-The Unsanctioned Match stipulation is kind of ridiculous when you sit back and think about it, but Sami Zayn and Adam Pearce put the work in to make it feel necessary for Zayn and Owens. The Zayn promo was the perfect Zayn promo and an example of why he’s so darn special as a babyface in WWE. Pearce was protective of Zayn, but gave in when he didn’t have to sanction the match. It was as logical of a reason for an Unsanctioned Match that we’ve seen from WWE in years. The fun question is, if this feud doesn’t end at Elimination Chamber, what sort of insane stipulation do we get between Zayn and Owens at WrestleMania.
Look in the mirror, AJ
-It was good to see AJ Styles have that match with Dominik Mysterio this week. Nothing special, but he got through it and it was entertaining. It’s going to be hard to watch Styles decline physically. He’s been so dynamic for so long, that not seeing him do his big flashy spots is going to hurt his performances. If I were him, I’d be talking to Rey Mysterio a lot. Rey figured out how to continue his career without those spots. Styles will need to do the same thing.
-Sidebar. How cool was it to see Styles not get bulldozed by Bron Breakker, but sniff out the Super Spear and dodge it instead. Behold a smart babyface. Breakker vs. Styles is a strong WrestleMania feud for Breakker. This was an effective angle to start that program.
-So, if Judgment Day is teasing a new member, who could it be? Nobody on the current roster seems plausible, but Aleister Black sure does.
-Unfortunately for Ivy Nile, it seems as if plans changed for the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship. Nile eliminated Lyra Valkyria from the Royal Rumble and seemingly was headed for a title shot, but this week lost to Dakota Kai in a number one contender match. Nile has some upside, but the main issue with booking Kai against Valkyria again is that they are both babyfaces and Kai is the more over one. Unless this is an incoming heel turn for Valkyria, it’s a bizarre choice of opponent.
The mic general
-Gunther brilliantly tied the WWE fanbase directly to Jey Uso with his promo this week. Calling the yeet entrance a “simple entrance for simple minds like Jey Uso” puts that audience right on Jey’s back for him to carry at Gunther when WrestleMania rolls around.
-With Gunther putting some attention on Pat McAfee this week, I wonder if beating up McAfee will be a card that WWE plays to get more heat on Gunther. The feud doesn’t need that specifically, but it does need something due to the fact that WrestleMania is still two months away.
-WWE is leaning so hard on the notion that Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan attacked Jade Cargill that you know it’s not going to be them in the end. That reality aside, WWE should acknowledge the elephant in the room with this story and that is the question of why does everyone think it was Liv and Raquel when they were just walking by the scene of the crime? That doesn’t definitively tell anyone anything and the babyface duo of Bianca Belair and Naomi look silly ignoring such an obvious question.
-Another good match and a win for Penta against Pete Dunne this week. The guy is living the good life in WWE right now.
Roxanne Perez is on the main roster, right?
-Roxanne Perez qualified for the Women’s Elimination Chamber Match by beating Raquel Rodriguez this week on Raw, but is far from being in a good spot on the roster. She’s a new call up that doesn’t have an identity. She beat one of the show’s heels, but then is going to turn around and work heel herself in the Elimination Chamber? Plus, a match with Bayley — a babyface — has been teased down in NXT. Just not a consistent or smooth presentation for someone that WWE clearly sees as a potential top star in the future.
-As per usual, The New Day got some good heat this week, but they seem above a feud with the LWO right now. I guess Rey Mysterio is the endgame for them in this and that’s fine, but hopefully they can tune up for a War Raiders match at WrestleMania.
Smooth operators
-I liked the Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor main event a lot. Not a ton of drama because Seth was smart money as the winner, but they got the near falls over and were smooth in doing so. The finish with Rollins rolling Balor out of his submission and then parlaying that into a Stomp was exciting. As for Rollins moving on to the Elimination Chamber, no surprise there and small showdowns with CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, John Cena, and Logan Paul all await him.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments!
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