Powell’s WWE Raw Hit List: Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn vs. Dominik Mysterio, Finn Balor, and Damian Priest, Logan Paul added to MITB, Trish Stratus vs. Raquel Rodriguez in a MITB qualifier, Bronson Reed vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Matt Riddle vs. Ludwig Kaiser, The Viking Raiders vs. Alpha Academy

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

WWE Raw Hits

Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn vs. Dominik Mysterio, Finn Balor, and Damian Priest: The finishing sequence with all three babyfaces hitting their finishers made for a really enjoyable finish to the match and the show. I am surprised that they didn’t keep Dom away from taking beatings until Cody gets his hands on him at Money in the Bank. Of course, Dom gets more heat than anyone in the game right now, so it’s not like any harm was done.

Matt Riddle vs. Ludwig Kaiser: A strong match. I really hope the creative team see what they have in Kaiser and start to build him up rather than continue to have him serve as a henchman. Ideally, Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci will develop their own distinct personalities. Gunther should obviously remain the centerpiece of Imperium, but he would also benefit from having two well rounded characters at his side rather than pair of one dimensional fall guys.

Bronson Reed vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: The ongoing issues between Reed, Nakamura, and Ricochet feel strange. I don’t even know why Nakamura and Ricochet are bickering, but I like that Reed has been getting the better of both of them despite failing to qualify for the MITB ladder match. It’s not making the two men who are actually in MITB look strong, but Reed has the most long term upside of the three.

Kayden Carter and Katana Chance vs. Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville: With heel tag team champions, I get the idea of building up the babyface duo of Carter and Chance. The duo made a good impression with their crowd pleasing offense despite the match getting just over two minutes. But Green is the real star in this match. The crazy Karen videos were a blast and I would love to see that become a regular bit on the show. Now if only the creative forces would stop killing her heat by having her lose nearly every match.

“The Viking Raiders” Erik and Ivar vs. “Alpha Academy” Chad Gable and Otis: A soft Hit. A rare win for the Viking Raiders. The spots with Maxxine Dupri performing the moves that Chad Gable teaches her seem to be getting over with the live crowds.

“Indus Sher” Veer Mahaan and Sanga vs. Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin: An in the middle segment. If nothing else, at least they doubled down on Indus Sher dominating Alexander and Benjamin.

WWE Raw Misses

Seth Rollins fails to defend the World Heavyweight Championship: Finn Balor gained some momentum by attacking Rollins during the opening segment. But there’s no reason they couldn’t have followed through on the advertised Rollins’ open challenge match and then had Balor attack him afterward. It felt like a bait and switch when the company failed to make good on the most compelling advertised match. That said, I did get a kick out of The Miz saying that he was going to challenge Rollins, as it had to leave the live crowd and viewers feeling like they didn’t miss much.

Logan Paul is in the MITB ladder match: Mixed feelings. Adding the social media star to the match is a Hit. The way they went about adding Paul to the match is a Miss. It would be different if we were in an era with a heel authority figure. But for Paul to simply say that the “executors” added him to the match without making him qualify like everyone else made the company look heelish. I will not be surprised if Paul ends up winning MITB. Either way, I suspect that some company officials would love to have him win World Heavyweight Championship at some point for the media attention it would garner.

Trish Stratus vs. Raquel Rodriguez in a Money in the Bank qualifying match: Rodriguez’s offense looked so punishing at times that it felt like Stratus owed her money. I was not a fan of Becky Lynch causing the disqualification unless it’s leading to a Rodriguez heel turn. But the segment that preceded the match with Rodriguez and Rhea Ripley left me assuming that they are foreshadowing a match between the two of them, which makes a Rodriguez turn seem unlikely. Well, unless there’s a double turn in the works and Rodriguez will become Dom’s new Mami. It’s a long shot, but the fans love Ripley while Rodriguez is so generic as a babyface that I can’t completely rule it out.