SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Opening Segment – HIT: Raw got off to a good start with C.M. Punk addressing what happened at WrestleMania with Paul Heyman turning on him to join Seth Rollins. Rollins would ultimately interrupt with Heyman and Bron Breakker. The mic work from both Punk and Rollins was strong here. The physicality was ok with Sami Zayn and then Jey Uso coming out to help Punk. The dynamics were a bit off with three babyfaces chasing off the two heels. The imbalance has led to speculation that a third member of the heel faction will be introduced soon, or Zayn will end up turning on his friends to join with Rollins’ crew. Time will tell. Overall, this was a good set up for the tag match that was announced for Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Penta vs. Gable – HIT: This was a good match as is expected between Penta and Chad Gable. As I said last week, I am happy that Penta is now using the Mexican Destroyer as a finisher. It is too devastating to not end the match. Penta got revenge for El Grande Americano’s interference in the Intercontinental Championship match at Backlash, although a match between them is still presumably on the horizon. I could see Penta ultimately unmasking Americano so we finally learn his real identity, but Penta is also still involved in the feud with Judgment Day.
Gunther vs. McAfee Follow Up – MISS: I would have given Pat McAfee the week off to really sell the beating he took from Gunther at the PLE. Having him start the show off air and come out a little ways into the show didn’t make a lot of sense. He said he was with the doctors who cleared him to work. Cleared him to sit and talk? And why didn’t they have time to check on him before Raw started? Why have McAfee talk about how much he respects Gunther? He already respected him as a wrestler, but not as a person. That’s what the match was all about. Why would he suddenly respect him now? This also finished a bad story which never did much for me and hurt the credibility of Michael Cole.
War Raiders vs. Creed Brothers – HIT: This was a good tag team match between The War Raiders and the Creed Brothers. New Day were ok on guest commentary, but the constant yapping at them from Cole got on my nerves. He just came across over the top as the babyface announcer pestering the heel team. The match itself was fun to watch from start to finish. The cheating from New Day to help the Creeds was predictable, but worked well enough. Are we actually going to get the Creeds vs. New Day? As a heel vs. heel matchup, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. But, we probably will only to have the War Raiders get involved to ultimately set up a triple threat match which wouldn’t be my first choice. So while I enjoyed this match, I’m far from enthused about the tag division on Raw right now.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Uso – Gunther – HIT: Jey Uso’s entrance is fun, but watching it on tv is undoubtedly not quite as fun as being there in person. I wouldn’t do the restart as it does drag a little. But, I get why they want to do it for those live fans. The back and forth between Gunther and Uso worked well. We got the big announcement that Gunther will challenge the winner of Uso’s World Title defense against Logan Paul at SNME. Does that make Uso’s victory a foregone conclusion? The positioning of that Gunther title match right after Money in the Bank definitely has me thinking about a cash in on a severely beaten down yet barely victorious Jey Uso. I also appreciate how Uso’s confidence has gone through the roof since beating Gunther for the Title. This was a much different verbal encounter between these two than the ones we saw leading up to WrestleMania.
Balor vs. Styles – HIT: This was another good match. It wasn’t the dream match that it would have been 5 years ago, as Finn Balor and AJ Styles are past their prime in the ring, but they are still good wrestlers and they still had a good match against each other. The interference from Judgment Day was offset by Penta, so it didn’t play into the finish of the match which was good. Styles continues to be built up as a challenger for Dominik Mysterio’s IC Title, but what role will Penta have going forward, considering his feud with American Made isn’t over.
Becky Lynch – HIT: Becky Lynch continues to do a nice job with her heel presentation. She is getting the boos that she is going for. I liked how she bragged about sending Lyra Valkyria to the hospital despite losing their match at Backlash. It feels like she’s taking some real life criticism of her and turning it around to take advantage of it. She is owning that criticism and will amplify it going forward to cement her as a top heel on Raw.
Introduction of Giulia (and Perez) – MISS: Giulia is a special talent. She was treated like a huge deal when she signed with NXT and started wrestling there. I don’t understand why she turned heel. I don’t understand why they insist on having Roxanne Perez as a heel either when she’s undersized, has a natural likability, and wrestles a babyface style. She is also a special talent, yet she loses all of her matches. I appreciate that WWE had a vignette for these two to let them talk and present themselves before their main event tag match against Iyo Sky & Rhea Ripley. But, while it was fine for hyping a main event, it wasn’t sufficient to introduce them to the larger audience, particularly Giulia who has much less exposure on the main roster. Add in that they lost this match, and WWE is failing to make them appear like the big deal that they should be. Compare Giulia’s use on Raw to the few appearances from Stephanie Vaquer.
Main Event – HIT: Despite my issues with how Giulia and Perez have been presented on the main roster, their match against Sky & Ripley was very good. These are four very talented workers and they had a chance to shine in the ring. There were some clever spots throughout the match. Cole got confused a few times with Perez and Ripley’s outfits being so similar. I can see why. One is like 6 feet tall and white and the other is 5 feet tall and not-white. They really are very similar. I would have definitely given the heels the win, but having Ripley win to build some momentum to an eventual Women’s Championship match made sense too.
(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)
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