-I was a big fan of CM Punk’s championship promo this week to open the show. Punk talking the way he did — not just about his title win — but how that win impacted his full career really made the victory feel big and the world championship important. Punk pretty much lined up his entire title reign with whom he called out. Punk against any of the challengers he named is money and a strong program to lead Raw. Believe it or not, CM Punk is the lead face of WWE Raw as of this moment.
Antenna up on Nikki Bella
-Tag team wrestling was the name of the show this week and the opening contest between Stephanie Vaquer and Nikki Bella against The Judgment Day women was a good one. The entire goal of the match was to establish Raquel Rodriguez as a title contender for Vaquer and they did that. Nikki Bella is laying on the love for Vaquer really, really thick. Antennas are up on a heel turn … soon.
-It was good to see CM Punk and Jey Uso be able to get along after their title match at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Two babyfaces getting along without drama is something WWE needs more of.
-Penta had a great week out there. Very over and a helluva match with El Grande Americano. I’m not sure his ceiling in WWE is much higher than this, but he’s carved out a nice role for himself on a weekly basis.
Nobody boos Rey Mysterio
-At the start of the Dominik Mysterio and Rey Mysterio promo segment, I was worried. Dom was getting cheers over his father and his father is Rey freaking Mysterio. That doesn’t happen very often. Dom and Rey are good enough to pivot the audience and by the end of the segment they did. All was right and another Dom vs. Rey match is on the horizon. Look, if WWE is smart, they hear the cheers for Dominik and use this match as a means to get him over as a babyface. It’s time.
-Boy, it’s good to have Becky Lynch back. She levels up the show in terms of star power alone, but her work is enthralling. Lynch wove together her own storyline with Maxxine Dupri, but also addressed the situation with Seth Rollins and The Vision. Lots of balls in the air, but Lynch juggled them perfectly. And all with a Breaking Bad reference?! Legend.
-The tag math between The Kabuki Warriors and Bayley/Lyra Valkyria was pretty good, but man, it was long. Way longer than it needed to be. Smart for Asuka and Kairi Sane to go over strong and the drama still lingers between Bayley and Valkyria.
The Styles tag run
-Another gem of a match between AJ Styles/Dragon Lee and The Judgment Day for the WWE World Tag Team Championships. Just loads of action, precision, and strong storytelling. Throughout the entire match, I couldn’t shake how cool it was to watch Styles in this run with Lee. He doesn’t have to do as much, so when he is working, he can do things more fluently and more Styles-like.
-The main event featured a non-finish that could be seen coming from a mile away. With War Games looming, a big battle between Team Punk and The Vision was ripe to help setup the PPV match. This existed to serve that end.
Babyface Paul a fools errand
-Thank goodness Logan Paul isn’t turning babyface. WWE wanted the audience to think that he found the good side of himself in teasing to help CM Punk throughout the night, but everything stayed in the right place when Paul decked Punk with brass knuckles. Paul as a babyface is a fools errand, but a title match with CM Punk is pretty massive. Add in the fact that Paul may be aligned with Paul Heyman and the entire story instantly becomes one of the more interesting angles in the company.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments!
