-Seth Rollins cut a bizarre promo to start the show this week. This promo only makes sense when you take into account the end of the show in which The Vision turns on Rollins. Without that, huh? First of all, this was almost the exact same promo that he cut about The Vision when he first introduced the group earlier this year. With a pin in that, he’s a total heel, but babyfaced Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Paul Heyman with his intro style of each guy. The audience popped for the entire segment and that couldn’t have been what Rollins was going for. A miss. More on The Vision a little later.
Dom the babyface
-Dominik Mysterio vs. Penta was such a blast. Strong action and an invested crowd all the way through. Dom is a fantastic heel, but he’s not getting a negative reaction anymore. Time to give fans what they want and give them permission to cheer the guy.
-Boy, I don’t know if it was ever the plan to be setting up a long term storyline and eventual match between Asuka and Kairi Sane, but that has to be in the cards for WWE now. Asuka and Sane have been tremendous together and when Sane finally turns back on Asuka with some fire, that babyface pop for her is going to be huge.
-Speaking of Kairi Sane, she had a competitive match with Rhea Ripley this week. She lost, but it was competitive nonetheless. Ripley is still the leader of the women’s division on Raw in a lot of ways, but for as good as her storyline has been with Asuka, Sane, and Iyo Sky — it’s merged her into traffic rather than make her stand out as a top star.
Get ready for more drama
-Well, it looks like we are headed for more OG Bloodline drama. The question for WWE on this will be how much more fans are willing to take from The Usos and Roman Reigns. Their constant inability to get on and stay on the same page may be a turn off for fans. It’s unlikable and petty. We’ll see what’s up their sleeves, though. WWE deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to this saga.
-Are you guys buying this Lyra Valkyria and Bayley partnership? It’s not clear what WWE wants the audience to feel or understand about this. Does Lyra get how to motivate and pump up Bayley? If that’s the story, cool, it’s just kind of … eh. This one needs more time to marinate.
-Wow, there are men’s tag team champions on Raw? Crazy! Who would have thought? It’s been that long since they’ve been even mentioned on the show. Better late than never, I guess.
It’s Vaquer’s time
-WWE brought it with a strong presentation of Stephanie Vaquer this week after she won the Women’s Crown Jewel Championship over the weekend at Crown Jewel. She looked like a star champion and an upcoming feud with Roxanne Perez is perfect to help further establish that.
-Ok, so CM Punk is the number one contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and Seth Rollins. Punk defeated both LA Knight and Jey Uso in a triple threat this week to earn that opportunity. A good match for sure. This sets up the trilogy match with Punk and Rollins. That’s money.
Blurred Vision
-Now, back to The Vision — or what’s left of it, which isn’t much. Bron Breakker turned on Seth Rollins with a Spear and then forced Reed and Heyman over to his side. Are they babyfaces? Is Rollins? Look, the turn was cool, but everyone is so undefined now that it makes storytelling for everyone involved very difficult. CM Punk too. He’s got this bitter rivalry with a heel Rollins and now Rollins has some sympathy on him because his guys turned on him. Interesting, but messy.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments!
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