By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw Hits
Bron Breakker vs. Jey Uso for the Intercontinental Title: The presentation for this match was top notch. WWE showed both wrestlers arriving at the building, ran a strong video package on their rivalry, aired promos from both men, and repeatedly plugged the match throughout the night. That’s how you make a television match feel important and other companies should follow suit. Jey winning the title was a mild surprise. If Vince McMahon were still booking, I would fear what this loss means for Breakker. And while it does feel odd to have a young powerhouse wrestler lose a secondary title so quickly, the current creative regime has earned a level of trust that Breakker is going to be just fine going forward.
Sami Zayn vs. Ludwig Kaiser: A hot opening match. Wade Barrett did a great job of putting over Kaiser in defeat by saying he would have beaten 90 percent of the roster with his performance, which also put over Zayn’s win even more. The post match angle with Gunther was more of the same with Gunther teasing Zayn with a title match only to tell him no. It will be interesting to see what finally causes Gunther to give in. Is it as simple as Adam Pearce stating that Gunther doesn’t get to decide who his challengers are? It should be, but it’s hard to say whether that’s what they have in mind.
Bronson Reed and Braun Strowman: The pull apart brawls were an effective way to set up next week’s showdown match. The Last Monster Standing match slogan is fun. The production team did a great job with the King Kong vs. Godzilla style video. That type of production is normally reserved for premium live events, so it made next week’s television match feel bigger. One can only hope that they don’t take the easy way out by having The Miz play a big role in the finish.
Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane vs. Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn: This was one of the better non-title women’s tag matches on Raw in recent months. The women’s tag matches often come off as filler and rarely have any consequences. It was also encouraging to hear the live crowd get behind Sky and Sane. The duo suffered from not having an actual babyface turn, but it seems like the fans are starting to get behind them. The only problem is that they’re about to face fellow babyfaces Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill, which could slow the momentum that Damage CTRL has developed if the fans side with the champions.
Drew McIntyre promo: McIntyre matched the dark tone and talking points that CM Punk used during his promo last week. It wasn’t the most memorable McIntyre promo, but both men have done a good job of putting over the danger of the Hell in a Cell match.
Julius Creed and Brutus Creed vs. “New Day” Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods: The Creeds going over was the logical finish given the ongoing story of Woods’ frustration. The backstage exchange between Woods and Rey Mysterio was unintentionally comical. Rey told Woods he didn’t have time for him because he had a match with Finn Balor next week. What would Rey need to do a week in advance of the match? Anyway, it set up Woods having a meltdown over Rey having time for Balor because Balor is a former world champion but not having time for Woods because he’s not a former world champion. That was quite the reach to get to the latest Woods hissy fit. I hope that viewers are not supposed to be sympathizing with Woods because his character is downright unlikable at the moment.
Dragon Lee vs. Carlito: An in the middle rather than a Hit or a Miss. Lee has felt underutilized, so it was nice to see him get a win, but this felt like it was more about keeping the cold LWO vs. Judgment Day feud going.
WWE Raw Misses
None: This was far from a perfect show, but the matches were solid to good and the key angles worked. It felt like things really dragged at times with an abundance of video packages and promotional pieces in between matches. It will be very interesting to see what type of balance they find once the show shifts to two hours in October. To close on a positive note, Joe Tessitore has improved every week and is settling in quicker than any of WWE’s past play-by-play hires from the sports world.
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