SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The Vision vs. The Usos & Knight – HIT: This was a pretty good six man tag. The opening segment which set it up was ok. There was a lot of solid mic work, but too much of wrestlers just standing around listening to other wrestlers talk. And none of the mic work jumped off the screen. It was ok. The match itself was good with The Vision getting the much needed win. They’ve been on a bad streak lately with the masked wrestler costing them matches like last week’s Elimination Chamber qualifier for Austin Theory. Getting the win over the Usos could be setting up two of The Vision members to get a Tag Team Title shot which would be good.
The Crate – HIT: This was an amusing enough bit creating speculation from fans about what, or more likely who is in the crate. It should serve as an additional hook to watch EC.
Nattie vs. Bayley vs. Asuka – HIT: This was a good EC qualifier, but it felt like it should have been very good. On a show with such a small amount of wrestling, the fact that this match was only given about 11 minutes was disappointing. It felt like it was starting to hit a peak when Bayley tapped out to the Asuka Lock. I’m fine with Asuka getting the win, but keep building to that point for another 4 or 5 minutes to elevate the match and increase the small amount of wrestling action. It was still good enough to get a Hit, but it should have been better.
Morgan Interview – MISS: This felt like a commercial for WWE social media where those of us who don’t speak Spanish have to go to their media to get the translation to find out what Stephanie Vaquer said to make Liv Morgan cry. The interview was earlier in the day. It wasn’t live. So why not have subtitles like they do with pre-taped promos from wrestlers like Asuka on this same show? Saying something so nasty as to make your potential opponent cry seemed more like a heel move to me. Maybe they are going for a double turn?
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Penta vs. Americano – HIT: Another marginal Hit for strong in ring work from Penta and El Grande Americano plus that amazing spring board Mexican Destroyer to end the match. The quality was brought down by the constant outside interference from Rayo and Bravo, with the under the ring shenanigans from the Original Americano. The fact that the announcers are still playing dumb about his identity considering Chad Gable was openly acknowledged by Michael Cole at the time as the obvious identity is maddening. The storyline still doesn’t make sense, and nobody is asking any questions about it. The match was also short and should have gone longer especially on a show with such little wrestling.
Lee – Lynch – MISS: This was a bad segment. AJ Lee came across as a total heel to me. She was bragging about single handedly changing the women’s division. The scripting was bad, but her performance wasn’t good either. Here’s a tip for babyface wrestlers: if you need to say “you’re welcome” after a bragging statement, you aren’t a babyface anymore. She didn’t seem to be getting the response that she was expecting either. And then Becky Lynch was acting the exact opposite of how her character acted last week. She was so angry at AJ and was so determined to get her hands on her, that she was willing to give her an Intercontinental Championship match. She desperately wanted to get her hands on AJ. Now a week later, she has the chance to get her hands on her, but she didn’t. Becky said she didn’t want to injure AJ because it would cancel their match. But, she should be happy about that. Beat up Lee, injure her, and cancel the Title defense that you didn’t want to have in the first place. It is a win-win for her, but she didn’t do it so that she could play the chicken shit heel character which doesn’t fit. This followed a segment earlier in the show which was too similar, when CM Punk gave Finn Balor and his Judgment Day partners a clean shot to attack him from behind. That segment was ok, not a Hit, but not a Miss either. But, it had the same basic structure and ending as this segment.
Evans vs. Gunther vs. Mysterio – HIT: The main event was only the fourth match on this show, but at least it went a pretty good length to close things out. Gunther could not win, because that would mean he would have to take a loss in the EC which would’t be good. Having Dragon Lee cost him the match by attacking him with the ring bell made sense after what happened last week. It is nice to see Lee getting a rub from the AJ Styles retirement. The tribute episode next week should be interesting. Do they set up Lee vs. Gunther for EC? The card could use a fifth match. Getting back to this match, there was a lot of good wrestling action throughout and it was nice to see Je’von Evans getting the big win. He will do amazing things inside the Chamber.
(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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