By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw Hits
Bronson Reed attacks Seth Rollins: It was hard to get excited when Reed told Adam Pearce that he intended to take matters into his own hands. Reed has been spinning his wheels since he arrived on the main roster and it felt likely that he would attack a fellow mid-card act to set up another mid-card program. It was a very pleasant surprise when Reed attacked Seth Rollins instead and he did so in memorable fashion by hitting Rollins with six Tsunami splashes. Hopefully this is just the beginning for Reed and it’s not a case of setting him up just to be fed to Rollins in a one-off PLE match. I’m optimistic that this will be a longer program that will help keep the Rollins character distracted while they save his eventual showdown match with CM Punk for somewhere down the road.
Gunther and Randy Orton: This was another pleasant surprise and a nice creative move. They established the need for a rematch between the two after Orton’s shoulders were up when Gunther pinned him to win the King of the Ring tournament, which helps explain why Orton is allowed to crossover to Raw for this match despite being a Smackdown wrestler. Orton is one of the most popular wrestlers on the WWE roster and has as good a chance as anyone of being cheered while facing Gunther in Germany. And if the live crowd goes the other way, Orton is savvy enough to adjust on the fly and lean into a possible negative reaction if the situation calls for it.
Damian Priest vs. JD McDonagh: A strong match. I went into this expecting Priest to make fairly quick work of McDonagh given that it was Priest’s first night as a an all out babyface and this was his first match since losing the World Heavyweight Championship. Rather, they worked a competitive match, albeit with McDonagh getting some help from Carlito. McDonagh was a bumping machine for Priest and continues to do an excellent job of making his babyface opponents shine. The post match angle with Rhea Ripley coming to the aid of Priest produced one of the biggest pops of the night. There is definitely money in a mixed tag match, and I’m wide open to the idea of an eventual Ripley vs. Dominik Mysterio spectacle match.
Sheamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser: The first match of the night lived up to Sheamus’s tagline about having banger after banger. This was a good physical match that didn’t feel like it had a highly predictable outcome, especially with Pete Dunne interfering in recent Sheamus matches. It turned out to be a bounce back night for Sheamus in that he stuffed Dunne’s attempt to interfere and then got a clean win over rival Kaiser.
“The Wyatt Sicks” Erick Rowan, Dexter Lumis, and Joe Gacy vs. “American Made” Chad Gable, Julius Creed, and Brutus Creed: The Wyatts had a quality in-ring debut. The match was quickly paced and Rowan, Lumis, and Gacy all had moments to shine. As much as the initial massacre scene for the Wyatt Sicks debut feels awkward in retrospect now that they are slotted as babyfaces, I remain pleased that the faction has taken a straight forward approach that fits in with the rest of the storyline universe as opposed to slipping into hocus pocus territory.
Iyo Sky vs. Sonya Deville: Damage CTRL received a more favorable reaction this week, presumably because the fans are figuring out that they are the babyfaces in this feud despite never having an actual turn angle. Sky continues to be the most protected wrestler in this feud and for good reason.
Lyra Valkyria vs. Shayna Baszler: More of an in the middle than a true Hit or Miss for this brief match that ended with a DQ finish.
WWE Raw Misses
New Day vs. AOP: Forget the distraction finish, there’s nothing good about watching a monster heel tag team lose to two guys dressed up in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles inspired gear for a merchandise crossover. Putting that aside, Odyssey Jones had a solid debut. It was interesting to see Xavier Woods act like he was caught off guard when he found out that Kofi Kingston had reached out to Jones for backup without informing him.
Grayson Waller and Austin Theory vs. The Miz and R-Truth: Did we really need to see Waller and Theory blow up the brand split rules just to get a measure of revenge for Jelly Roll celebrity spot at SummerSlam? Miz was surprisingly chill over Truth tagging himself in and then accidentally swinging Waller’s legs into him. I suspect that Miz won’t keep his cool much longer.
With Orton and A-Town Down Under on Raw, we are officially at the point where the WWE doesn’t care about brand split rules yet again. Personally, I just wish they’d merge (some) relevant titles and end it. They don’t have the discipline or the will to keep it up from year to year.
I mean it’s not like they showed up on Raw for no reason.Orton was logical.Who knows if he’ll be on Raw every week leading up to the match though and if we’ll see Gunther making a Smackdown appearance.Theory and Waller was just filler most likely after Summerslam.
With all due respect, it doesn’t matter what the reason is. They could come up with some “reason” for it every week. They either have a brand separation or they don’t. It’s that simple.
Miz turning heel again??
How bout Truth makes the turn somehow?
Perhaps he can revert back to Ron Killings since they’re working with TNA anyway..