Powell’s WWE Raw Hit List: Kevin Owens vs. Jey Uso, Becky Lynch brawls with Damage CTRL, Austin Theory and Seth Rollins, Dexter Lumis vs. The Miz, The Judgment Day vs. The OC in an eight-person tag match, The Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy, Candice LeRae vs. Dakota Kai

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

WWE Raw Hits

Kevin Owens vs. Jey Uso: A top notch television main event. It was also another stellar night for The Bloodline saga. Owens stating that he wasn’t angry over Sami Zayn attacking him during the WarGames match was really well done. The logic was solid with Owens pointing out how many times he’s turned on Zayn in the past and even stating that he’s happy that people now recognize how good Zayn is. If this is all leading to an eventual Owens and Zayn reunion, then they played this perfectly, as it would have been awkward to have an angry Owens vow revenge when he and Zayn seem destined to reuinte. On a side note, Solo Sikoa is great in his role as the enforcer. I love the way he stood and glared at the babyface team while they were in their shark cage on Saturday, and how he followed by staring down Matt Riddle and Elias after the other members of The Bloodline walked off the interview set. Sikoa doesn’t say much because he doesn’t have to.

Austin Theory and Seth Rollins: Theory’s character became a man, but Rollins can still trigger him by referring to Theory as kid. The little touch of Theory putting the mic at his side while the camera mics caught him saying “I’m not your damn kid” was perfect. This was a good, tense exchange between the new U.S. Champion and the man he beat for the title. If Theory and Rollins are going to feud over the U.S. Title, it will be interesting to see what’s next for Bobby Lashley.

“Judgment Day” Rhea Ripley, Dominik Mysterio, Finn Balor, and Damian Priest vs. “The OC” Mia Yim, AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson in an eight-person tag team match: The Judgment Day won what they seemed to suggest was the blowoff match for the feud. Judgment Day has unfinished business with Edge and Beth Phoenix, but I’m not sure what The OC will do next. Either way, this was an entertaining match that concluded with another momentum building win for Ripley.

“The Street Profits” Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins vs. “Alpha Academy” Chad Gable and Otis: The usual strong match from these teams. That said, I was hoping for something fresh from the Profits following a layoff, but it was very much business as usual.

Dexter Lumis vs. The Miz: A soft Hit. The live crowd seemed slow to get behind Lumis, but Miz drew enough heat to keep the fans invested. More than anything, I’m happy that the Lumis and Miz saga appears to be over. Here’s hoping that means Johnny Gargano can move away from Lumis and get back to being Johnny Wrestling.

Overall Show: More of an in the middle despite the lopsided Hits and Misses count. This wasn’t the page turning show that I hoped for coming out of Survivor Series. They extended most of the programs and there was nothing that felt fresh or new. Perhaps that’s a product of WWE not having another PLE until late January. On the bright side, the broadcast team did a really good job of putting over the toll that WarGames matches took on the wrestlers. I can’t stand when gimmick matches are built up for weeks as being brutal and punishing, and then everyone just moves on with no or minimal selling coming out of the gimmick match. That wasn’t the case with WarGames and that should pay off the next time they break out the double ring cage.

WWE Raw Misses

Becky Lynch brawls with Damage CTRL: Lynch’s promo to start the show was strong. I thought we might get some acknowledgement of her heel run, but she went into The Man mode and the live crowd at it up. Unfortunately, they lost me when The Man became Superman by beating up three heels at once at the fake merch table. It would be different if Lynch had plowed through three undercard wrestlers, but it’s hard to be excited about Lynch working with Bayley after Lynch got the better of Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Iyo Sky simultaneously.

Candice LeRae vs. Dakota Kai: A well worked match that simply overstayed its welcome. Perhaps it needed to go somewhat long to get across LeRae’s heart, but this felt like it was stretched out in part because the show runs three hours in length. On a side note related to last night’s live review, I missed the Wyatt logo flashing during the backstage segment involving Bianca Belair, Asuka, and Alexa Bliss. It was more of the same with Bliss showing signs of being affected by whatever is happening.