SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The Vision vs. Evans & Lee – HIT: On a show that often felt formulaic, it was nice to see WWE start Raw with a match instead of a long talking segment. The fact that the match was good was a bonus. Austin Theory & Bron Breakker successfully defended their Tag Team Championship against Ja’von Evans & Dragon Lee. The challengers particularly brought the energy in this match which was fun to watch from start to finish. I am still not a fan of Breakker being part of a tag team with a well defined loser like Theory. But at least it was a good match.
Post-match Beating – MISS: It is ok to give the babyfaces a little bit of hope without immediately squashing it. WWE wanted to squash it this week. It would be ok if Otis & Tozawa would have stood tall at the end of this segment. But, while they initially got the upper hand, The Vision stood tall in the end, just like they did after Otis confronted Maxine Dupri last week. This story structure would be repeated later in the show with a different faction.
Too Much Danhausen – MISS: I enjoy Danhausen in small bits, particularly when zombie Miz isn’t involved. So, I was fine with the early appearances of Danhausen interacting with Judgment Day. I would have rather seen them move on to something else after his defeat of JD McDonagh at Saturday Night’s Main Event. I got a kick out of some of the early bits that they did. But, then it kept going with multiple segments in the back and in the ring. Oba Femi was tangentially involved which is a mistake. Keep that man as far away from goofiness as possible. Danhausen had two separate run ins during the Mysterio vs. Joe Hendry match. It ultimately set up Danhausen vs. Dominik Mysterio at SummerSlam which feels like a waste of Dirty Dom.
Sikoa – Rollins – MISS: Another part of Raw that felt too formulaic is one of WWE’s worst recent tropes in babyface vs. babyface feuds. I am so sick of them. It gets to a point where instead of rooting for both babyfaces, I tend to root against them both. This segment with Solo Sikoa offering to help Seth Rollins against Roman Reigns fell flat because we are just starting to like Sikoa as a face, but we tend to really like Reigns even though he’s the world’s biggest ass. Rollins is somewhere in between. I can’t find a part of me that cared about any of this.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Gable & Penta vs. Rusev & Page – HIT: This was a good tag team match which isn’t surprising given the talents of Chad Gable, Penta, Rusev, and Ethan Page. It was a bit formulaic though. Didn’t we just see the WWE Champion and his challenger at SummerSlam teaming up against shared foes at SNME? Now we see the Intercontinental Champion and his challenger at SS teaming up against shared foes on Raw. This of course stems from the fact that too many SS matches are face vs. face. Why are fans being asked to pick between fan favorites Chad Gable and Penta? It was a good match at least.
Heyman Video – HIT: WWE has to build to major PLE matches without some of their top stars appearing every week. That can be a major problem, but it can create opportunities to do something a little different. I will take an occasional segment like this one with Paul Heyman talking about Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi than another in ring confrontation between them like we will probably see next week. Heyman’s performance was strong and stood out here. The Hell in a Cell match is my most anticipated match on the SS card.
Bloodline vs. Others Saga – MISS: LA Knight did his best to cut a promo about the situation involving the Bloodline. But because both sides have wrestlers who the fans want to cheer for, and others who are totally undefined in terms of their face/heel dynamic, he was in an impossible position. The fans didn’t seem nearly as behind him as they have recently. His main event match against Jacob Fatu was fine, but overly booked with The Usos, Solo Sikoa, and Payton Royce all getting involved. It makes sense to build to their six-man tag match at SS. But like the opening segment involving The Vision, in the end you had The Bloodline standing tall, even though it looked like Knight and his team would. It was very similar. It would have been good if WWE had done something different with the show opening and show closing segments.
Where Were The Women? – MISS: Bayley, Becky Lynch, Ivy Nile, Lyra Valkyria, Raquel Rodriguez, Roxanne Perez, and Sol Ruca, are all on the active Raw roster, yet none of them were on Raw. We saw Liv Morgan and Iyo Sky. That’s it. We didn’t get a single women’s match. Right now, out of 9 announced matches, SS only has 2 women’s matches. I know that Rhea Ripley is hurt, but they have other women. They were setting up Jade Cargill vs. Charlotte Flair in a grudge match, but both of them are likely going to be in the ladder match instead. They could have their singles match with 5 other women from Smackdown in the ladder match. They did nothing to follow up on Lyra Valkyria’s victory over Bayley at SNME. They announced that Ruca will defend the IC Title next week on Raw, but there’s nothing for either secondary Title at the 2-night PLE. Liv Morgan hasn’t defended the World Title since winning it at WrestleMania! They did have the Queen of the Ring tournament. They have some injuries. But, what are they doing?
(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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