By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw Hits
Drew McIntyre attacks CM Punk: A strong bounce back beatdown from McIntyre. The bracelet aspect of the story has not been for everyone, but it was effective when McIntyre broke it and shoved the beads in Punk’s mouth. This sure seemed like it was done to heat up the feud to set up the blowoff match as Hell in a Cell at Bad Blood. Punk mentioning the idea of going after Gunther planted seeds for an eventual program between the two.
Gunther and Sami Zayn: Zayn pinned Gunther clean at WrestleMania, so it’s logical that he would be the next challenger for the World Heavyweight Championship. This could be a one and done program given that one would think that Zayn is going to be recruited by Roman Reigns to take part in his battle with the new Bloodline at some point, perhaps with a WarGames match at Survivor Series.
Ilja Dragunov vs. Dragon Lee vs. Dominik Mysterio in a Triple Threat tournament match for a shot at the Intercontinental Title: Dragunov and Lee had a strong outing once Dom was run off by Damian Priest. Here’s hoping we see more of them working together. Dragunov advancing to the four-way for a shot at the Intercontinental Title was a welcome development.
Braun Strowman vs. Sheamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser in a Triple Threat tournament match for a shot at the Intercontinental Title: Strowman going over was surprising given that he wasn’t even supposed to be in the match and they gave him a massive out for losing via the rib injury caused by Bronson Reed. It left me wondering what the original plan for the match was. While I appreciate the honesty from WWE, I’m surprised they announced that Reed was sidelined by Covid as opposed to simply having Adam Pearce suspend him for the Tsunami that he gave Strowman on top of a car last week.
Julius Creed, Brutus Creed, and Ivy Nile vs. Otis, Akira Tozawa, and Maxxine Dupri: The live crowd got behind the babyfaces in a big way. The American Made faction needed a win and got one headed into next week’s eight-person street fight with The Wyatt Sicks.
Shayna Baszler vs. Zelina Vega: An in the middle rather than a Hit or a Miss. Do the Pure Fusion Collective wrestlers win singles matches without a ringside distraction? The post match angle with PFC beating down Vega and Lyra Valkyrie was fine in that it led to the tease of the babyfaces seeking help from Natalya next week in Calgary.
Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett: A soft Hit for a decent outing on night one for Tessitore. He did a good job with the countless live reads for upcoming events and didn’t have any embarrassing rookie moments. He did not jump out as a natural at calling the matches and there’s a lot of hard work ahead, but Barrett is polished and will surely help him through the expected rough patches that are sure to occur. Fortunately, Tessitore won’t be subjected to Vince McMahon destroying his confidence by screaming at him through the headsets and/or after the show.
WWE Raw Misses
WWE Tag Team Champions Finn Balor and JD McDonagh vs. Damian Priest and Jey Uso in a non-title match: A good match and the babyfaces going over sent the viewers and live crowd home happy. It falls in the Miss section because it made the soft champions look even weaker, and did further damage to the depleted Judgment Day. Not only have the tag champions not defended their titles on television, they have yet to actually win a televised match together. It’s fine to go with vulnerable champions from time to time, but it feels like a case of creative neglect for the tag team division more than a strategic approach to booking Balor and McDonagh. On the bright side, the fans were into Priest and Uso as a team, and it was another good night for the ultra popular Rhea Ripley.
Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn vs. Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane for a shot at the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles: Bring back the automatic rematch clause after a title change. It beats going through the motions of booking a No. 1 contenders match just to have the former champions win at the expense of a team that really needs wins to develop any sense of momentum. The spot late in the match with Bianca Belair failing to catch Kairi Sane at ringside was unfortunate. Sane might be small, but she showed grit by popping right up and continuing with the match as if nothing happened.
Couple of thoughts:
Maxine Dupri has been putting in the work. She’s got a ways to go but she did some spots that really popped the crowd (especially the kick to Gable, who has turned into a great heel).
The women’s tag situation is a complete mess. A #1 contenders match was def too soon; more work needs to build up the division so the fans care about it. There is a lot of talent there (contrary to what *some* of the other commenters here think) and it’s really being wasted. In fact the entire women’s division could use a reboot.
The Breaker/Uso match could be great but Jey doesn’t promo well as a singles star. Breaker, however, is also putting in the work and becoming a much better promo.
my .02
Any word on Odessy Jones?I read that he’s been removed from the main roster.
It looked weird when it was just Kofi backstage with not even Woods there with him.
My thought on the COVID comment about Reed… I feel if they said Pierce suspended him it would be harder own the line for Reed to “get away” with the things he’s been doing. I don’t think they want that potential roadblock in the way as it would overcomplicate matters. COVID makes it simple and doesn’t add any storyline stress to the angle.