SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Opening Segment – HIT: I wasn’t a fan of the very beginning of the opening segment of Raw with Triple H blowing smoke up John Cena’s ass. But, the rest of the segment – bolstered by the very enthusiastic Boston crowd – was good. A lot of fans have been hoping for a Dominik Mysterio vs. John Cena match during Cena’s final run, and this made the most sense. Dominik is getting a lot more cheers than boos, and doing this match in front of Cena’s hometown fans was a great way to guarantee that Cena got cheered in the match. Dominik was great in his interruption making everything about himself. Cena was good as well. It was a good way to set up the surprise Intercontinental Championship match.
Mysterio vs. Cena – HIT: The match that followed that opening segment was a good IC Title match with Cena finally winning his first IC Title to become a grand slam winner (sorry Sheamus). Dominik dominated much of the match before taking the loss, so he looked pretty strong. He’ll get his heat back easily after this loss leading to the presumed AAA Mega Championship defense against his dad Rey at Survivor Series. This was a fun moment which gave the Boston fans a great memory. It’ll be interesting to see if Cena loses the Title at Survivor Series, or in his final match at Saturday Night’s Main Event, or retires as the Champion like he said he was going to do with the WWE Title earlier this year.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Rusev vs. Priest – HIT: This was a solid match which lands itself in the Hit column for the surprise clean finish as Rusev took advantage of Damian Priest’s previous eye injury at the hands of Aleister Black to get the win. I was sure that Black would show up to cost Priest, so this was a pleasant surprise (perhaps I am being too easy on WWE considering the low bar). The match was fine leading to that ending. Rusev going over makes sense given his past against Cena. It also advances the Priest vs. Black feud in a more subtle way.
Men’s War Games Set Up – HIT: Some day, William Regal randomly showing up to yell “War Games!” is going to jump the shark, but not today. The segment with C.M. Punk addressing what happened at the end of last week’s show with Logan Paul joining up with Paul Heyman and The Vision was very good. Punk was strong on the mic. Paul was good in his interruption. The threat of violence worked well to bring Jey Uso out to help Punk, and then ultimately Cody Rhodes. But why was Cody there? I wish they had better story telling to explain some of these things. But, at least he had been seen in the back earlier. I think that makes it a little better. The fight between these six was fun to watch. Now the big question is which four wrestlers will join them in the match? Jimmy Uso seems obvious. Roman Reigns? Cena? Who on the heel side?
Rodriguez vs. Vaquer – HIT: This was a good Women’s Title match with a bit of a David vs. Goliath feel as Raquel Rodriquez was able to physically dominate Stephanie Vaquer who had to fight from underneath most of the match. It isn’t a match that will be long remembered, but it was good enough for what it was.
Nikki Bella Turns on Vaquer – MISS: This was a predictable heel turn for Nikki Bella. I think everyone has been expecting her to turn on her supposed friend Stephanie Vaquer since they started hanging out a few weeks ago. It is just boring. And while I don’t mind Bella being back in WWE, she shouldn’t be in the Title picture on a brand with Asuka, Bayley, Becky Lynch, Iyo Sky, Kairi Sane, Lyra Valkyria, Rhea Ripley, and Roxanne Perez. They could tell a story with Ivy Nile getting a title shot which I would find much more interesting. And it would be a better match. Natalya is a better choice for a legacy star to challenge Vaquer.
Charlotte & Alexa Bliss vs. Kabuki Warriors – HIT: The main event was a good WWE Tag Team Title match which WWE has done a nice job of building to over the past several weeks. These are two talented teams and they had a good match, although the quality was brought down by the finish as Nia Jax and Lash Legend showed up from Smackdown to cost Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss the Tag Team Championship. It was still a good match, and was a nice set up for Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley to come out to set up the Women’s War Games match. Like the men earlier, the women need another partner so it will be fun to see how that develops. But, this does point to the problem of having two War Games matches (or Royal Rumbles, or Money in the Banks, or King/Queen of the Rings, etc.). I feel strongly that WWE should only do one a year and simply rotate between the men and the women. If the men had the MITB this year, have the women have War Games. Then switch the next year.
(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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