-Logan Paul is tremendous at being a total asshole. In pro wrestling, that’s great, just not so much in the real world. That said, Paul was strong kicking off the show this week. He riled up the audience, which helped cultivate the huge pop CM Punk got when he walked out to interrupt. Punk and Paul have some chemistry together and a match between the two is something WWE should do down the road. WrestleMania this year isn’t the place. Punk is one of the biggest stars in the company and a celeb match with Paul — as good as Paul is — is beneath him at this moment.
Slap!!!
-How about the slap Paul delivered to Punk? Drew some damn blood. Can’t wait for Punk’s receipt in the Elimination Chamber.
-WWE spent a lot of time building up to the Penta vs. Ludwig Kaiser vs. Pete Dunne match. We saw singles matches of every combination there and after this week it’s like we’re back at the beginning with Penta still chasing down Kaiser. Penta is a lower mid-card act, but a really good one for the company. Chases like this are fine, but if they take too long, they run the risk of Penta being needlessly diminished. Kaiser and Dunne did their job and made Penta look like a million bucks. They bumped like crazy and were able to strongly emphasize the Penta offense.
-The interview setting with Jackie Redmond in and overlooking the crowd is a fresh approach that I want to see more of. This week, Rhea Ripley got the spotlight and she was effective in hyping the women’s Chamber match on Saturday, while also building up her own match with Iyo Sky next week. Rhea got a really strong crowd reaction and the show doesn’t feel like it revolves around her enough.
-The New Day got a win, which is good for their heel act, but the act itself continues to wane in terms of juice left in the tank. It’s already one-note and it didn’t ever need to be.
-More drama in The Judgment Day and more hints at a potential new member. Nothing new this week, but the hints are leading to something. An Aleister Black return continues to be the leading direction in my mind.
Grasping at something … anything
-Gunther cut a strong heel promo on Jey Uso this week and fought an uber-sympathetic Akira Tozawa in an impromptu match. Everything got the heat it went looking for. That said, Jey Uso standing up for Alpha Academy is a rough spot to be in with seven weeks to go before WrestleMania. They’ve played a lot of the strong Gunther/Jey build cards already and if this type of thing is the future, the feud will be on fumes before WrestleMania arrives. You need a big angle taking Jey out of the equation for a bit. A lot can weave through that, while not overexposing Jey at the same time.
-Lyra Valkyria vs. Dakota Kai was fine, but someone has to save the Lyra act. The bird presentation and strange poses don’t mean anything to the overall character and instead feel like, “well, I need to do something for an entrance, so I’ll do this.” Nothing fits and the audience is flat when she’s out there. Ivy Nile has a more defined character at this point and serious consideration should be made to getting the Women’s Intercontinental Championship around her waist. Plus, she’s a heel and can establish the title better with babyfaces chasing her than Lyra can with a flat gimmick.
Only Sami
-Wow. The Sami Zayn sit down interview with Redmond was fantastic. Zayn telling the story about going to Kevin Owens’ house and hating himself for that was a perfect way to setup his end point of “this is going to end badly,” regarding their Unsanctioned Match this weekend. Zayn was likable in admitting he hated himself and transparently revealing he didn’t know who he or Owens was anymore. Zayn is one of the few people that can pull off juggling that much and he did. Great final hype for their match at Elimination Chamber.
-Bron Breakker is fast at running the ropes. Goodness. Kind of a lame finish to his match with Dominik Mysterio, though. It’s Breakker. He needs clean — strong — finishes.
I can buy it, Cody
-An effective Cody Rhodes segment with Seth Rollins ahead of Cody’s Elimination Chamber decision concerning The Rock. Rhodes called out that he wanted to be transparent with fans and that is what made everything in the promo work. With Rock offering the world to Rhodes on Smackdown, I think everyone would at least consider saying “yes.” There is common ground there with Cody and fans, so Cody doesn’t lose being a good guy for considering options. As for Rollins, he was the perfect mouthpiece to try and set Cody right. Rollins not only has history selling his soul, but he has it with Cody too. Rollins was great out there in his role.
New champs
-An awesome main event. Great action throughout and the match incorporated near falls that made sense and were executed with pinpoint accuracy. All four women very much got the crowd to invest in the outcome. Matches like this in the women’s tag division more regularly will help the division grow and become more interesting for fans. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez are smart stars to carry that banner as champions.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments!
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