WWE RAW HITS & MISSES (8/10): Solo vs. Jey Uso, Solo’s funny babyface character, Penta vs. Laredo Kid, Bron Breakker’s 1,000 yard stare, Lynch-Vaquer

Note: I’m taking a slightly different approach to this week’s Raw Hits & Misses. I’m acknowledging up front that there is far too much inconsistency in the way several characters are presented on the show. There are too many babyface vs. babyface feuds and matches. There are too many poorly-defined characters where it is impossible to know if WWE wants me to cheer or boo them. Even good segments like this opening segment were brought down by this fact. But, I’m going to look at the individual segments and matches in a bubble and then wrap up some of the negatives at the end.

Opening Segment – HIT: I do get a kick out of babyface funny Solo Sikoa. I loved how he started the show mocking Jey Uso’s entrance and catch phrases. He was very funny. Jey was good in his role too, seemingly playing a heel here. The segment effectively set up the main event for the show where Jey would take on his brother to either force him to rejoin The Bloodline or agree that The Bloodline would leave Solo alone forever.

Penta vs. Laredo Kid – HIT: In a bubble, this is definitely a Hit as it was a good match between Penta and Laredo Kidd. They worked well together and put on a match that was fun to watch from start to finish. There was no suspense in terms of who would win, but it was still a good match. It was a nice start for the Luchador Tournament to determine who will face Roman Reigns for the World Title when Raw is in Mexico in a few weeks.

Bron Breakker – HIT: Bron Breakker did a nice job in several segments of selling being upset over the declaration that Oba Femi is the future of WWE. He was distracted in the back with the rest of The Vision. He remained distracted during Austin Theory vs. Akira Tozawa. He had a great “thousand yard stare.” His scene with Paul Heyman in the back later worked to set up a challenge to Femi, which will be coming soon. Femi didn’t do much this week, but save Tozawa from the post-match beating from the Vision, getting in Breakker’s face which worked fine.

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Vaquer – Lynch – Morgan – HIT: The performances from Stephanie Vaquer, Becky Lynch, and Live Morgan were strong in this segment. Will it set up a #1 contender’s match between Vaquer and Lynch? Or a triple threat match for the World Title? Time will tell. But, I particularly appreciated the fact that Vaquer was allowed to talk live for as long as she did. She wasn’t great, but she is improving and needs time like this to continue to do so.

Mysterio vs. Lee – HIT: This was a good match between Dominik Mysterio and Dragon Lee. Lee needed the win heading into the luchador tournament, but Mysterio needed a win too. I could see the match going either way which isn’t always the case. That unpredictability added to my enjoyment of the match. I wonder if Mysterio will cost Lee in his first round matchup next week?

Judgment Day vs. Ruca & Sky – HIT: There wasn’t much mystery as to who would be Sol Ruca’s mystery partner. But that was okay, as we got to see Iyo Sky in a good tag match. There were a few moments where the positioning was a bit off, where a wrestler, or wresters would have to reposition themselves at the last second to take a move from their opponent. But, overall it was good enough to get a Hit despite a few of those moments. The ending was very strong as Ruca avoided Pop Rox and hit a very good looking Sol Snatcher on Roxanne Perez for the win. Ruca hasn’t been as good in the ring on the main roster as she was in NXT. There has been talk about how some of her early botches have effected her confidence. If that’s the case, hopefully this match will help bolster her confidence because she performed very well here.

Uso vs. Sikoa – MISS: Even in a bubble, I can’t give this main event a Hit. The match quality was fine, but the ending only works if you accept the fact that The Bloodline are heels in the way that Jimmy Uso cheated and interfered to cost Sikoa the match. Also, I’m just sort of over the idea of forcing someone to join a faction that they don’t want to join. The problems with the current way that WWE is presenting so many characters is central to the problems with this main event and the tepid crowd response to it.

Character Presentations – MISS: Jey was a heel for most of the show, but he still did his babyface ring entrance. As I said above, that hurt the main event. I don’t watch AAA, so I was not familiar with Laredo Kidd, and wish WWE had done a better job of introducing him to the Raw audience. IWWE and AEW both do such poor jobs of introducing wrestlers from other promotions (AAA, Evolve, TNA, ROH, CMLL, NJPW, Stardom, etc.) to the more casual fans who don’t follow every other promotion. Breakker needs to brake away from The Vision ASAP. As long has he’s still hanging out with those losers, he won’t feel like someone who should be challenging Femi. And I don’t want Femi anywhere near the even bigger losers of Alpha Academy. At least Femi and Breakker are well defined as the clear babyface and the clear heel, but for how long? If Breaker does brake away from The Vision, that will be a face turn for sure. Why is WWE asking us to potentially choose between Lynch and Vaquer? It is yet more tension between two babyfaces. LA Knight is over, but he is going up against the very popular Roman Reigns. It is a problem across WWE.

(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.)