-Sometimes pro wrestling is allowed to just be really, really fun. Such was the case when AJ Styles and CM Punk stood in the ring to open the show. It was a tough putt to make logical sense of why Punk would want to put his world title on the line against Styles, but they did enough and sunk it. More than anything else, though, this existed to just mean something and matter on one show — and that’s ok. Styles and Punk traveled many of the same roads throughout their careers and seeing them collide one final time was a perfect nod to fans that watched from the beginning. If you hadn’t seen that journey, there was stuff in it that anyone could appreciate without historical context.
A sizzling women’s tag team division
-The women’s division delivered a very strong opening six-person tag match. It was a star-studded match with Iyo Sky, Rhea Ripley, Stephanie Vaquer, and The Judgment Day. Pretty hard to be a bad match with all that talent. Liv Morgan very much stood out. She’s got a polish now that many other men and women in WWE don’t have. Supremely confident and has come a long way.
-Well, I got … got! They got me with the respectful Finn Balor and CM Punk interaction backstage. With Gunther looming as the man to obviously interfere in the main event, this show of respect from Balor to Punk threw me off the scent of what would come later in the show. More on that in a second …
From The Takedown on SI
-Ok, it kinda seems like plans may have changed for Bron Breakker, The Vision, and whatever the story was supposed to be with Adam Pearce. Pearce just apologizes and acquiesces to all of Heyman’s demands? That’s it? When The Vision was beating up Penta, Dragon Lee, and Rey Mysterio, the announce team honed in on the failure of Pearce and the fact that he was too soft. A long term narrative or a convenient plot point to get through the show?
The Vision set to dominate the Royal Rumble
-Based on how the Austin Theory vs. Rey Mysterio match played out this week and the backstage segment with The Vision later in the show, look for the men’s Royal Rumble match to revolve around them in a lot of ways. They’ve got built in drama now that everyone in The Vision is in the match. Plus, Roman Reigns — a main protagonist of The Vision is returning in the match. Likely, LA Knight too. Stars align.
-The new Nattie character is going to be a blast. I don’t know how serious WWE is for it at this time, but her winning or going really far in the Royal Rumble is a strong way to establish the act.
-For weeks and weeks after Gunther defeated John Cena to end his career, I’ve called for Gunther to be more of a heel and less of a troll. He found the right balance this week in his interview with Michael Cole. Gunther was a jerk, out of touch, and arrogant, which created investment in seeing Styles try to beat him on Saturday night. Simple, but effective stuff.
A page out of the AEW playbook
-Not a fan of Akira Tozawa and Otis being the number one contenders to the WWE World Tag Team Championships. This is out of the AEW tag team division playbook. The Usos are champions and obvious babyfaces. Why position another — and even more sympathetic — babyface team against them in Alpha Academy? Crossing storytelling wires without a good reason.
-Styles vs. Punk in the main event was a blast. Good wrestling and a good story, but one that you just knew was getting interrupted because of the circumstances and Royal Rumble coming up. Styles couldn’t lose here ahead of Saturday, but obviously Punk couldn’t either. Interference was the only way out. Now, Gunther was where my money was. Attacking Styles and getting nuclear heat for that and for messing up the dream match would have been a reasonable way to close the show. Balor doing it was a surprise, but benefited from the same heat. Because of the setup earlier in the night and the angle to close the show, Balor vs. Punk 2 for the world championship is ready to go again whenever WWE wants it. Can they stretch it all the way to Elimination Chamber? One match on Balor’s turf? The next on Punk’s? Seems to make sense.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments!
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