By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw Hits
Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci vs. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods in a Street Fight: A physical brawl that I’m sure all four wrestlers are feeling the effects of today. It’s been nice to see the New Day duo take a more serious approach, and yet it was still a pleasant surprise to see Kaiser and Vinci go over in what seemed to be the blowoff match of the feud.
Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre: McIntyre continues to be among the most entertaining acts in the business. His latest jabs at CM Punk and his backstage line regarding how Jey Uso got what he deserved were both great. Rollins did his best to play up the idea that the risk he’s taking by trying to take out The Bloodline is worth the potential reward. It was very telling that the live crowd didn’t react all that strongly to those lines. It would have been a different story a year ago when The Bloodline was red hot at one time, but the faction has cooled off considerably. The Rock joining the faction should provide a major boost, but it feels like the group needs to be showcased being physically dominant soon to reestablish the idea of them being dangerous.
Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: They opened the night with a spirited match that included some strong near falls for Nakamura, which was the perfect way to establish the resilience of the Zayn character. Michael Cole provided a nice assist on commentary by emphasizing how much Zayn’s character needed the win to help his cause going into WrestleMania.
Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch: The fans love Ripley to the point that they were not behind Lynch nearly as much as they would have been had she been working with another heel. Dominik Mysterio’s role in this feud is crucial in that he can always draw heat. Nia Jax attacking Lynch was a good way to set things up for their match, and it was a nice touch to have Ripley simply walk to the back rather than save Lynch from their mutual enemy.
Nia Jax vs. Liv Morgan: Jax looked strong before Lynch attacked her to end the match by disqualification. Morgan voicing her displeasure with Lynch for costing her the match was an interesting development.
Raquel Rodriguez vs. Chelsea Green: As much as I’d like to see Green cast as more than a pest heel who always gets her comeuppance, this was a solid spotlight win for Rodriguez.
WWE Raw Misses
Cody Rhodes vs. Grayson Waller: A soft miss for a match that just felt underwhelming in the main event slot. I enjoy Waller’s work and Cody’s star power clearly goes a long way, but the match felt a little random given that there wasn’t even a lot of friction between the two during the talkshow segment at Elimination Chamber. Cody beating up the suspended cops from the NYPD in the angle that followed the match was not particularly memorable. Someone should tell Heyman’s character about the three-way phone call option, though I do enjoy the visual of him now having separate phones for Rock and Roman Reigns.
Jey Uso promo: Jimmy Uso cost Jey the Intercontinental Championship last week, yet somehow it didn’t seem to be a sore spot with Jey. Rather, he spoke about how he would just continue to be himself. I’m sure they’ll get back to Jey vs. Jimmy, but it felt odd to see Jey in happy go lucky mode despite what transpired during the previous week’s main event.
Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark vs. Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae: The random women’s tag team match of the week. Baszler and Stark have actually won most of their tag team matches and yet for some reason they don’t seem to be gaining any momentum. Of course, it doesn’t help that they both lost Elimination Chamber qualifiers and were then eliminated from the last chance battle royal despite having a two-on-one advantage over Raquel Rodriguez.
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