{"id":163652,"date":"2023-08-09T14:46:48","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T19:46:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=163652"},"modified":"2023-08-09T14:46:48","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T19:46:48","slug":"wwe-raw-hits-misses-8-8-miz-verbal-exchange-with-la-knight-baszler-vs-stark-new-day-still-annoying-mcdonagh-returns-cody-seth-judgment-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2023\/08\/09\/wwe-raw-hits-misses-8-8-miz-verbal-exchange-with-la-knight-baszler-vs-stark-new-day-still-annoying-mcdonagh-returns-cody-seth-judgment-day\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE RAW HITS &#038; MISSES (8\/8): Miz verbal exchange with LA Knight, Baszler vs. Stark, New Day still annoying, McDonagh returns, Cody-Seth-Judgment Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2113401651\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p><b>Opening Segment &#8211; HIT: <\/b> The post-Summerslam Raw got off to a nice start with Cody Rhodes talking about what is next for him after beating Brock Lesnar. We got interruptions from Seth Rollins, Judgement Day and Sami Zayn which all set up the main event six man tag match. Everyone played their parts well. But, it does seem like we\u2019ve seen a lot of these six-man tag main events on Raw lately, so I wasn\u2019t necessarily super-excited about it. But, it was still a good enough opening segment to get a Hit.<\/p>\n<p><b>Ricochet vs. Ciampa vs. Riddle vs. Gable &#8211; HIT: <\/b> The commercial-free first hour of Raw gave us an uninterrupted match with this fatal four way to determine Gunther\u2019s next opponent for the Intercontinental Championship. It was nice to see 10 minutes of uninterrupted wrestling on Raw. This was interesting in that it was all four babyfaces, all of whom are talented workers. They put on a good match. I wish Chad Gable hadn\u2019t wrestled and lost to Gunther last week. He could have done something else to start to position himself as more of a threat to Gunther last week, to make this more exciting this week. I didn\u2019t like the five minute challenge last week, and I like it less now. But, Gunther vs. Gable will be good for sure. Plus, this was a good match.<\/p>\n<p><b>Nakamura vs. Reed &#8211; HIT: <\/b> I assumed Bronson Reed would beat Shinsuke Nakamura, but as the show played out, it became obvious why Nakamura won in this good match. I\u2019d like to see Reed getting more victories. Hopefully, he gets back on a winning streak next week. But, this was a good match and I don\u2019t mind them positioning Nakamura as a challenger for Rollins\u2019s World Championship.<\/p>\n<p><b>J.D. McDonagh &#8211; MISS: <\/b> In general, I like J.D. McDonagh being involved with Judgment Day in some way. Will he join the group? Will he be part of a new faction that forms if Finn Balor leaves? There are some intriguing possibilities. The problem is that WWE didn\u2019t lay the groundwork for his appearance this week. They started to tease some type of connection several weeks ago, but then he disappeared. Where has he been? Then, he made his return at SS to get eliminated from the battle royal near the beginning of the match. If you planned on doing this angle this week, then why not drop some teasers for it on Raw the last few weeks? If you want him to be taken seriously, then keep him out of that battle royal, or have him in it and be one of the last two or three in the match with multiple eliminations. I can\u2019t imagine much of a worse way to set up what happened this week with an otherwise good backstage encounter followed by the intriguing angle with him attacking Sami Zayn which took him out of the main event.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Did you know that PWTorch VIP membership gives you access to an ad-free version of this website (mobile and desktop versions), an unmatched 35 year library of insider wrestling content in newsletter article and podcast formats, dozens of new VIP-exclusive podcasts throughout the month (that are easily compatible with Apple Podcasts App, Apple Car Play, and many other popular podcast apps), and more benefits. Check out details and sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorchvipinfo.com\/\">HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><b>Stark vs. Baszler &#8211; HIT: <\/b> The segment that set up this match was just ok. It was a good way to build to next week\u2019s Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus match as Becky was interrupted by Zoey Stark. Baszler\u2019s interruption was too random. Her character came across as a babyface which makes sense coming out of her match against Ronda Rousey, but later she was acting like a heel. So, her presentation certainly wasn\u2019t Hit-worthy. However, her match against Stark was good. It was far better than her match against Rousey at SS. Stark continues to show good skill in the ring. I look forward to seeing her matches. Baszler had a little trouble picking up Stark for her finisher in the end, but it didn\u2019t look too bad. What will happen with Stark and Baszler moving forward? What will happen in Stratus vs. Lynch? Will Baszler make an appearance?<\/p>\n<p><b>Miz &#8211; LA Knight &#8211; HIT: <\/b> I don\u2019t know why WWE has such trouble keeping the band split up. I understand why they want to go to LA Knight vs. The Miz. They had a good verbal back and forth here which is why this is a Hit. I was certainly entertained. Miz is a solid foil for Knight to get a win against to keep his fans happy. They don\u2019t want to push Knight into a main event spot yet for whatever reason, so in the meantime they can have him get a series of wins over mid carders like Miz. But, can\u2019t they find someone similar on Smackdown?<\/p>\n<p><b>New Day &#8211; MISS: <\/b> I haven\u2019t missed The New Day despite their in-ring ability and their usually good tag matches. They are just so annoying. Their backstage interview after their match against The Viking Raiders was particularly bad.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2659140123\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><b>Main Event &#8211; MISS: <\/b> As I said above, WWE has done a lot of these six man tag matches with Judgement Day lately. This one suffered from the fact that half of the match was on the two commercial breaks. While it was nice to see a ten minute match without a commercial in the first hour, watching a 14 minute one with two commercials wasn\u2019t nice to see. The interference from Rhea Ripley in these matches and the use of the briefcase as a weapon are also starting to get repetitive. I did like how Raquel Rodriguez jumped Ripley before the match, and Zayn showing up at the end was fun. The turn from Nakamura after the match worked well. So, I will call this a marginal Miss as it wasn\u2019t that bad, but wasn\u2019t as good as it should have been.<\/p>\n<p><b>Cole &amp; Barrett &#8211; HIT: <\/b> It was much better to hear Michael Cole and Wade Barrett for the three hours of Raw than it has been listing to Nick Patrick and Corey Graves. We still have to hear them, but at least it is only for two hours on Smackdown instead of three. Plus, Cole will also be there to help, you know actually do play-by-play for the matches since Patrick doesn\u2019t really do that at all (I can\u2019t believe that I am actually happy to see more of Cole at this point).<\/p>\n<p><em>(Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com&#8217;s WWE Raw Hits &amp; Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw each week. Email him at jmezz_torch@yahoo.com. Follow Jon on Twitter <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/jonmezzera\">@JonMezzera<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>RECOMMENDED NEXT:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2023\/08\/07\/wwe-raw-results-8-7-kellers-report-on-summerslam-fallout-including-cody-rhodes-seth-rollins-becky-lynch\/\">WWE Raw Results (8\/7): Keller\u2019s report on Summerslam fallout including Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>OR CHECK OUT JASON POWELL&#8217;S HITLIST AT PROWRESTLING.NET:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2023\/08\/08\/powells-wwe-raw-hit-list-cody-rhodes-seth-rollins-and-shinsuke-nakamura-vs-judgment-day-chad-gable-vs-ricochet-vs-tommaso-ciampa-vs-matt-riddle-for-a-shot-at-the-ic-title-new-day-vs-viking\/\">Powell\u2019s WWE Raw Hit List: Cody, Seth, and Nakamura vs. Judgment Day, Gable vs. Ricochet vs. Ciampa vs. Riddle for a shot at the IC Title, New Day vs. Viking Raiders<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Subscribe to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/show\/wkpwps\">Wade Keller&#8217;s free podcasts<\/a> by searching &#8220;Wade Keller&#8221; in your podcast app. They include a weekly flagship episode (blue-logo show) and the post-shows after Raw, Dynamite, Smackdown, and Rampage (red logo show) with a mix of best-of episodes too!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=show&amp;cover_image_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd1bm3dmew779uf.cloudfront.net%2Fcover%2F19887b6f56bf54951620aeca02814ba8.jpg\" width=\"100%\" height=\"400px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1662629981\"><div id=\"pwtor-3012919879\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Opening Segment &#8211; HIT: The post-Summerslam Raw got off to a nice start with Cody Rhodes talking about what is next for him after beating Brock Lesnar. We got interruptions from Seth Rollins, Judgement Day <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2023\/08\/09\/wwe-raw-hits-misses-8-8-miz-verbal-exchange-with-la-knight-baszler-vs-stark-new-day-still-annoying-mcdonagh-returns-cody-seth-judgment-day\/\" title=\"WWE RAW HITS &#038; MISSES (8\/8): Miz verbal exchange with LA Knight, Baszler vs. Stark, New Day still annoying, McDonagh returns, Cody-Seth-Judgment Day\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,28,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-09-at-2.41.20-PM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163652"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163655,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163652\/revisions\/163655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}