By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw Hits
Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan vs. Rey Mysterio and Zelina Vega: Mami is back and Dom is in big trouble. I love the way that Dom getting his first pinfall victory over his father made him so excited that he shared a hug with Morgan moments before Rhea Ripley returned. The cliffhanger of Ripley confronting Dom just before the show went off the air was perfect. The creative change has brought back the soap opera element of the booking that was missing because the previous regime made so many weekly changes that it was nearly impossible to tell consistent stories.
CM Punk and Seth Rollins: A great show opening verbal exchange. Assuming that Punk is medically cleared, it will be interesting to see if they go with Punk vs. McIntyre straight up at SummerSlam or if they add Rollins and make it a Triple Threat. Rollins has settled into an effective routine with a lot of his mic work, but this was a reminder of how good he can be during verbal exchanges. Rollins showed this ability during the build to his matches with Cody Rhodes, and he more than held his own while going back and forth with Punk.
Bron Breakker vs. Ilja Dragunov: It was a good bounce back night for Breakker following his clean loss to Sami Zayn at Money in the Bank. The spear out of nowhere on Zayn was nicely done. The live crowd didn’t seem fully invested in this match. It seems like some WWE crowds have been slow to get behind Dragunov. Breakker taking the DQ loss felt a little lazy and yet it ultimately worked because it made him look violent while also protecting Dragunov from taking a loss.
Bronson Reed vs. Pete Dunne: A competitive match before Reed went over clean. The post match angle with Dunne shoving Sheamus was an unexpected development. I don’t know how long Tyler Bate will be sidelined, but here’s hoping that Dunne will get a real opportunity as a singles wrestler in the meantime. I can take or leave the Dunne and Bate tag team, but I look forward to them eventually feuding with one another again.
Jey Uso vs. Chad Gable: A soft Hit for a match that looked better on paper than it turned out to be. The wrestlers did their part, but the match only went seven minutes and concluded with a distraction caused by The Wyatt Sicks entrance. I did get a kick out of Uso looking into the hard camera and saying “yeet” before he made a quick exit to avoid the Wyatt Sicks.
Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, and Carlito vs. Braun Strowman, R-Truth, and The Miz: A soft Hit for a mildly entertaining six-man tag match. It was good to see the Judgment Day duo go over.
WWE Raw Misses
Damian Priest ends his gentlemen’s agreement with Seth Rollins: WWE has been playing a little fast and loose with a few things lately. Yes, they did state in advance that it was a gentlemen’s agreement and not a binding stipulation signed off on by Adam Pearce, but it was still pushing to immediately go back on the deal that Rollins would not be able to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship if he failed to win the title at MITB. Drew McIntyre had a retirement that didn’t even last a week. That didn’t bother me because he’s a heel and it seemed like it was part of his character’s plan to blindside Punk in Chicago. But now McIntyre has a suspension that appears to be ending after just one week. While I don’t think any significant damage has been done yet, the company would be wise to avoid pushing it any further or they run the risk that fans will start to lose faith in them delivering on stipulations and other matters.
Iyo Sky, Kairi Sane, and Dakota Kai vs. Lyra Valkyria, Katana Chance, and Kayden Carter: The match was fine and I like the idea of putting Sony Deville with Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark. But the whole thing felt a little confusing in that it came off like heels attacking heels while the babyface trio actually fled the scene. Are Damage CTRL turning babyface?
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