-Just a stellar opening segment promo from Rhea Ripley this week. Ripley found the exact correct tone to her message regarding Dominik and Liv Morgan. It walked the line of generating sympathy for her among fans, but also excitement in fans who want to see her get her hands on both. She looked like a damn star out there. Sidebar — did you notice how she cut her promo leaning over the ring ropes? That was a great touch. Nobody else on the roster does that, so she stood out, but it also comes across as less produced, which is fresh inside of WWE’s squeaky clean TV product. Thumbs way up.
Heels being heels
-Dom and Liv were excellent opposite Ripley. They sold for the big lines that went hard on them, but taunted, teased, and generated the heat necessary for the feud to continue. WWE is doing a really nice job of teasing Ripley and Damian Priest getting their hands on the Liv/Dom duo.
-Smart to give Odyssey Jones a squash win after debuting him on the main roster alongside New Day last week. He’s a good addition to the New Day puzzle and will help facilitate the Kofi and Xavier Woods break up. As for that storyline, Woods played it perfectly out there this week. He conveyed annoyance with his team, while not outright turning on them or siding with The Final Testament. As long as this stays in the lower part of the card, it’s a strong story with good workers that can help fill time each Monday night.
-Alpha Academy vs. The Creed Brothers was a solid tag match. Otis remains to be over huge. Like New Day as long as this American Made vs. Alpha Academy feud remains on the lower part of the card, it’s fine for filling time on the show. Maxxine is a terrible actor. She’s probably a better wrestler than she is an actor and that says a lot. Continuing to feature her in segments where she has to act is befuddling.
The Bruiserweight is back
-I like the interview with Pete Dunne quite a bit. He’s not going to be a world title holder anytime soon, but he has value as a strong character who knows how to work. He showed edge and went out of his way to bury the “Butch” name. Thank god.
-Zoey Stark & Shayna Baszler vs. Damage CNTRL ending in a no contest was laughable. I mean, look, if you want to book a multi team match for the tag titles, just book it. In this division, there is no reason to jump through these hoops to reach and endpoint. Booking the match and then building to it each week by showcasing the teams is a more efficient avenue to travel.
-Oh yeah … Pure Fusion Collective? What the hell does that mean? Worst tag team name ever in WWE? It’s up there. Right behind The Viking Experience.
Shining babyfaces
-A strong segment with Randy Orton and Gunther to build their match at Bash in Berlin for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Gunther was supremely unlikable and Orton did his thing as a legacy babyface. Both guys had effective retorts of the other and it feels like a match worthy of a PLE. Gunther shines every babyface he works with and Orton is a benefactor at the moment.
-CM Punk attacking Drew McIntyre with a belt indicates that they are moving to a strap match between those two. That works. Hell in a Cell at Bad Blood is sure to blow the feud off and this is a fine holdover match to get us there.
-Ok, I see you Bronson Reed. Reed ignoring authority and exerting physical dominance over the Raw roster is a smart way to take full advantage of what he brings to the table. It’s a presentation that can get him over in a way that isn’t only because “he’s big.” There isn’t a finisher/star combination in wrestling better than Reed and his Tsunami right now.
A main event Bron Breakker needed
-FINALLY. Finally, a really good match between Bron Breakker and Sami Zayn. In their first two encounters on PLE’s, they never got things out of gear. This week on Raw, they did. The action was exciting, the Zayn nearfalls played well, and Breakker kept up. It seems like Breakker is moving on from Zayn now, but it was important for him to have a good match with him before he did. Well done.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments!
Subscribe to the Brass Ring Media YouTube channel HERE.
Become a Brass Ring Media member HERE.