By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw Hits
Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes: If you ever need security, do not make the mistake of hiring the glass jaw pushovers that Cody destroyed with ease. While that part of the angle became a bit much, the overall segment worked. The new Man In Black version of Lesnar is a fun follow-up to fun loving country boy Brock, and Cody showed good fire while trying to get to Lesnar (even if John Wick would blush at the number of people Cody plowed through).
Solo Sikoa vs. Rey Mysterio: A compelling opening match. Sikoa is bouncing back nicely from Cody Rhodes labeling him as not being ready and then backing it up by beating him on the Raw before WrestleMania. As fun as the Dominik Mysterio character has been, it’s been great to see Rey featured prominently again. The feud with Dom and the WWE Hall of Fame induction have given Rey a significant boost that is worthy of his living legend status.
Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Matt Riddle vs. “Judgment Day” Dominik Mysterio, Damian Priest, and Finn Balor: A fun main event that was followed by a wild brawl that involved The Usos and Solo Sikoa along with the LWO members. I’m curious to see what the fallout is from Judgment Day failing to hold up their end of the agreement they made with The Bloodline. Here’s hoping it’s not a case of Judgment Day interfering to help Roman Reigns or The Usos win an upcoming title match.
Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair vs. Dakota Kai: A quality television match. While there was a rough sequence before the commercial break, the bulk of the match was well worked and more competitive than I anticipated. It will be interesting to see what happens to the Damage CTRL trio in the draft. They each have something to offer individually even if the faction has been a disappointment.
Seth Rollins vs. The Miz: A surprisingly competitive and entertaining match. I really hope we see more of this from The Miz. He’s a great talker and a fun personality, but he’s lost all in-ring credibility. In fact, he hasn’t won a match since December, and he has only three wins since June. He still manages to get good heat thanks to his mic work, but he could be more effective if it felt like he had a real chance to win his matches.
WWE Raw Misses
U.S. Champion Austin Theory vs. Bobby Lashley in a non-title match: A match that received no build and concluded with another weak Theory finish. It’s not that I mind Bronson Reed getting involved. It was logical given his storyline issues with Lashley. The problem is that Theory is back to being booked like a mid-card pest heel, which is damaging him and the U.S. Championship. The broadcast team spoke about his high profile wins, including his WrestleMania victory over John Cena. But anyone who actually watched those matches knows that Theory went over in the flukiest fashion in most cases. It seemed like Theory was heading in the right direction when his character matured following his days as the bumbling doofus pet of Vince McMahon. It only took a few weeks for the cheap finishes to return. The amazing thing is that while Theory did beat Cena at WrestleMania, he somehow feels less over now than he did before the match. It’s time to either give the character a major credibility boost or move the title to someone else.
Trish Stratus promo: More of an in the middle than a true Hit or Miss. Trish’s logic was mostly solid and she felt believable even if her delivery was monotone. The weakness of the promo is that it failed to address why Trish fought side by side with Lynch and attempted to help her retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles before she turned on her. This contradicted Trish’s claim that she took out Lita to make sure that she could screw Lynch out of the titles.
Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville vs. Candice LeRae and Michin: The live crowd was as flat during this match as they were all night. I like the Green and Deville tag team. In fact, they have more chemistry than Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, but it seems pretty obvious that Green and Deville will be fed to the new champions on Smackdown. Will there ever be a payoff to Nikki Cross stalking LeRae?
I agree with your original post (last night) that Trish’s promo should have been an interview, either with Kayla in an interview setting or in the ring. Her points would have been great answers to questions, versus a (truly) dull monologue in (as you mentioned) monotone.
Also, will Lita get her comeuppance? If they stretch it long enough and let Lita train out her rust, that could be an interesting match, as long as it’s not in Saudi Arabia
>>.. but he could be more effective if it felt like he had a real chance to win his matches.”
See: Dolph Ziggler
Snoop Dog took out the Miz with one punch but the top guy on RAW had a hard time beating him.
Just pointing out to Powell here, Brock’s latest jacket isn’t a trench coat. Its a Driza-bone, a waterproof (hence the wordplay in the name ‘Dry As A Bone’) Cattleman’s coat created in Australia. They are a national icon here and it looks like Brock is a fan of them
What do Aussies know about coats? Kidding! Clearly more than this dumb American. Thank you very much for the correction. Good to know.