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After a memorable Crown Jewel show this past weekend, Raw was also live this week from Australia where all the fallout took place. As Seth Rollins finally defeated Cody Rhodes to win the Crown Jewel Championship, he opened the show along with the other members of The Vision. Now that he got the monkey off his back of never defeating Cody, it was time to move forward as the new number one contender for his World Heavyweight Championship would be decided in the show’s main event. That main event came in the form of a Triple Threat match featuring C.M. Punk, LA Knight, and Jey Uso. While all three men have been targeting Rollins in recent months, only one would earn the chance of getting the next crack at him.
In addition to a new challenger for his title, Rollins had another unexpected issue coming his way by the time the night was over. In addition to that, we had Dominik Mysterio defending his Intercontinental Championship against Penta, Rhea Ripley taking on Kairi Sane in front of her home continent, and a banged-up Jimmy Uso going one on one with Bronson Reed.
Dominik Mysterio vs. Penta
Latest developments:
Two weeks ago, Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio retained the Intercontinental Title against Rusev after he hit him with a low blow and rolled him up while pulling his tights. Last week, Dominik teamed with Finn Balor & J.D. McDonagh to take on Penta, A.J. Styles, and Dragon Lee. As Dominik was about to hit a 619, he fell down in fear as he saw Rusev coming down to the ring. Rusev eventually caught him and before he could do any damage, he was kicked in the face by Penta. Later in the night, it was announced that Dominik would defend his title this week against Penta. Penta was confronted by Rusev backstage this week as he was heading to the ring for the match, who reminded him of what happened the week before and told him he would get a shot at the winner.
As the championship match progressed, Penta maintained the advantage as he back dropped Dominik onto the announce table. After moving out of the way of a 619 attempt, Penta hit Dominik with a Penta Driver for a near fall. Rusev later came down to the ring and before he could get involved, Penta leaped over the top rope onto him. While outside the ring, Dominik grabbed the timekeeper’s hammer as the referee was distracted. Dominik then hit Penta in the gut with the hammer, and nailed him with a 619 followed by a Frog Splash to retain the title.
Analysis:
Despite being against a babyface and being no less of a heel than he’s always been, Dominik was once again cheered heavily by the audience. The reactions he’s been getting lately are now making his matches even more entertaining than they already were. In addition to once again getting a positive reaction from the crowd, Dominik again had Penta’s number in this match. These two has shown in their past matches how great their chemistry is, and this turned out to be the best one they’ve had together. While the outcome was never in doubt, it didn’t take away from how good everything was before that.
Once Rusev confronted Penta before the match, it was a clear sign that he was going to come out and get involved. Even though Penta took Rusev out before he could even lay a finger on him, the referee being distracted by him was what helped Dominik cheat to win. With Dominik now set to face Rusev for the title next week, there’s no way that Penta doesn’t play into the outcome of that match after what happened here. This is all eventually going to lead to a Triple Threat involving all three of them, possibly at Saturday Night’s Main Event. For as entertaining as these interactions between all of them have been recently, there’s no reason to end this storyline anytime soon.
Grade: B+
Rhea Ripley vs. Kairi Sane
Latest developments:
At Crown Jewel, Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky defeated Asuka & Kairi Sane after Iyo hit Kairi with the Over the Moonsault. It was later announced that Rhea would face Kairi one on one this week. Backstage before the match, Asuka blamed Kairi for their loss at Crown Jewel. While Kairi apologized and said she could fix it by trying to talk to Iyo, Asuka told her she needs to fix the dishonor she caused her. As Kairi showed her the bruise on her head she suffered in the match while trying to help her, Asuka slapped her.
The match took place as Rhea caught Kairi from the top rope and despite several reversals, Rhea eventually slammed her onto the mat. Asuka got on the apron until Iyo pulled her down and kicked her in the face. After Kairi failed to win with a roll up, Rhea nailed her with a head butt and then followed that with the Riptide to pick up the win. After the match, Asuka attacked Iyo as she threw her head first into the post. Rhea then kicked Asuka off the apron and was about to hit her with a Riptide on the announce table until Kairi hit Rhea several times with a kendo stick. Asuka then hit Rhea with a devastating DDT onto the announce table as her & Kairi stood tall over Rhea to end the segment.
Analysis:
Much like the tag match at Crown Jewel, the outcome to this was a forgone conclusion considering that this show was once again in Australia. However, the post match angle was a way of benefiting everyone as Asuka & Kairi were able to get their heat back despite back-to-back losses. From how everything played out here, it’s obvious that this feud between both teams is not over. While another tag match is likely to happen, it feels like Asuka vs. Iyo is the real match with the most juice. With all these women likely to be in the Women’s WarGames match at Survivor Series, the best place for them to do that one on one match would be Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Another major talking point coming out of this was Asuka continuing to abuse Kairi. It’s clear that the people are into this as the reaction from the crowd when Asuka slapped Kairi backstage was priceless. As big of a match as Asuka vs. Iyo will be whenever it happens, Asuka vs. Kairi could potentially be even bigger. While there’s no need to rush it, the moment when Kairi eventually stands up to Asuka is going to be a big deal. Until then, seeing what else Asuka does to make herself one of the best heels in the Women’s Division is going to be television worth tuning into.
Grade: B
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Bronson Reed vs. Jimmy Uso
Latest developments:
During the match between Roman Reigns and Bronson Reed at Crown Jewel, Bron Breakker interfered on Reed’s behalf. Jimmy & Jey Uso then came out to back Reigns up, but their attempt to help him backfired as Jey accidentally Speared Reigns through a table and that allowed Reed to pick up the win with a Tsunami. After the match, Reigns blamed Jimmy & Jey for the loss and told them he didn’t want to see either one of their faces until Christmas. This week as Jimmy was preparing for his match with Reed, Jey told him he couldn’t go out there with him as he couldn’t afford to get hurt before his Triple Threat match later in the night. As Jimmy took this as Jey saying he can’t handle Reed on his own, he told Jey to handle his business while he handled his own.
Despite having injured ribs that he suffered at Crown Jewel when he was Speared through the timekeeper’s area by Breakker, Jimmy attempted to carry Reed on his back until Reed fell down on him. Reed then followed this with two sentons and the Tsunami for the win. Breakker came out and Speared Jimmy twice after the match and as he was about to Spear Jimmy through the timekeeper’s area again, Jey came out to make the save for his brother. Reed splashed Jey into the corner, but Jey rebounded with a Super Kick that knocked him out of the ring. Despite Jey coming to his rescue, Jimmy argued with Jey for getting involved.
Analysis:
After Reed defeated Reigns at Crown Jewel, there was no chance that he was losing to an injured Jimmy in this match. As this match was an extended squash, it was basically an afterthought to everything that happened before and after. In addition to Jimmy & Jey being on the outs with Reigns, they are now on the outs with each other. From the tense moment they had backstage before the match, it was obvious that it was going to play into what we saw here. Seeing how the two of them argued after Jey came out to Jimmy’s rescue even though he agreed not to, it looks like their issues are only going to get worse in the coming weeks.
This storyline was already interesting when Jey was showing signs of being a heel, but it’s really spiced up ever since Reigns came back. Instead of them all playing babyfaces, having them show shades of grey has made wherever this story goes next much less predictable. As there was no Reigns on the show this week, things between him and his cousins are likely to get even uglier when he does show up again. With Survivor Series right around the corner, there’s the question of whether or not they’ll end up being on the same team by the time we get there. With all of this being as spicy and unpredictable as it is, this is a clear example of how much better the show is when the Bloodline saga is a part of it.
Grade: B
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Bayley & Lyra Valkyria vs. Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez
Latest developments:
Over the past month, Bayley has shown signs of a split personality in her interactions with Lyra Valkyria. While this has all been going on, the two of them have been engulfed in a feud with Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez. Last week after Perez defeated Lyra, Bayley encouraged Lyra to go with her to look for their foes in the back. Later backstage, Bayley & Lyra attacked Raquel & Perez before security could break it up. It was later announced that both teams would face each other this week.
Bayley & Lyra held the advantage as they took turns splashing Raquel & Perez against the turnbuckle. The match turned around when Bayley threw Lyra onto Raquel, Raquel caught her and hit her with a Fallaway Slam onto Bayley. Raquel later pulled Bayley out of the ring and hit her with a big boot as the referee was distracted as Perez drove Bayley’s head into the mat with head scissors before Lyra interrupted the count. Lyra slapped Bayley to her to snap out of her funk, which led to Bayley getting fired up as she took down Raquel & Perez single handedly. Bayley then hit Perez with an Elbow Drop from the top rope followed by the Rose Plant to pick up the win.
Analysis:
After all these weeks, it looks like Lyra finally found a way to get through to Bayley. After Lyra slapped her, that’s all it took for Bayley to take over the match and get the win for them. From how well this played out here, Lyra slapping Bayley is a spot we’re likely going to see regularly in their matches from now on. It’s a good idea as it gives the audience a moment to anticipate and is a way of furthering the story of Bayley’s split personality. As this is a story they need to take their time with, there’s a strong chance the two of them could win the Women’s Tag Team Titles at some point.
Until that happens, this has been another example of how the best storylines on Raw involving the women are ones not centered around a title. As that’s been a common complaint about women’s storylines in the past, this one as well as the one involving Asuka, Kairi, Rhea, and Iyo are showing that they don’t need a title to make people care about what the women have going on. Coming out of Summerslam, this has been the best thing that could’ve happened for both Lyra & Bayley as this has given them prominent TV time for over a month now. If this can continue down the path they’re on now, they could easily end up having a singles match against each other at WrestleMania. With that still being six months away, they need to be really careful if their plan is to stretch it out until then.
Grade: B
C.M. Punk vs. L.A. Knight vs. Jey Uso
Latest developments:
Last week, C.M. Punk & LA Knight defeated The USOs after Punk hit Jey with the GTS and Knight tagged himself in to get the pin. At Crown Jewel, World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins finally defeated WWE Champion Cody Rhodes to win the Crown Jewel Championship. This week, Punk, Knight, and Jey were set to face each other in a Triple Threat match to decide the number one contender for Rollins’ World Heavyweight Championship. Rollins cut a promo in the ring to open the show with the rest of The Vision there with him as he said he didn’t need anyone to accomplish everything that he has. Later backstage, he told Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed later backstage that seeing their growth was one of the things in his life he was most proud of.
The Triple Threat main evented the show this week as Knight hit Punk with a Superplex, Jey hit Knight with an Uso Splash immediately after for a near fall. Jey then went for an Uso Splash on Punk before he put his knees up, and Punk capitalized on that with the GTS on Jey to win the match and earn a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. Breakker Speared Jey and Knight outside the ring after the match and he along with Reed, Rollins, & Heyman surrounded the ring and attacked Punk. Breakker pushed Punk out of the ring by orders of Rollins and as all the members of The Vision were celebrating to seemingly end the show, Breakker shockingly Speared Rollins. Breakker then told Reed that he’s either with him or he’s not, which Reed responded to by giving Rollins a Tsunami. Breakker then gave Paul Heyman the same ultimatum, and Heyman reluctantly raised Breakker & Reed’s hands up as Breakker held up the title to end the show.
Analysis:
While The Vision was clearly a group that wasn’t designed to go on for years, no one could’ve predicted that they would split up this soon. With how predictable and uneventful most episodes of Raw have been throughout the year, what happened here gave us a genuine surprise. The way it looked as if the show was about to go off the air only for Breakker to Spear Rollins out of nowhere was a clever swerve that they deserve credit for pulling off so well. As this stable was designed to elevate Breakker into the main event picture, it seems like that’s going to be happening much sooner than expected. Now with him presumably as the new leader of The Vision, he’s going to get the chance to prove that he is a top guy now.
If the rumors of Rollins being injured are true, that would explain why this swerve happened so soon. If he’s going to have to miss a lot of time and possibly forfeit the title, the best solution to that would be to have Breakker face Punk for it. While it is unfortunate that Rollins is injured, they at least seem to be turning that negative into a positive. As Rollins was admittedly the least interesting part of this stable and Heyman seemed to have better chemistry with Breakker and Reed, this new version of The Vision led by Breakker has the potential to be even better. Like any good swerve, this one has created an unpredictability around the show that has everyone watching eager to see what happens next.
Grade: A
Roxanne Perez Interrupts Stephanie Vaquer’s Promo
Fresh off defeating Tiffany Stratton for the Women’s Crown Jewel Championship at Crown Jewel, Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer came out for an interview with Jackie Redmond. As she talked about how she was the first woman in WWE history to win four titles in one year, she was interrupted by Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez. Perez claimed that since she defeated Iyo Sky before Wrestlepalooza, she should’ve been in the title match with Vaquer and that she should be champion. Vaquer told her that if she wants to face her, stop crying and do something about it. Perez said that she would, but would do it on her time.
Analysis:
While short, this segment perfectly set up Perez as Vaquer’s next challenger. This gives us a fresh feud surrounding the title that features two women who are still relatively new to the main roster. As much as Vaquer has accomplished just this year alone, Perez has also proven herself to be a valuable part of the women’s division. Even though Vaquer hasn’t been champion that long, Perez taking the title from her wouldn’t be that far-fetched. With Liv Morgan likely to be feuding with her when she gets back, Perez having the title by the time she does would create a strong title program for WrestleMania.
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