-Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio are terribly obnoxious and that is great for television. Obviously, they are supposed to be and this week’s promo may have been the best yet from the two of them together. Morgan stood out even more that Dominik did. She carried more of the promo and got just as much heat as Dom too. They set the table nicely for Rhea Ripley who came out to a huge pop to run down the pesky heels. Simple stuff, but effective in setting up roles and storylines heading into the Bad Blood showdown between Morgan and Ripley.
Shark cage
-Ripley announced that Dominik Mysterio will be trapped in a shark cage above the ring during her championship match against Morgan at Bad Blood. The audience is sure to get a kick out of that, especially with how obnoxious Dominik is and how perfect he’ll inevitably sell being there. Mysterio will have to remember not to take it too far, though. The Ripley vs. Morgan feud isn’t comedy hour and needs a serious tone once the bell rings.
-The Sami Zayn in-ring formula never misses. Zayn is so good at developing sympathy during his matches that he can hook the audience no matter the circumstances. The benefactor of that this week was Ludwig Kaiser — a good heel worker in his own right. These two had a really good match and the win for Zayn puts him one step closer to a title match with Gunther. What’s going to be the thing that pushes Gunther over the edge to take a title match with Sami? Let us know in the comments!
-Ok, Kofi Kingston waving off the pancake platter he was to surprise Xavier Woods with was top notch wrestling comedy. This is a fun story. Woods on the cusp of losing his mind and Kingston trying to pull him back is something fans can relate to and has many directions it could go. Woods is certain to turn heel at this point, but when and how is the question. A strong storyline in the middle of the card on a three hour show.
Victory!
-Holy cow. Stop the damn presses. Dragon Lee got a win! Sure, it was over Carlito, but a win is a win. Lee is an underutilized talent and while this isn’t a pivot in the booking strategy for him, it’s a small step forward? Maybe?
-Bronson Reed and Braun Strowman brawled again, which prevented The Miz getting a shot to beat Reed. It’s fun watching those two behemoths go at it and WWE did a strong job presenting their feud this week ahead of what will be a main event blow off match between the two next week. It’s a mid-card storyline that will payoff in a Raw main event. We saw the same thing this week with Jey Uso and Bron Breakker. If this is a calculated strategy to get more out of mid-card feuds, it’s a smart one.
-Speaking of main events, WWE did a wonderful job hyping up Breakker vs. Jey. The video packages and feud recaps made it feel like a big deal. It’s that attention to detail that can elevate programs to more impactful levels. Breakker’s promo was excellent also.
Repairing hell
-Just like CM Punk did last week, Drew McIntyre cut a very effective promo on the show to sell his Hell in a Cell match with Punk at Bad Blood. McIntyre adopted Punk’s slow cadence and low volume of speaking, which continued the match’s serious tone and tenor. These two promos together were less about Punk and Drew, but more about rehabbing the Hell in a Cell gimmick that has been watered down for years. It’ll take a while to undo the damage done, but these promos have been a strong start.
-Another strong women’s tag team match this week — this time between Damage CNTRL and Unholy Union. They got 10 minutes to do their thing and it paid off. Slowly, the women’s tag scene is shaping into something.
-The Damian Priest promo was interesting. Unique production, but a focused attempt to explain the Balor history within Judgment Day for the time period that he was champion while Judgment Day was at his side. The explanation worked well and gave the feud real depth. Feels like a big grudge feud.
New champion
-Bron Breakker vs. Jey Uso got the last half of the third hour to do their thing and man, it paid off. This was an excellent match with big nearfalls that the audience reacted to in a strong way each time. This wasn’t a Will Ospreay classic from an athleticism standpoint, but the crowd was invested in Jey winning. WWE strung the narrative of Jey securing his first singles title throughout the last few weeks and paid it off with a W this week. This is smart on multiple levels. First, Jey needed a victory. He’s one of the most over babyfaces on Raw and had not had any major wins on his resume. This gets him one. Fans need to believe in their babyfaces and the only way to successfully cultivate that investment is with the babyface eventually doing what they say they will do. Second, you didn’t want Bron Breakker to have a carbon copy title reign like Gunther did. His had to be something different and in this case, he took his dominance for granted, showboated, and lost the match. There is a story there. Plus, you want to give fans a feeling that any title could change hands at anytime. Not every title reigns needs to be a year. This surprise will make people think harder and suspend disbelief in the future when titles are on the line in TV matches. Big props to Bron Breakker. The 2.99999 near fall count was expertly executed on his part and sent the match into fourth gear.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments!
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