SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Opening Segment – HIT
Raw got off to a mostly good start with the interaction between Bron Breakker and C.M. Punk hyping their World Championship match on next week’s show, which WWE did a very nice job of highlighting throughout this week’s episode. Both Breakker and Punk were good in their roles. I like how the rest of The Vision left to allow Breakker to stand on his own, but that wasn’t the best way to follow up on the continued story of Austin Theory joining the group (more later).
Vaquer vs. Rodriguez vs. Bella – MISS
This was a solid match with some clever spots, but also some sloppy spots as well. It is getting a marginal Miss because of the ending. I am confused by Stephanie Vaquer getting a heel style victory over Nicki Bella, taking advantage of the finishing move from Raquel Rodriquez. This is how heels often win triple threat matches, so it was odd to have a babyface champion winning that way. I’m assuming there will be a story developed about it which might end up being good, but the start of the story left me cold. Vaquer is too good to have to win cheap like that.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Gunther vs. Truth – HIT
This was exactly what it needed to be. It made perfect sense for R-Truth to challenge Gunther for gloating about making John Cena tap out in his final match like a little bitch. Truth certainly was presenting more of a serious side of his character than the usual goofy Truth. Gunther dominated other than a few short hope spots. He easily could have gotten the pin victory, but he chose to make Truth tap out just like his childhood hero.
Oba Femi Vignette – HIT
I really hope Oba Femi gets the star treatment when he finally does officially debut on the main roster. I have far more interest in him than in Breakker as a WrestleMania opponent for Brock Lesnar. I am intrigued to see how he is used as well as the other NXT stars who appear to be officially called up soon, Trick Williams and Je’Von Evans.
Theory – MISS
The follow up on Austin Theory officially joining the Vision was a bit underwhelming. He didn’t have much time to talk during the opening segment before he, Paul Heyman, and the rest of the group left the ring to put the focus on Punk vs. Breakker. Of course, that’s where the focus should be, but it didn’t feel like Theory had much of a chance later in the show to really show much. Most of the Vision’s backstage scene focused more on the other members of the group welcoming him and talking to him than him talking. And then he wasn’t given a win in this first match as a member of the group, as Logan Paul interfered causing a disqualification. Wade Barrett tried to cover saying that they didn’t care about a win, just about hurting Rey Mysterio, but that was still weak. I was happy to see Penta back. I thought he was going to be out of action a lot longer after what looked like a pretty bad shoulder injury.
Becky Lynch – HIT
I won’t give Maxxine Dupri a Miss, but I won’t give her a Hit either. She has improved in and out of the ring, but she still isn’t good at much. I don’t buy her tough girl act. But, I was very entertained by Becky Lynch confronting her in this segment. She was great in fighting through her hesitation to sort of give Dupri a few compliments. I really hope they move Becky on to something better soon as she is being wasted here.
Usos vs. A.J. Lee – HIT
The main event delivered a very good World Tag Team Title match as The Usos won the tag titles for the first time in three years. I am okay with this development, but I would have rather seen A.J. Styles & Dragon Lee keep the titles for longer. I am curious to find out if they stay a team for awhile, or if they go back to singles competition. Certainly, Styles will be finishing his career as a singles wrestler, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be part of a team for awhile longer. Either way, I greatly enjoyed this match from start to finish. This is one of the all time great WWE tag teams going up against two great wrestlers who have quickly developed into a good team, so it isn’t surprising that they would have such a strong match. Also, the ending wasn’t predictable which added to the enjoyment of it.
(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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