WWE RAW HITS & MISSES (4/26): Show-opening Bloodline cinematic video, Joe Hendry concert Raw debut, Reigns-Fatu closing segment, Rey vs. El Grande

Opening Bloodline Video – MISS: I wasn’t a fan of this opening video with Roman Reigns talking to the Usos about the Jacob Fatu situation. The content was okay, but it was far too overproduced. When fans praised the Bloodline story a few years ago as “cinema,” they were more referring to the story than the way it was presented. Wrestling isn’t cinema. The way this scene was shot totally took me out of the moment, from the way the three were sitting next to each other on one side of the table Last Supper style, to the music, and the overall production. It wasn’t as bad as the Danhausen invading The Miz’s house video from Smackdown (although Danhausen’s map of the stars’ homes was hilarious), but it wasn’t a good way to present a pro wrestling scene.

Rollins – Breakker – HIT: This was a good verbal encounter between Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker. They laid out their history effectively, with both of them getting in good points. Breakker’s impression of Rollins was great. He really got under Rollins’s skin, particularly with the way he talked about how Rollins is the best at being the second best wrester. Rollins got in some good lines about Breakker’s place in his own family. He was a little too proud of himself, as if he was revealing some big secret about Breakker being a Steiner, but it was still good. I just will never understand why WWE didn’t give him the Steiner name.

Penta vs. Rusev – HIT: 8 minutes seems to be the new norm for non-main event matches on Raw. Raw needs to address this lack of wrestling and lack of longer matches. This match should have been longer. I’m not saying it needs to be 20 minutes, but 12-15 would have been better. It was good while it lasted, and it advanced the story around the various challengers for Penta’s Intercontinental Championship, with Rusev, Ethan Page, and Je’Von Evans all involved.

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Lynch vs. Sky – HIT: This was more of a main event than the actual main event, and got the Raw main event length of 13 whole minutes. But, it was a very good 13 minutes, although with two commercials, I’m not sure how much time we actually saw of those 13 minutes. The scene that set this up was strong with Becky Lynch deciding to have her own IC Title Open Challenge, only to turn down Iyo Sky’s acceptance of that challenge, because she didn’t quite fit the criteria which Becky had laid out. The match thankfully happened anyway, and we got this good IC Title match which did end with the predictable interference from Asuka. I’m not sure why Kairi Sane wasn’t with her. But, they did nicely advance the Backlash match between Asuka and Sky which should have happened at WrestleMania.

Joe Hendry Concert – HIT: This was a pretty good way to introduce or reintroduce Joe Hendry to the Raw audience. He got to show off his personality and his singing gimmick, declare himself officially signed to Raw, and get a cheap pop by suggesting that Logan Paul should be fired. They don’t appear to be going right to a feud with Hendry against The Vision, considering Paul & Austin Theory are in a Tag Team Title feud with The Street Profits who saved Hendry here. Time will tell what Hendry’s first program will be.

Mysterio vs. Americano – MISS: I’m not interested in feuds that mostly play out on AAA. I don’t watch it, nor plan to. I haven’t been a fan of El Grande American vs. El Grande Americano. The story makes absolutely no sense. When the heel announcer is saying on air why it doesn’t make sense for Rey Mysterio to be working with the original El Grande Americano who only became El Grande Americano when he was feuding with Mysterio, points to how stupid this story is. The story made sense at first, but as soon as the second Americano showed up with no explanation, it stopped making sense. From what I understand, Secundo Americano is the babyface in Mexico, but he’s the heel in America. The match itself was fine, but it was all about the shenanigans with various caucasians pretending to be Mexican at ringside, so I could’t take a Rey Mysterio vs. Ludwig Kaiser match seriously.

Oba Femi Open Challenge – HIT: I am intrigued to see where WWE goes with the Oba Femi open challenge. I liked that he was given a chance to talk after his squash of Greyson Waller. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, and how various wrestlers are used who answer the challenge in the upcoming weeks. Also, at some point Femi needs to move beyond squashes. The squashes are good, but he showed in NXT that he can have good longer matches.

Bayley & Valkyria vs. Perez vs. Rodriguez – HIT: This was a good match with Roxanne Perez getting to wrestle in front of her hometown fans. WWE is telling a story with her choosing between The Judgment Day and Finn Balor. WWE positioned this match as a chance to move up in the ranks to potentially get a Tag Title matcha against Brie Bella & Paige, so having the heel team win makes sense. It also makes sense to keep drawing out the story with Perez and the rest of Judgment Day. Things are going well now, but what happens when they stop going well?

Reigns – Fatu – MISS: It feels like WWE realized that this matchup between Reigns and Fatu should’t be babyface vs. babyface. I feel like this closing segment was positioning Fatu as the heel. The way he attacked the OTC felt like a heel turn, and the fans booed him. I think that’s the way WWE wanted the audience to react, but I’m not totally sure. Reigns came across like a dick. Fatu wants to improve his life and make a better life for his family. That’s a babyface trait. They threw out the entire history of Fatu in WWE by Reigns claiming that he was really the one who brought him into WWE, not Solo Sikoa. I wasn’t a fan of that line. Their World Title match at Backlash should be very good, but I’m not a fan of what they did this week to build to it.

(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.)