-The show opening promo this week with Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman, and Bronson Reed felt like an old school pro wrestling segment to me. Reigns was a strong babyface in the ring and a heel threatened him before a massive brawl broke out between the two. Sometimes it’s that easy. Reed was believable as a monster heel and while it’s a low bar, that was one of Roman’s best babyface promos ever.
Dragon Lee?
-JD McDonagh and Dragon Lee had a good match, but McDonagh was nearly knocked silly during it. That guy wrestles with a wild intensity. Lee doesn’t win very often, so good for him, but it’s a bit tainted since the entire thing existed to serve the Dominik Mysterio vs. AJ Styles program.
-Both the Rusev and Sheamus vignettes were effective in promoting their Clash in Paris match. There wasn’t much WWE could do between the two that hasn’t already been done. They’ve had three matches together and have already harped on their friendship plenty. The vignettes were quick, but gave a strong tone and tenor to the feud and to what fans can expect for the match itself this weekend.
-The heel New Day act is so damn flat right now. There doesn’t seem to be any real heat between them and the audience. The addition of Grayson Waller makes it feel even more like a comedy duo than it does on the regular. Kofi Kingston got a win over Penta this week and the match was fine, but nobody involves looks invested in truly making it work.
Is WWE wasting Rhea and Iyo?
-What do you say about the Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley stuff? They are clearly being positioned for a match against The Kabuki Warriors, but both are neutralized because of it. These are the two top stars in the WWE women’s division — across all shows. They should be in the world championship picture and nowhere else.
-There is something so believable about Becky Lynch when she’s cutting a promo in the ring. That believability soaks into you and forces your attention. The opposite is true of Nikki Bella. Bella had some decent zingers written for her, but the delivery of those wasn’t confident and came across as tepid. Plus, Bella trying to convince the world that she paved a path for Becky Lynch is a little insulting. The two women are so far away from being equals and the serious attempt to treat them as such makes things inauthentic. It’s a fine B-level title match on a B-level event, but that’s about it.
Patience
-Bravo, WWE! Glad to see they didn’t rush into a Stephanie Vaquer title match this weekend simply because they announced her for one. Holding off and making sure the women’s division on Raw is righted after Naomi’s departure was more important than delivering a title match just to deliver one on Sunday.
-Match of the night honors go to Rhea Riley and Roxanne Perez this week. Good chemistry and a really good television style match. Something tells me this isn’t the last we’ve seen of these two. WWE has a money feud on their hands when Perez goes babyface and feuds with a heel Ripley.
-Is anyone else not buying the Seth Rollins “I’m going to fire up my team backstage” promos from the last couple weeks? He’s supposed to be obnoxious, but the way both Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed fire up doesn’t put over Seth’s leadership skills very strongly. Breakker and Reed don’t appear as if they are about to run through a wall for their leader.
-AJ Styles vs. Finn Balor is always going to be a good match, but it felt especially tired and played out this week.
-Roman Reigns attacking Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed to essentially start the Breakker vs. LA Knight match was a fun and fresh way to get the main event moving. The match itself worked well for what it was even if it was a tad sloppy at times.
Same old, same old
-Ok, this episode of Raw ended exactly like the last three episodes of Raw. Big pops for CM Punk and Jey Uso as they ran out to save Knight from The Vision. Look, WWE has to find a way to make the end of their shows more must-see. Yes, I know CM Punk got clocked with a Jey Uso super kick, but so what? It’s the same guys featured in the same way over and over again.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments!
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