WWE RAW HITS & MISSES (2/9): Is unhinged Becky Lynch effective or a turnoff? Is Maxxine Dupri’s transformation? Plus Punk-Balor, Liv-Vaquer, more

Lynch – Lee – HIT: Raw got off to a good start with the encounter between Becky Lynch and A.J. Lee. I got a kick out of the bit at the start of the show where we saw Becky in the back getting a glimpse of Lee arriving with CM Punk and throwing a fit. She was great in that little bit, and even better when she came out to complain about Lee being there. Lee also performed very well in her part, manipulating Becky to get what she wants. Becky was unhinged. I laughed out loud when she made fun of AJ’s eyebrows. This ultimately led to Becky agreeing to put her Intercontinental Championship on the line at Elimination Chamber.

Usos vs. Alpha Academy – MISS: This was not a good match. It was sloppy. There were several spots that didn’t look good, the worst of which was Jey Uso totally missing a super kick on Otis as he did the caterpillar. It is nice to see Akira Tozawa actually wrestling in a meaningful match and reminding the audience how good he is. But, it also just serves as a reminder of how wasted his talents have been in his WWE career, particularly when the announcers talk about how respected he was as a champion before coming to WWE. That was tone-deaf. And the aftermath with Jimmy Uso talking up Jey as hopefully qualifying for the EC match to go on to WrestleMania was odd. I get that Jimmy would want good things for his brother, but doesn’t he want to qualify too?

Liv/Dominik – Vaquer – HIT: Unless something unforeseen happens, I was assuming that Liv Morgan will challenge Stephanie Vaquer for the World Title at WM. This segment made that seem even more likely. That is the right direction. WWE has been weird with the women’s division lately, as until the Royal Rumble, the vast majority of the top stars in the division have been in the hunt for the Tag Team Titles, while the top singles Titles have been an afterthought. That has hurt the Champions as they haven’t had the best challengers, although Vaquer had a good challenger in Raquel Rodriguez last week. But before that, she was feuding with Nicki Bella, while Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky, Charlotte Flair, Bayley, Asuka and other better challengers have been in tag teams. WWE needs to pivot to put more focus on these singles Titles, and this encounter was a good one to put some heat on Morgan vs. Vaquer. Having Dominik Mysterio as a translator was a smart move. They all played their parts well.

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Ripley vs. Valkyria vs. Nile – HIT: Ripley was clearly the most likely winner of this EC qualifier, but I couldn’t totally rule out that Lyra Valkyria could win to set up some type of encounter with Bayley who has a chance to qualify next week. That didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the match which really worked as a showcase for Ivy Nile who has been woefully underused on Raw. I have been a fan of hers since the NXT days, and she showed off her skills here.

Punk – Balor – HIT: It makes sense to have C.M. Punk defend the World Title against Finn Balor at the Elimination Chamber. I can understand why Adam Pearce wouldn’t want to book the match since he had already signed Punk vs. Reigns to headline WM, but there are always Title defenses between the Royal Rumble and WM. So why was this situation any different? But, moving past that, the performances from Punk and Balor were strong. It seemed like they might be positioning Balor for a babyface turn until last week. So, where are they headed now? Balor won’t win the Title, so I’m not sure what happens with him and Judgment Day after the PLE. But, that’s not a bad thing.

Nattie vs. Dupri – MISS: I continue to not buy into Maxxine Dupri no matter what she’s selling. I would have preferred this be a clean finish, with Nattie squashing Dupri to establish herself as a badass and start to elevate her to something new. I get that she looked dominating, but the double count out was a copout finish. AJ Lee’s involvement has me worried that Nattie will get involved to cost her against Becky at the EC.

Evans & Americano vs. Americanos – HIT: While I would like to see Je’Von Evans move away from the Los Americanos story, I thoroughly enjoyed this match and have to give it a HIT. Part of my problem with the story is that everyone involved is talented and those talents are being wasted on a story that doesn’t make sense. But, we get to see very good matches like this. So it is a tradeoff. But, The Original El Grande Americano was a heel for doing this role. Now, he’s a babyface. His old teammates in American Made are still heels. His even older teammates in Alpha Academy are still faces. But, he’s suddenly a face too. Nobody seems to remember that he’s Chad Gable even though that was the story before. Nobody seems to wonder why Ludwig Kaiser, Pete Dunne, and Tyler Bate are doing this. The whole thing doesn’t make sense. But, we got to see Evans catching Bravo in mid air with an OG Cutter in the most amazing looking (albeit totally contrived) move we will likely see all year.

Knight vs. Penta vs. Theory – HIT: This was another good EC qualifier. I assumed that L.A. Knight would win, but I figured that both Penta and Austin Theory were possible as well, so this main event was less predictable than the women’s qualifier earlier in the show. The match was fun to watch, culminating in The Vision getting involved despite the order from Pearce not to. What will the repercussions be? WWE is having to potentially pivot from their presumed plan of Bron Breakker vs. Seth Rollins for WM given Breakker’s hernia operation. But, maybe he will be back in time? In the meantime, they continue to tell the story of the masked attacker, while advancing Knight’s hatred for The Vision too.

(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.)