SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Opening Segment – MISS: This wasn’t a terrible start to Raw, but I was hoping to see more variety in John Cena’s final matches, so I’m not excited to see a rematch against Dominik Mysterio at Survivor Series. I understand why they are doing it, and it does make some sense to give Mysterio a chance in front of his hometown fans since Cena won the Intercontinental Championship in front of his hometown fans. But, I was hoping to see a big Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio match in San Diego instead. The performances were good, and the live fans ate it all up. It also was a nice set up for the opening six man tag match. But, I was still a bit disappointed.
Cena & Sheamus & Mysterio vs. Judgment Day – HIT: While I wasn’t a fan of the opening segment, it did lead to this very fun opening match as John Cena & Sheamus & Rey Mysterio took on Dominik Mysterio & Finn Balor & J.D. McDonagh. The Judgment Day crew were great foils for the babyfaces. It made sense to have Sheamus involved given his feud with Judgment Day. It was a nice way for Rey to get in the ring for the first time in 7 months after his leg surgery. He always looks perpetually young. This was a lot of fun and a good way to end Cena’s career on Monday Night Raw.
Vaquer – Bella – MISS: This reeked of WWE not trusting Stephanie Vaquer to talk very much. Her English isn’t perfect, but it is good enough for a short interview. Instead, she was attacked from behind by Nicki Bella before she even had a chance to say a single word. Then, the beating from Bella didn’t feel nearly strong enough for Vaquer to still be selling it the entire time Bella talked about why she turned on her and wanting to get back to being the leader of the women’s division. It wasn’t realistic that Vaquer would lay there that entire time. Bella was ok in her performance, but she hasn’t won a match since returning (that might be an exaggeration but not much of one), so how does she get a title match?
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Sikoa vs. Ziggler – HIT: Dolph Ziggler was a nice surprise as Solo Sikoa’s opening round opponent in the Last Time is Now Tournament. The live crowd was thrilled to see Ziggler. He’s been wrestling in TNA and elsewhere since leaving WWE so it isn’t surprising that he looked good in the ring. He and Sikoa had a good match. It isn’t surprising that Sikoa won as WWE wants their wrestlers to beat TNA wrestlers. But, it would have been nice to see either Ziggler or Zack Ryder on Smackdown win their match just to shake things up a bit.
Women’s WarGames Segment – MISS: Part of this is a retroactive Miss that I would have given Smackdown if I still covered that show. I wasn’t a fan of Charlotte Flair walking out on her proposed War Games team because of her past with Rhea Ripley. WWE finally found a way to get a babyface Charlotte pretty well liked and consistently cheered by the fans with her team and reluctant friendship with Alexa Bliss. Why jeopardize that good will for a bit of drama which was quickly resolved one show later? The fans didn’t seem into this drama at all as they gave Bliss the What? treatment. They didn’t pop big for Charlotte coming out to make the save and reunite with Bliss along with Ripley and Iyo Sky. It was a needless story. But, the bit later in the show with Ripley and AJ Lee was a nice tease for Lee and Becky Lynch joining the match.
Lynch vs. Dupri – HIT: While I haven’t been a fan of the feud between Becky Lynch and Maxinne Dupri over the IC Title, this was a good match. To her credit, Dupri has improved in the ring, but still isn’t going to have great matches even with very talented workers like Lynch. But, it was good enough to get a Hit with the story that was told as Lynch got more and more angry at the referee. The surprise distraction from AJ Lee was a big part of this Hit as it advanced her feud with Lynch. Lynch has better things to do than be the IC Champ and a feud with Lee is a good start.
Gunther vs. Evans – HIT: This was the in-ring highlight of Raw. It was disappointing that more wasn’t made out of Gunther’s return after his hiatus following his loss of the World Title to C.M. Punk at SummerSlam and his nose injury. But, it was great to see him back in the ring. Je’von Evans was a great opponent for him. Evans got to show off what makes him so special to the wider Raw audience, many of whom haven’t seen him on NXT. Gunther got the expected win which was the right way to go.
Closing Segment – HIT: Raw had a strong ending with the set up for the men’s War Games match as the teams were finalized with the additions of Brock Lesnar to Team Vision, and Roman Reigns to Team Punk/Cody/Usos. It all played out well. I loved C.M. Punk’s expression when Lesnar made his surprise appearance. It was like he was upset and possibly nervous about Lesnar being an opponent, while also looking resolute in defiance of him. The physicality with Lesnar and Punk, and then Lesnar and Cody Rhodes was strong. Reigns joining in worked well and was a fine tease of what he and Lesnar will do against each other in War Games. I would have done without the cops involvement. They didn’t add anything to the moment and the idea of Reigns possibly being arrested for spearing cops through the barricade (along with Bronson Reed) wouldn’t be a great way to follow up on this angle.
(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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