-WWE set a very high bar last week in terms of running future angles involving Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi. They cleared that bar this week. The segment between both guys wasn’t as action-packed as last week, but it indicated a clear level-up for Femi. The anticipatory buzz for Femi prior to him walking out and the huge pop for when he did make his entrance is all there is to know. Femi vs. Lesnar is over in a strong and meaningful way with the audience. It’s a big reason to watch WrestleMania in a few weeks.
Loose cannon Jey?
-WWE is pushing the narrative of Jey Uso being a loose cannon and I just don’t don’t exactly understand where it’s coming from. Punk’s insult about his uncle? With that connection, the hot headedness of Jey is jarring and unlikable, especially when it costs his tag team matches.
-Becky Lynch and AJ Lee got to their WrestleMania rematch. It was pretty paint by numbers and really could use a stipulation of some kind. Street Fight? Cage Match? Something like that could spice things up a bit. Call me crazy, but I rolled my eyes a bit at the line about Lynch’s daughter having Lee as her favorite wrestler. Lynch and her daughter together are adorable. Their adorableness is well-documented by WWE and on WWE programming. Not really a believable narrative.
From The Takedown on SI
-It was a fun little Grayson Waller match with Je’Von Evans this week. Evans showed off what he can do and got a win. The announce team talked glowingly about Evans and called him a future world champion. High praise, but smooth and definitive presentations like this week will help him realize that potential.
A Rollins holding pattern
-With there being another Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman interaction this week, I have to think that the match between Rollins and Bron Breakker is on for WrestleMania. That’s twice in a row we’ve seen Rollins get the better of Heyman. The heat is coming and it’ll arrive in the form of Breakker.
-Sidebar — Rollins in the mask? Why? That question aside, at least we didn’t get the random other guys in black masks this week. Hopefully that nonsense is done for good.
-Uh oh. Things are cracking inside The Kabuki Warriors. This was the first week where the audience saw Kairi Sane show frustration and signs that she might stand up to Asuka. Who was there to help her? Iyo Sky. Now, the question is whether or not anything here is leading to a match at WrestleMania. Sky vs. Asuka? That will turn some heads.
-Well who would’ve thought. Finn Balor ran out, distracted Dominik Mysterio, and cost him his chance at the Men’s Intercontinental Championship. This was a finish you could see coming a mile way and it cheapened a title match, but was kind of necessary. Mysterio vs. Balor at WrestleMania is a priority and needed the heat.
A messy main event
-Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk at WrestleMania is a mess. It’s an epic mess. It’s such a mess that it may turn out to be good. Why is CM Punk talking about he and Reigns “just talking” and “not caring” what they say because it’s only being said to sell big fights. The point of the words is to make people care. Not other way around. The talking generates the interest. Punk essentially admitted that both he and Reigns are reading scripts. Where is the fun in that?
-AND. Reigns vs. Punk needed a big beatdown heat segment on Punk. Reigns needed to get that out of his system. It was intense and helped set a tone for what the company, Reigns, and Punk want the match to be.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments!
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