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Bloodline vs. 946 – MISS: It is hard to take this feud seriously when WWE goes over the top with unbelievable angles without realistic follow up. I have been out of action for three weeks, so I haven’t had a chance to comment on what’s been happening, but angles involving kidnapping and attempted vehicular homicide are hard to believe in wrestling. There are no consequences. There has been little follow up. The fact that Roman Reigns has to ask the Usos on Raw for an update on Jacob Fatu’s condition after being run over by a car last week was laughable. I know Roman doesn’t watch Raw (and who can blame him?), but he can’t pick up the phone? I like 946’s potential, and am a fan of adding Jaida Parker (well ready for a call up) to the group. They are clearly heels, but the Usos have been too. Fatu has been more of a babyface, as is Solo Sikoa, but he’s now back working with the Bloodline which blurs the lines. Reigns goes for a tweeter which isn’t helping. I liked the performances from him and LA Knight in the opening segment, but Knight can’t get the huge babyface reaction going up against a strong and hated heel Champion when that Champion does’t go fully heel. So the heel/face dynamics continue to be an issue with The Bloodline.
Penta & Evans vs. Breakker & Theory – HIT: The match was a Hit from the in ring quality, but whenever I saw Maxxinne Dupri at ringside, I was instantly reminded of how she, Austin Theory and even Logan Paul are dragging Bron Breakker down. I want to see The Vision go away as a faction, and some of them as individuals. I still enjoyed this match enough to give it a Hit. I like the pairing of Penta and Je’Von Evans. They were fun to watch in this match. The aftermath with Bronson Reed attacking the babyface duo leading to Oba Femi’s save was strong. But, Femi doesn’t look very vulnerable to Reed going into their Money in the Bank match. I was intrigued by Paul Heyman’s promo to Reed in the back later on.
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Vice & Ruca vs. Rodriguez & Perez – HIT: This was a pretty good tag match which gave the Judgment Day duo a needed win, while building to some potential tension between Lola Vice and Sol Rucca who will be facing each other as part of the MITB ladder match on Saturday. The ending was well done to have Vice accidentally hit her spinning back fist finisher on Ruca. The match leading up to that was good too.
Fenix vs. Ethan Page – HIT: Rey Fenix continues to shine as the AAA Cruiserweight Champion, which might end up being rebranded into a larger WWE umbrella considering he’s defending the Title on all of their shows now. I won’t complain about getting to see more of these good matches even if this wasn’t a Title match. Ethan Page’s anger over Chad Gable refusing to give him an Intercontinental Championship match while continuing to give various luchadors the shots is a good story. At some point, he will have to force Gable’s hand to give him a shot which can be a good story if it brings out more of a vicious side of Page’s personality.
Lynch vs. Morgan – HIT: If you didn’t know that this match would have a non-finish leading to a triple threat World Title defense for Stephanie Vaquer at the PLE, you haven’t paid much attention at all to WWE in years. It is hard to call it a disappointing ending when it is so predictable. It wasn’t a good ending, but the match before that was so good, that I will give it a Hit. I also appreciate that a bad storyline at least had the babyface Champion looking strong. It made perfect sense why Vaquer would get involved when she did, and it was ultimately her choice to face both Liv Morgan and Becky Lynch. The story has been consistent with Vaquer hating Morgan, Lynch hating Morgan, and Lynch and Vaquer respecting each other, but having a ton of tension and animosity between them. Lynch and Morgan were very good in the ring and put on a good match. But, I’d still rather see Vaquer in a singles title defense.
(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.)
