By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw Hits
Intercontinental Champion Gunther vs. Dominik Mysterio in a non-title match: Why was this match not advertised? Who wouldn’t want to see Gunther chop the piss out of the man that WWE fans love to hate? Putting that aside, this was my favorite match of the night. Dom had his moments and wasn’t a complete pushover, while Gunther was his usual badass self.
Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso: The late interference with The Bloodline going after Jey was logical. Perhaps this will be the trigger that makes Jey’s character realize that he has to fight his brother Jimmy. McIntyre continues to speak the truth. He’s the guy pointing out that his own WrestleMania opponent is making a mistake by waging war with The Bloodline rather than focussing on their title match. It’s a unique dynamic that is perfect for McIntyre.
Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins: Aside from one awful moment with Rollins (more on that later), he and Cody did an effective job of filling a lot of television time without having the material to actually move the storyline forward. I like that Cody and Seth are firing back strong. It doesn’t feel like they are being asked to pull punches to protect their mega star rival. Rock is badmouthing them and they are giving it right back to him.
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Damian Priest and Finn Balor vs. Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci in a non-title match: A quality win for the tag team champions and a rare chance to see them work together as babyfaces. I knew it wouldn’t change in this match, but I continue to wish that Kaiser and Vinci were positioned as an elite team.
Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax: That bump that Jax took after being hit with a missile dropkick was comically awful. Otherwise, this was fine and the finish was clever in terms of Liv Morgan getting a measure of revenge for Lynch costing her a match with Jax. They did a good job of explaining that Lynch was going after Jax when she interfered, whereas it came off like Morgan interfered in Lynch’s match out of spite. The finish set up Lynch vs. Morgan for next week while also creating the need for another match between Lynch and Jax.
Sami Zayn vs. Ivar: An enjoyable match with Zayn finally connecting with the Helluva Kick on his third attempt. I really want to see Zayn challenge Gunther at WrestleMania. I think that’s the plan, but they have also done an effective job of making Chad Gable feel like a threat to win next week’s gauntlet match by having him talk about how personal the match is to him.
Michael Cole: He wore Valhalla’s antlers! It’s nice to see some loose silly fun from time to time. And while I doubt that Cole dropped the line without approval, it was a nice touch to have him mention the retirement of Sting. The company has also been acknowledging the deaths of notable wrestlers rather than excluding certain people due to their negative history or lack of history with the company. WWE is doing a lot of the little things that add up to create goodwill with the fans that the previous regime neglected.
WWE Raw Misses
Seth Rollins promo line: Diarrhea Dwayne? Really? Does someone in this company have a fecal fetish? Okay, so we knew that a major shareholder allegedly does, but we’ve had a few weeks of Pat McAfee working in poop jokes and now this dreadful Garbage Pail Kids nickname from Rollins. Worst of all, it actually prompted a “Diarrhea” chant from the crowd. Be better, San Antonio.
Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark vs. Kayden Carter and Katana Chance: The obligatory women’s tag team match of the week. This was better than most in that it featured the team that has quietly beaten most of the other tag teams against a legitimate team (not just two singles wrestlers temporarily thrown together). WWE has been featuring one or two of the women’s tag team matches every week on Raw for months now and yet there are no signs of increased interest in the women’s tag team division.
Andrade vs. Apollo Crews: More of an in the middle for a forgettable spotlight match. I’m all for introducing or reintroducing some wrestlers in this fashion, but nothing about this one really stood out. The timing wasn’t right for it since this match was all about showcasing Andrade, but these two could definitely produce a strong match together. On the plus side, I like the way that Judgment Day is talking about Andrade. My guess is that Andrade ends up feuding with them, but the top heel faction talking about Andrade sends the message to fans that he is somebody worth paying attention to.
The people’s chump – dire dwayne – sour Powell- aye carumba maivia – bracin’ Jason- cody schmody – rocky schmucky – poophead Seth
Embrace the silly, brother!
“It’s nice to see some loose silly fun from time to time.” Yes! Goofy wrestling is part of the fun so, with that in mind, how could you not give a HIT to “Regeneration X?” MISSed opportunity, Jason LOL
Because I roll my eyes at how bush league it makes everyone other than Truth feel.
I’m not expecting any increased interest in the women’s tag division until their matches start actually looking serious. Kabuki Warriors should be running rampant but even in their best matches, so far, they’ve not looking really dominant; and they really should be.
The only team that seems to have gotten a decent push, from the announcers side of things, is Kayden & Katana… and that just emphasizes the problem. Kayden can seriously go, as we saw several times in NXT. Katana… yeah, not at all. It’s not her size; there are multiple women of similar stature, on all three brands, who can credibly wrestle (witness Selina Vega vs Rhea) but she doesn’t even look natural standing still and shrugging her shoulders.
I’m eagerly awaiting a heel turn for Candace LaRae, I just hope that Indy turns with her, rather than WWE trying to have them feud. Though a double split, with a Candace/Natalie feud with Indy/Tegan, could have some legs to it.
Some much needed video spotlights about their personalities and passion, and actual promo time would do wonders for the women’s tag team division. Who are they? Why do they care, so we can care.