-You know me — I’m a big fan of the long shot entrances that WWE has been doing in the Paul Levesque era of television. Even if the shot doesn’t really make sense, they have value because it breaks up the monotony of the show presentation. CM Punk got to do one this week as the show went on the air and while it’s hard to believe Punk happened to get into the building just as the show went live with perfect timing to kick things off, my bigger issue was that Punk left his car door wide open after getting out of it. Who does that??? Maybe it’s because my toddlers find it impossible to shut any door they open, but this bothered me.
A Punk home run … finally
-Door closing pet peeve aside, CM Punk needed a home run promo this week ahead of Bad Blood and he hit one. This was by far the best Punk promo since returning to the company. Punk changed his tone of voice to very serious and dark. He spoke at a low volume, which gripped the audience’s attention and captured their interest. In doing so, Punk gave the Hell in a Cell stipulation some shine and relevance again. His delivery conveyed danger, uncertainty, and very much put over that the feud with Drew McIntyre is worthy of the Cell structure. Excellent work.
-Sheamus has mastered the art of a WWE television match. The guy rarely has stinkers on TV and it’s a testament to him being comfortable with who he is in the ring and giving the audience exactly that. The match with Pete Dunne this week was as hard-hitting as you’d expect, but the Dunne victory was a surprise. Especially given the fact he used a CRICKET BAT to get it.
-The Rhea Ripley and Jey Uso interactions throughout the show were so much fun to watch. I wouldn’t advocate for any kind of real relationship between the two on TV, but they clearly have a lot of chemistry together.
The Miz is up to something
-Ok, so it seems like something is up with The Miz. He’s been having a bit of a crisis of self the last couple weeks and talent around him is working to pick him up. Not a bad story for him. If I had to guess, I’d say we see John Cena involved with this at some point. Just a hunch …
-Man, Pure Fusion Collective is having a tough couple weeks. Jobbing to Natalya twice? That’s not exactly the spot you want your new faction to be in, but it is what it is. PFC was nearly dead on arrival because of the name, but worse than that, it just doesn’t seem like it has a purpose on the show. Who are they? We still don’t really know and that’s a problem.
-I’m glad we’re seeing different members of The Judgment Day interact with Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley instead of just the members of the group those two are feuding with. It’s important for WWE to acknowledge that the group imploded, which impacted the Ripley/Balor dynamic just like it did Ripley/Dom. Same thing later in the show with Damian Priest and Liv Morgan. It’s smart to have them interact because it helps present a feud between the entire new Judgment Day and Terror Twins.
Hype or Raw next week
-My favorite part of the show this week was the Jey Uso and Bron Breakker in-ring promo segment. Not only was it an intense back and forth between two alphas, but it was a segment to hype a television match taking place next week on Raw. WWE almost never does this, but it’s important that they do. Jey and Breakker gave the audience a strong pitch to tune in next week to see them fight it out.
-Breakker was essentially full heel out there opposite Jey aside from a passing moment where asked the audience, “where my dogs at?” Breakker needs to save that phrase and rhetoric for when he is a true babyface. It makes no sense to call the audience to action like that line does.
-Good to see the Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods feud finally reach a boiling point. It’s a long time coming and they got there without any over the top reactions or swerves. Woods had a reason to be frustrated with Kofi and things rolled from there. Because both guys are such beloved babyfaces, you want both guys to have shreds of truth within what they do in the lead up to the blowoff. WWE found that tone with what they did this week. The match with JD McDonagh and Balor was fine, but the real story was the New Day angle at the end.
Mystery!
-Another Wyatt Sicks QR code mystery is on! I mean, who doesn’t love a good mystery in WWE?
-A really nice brawl of a match between Braun Strowman and Bronson Reed. I could have done without the “going through the wall” bit thanks to it looking so incredibly fake, but it worked to give the match the drama it was looking for. Strowman is a one trick pony at this point, but Reed beating him in whatever final encounter they have will elevate his stock.
-Well, what do you know? Sami Zayn can deliver on the mic outside of Canada. Just kidding, we knew he could. Zayn cut a helluva promo in an effort to secure a world championship match against Gunther this week. The guys is so believable with everything he does that it’s nearly impossible to not get behind whatever he’s doing. Ludwig Kaiser coming out to deny Zayn, only to have his role next to Gunther questioned by him was a nice touch and one that slightly changed the Gunther/Kaiser dynamic when Gunther eventually walked out there. The Zayn/Gunther title match wasn’t made, but that was the point. The heat is in Gunther denying Zayn and it’s worth dragging out a bit longer to keep building momentum for Sami.
Match of the night
-Match of the night honors go to Iyo Sky and Bianca Belair. Those two women had a wonderful match with a surprise win for Sky. Not many women have beaten Bianca Belair in the middle of the ring and the fact that Sky did immediately gives WWE a chance to do Sky/Sane vs. Belair/Cargill for the tag team titles. It’s a low bar, I get it, but that is the hottest WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match in history and this win had a lot to do with making it that. Good booking.
-Damian Priest vs. Dominik Mysterio was a fun main event and they had the right match together. Priest got almost all of the offense in, which excited the crowd, but only for Dominik to squash that thanks to underhanded tactics from Judgment Day. Dominik looked like enough of a credible heel opponent to validate their main event presentation, but weak enough opposite Priest to make sure Priest stood out. In the end and just like last week, Judgment Day wrapped the show standing tall in an effort to further establish them as a threat.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments!
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