-Maybe it’s just me, but I always get a little bummed when a babyface star just massacres WWE security guards that are only trying to do their jobs. Don’t get me wrong, watching Oba Femi toss the guards around was fun and all, but there is something unbecoming about the good guys doing that.
Connected dots
-Femi getting to show his insane strength by demolishing said security guards was the hook of the opening segment of the show and in WWE’s defense, it seemed like the live crowd ate it up. Agree to disagree on that. With all that said, Femi continues to be a force on the show. He cut another good promo this week and even took the time to explain why he ditched his world title match at SummerSlam for another round with Brock Lesnar. Femi directly saying he knew that Lesnar would cost him the title match is a line that the dots had to be connected on. It makes the storyline better and makes Femi look less silly for giving up a title shot.
-Iyo Sky is arguably the most over babyface in the WWE right now. There isn’t any waffling with her. She’s a babyface, acts like one, and the audience responds to her like one. Hopefully she’s getting paid very well, because she just doesn’t have bad nights on television right now. The SummerSlam crowd should be hot for her opposite Liv Morgan. This week was standard stuff to build that match, but effective. Morgan got the heat she was looking for.
-Speaking of heat, bravo Maxxine Dupri, Austin Theory, Logan Paul, Bron Breakker, Akira Tozawa, and Otis. The audience cared about their segment this week. They invested in it. Otis being run down by Austin Theory for how he looked clearly painted Theory as a bad guy and Otis as a sympathetic figure. It drew the lines and the audience lined up behind Otis. That’s what good pro wrestling does. It should make an audience feel something and they did with Otis. Whether they do Tozawa and Otis against The Vision at SummerSlam or on Raw at some point, it’s going click because everything is defined well.
A turning point
-As for Dupri and Theory? The opportunity for them to work together is a turning point moment for both of their careers. It reminds me of when Maryse joined The Miz. Dupri gives Theory someone new to play off of and that door swings both ways. Plus, they seem to have some chemistry together, too.
-What the hell is going on with The Bloodline? Nobody in that faction — including Roman Reigns — is acting in a way that’s setting their character up for long term success. They are all defined incorrectly and it makes for an environment where a cold act like Solo Sikoa is somehow now a babyface opposite The Bloodline faction, which is also filled with supposed babyfaces. None of it makes sense. It was unfathomable for Jimmy Uso to beat Royce Keys the way he did on Friday and they clearly tried to rectify that with the win on Raw. Jacob Fatu and The Usos are going to take on LA Knight, Keys, and Sikoa at SummerSlam. Who are you cheering for? Do you know? Do you care? WWE has not done a good enough job pushing fans to one side or the other.
Lyra Valkyria is leaning into change
-There has been a focused effort to change almost everything about Lyra Valkyria since she turned heel and her new look is on point. Valkyria presenting as disheveled paints a picture of a lost woman, but a dangerous woman. Bayley is the perfect first babyface for her to work with.
-Big Cass is coming back to Raw? Ok. Fine. Nothing really to see there, but totally fine. Like Baron Corbin will be on SmackDown, you are looking at a depth piece on Raw with this return.
-A strong gauntlet match, but like, how could it not be? There were talented and physically gifted guys all around the ring. I like Chad Gable challenging for the WWE Men’s Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam, but against Penta? Really? This is where ideally they’d have a heel champion like Rusev or Ethan Page ready to stand opposite Gable, so his big crowning hometown moment in Minneapolis can be over a universally disliked heel, instead of a babyface like Penta, who everyone loves.
A contract signing between total jerks
-WWE continues to miss with the Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins material. Both of these guys come across as total jerks and based on audience reaction this week, there isn’t an outcome that the fans really want to see take place. Reigns wins? Seth wins? Everything is still in the same spot when that match is over. In that regard, this feels too inconsequential for a match that features two of the biggest WWE stars of the last ten years.
What grade do you give the Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins storyline as it sits today? I’m going with C. Let us know what you think in the comments!
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WWE knows how to present big matches. Roman/Seth, Punk/Cody and Brock/Oba are all huge on paper. It's the storytelling to get there that's a slogan.