-A really good opening contest between Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre this week. Michael Cole declared it was a “big fight” feel and it really was. Both Cody and Drew have carried Raw throughout the last two months and seeing them collide head-on felt novel and fresh.
Just make it make sense
-I’m not fan of shenanigan finishes unless they make sense and further a story. WWE checked both boxes when Drew pinned Cody to the mat after The Bloodline interfered. The finish accomplished a lot. It put good heat on The Bloodline to further the Reigns/Cody story as they build toward their main event at WrestleMania, it painted Cody as a fighting underdog of sorts with sympathy, gave Cody a reason to need to partner up with Seth Rollins and use Rollins as a shield, and it gave McIntyre a big win to maintain his momentum ahead of the Elimination Chamber match on Saturday night. This worked really well and the crowd was in for it by relentlessly booing the outcome. Thumbs up.
-The announce team played a big role in selling the finish too. Michael Cole talking about Drew McIntyre’s hypocrisy in using The Bloodline’s help was a tough putt to sink because of how the finish played out and the fact that McIntyre didn’t have much of a choice but to win after the interference, but the effort was there to put context around how Drew won.
-Another strong vignette for Andrade. These have been cool to watch and clearly show WWE is invested in making him work this time around. It doesn’t mean a main event push by any stretch, but he should firmly be a fixture at the upper levels of the mid-card.
Hey, Pat McAfee, are you ok?
-Ok, what the hell is going on? Pat McAfee referenced “taking a dump” again this week on the show. That’s three times in the last two weeks. Is he trying to pop someone in the locker room? Trolling? Who knows? Here’s what I do know — McAfee isn’t bringing anything positive to the product right now.
-Oh, WWE. The women’s Elimination Chamber “last chance” Battle Royal this week featured quite a few women who didn’t even have a first chance. One of those women was Raquel Rodriguez, who made her return to the company on Monday night. It was great to see her healthy and she genuinely looked thrilled to be back. She had a very good showing in the match as well. The crowd reacted strongly to her and her victory. Long-term she has the most value as a heel, but for now it’s smart to capitalize on whatever “absence makes the heart grow fonder” pops she gets.
-WWE isn’t even trying to walk the line with Rhea Ripley heading into Elimination Chamber. She was a full on babyface opposite Nia Jax during their split screen interview segment and clearly WWE wants her cheered as a returning hometown star in Perth. Jax has done some nice work as a heel since returning to the company and WWE is going to cash-in those chips when Ripley goes over clean on Saturday morning at the Elimination Chamber PLE.
The Truth about R-Truth
-Sorry, but I’m just not a fan of the R-Truth stuff. The video interview this week had some funny moments, but a lot of eye roll moments too. That said, this story has gotten Truth some momentum with fans and the entire eight-man tag team match against Judgement Day this week was built around Truth. They setup a very nice hot tag to him and he also carried the majority of the significant babyface offense. WWE can’t get much more out of this and it’s doing damage to Damian Priest. However, in the moment, they are working it fine and Truth is playing the part well.
-I bet a lot of people googled “who is Michael Chandler” after he cut a promo on Conor McGregor while being interviewed on camera in the audience Monday night. UFC fighters are going to pop up on WWE television and WWE stars will do the same during major UFC events. It’s the way of the world now that TKO Group owns both. That said, they can’t cross a line into these guys becoming a key part of the show and this moment didn’t. Chandler wasn’t in the ring and the segment was strictly a promotional avenue for UFC rather than UFC integrating with WWE programming. As long as it stays this way, fans won’t revolt.
-So, Sami Zayn is clearly on a journey, but the question is what title is he going for? The world titles are held up in other places, so it seems to me we could be in a position to see Gunther vs. Zayn at WrestleMania. I wouldn’t do this match. There isn’t a lot for Zayn to gain by beating Gunther and with Gunther’s streak becoming more important by the day, ideally you want to transfer that to someone who can get a lot out of it. Zayn plays the chasing babyface incredibly well and without a lot of better options, it works, but it leaves money on the table at the same time.
Saved by the hat
-Becky Lynch doesn’t get thrown off too often while on the microphone, but she did this week and it was weird. So weird, that she had to start talking about her hat in order to get the crowd back. Go back and watch the promo again, she seemed befuddled as to why she wasn’t getting a stronger reaction and leaned on the hat as a crutch. So, as I said … bizarre. Yeah, Becky is in a bizarre spot all together. She’s a top star, but has done everything top stars do. Her journey is blurry and the focus is on other talent like Rhea Ripley. Such is life in pro wrestling. Lynch reminds me a lot of Randy Orton right now.
-All the women walking out to the ring and confronting one another ahead of Elimination Chamber was a total paint by numbers WWE style segment, but it fit and worked for what it was — an effort to build up some heat for the match. They got a little out of it, but Lynch seems like a clear winner, thus making it difficult to truly build up drama.
-How did Ivar not crush Chad Gable to tiny pieces with that top rope seated Senton. A inch the wrong direction and Gable’s head would have evaporated into the mat.
-A strong main event to end the show between Gunther and Jey Uso for the Intercontinental Championship. Gunther title matches are appointment viewing and it’s smart for WWE to take advantage of that reality and put them in main events. The back and forth action worked, but you never truly sensed that Jey was on the cusp of winning the title.
Brotherly love
-Jimmy Uso costing his brother another singles championship was the story by the end of the night and one that will certainly lead to a WrestleMania match between the two. The crowd gave Jimmy the heat he was looking for and the announce team drove the story home with their commentary. This is going to be a big match and chapter one of the build was effective. Thumbs up.