SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Opening Segment – HIT: Raw got off to a good start with this opening segment as C.M. Punk came out to talk about Seth Rollins and what happened at SummerSlam. Punk did address the fake injury angle, but not in a real way to explain the advantage it gave Rollins which remains a big miss. And it is a little hypocritical of Punk to complain about someone cashing in Money in the Bank on him considering his history. But, moving past those issues, the promo was strong. The interruption from LA. Knight worked well too. This was a chance to follow up on what happened at the end of Raw last week where you could see both Punk and Knight’s point of view. The interruption from Paul Heyman was good. There were a few points where it felt a little unscripted with guys talking over each other, but that’s not a bad thing. This set up the big tag main event and also hinted at the eventual World Title match at Clash at Paris.
Styles & Lee vs. Mysterio & Americano – HIT: This match did go on a little longer than it needed. It could have easily cut 3-4 minutes and I wouldn’t have complained. But, it was still a good match which fit in well with the ongoing feud between AJ Styles and Dominik Mysterio, as well as the big Championship match at Triple Mania which will include Mysterio, Dragon Lee and El Grande Americano.
Rusev vs. Sami Zayn – MISS: In order to get a HIT from me going forward, a match with a crappy non-finish has to be great before that, and this one wasn’t. This match between Rusev and Sami Zayn was perfectly fine before the MFTs got involved by attacking Zayn. It probably would have been a Hit otherwise, but these non-finishes are totally out of hand.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Sky vs. Perez – MISS: These are two talented wrestlers, and they should have very good matches against each other. But, they were too cute early on with their acrobatics which didn’t look like they were actually trying to fight or hurt each other. The match got much better after the first commercial break and was well on its way to a Hit, but the ending with Iyo Sky’s moonsault was botched. Her aim was off or something. It looked bad. And then you had the failed attempt to cheat from her supposed friends Asuka & Kairi Sane which cost her against Roxanne Perez and you get a disappointing ending also. I get the story that they are telling, and I am intrigued by the possibility of a heel turn for Asuka and a feud against Sky. Where will Sane fit in? All of that was good, so I could excuse the overly booked ending. But when you throw in the poor start to the match and the botched moonsault, it lands as a Miss.
Lynch vs. Dupri – MISS: I don’t need to see Maxxine Dupri wrestle. She isn’t good. There are far better women wrestlers on the roster and in NXT who should be getting screen time over this woman who isn’t even talented outside of the ring either.
Bayley Video – HIT: I am curious to see where WWE is going with Bayley. This was a very good performance from Bayley in this video about her recent troubles and her state of mind. Bayley going dark can work, but are they going heel with her? Or are they trying to build sympathy for her? Time will tell.
Reed & Breakker vs. Punk & Knight – MISS: Once again, a Raw main event ended with a run-n creating a crappy disqualification finish. Did anyone actually buy into the idea that Seth Rollins had left earlier in the show? This was so predictable that I didn’t honestly pay attention to the match itself. Who cares? We know there isn’t going to be a finish. The physicality afterwards was fine, but not enough to make up for WWE totally devaluing the idea of having big matches when the outcomes don’t matter.
(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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