-I’m glad WWE didn’t decide to go with Seth Rollins swerving the audience in regards to his injury. Rollins opened the show and addressed his status after suffering a knee injury against Jinder Mahal last week, but was pretty straightforward about the prognosis. He said it was a hard week and he got tough news, but nothing that would keep him away from WrestleMania. I liked the tone around the entire thing. Gunther got some heat for interrupting Rollins, Rollins got his big pop moment for revealing he’d likely make WrestleMania, and Gunther positioned himself as a future rival for Seth and potential Royal Rumble winner on Saturday night. Lots of boxes checked and it worked well.
It’s a serious New Day, yes it is
-The New Day vs. Imperium mid-card feud was given more heat this week after their tag team match devolved into a wild brawl that ended with a major table spot. New Day feels fresh as a more serious act and Imperium is strong heel foil for them. If they keep going, Raw can toss this blowoff match as a main event one week and it won’t feel out of place.
-Speaking of serious New Day, how about that promo backstage? If Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston stay in that lane and continue to talk about winning, they’ll get yet another run as a team that won’t feel stale.
-Attention! Listen up everyone. Rhea Ripley is talking! The Judgement Day looked like school children while being addressed by Ripley this week and it made for a fun moment. Damian Priest played off her well in trying to secure his alpha spot in the group, it just didn’t happen. The group is very entertaining and while segments like this one hint at the demise of the group sooner than later, it very much helps the show.
-Ripley is tremendous. Her later engagement with Becky Lynch on the show was short, but reminded the audience the match at stake for WrestleMania when Becky hits the ring for the Royal Rumble on Saturday night.
Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh
-Ohhhhhhh dear. Ivy Nile vs. Valhala was cringeworthy. Yikes. The two women weren’t connected on much of anything and the audience sat on their hands the entire time. Nile worked a fine match with Ripley, but couldn’t stand on her own here and clearly isn’t ready for any kind of sustained push at this point.
-The Becky Lynch, Bayley, and Nia Jax promo did it’s job to hype up the women’s Royal Rumble match on Saturday night. It didn’t do enough to really pivot attention on one woman or another to win the bout, but it got three stars of the match highlighted ahead of the event. Simple stuff, but effective with that goal in mind.
-Dominik Mysterio vs. The Miz ended up being a away to promote DIY vs. Judgement Day for the tag titles more than it did anything else. Sorry fellas, but welcome to being the third wheel.
-Chad Gable and Ivar had a match and are still feuding. Is there reason to expect anything else next week or the week after? This feud hurts my brain at this point. Move on or get em off television until both teams have something fresher to do at the bottom of the card.
Cody Rhodes and CM Punk deliver in much anticipated promo
-The major hook for the show this week was a face-to-face encounter in the ring between CM Punk and Cody Rhodes. It delivered in a major way. It had some meta moments, but those all played within the confines of a story that fans without backstage knowledge or insight would understand. Both men spent time building the other up with respect, only to highlight the hypocrisy of each other at the same time. Punk calling himself the “real American Dream” and Cody the “real CM Punk” was a neat way of showing off that hypocrisy and telling that story. When these two cross paths in the ring on Saturday during the Royal Rumble, it’s going to be a must-watch moment that matters. This segment had a lot to do with that. Plus, they got a helluva a shot of both Punk and Rhodes nose to nose before they left the ring. When they inevitably have a match together, you can bet that shot will be shown. Finally, whoever produced this segment, bravo. The idea of having Punk and Rhodes leave the ring without music playing and without commentary forced the drama and tension between the two to linger and really helped emphasize the importance of a clash between both Punk and Cody.
-It’s not a lot of time, but the women’s tag team champions have gotten television time on the last three WWE shows. This is important progress for that division. Kayden Carter and Katana Chance are doing a nice job as floating champions and need to continue being fed opponents. If nothing else, this division can fill time week to week, but can only do it if there is attention paid to it. Thumbs up on what they’ve done so far to elevate an otherwise dead part of the show.
Styles make fights
-Anyone else think something was just missing from Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre in the main event. The match felt like it was a podcast playing at 1/2 speed. Both guys were slow and had trouble executing the planned big man spots. An example of two styles not meshing well at all. R-Truth coming down for the finish was unnecessary. It injected comedy where comedy didn’t need to be and made a joke of a match that WWE wanted fans to take seriously thanks to promos from Priest and Drew early in the show. A swing and miss in terms of tone and tenor.