-Bronson Reed didn’t really have a face-to-face with Seth Rollins, as was scheduled for this week, but they certainly had a confrontation. Goodness. Wild backstage brawls, when done well, can be very effective in upping the intensity of a feud. This was one of the good ones. Rollins was extra fired up, which played well as the babyface in the story. Not a ton of depth here, but simple good guy vs. bad guy pro wrestling. Thumbs up.
-It’s really cool to have Lilian Garcia back in the fold on Raw, but I’ll miss Samantha Irvin. She didn’t always hit with her specialized ring introductions, but her introductions stood out. She’s forever the voice of this boom period in WWE.
End of the line
-I’m surprised we didn’t get a stronger chapter in the Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston story inside their match with AOP. They won the match because of R-Truth more than anything. Not great. They argued a bit after when it came time to decide whether or not to save Truth from an attack, but that’s it. As I’ve said, I think they have to get there quicker with Woods and Kingston. If people are tired or don’t care about the Woods turn when it happens, everything falls flat. I don’t know how many viable chapters they have left at this point without doing the full turn.
-Looks like we’re headed for Wyatt Sicks vs. Final Testament. I’m in on that. It appears that WWE sees the Wyatt Sicks faction for what they are — a strong, specialty mid-card act. To that end, this is perfect for them. They got a very big reaction from the audience, so clearly there is still something compelling there.
-Not a great match between Damage CNTRL and Raquel Rodriguez & Liv Morgan. Just kinda there and existing for the eventual angle at the end with Rhea Ripley. Once again, Ripley got a big pop and the audience loves her beating up Dominik and chasing Morgan around. How many more times can they go back to that spot, though? Ripley has to get on a true chase again. Work Rodriguez and then move back to Liv. Her path has to be clear and instead she appears to be in a bit of a holding pattern.
Now, that’s a team
-I like the Dragon Lee and Rey Mysterio tag team. They have styles that obviously fit together and Mysterio has enough equity with fans where he may just be able to sprinkle some of it over to Lee and help get him over. Lee hasn’t had any opportunity to make a connection with fans and now he’s side by side with one of the best in Rey. The match against The Creed Brothers this week was fine, but just the beginning for these guys. They are my pick to win the tag title number one contender tournament and face Judgment Day for the titles at Crown Jewel.
-A small thing, but the Damian Priest backstage promo with Gunther was an effective way to remind people that he’s still a world title threat. Priest has been MIA since Bad Blood and this worked to get him back in the fold, even if it’s on the periphery.
New champ, mission accomplished
-Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker for the WWE Intercontinental Championship in the main event was a fine match, but not a great match. The goal was to get Jey in a place opposite the new Bloodline, where a reunion with the old Bloodline makes sense. They accomplished that.
-Bron Breakker is the new IC Champion, but the character is all over the place. People are drawn to him. They react to him. Because he straddles the babyface/heel line, they don’t know how to feel about him. That’s something WWE should correct.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments!
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