By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw Hits
Jey Uso vs. Pete Dunne vs. Ilja Dragunov vs. Braun Strowman for a shot at the Intercontinental Title: WWE foreshadowed an Uso win for two weeks via his backstage verbal exchanges with Bron Breakker. They walked it back this week by having Breakker confront the other entrants in this match, which helped make the outcome feel a little less predictable. Ultimately, Uso went over, which was the right call given that it’s clearly what the fans wanted given how vocal they were in support of him.
Bret Hart, Gunther, and Sami Zayn: You can’t go wrong with bringing Bret back for an appearance in Calgary. Gunther was tremendous with his smirking insults, which included the gem that Bret is his second favorite wrestler behind only Bill Goldberg. Sami Zayn delivered the fiery babyface promo that sang the praises of Hart, who then did a nice job of calling out Gunther for being a coward after the champion rejected Zayn’s latest request for a title match.
“The Wyatt Sicks” Erick Rowan, Joe Gacy, Dexter Lumis, and Nikki Cross vs. “American Made” Chad Gable, Julius Creed, Brutus Creed, and Ivy Nile: A good WWE style brawl to open the show. The live crowd was hot for the match and the Wyatts continue to be over as a good mid-card act. This didn’t feel like a blowoff match, but it will be interesting to see what the next programs are for both factions.
Drew McIntyre and Adam Pearce: McIntyre’s gloating promo was a blast. Pearce did his usual good mic work in making the Hell in a Cell match announcement. McIntyre’s reaction was perfect in that he expressed through his facial expressions that he was trying to keep a straight face and yet couldn’t stop himself from showing that he was bothered by the announcement.
Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill vs. Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles: A soft Hit for the expected win for the champions in a rematch with the former champions. The big question is what comes next for Belair and Cargill. WWE creative is doing a lot of great things, but the booking of the women’s division below the top stars continues to be shaky. Case in point, they still haven’t bothered to build up any challengers for the dominant champions.
Dominik Mysterio vs. Dragon Lee: Another soft Hit. Dom stealing the pin with a little help from his friends added to his heat. Lee is still struggling to find a meaningful role on the main roster. His NXT run was underwhelming and his main roster run has been worse thus far. Lee is a talented performer, so here’s hoping that he and/or the creative team start to put it together.
Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Gaudreau tribute: It was a nice gesture for the company to pay their respects to the Gaudreau brothers, who were tragically killed while riding their bicycles on the eve of their sister’s wedding. Jackie Redmond works in NHL broadcasting outside WWE and therefore was the perfect person to speak while walking past the fan created memorial area located outside the Saddledome.
WWE Raw Misses
Finn Balor vs. Rey Mysterio: As much as I got a kick out of seeing the referee’s five-count rule enforced for once, it made for a flat finish. It left me wondering if this was done to set up the five-count rule playing some part in a bigger match. I’m sure Balor and Damian Priest will have a good match at Bad Blood, but it currently feels like a nice television main event as opposed to being a premium live event match. We’ll see if they can change that in the weeks leading up to the show. It also felt like there was a bit too much new Judgment Day during the show.
Natalya, Zelina Vega, and Lyra Valkyria vs. Sonya Deville, Shayna Baszler, and Zoey Stark: A soft Miss. Sure, it was nice to see Natalya make the predictable and yet fan pleasing return as the mystery partner for the babyfaces. The triple Sharpshooter spot felt contrived and yet the crowd enjoyed it. But it’s just so hard to care about these undercard women’s tag matches when it feels like the participants are just randomly trading wins and losses.
The big question is what comes next for Belair and Cargill? Don’t you see Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane confronted them backstage after the titles match.