By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw Hits
Bron Breakker vs. Ilja Dragunov: The best match of the night was capped off by a clean and decisive finish. Ideally, Dragunov gained something in defeat by being competitive with Breakker. But the Toledo fans were a quiet group and it never felt like they ever truly got behind Dragunov. The big angle with Breakker putting Ricochet through a car windshield (real glass, Jack?) was an effective way to write out Ricochet if he leaves the company. For that matter, if Ricochet surprises everyone by staying with WWE, his character has a reason to seek revenge on Breakker when the time is right. If this was his WWE swan song, Ricochet deserves a lot of credit for taking a couple of big bumps on his way that helped make Breakker look like a killer.
Iyo Sky vs. Lyra Valkyria: A good competitive match that concluded with Sky stealing the pin. Valkyria is one of the few babyface wrestlers on the Raw women’s roster that doesn’t feel damaged, so it was a wise call to protect her in defeat. Sky freaking out over Damage CTRL’s struggles is a welcome move in that it makes her feel like the faction’s leader and also suggests that the group will get a needed reboot.
Drew McIntyre vs. Finn Balor: The stipulation that a McIntyre win bans Judgment Day from ringside during Saturday’s World Heavyweight Championship match was a nice hook for the heel vs. heel main event. McIntyre seemed to soften his heel edge for the night given that he will be the babyface in front of his home country fans on Saturday.
Braun Strowman, Rey Mysterio, Dragon Lee vs. Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh, and Carlito: The actual match was enjoyable, but the real fun involved Dom and Liv Morgan. The spot where Morgan was dropkicked off the apron and fell onto Dom in a suggestive position was great. The best moment of the night occurred in the Judgment Day clubhouse when Dom showed the rest of the group the hotel keycard that Morgan gave him, which led to Carlito responding, “That’s cool.” Speaking of the keycard, Finn Balor ending up with it at the end of the night was an interesting development.
Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn vs. Otis in a non-title match: There wasn’t much to the match, but it was a good night for the Alpha Academy storyline. Otis explaining why he’s been so loyal to Gable was a necessary move. I like the way they have stretched this out, but it feels like they are at the point where Otis needs to stand up to Gable. The fans are with Otis, as shown when even the tough Toledo crowd could be heard chanting his name during a segment they were watching on the big screen.
WWE Raw Misses
The Miz and R-Truth vs. “AOP” Akam and Rezar for the World Tag Team Titles: It’s a nice move to give Truth a gold watch title reign, but it felt like this should have been the end of the road for the champions. Rather, the comedy champions beat the monster tag team clean without any real protection for AOP.
Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark vs. Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn: It was a baffling move to establish that Baszler was licking her wounds from her NXT Underground fight from the night before only to have Fyre and Dawn take a clean loss heading into the tag title match at Clash at the Castle. What was the point of making the rarely used Fyre and Dawn look even weaker before they challenge for the tag titles in the Triple Threat? Will Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill cool off due to the lack of believable challengers?
Nice to read a ‘hits” list without every “hit” having some negative comment inserted.
A hotel room key given by a woman that winds up in different men’s hands? Wow, the pick-and-choose politically correct “woke” hypocrisy continues….
Seriously, dude, are you ok? Hove you considered switching to decaf?