn’s performance in standing up to his friend, refusing to take an easy path to a Championship, and refusing to be threatened was very strong. Zayn definitely was getting more cheers after that promo than at the start of the show, or at the end.

Breakker vs. Zayn – MISS: Once again, the wrestling action in this match was perfectly good. But, the idea of having the referee stop the match when he did doesn’t make sense. He could have counted Zayn out when he couldn’t get back in the ring. He could have disqualified Breakker for not going for the pin even though he clearly had Zayn defeated. And the ultimate point of the match was to get heat on Rollins for forcing Zayn into the match and to build sympathy for the babyface. They failed in doing that when the fans are cheering the heels and chanting “one more time!” for Breakker to keep spearing Zayn over and over again. Of course, while I don’t agree with the way that Rollins is presenting himself and his group, I also am annoyed with the fans which is a growing theme of this column.

(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 him on BlueSky @jonmezzera.bsky.social)