-Austin Theory is an official member of The Vision. That’s the right call. I still think we’re likely to see Theory be the fall guy for the group rather than a focused on star, but the only chance with this pairing is to go all the way with it. Glad they did.
Masters of the microphone
-Bron Breakker and CM Punk were masters on the microphone this week. The two of them going back and forth ahead of their championship match next week was a thing of beauty and the best part of the entire show this week. Breakker and Punk put one another over with how they spoke. More importantly, they emphasized the world championship, which is the key to any major promo segment. They sold the match and that’s the entire point.
-Not a surprise to see Stephanie Vaquer retain her WWE Women’s World Championship against Nikki Bella and Raquel Rodriguez. It was surprising to see how much protection Rodriguez got in the finish. In the match story, she was the one that essentially won the match because it was her move that put Bella down before Vaquer stole the pin. On one hand, good for Rodriguez. She’s now lined up well for a second singles match against Vaquer for the title. On the other hand, she really doesn’t need that kind of protection. Vaquer getting clean wins is most important and they sacrificed that for Rodriguez.
From The Takedown on SI
-Good to see the Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky get some momentum ahead of their tag team title match against Kabuki Warriors next week on the first Raw of 2026. The fact that they got the upper hand leads me to believe they won’t be winning the tag titles. That said, it was important to give the match some juice. Too often, the tag titles across the board are treated as an afterthought. They were featured here. Well done.
Leave the troll behind
-Finally, we got a little more out of Gunther this week. Since beating John Cena, Gunther has simply been trolling the fans and the roster. That has come at the expense of actually getting heat and being a hated heel. Gunther destroying R-Truth was a step in the right direction. Whenever he beats AJ Styles, that will help too. WWE has to make sure they don’t saddle Gunther with a one note schtick after all they gave him this year regarding Cena.
-Why not just give Austin Theory a win over Rey Mysterio? The entire post-match angle could have went down the same exact way, but after giving Theory a taste of the credibility he now says he has. A weird moment and much too soon inside this new gimmick to already be unable to prove you can stand on your own two feet. If I’m The Vision, he’s getting booted immediately.
-Maxxine Dupri continues to get a lot from Becky Lynch. Lynch is setting the balls on a tee, while Dupri swings and hits them. Their promo segment this week was effective. It wasn’t a high end promo, because Dupri still has a ceiling at this point. It made you want to see the match, though, and as I said earlier, that’s the point.
New champs, but then what?
-The Usos are the new WWE World Tag Team Champions and their match with Dragon Lee and AJ Styles was tag team wrestling the way it’s supposed to be done. The action was pretty crisp and the four men built in some wild near falls that made the audience gasp. How does this thing end with The Usos? Ok, they are tag team champions, but then what? We know what it’s like with them in that slot. It’s unclear where WWE is going with this, but any endpoint that I can figure isn’t all that compelling.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments!
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