-Smart to start the show this week with your Clash at the Castle main event in the ring. Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre needed the time to get more juice behind the feud and the promo segment was effective to that end. Once again, McIntyre was clearly leaning babyface in terms of how he acted opposite Priest. It’s a risky proposition given the options for finishes for their match at Clash at the Castle and was compounded during the Raw main event this week as well. More on that later.
Something’s missing with Lyra
-A pretty good match this week between Iyo Sky and Lyra Valkyria. Both women have in-ring chemistry together, to they were easily able to deliver a 10 minute bout that was exciting. There is still something missing from the Valkyria act. The audience isn’t reacting to her during matches at points that are specifically designed for them to give her something. Nobody knows who she is yet. Triple H has to go back and fill in those chapters, so fans care about her. She’s a fighting babyface. If she doesn’t have the fans, she really doesn’t have much.
-Oh, we had more Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio drama this week and I thought it was all well done. Morgan and Dominik don’t have the chemistry that he has with Rhea Ripley, but they are on the right path. Dom playing the tortured man that Liv is picking on works well for him and he’s playing the part to a “T.” Last week it seemed like Finn Balor and the rest of Judgement Day were working hard to prevent Dom from doing something he’d regret. This week, they seemed more open and not as big of hard asses. Damian Priest is the only adult in the room and that’s exactly the point. Once Dom joins Liv for real, that narrative will jump start three major programs for Raw — Priest vs. Judgement Day Ripley vs. Morgan, and Ripley vs. Judgement Day.
-Ludwig Kaiser continues to get pushed in the background. The video promo was effective this week and outright addressed the fact that he’s been playing second fiddle to Gunther. Thumbs up and more please!
-The physicality between Dom and Liv during the LWO & Braun Strowman vs. Judgement Day & Carlito was the highlight. The crowd ate it up and Strowman delivered right after with a strong finish. Nothing special here, but it worked and got the crowd on their feet.
What to do with Braun Strowman?
-What do you do with Braun Strowman at this point? Heel turn? He’s not relevant as a babyface, but he would be as a heel. Something to think about.
-So, what changes is Iyo Sky going to make to Damage CNTRL? Let us know in the comments …
-The Chad Gable, Alpha Academy, and Sami Zayn saga had another strong week. Gable has been wonderful in his heel role and as a mean, overbearing coach to Otis, Tozawa, and Maxxine. Zayn has carried this story on his back, though. He has an incredible ability to lift the crowd and put them on his back for a ride. Without that, the story has legs, sure, but it doesn’t have the passion and investment like it does now. They need to hit play on the Otis turn Saturday at Clash at the Castle. Because of the story, Otis, Gable, and Zayn will all be elevated coming out of Scotland. Really fun stuff and a reason to watch Raw each week.
Still????!??!
-We’re like five weeks running on silly Awesome Truth stuff with R-Truth backstage. This week he was seeing a fortune teller that happened to be Scarlett? C’mon … who is this for?
-Nothing like a contender for a championship losing in less than three minutes before their big championship match, eh? Just another day in the life of the women’s tag team championship picture in WWE. Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn were the victims and they’ll be that on Saturday at Clash at the Castle as well.
-Bron Breakker vs. Ilja Dragunov was excellent. Dragunov deserves credit, yes, but Breakker does too. He’s done a lot with his television time and it was clear thanks to produced vignettes and specific commentary team analysis that WWE decided to present Breakker even stronger than they already have. The spotlight was on him and he delivered.
-Breakker destroying Ricochet on a car with glass before Ricochet heads to AEW is poetic isn’t it? Ricochet had a nice little WWE run, but that it appears to be over at this time.
-Let’s talk about the Drew McIntyre and Sheamus encounter backstage shall we? What gives???! They are cool with each other and buddy buddy now? WWE is leaning too far with the Drew babyface stuff. This was a total babyface segment between both guys and for what? So, the audience cheers Drew in Scotland? They were already going to do that. Actively working toward that reaction on television doesn’t help the consistency of Drew’s character after Clash at the Castle.
-Could the men's tag team championships be any less important right now? I mean, they are playing second fiddle to a mid-card feud between a washed up New Day act and Authors of Pain? Yikes. Don't get me wrong, I like New Day branching out and what they're doing with AOP and Karrion Kross is a different kind of story for them, but the tag titles -- even if they are around the waist of Awesome Truth -- shouldn't play in the background to this.
Thumbs up to Clash at the Castle main event hype
-Solid main event. Balor and McIntyre put on a good match that had the added intrigue of impactful stakes for the main event world championship match at the PLE on Saturday. McIntyre's heel/babyface dynamic was still up in the air and off with this, but WWE is trying to have their cake and eat it too. They want a strong positive reaction for Drew in Glasgow, but then want him back doing his heel schtick come next Monday. That's a tough putt to sink.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments!
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