-I just loved the Gunther promo this week. It was straight to the point, but it sold the match with John Cena incredibly well. Not only is there heat for Gunther ranting and raving about beating Cena in his final match, but he said he was going to do it by making Cena give up. Big time heat there too. Plus, the match itself has a narrative now. Strong content and strong delivery from The Ring General. Clearly, he’s the right guy to be in this spot with Cena.
-Iyo Sky vs. Kairi Sane was excellent. Sky is tremendously over and that certainly helped the drama in the match. Rhea Ripley thwarting Asuka’s attempts at interference was a fun nugget to follow throughout the match.
Ripley and Sky need more focus on them
-For as over as both Sky and Ripley are right now, the women’s division on Raw doesn’t feel like it’s built around them. Both are on the outskirts of the focus and really should have the bright lights on them at all times.
-So, Logan Paul is in The Vision? Or not? He’s perfect for the group and more on him in a minute, but it would be smart of WWE to call it out directly instead of dancing around the issue. Even if they just wear some merch or something. Something! Sidebar: how does The Vision not have merch yet?
-The Paul and Rey Mysterio stuff is odd. Not bad, just odd. Odd because it’s out of the blue. The two guys have already feuded and now they are in the middle of another one. Paul got some good heat beating down Mysterio, but the endgame is unclear. Nothing wrong with that at this point, but it just seems like we’ve been here already.
Not buying The Uso reunion
-A fun little match between The War Raider and Dragon Lee & AJ Styles. Zero drama, which made it difficult for the four guys to kick it into third gear. As for The Uso reunion? Not buying it. This is a plot point in the Jey Uso story, not a full-on return to tag team glory. I’m not convinced a heel turn is the smart move for Jey, but it looks as if we’re on that path.
-Feeding heels to Stephanie Vaquer and her rolling through them all is the right way to book her. Vaquer is a star and in the ring is where she shines most. WWE has deployed a simple formula with her and it’s working. Raquel Rodriguez is the next heel in line. That works too.
-Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez are bonding … for now. Boy, it’s going to be something when that explodes.
From The Takedown on SI
-My how the mighty have fallen? Roxanne Perez defeated Lyra Valkyria and while it wasn’t clean, Valkyria wasn’t really the story out there — Perez was. Valkyria is incredible in the ring, but is still missing a lot of character and personality that she needs to find in order to stay relevant on television. Kinda feels like the booking sees that exact same thing.
-Logan Paul vs. LA Knight in the main event was good. Smart for Paul to get the victory in order to really show the audience just how much he’s on the same page with The Vision. The post-match attack on Knight and the Tsunami through the car worked to get solid heat on The Vision, but it also felt a little extensive for where things were between them and Knight. Interested to see where this goes.
You ain’t “the guy” until you have a catchphrase
-Another solid Bron Breakker promo this week. I liked last week’s better because it didn’t force in catchphrases like “Spear, 1,2,3” or “I’m gonna Bron Break you,” but it’s WWE and they need t-shirt material I guess. Breakker is stepping up. The match against CM Punk on January 5 is going to be excellent.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments!
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