WWE RAW HITS & MISSES (5/5): Heyman’s heel-heat generating promo, Sheamus vs. Theory, Judgment Day drama, McAfee-Gunther exchange, Jey defends against Seth, more

Paul Heyman – HIT: It is good that Paul Heyman knows how to actually generate heel heat, unlike Seth Rollins. This week’s Raw was better than last week’s, particularly how the crowd responded to the show. A big part of that was how Heyman started it off getting that heel reaction. After the Jey Uso entrance, Heyman interrupted with a great performance when he explained his actions at WrestleMania, defending himself for how he turned on Roman Reigns and CM Punk. It was believable, but the way he presented his argument, and the over the top yelling that he did, kept the fans from siding with him. This all led to him challenging Jey Uso for a World Championship match for Seth Rollins which Jey accepted, setting up the big main event. Uso was fine in his role in this opening segment. The only issue was that it was hard to believe that WWE would actually give a finish to that main event. I could have also done without the long segment in the back that followed when Heyman explained the evil plan to Bron Breakker. It wasn’t bad enough to get a Hit, but it felt unnecessary.

Penta vs. McDonagh – HIT: This was a good match in the continuing feud between Penta and Judgment Day, while also playing into his continued feud with Chad Gable and El Grande Americano. Penta looked strong in overcoming the attempted interference from Gable, Finn Balor and Carlito to pick up the win. I’m not totally sure why a Destroyer is legal, but a pile driver isn’t. But, that Mexican Destroyer is so devastating looking, it is good to see Penta using it as a finisher here, instead of just a transitional move like he has in the past.

Sheamus vs. Theory – HIT: I couldn’t think of who Greyson Waller was so nervous about facing that he had to con Austin Theory into taking the match instead. Sheamus was a nice surprise. I don’t know why he hasn’t been used the last few months, but it was good to see him back. The match was good, but nothing special. It is presumably the start of a breakup for A Town Down Under, but Raw needs tag teams as the division is pretty thin, so I would think WWE would want to push them as a team instead of breaking them up.

Judgment Day Backstage – MISS: This segment was more of the same that we see every week with teases of dissension in Judgment Day, as they are moving towards an eventual (with the emphasis on eventual) split between Balor and Dominik Mysterio. These weekly scenes are usually fairly amusing, but they don’t mean much as the story never actually advances. This one suffered from a bad moment when AJ Styles got totally tongue tied trying to say Intercontinental Championship. The other issue is that they announced that Penta will face Dirty Dom for the IC Title at Backlash, but they are already positioning Styles as the next challenger. It is predictable that Americano will get involved to cost Penta that match. But, this appearance by Styles seems to cement it. The bit at the end with Balor once again trolling Dominik felt forced as well.

Lynch – Valkyria – HIT: This was a good verbal encounter between Becky Lynch and Lyra Valkryia. Becky has been doing a good job getting heel heat, although I still question the idea of turning her. They are also keeping Bayley’s name in the conversation to build anticipation for her return to get revenge on Lynch. This was Valkyryia’s best performance on the mic. She is connecting more with the fans which is good. She has the in ring talent to be a star, but she’s been missing that something something to really get over. She’s moving in the right direction.

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Sky vs. Perez – HIT: Roxanne Perez needs some wins on Raw. She seems to lose every non-NXT match, and she’s been losing there too on her way out. I won’t complain about her losing to the World Champion Iyo Sky, but that would mean more for Sky if Perez had been positioned as a stronger competitor outside of her long stay in the Royal Rumble. But, this match was certainly Hit worthy in action. These are two talented workers and their skills were on display here. I continue to enjoy Sky as the Champ. The fans are behind her in a big way. She did seem too gullible in the end in trusting Perez’s handshake leading to the Giulia attack. Giulia needs some credibility as well. Perez & Giulia need to win next week.

Rusev vs. Otis – HIT: This was a good return match for Rusev. It clearly positioned him as a heel particularly with this post-match beating after pretending to leave when Akira Tozawa challenged him after he refused to let Otis out of the Accolade after getting the tap out win.

McAfee – Gunther – HIT: I still don’t like that this match is happening at all, but the performances from both Pat McAfee and Gunther was strong enough to get a Hit, despite not really buying the storyline. The idea that Gunther is growing bored and complacent as a professional wrestler, juxtaposed to McAfee’s passion and desire to be there might work to make fans believe McAfee has a chance. The match still needs to be pretty one sided, and hopefully will allow Gunther to move onto something more meaningful.

Uso vs. Rollins – HIT: Despite the predictable non-finish to the match, it was still a Hit. The wrestling quality was very high. There was plenty of drama. The fans were definitely into it. The way Heyman made singing Seth Rollins’ song a heel move was great. It added to Heyman’s very good night. The false finishes for both Rollins and Uso were well done. After Sami Zayn’s attack on Breakker to neutralize him, Uso got a very believable near fall. You could definitely buy into him beating Rollins at that point, despite WWE wanting to build up his new faction. I would have preferred that to what happened. They protected Rollins by having CM Punk attack him to cause the disqualification or whatever it was (there wasn’t announced finish). I would have had Jey win after the help from Zayn, and then have the group beating him down and have Punk save him at that point after the match. But, what would have happened if Rollins had become the World Champion before Punk arrived? It wasn’t the best plan for him to wait so long which is always a problem with these types of non-endings.

(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.)