Powell’s WWE Raw Hit List: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor and Roxanne Perez vs. Raquel Rodriguez in Elimination Chamber qualifiers, AJ Styles vs. Dominik Mysterio, Penta vs. Pete Dunne

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

WWE Raw Hits

Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match: As much as it felt like WWE saved one of the most predictable Elimination Chamber qualifying matches for last, Rollins and Balor came through with a hot main event match. They’ve had good matches together before, but this one really exceeded my expectations.

Gunther and Jey Uso: It was a blast to watch Gunther do a mock version of Jey’s entrance. It also gave viewers a break from seeing the entrance on television. As great as the fan reaction to the entrance is, the company has to avoid overexposing it. The build to Gunther vs. Jey is at a point where it feels they could be having their match at the Elimination Chamber. It will be interesting to see how they keep things interesting for two months or if this is leading to an unexpected twist.

Sami Zayn and Adam Pearce: A good verbal segment with Pearce explaining the brutal things that Kevin Owens could do to Zayn while pointing out that the match being unsanctioned means there’s nothing he can do to stop Owens. It’s probably taken for granted and isn’t mentioned enough, but Pearce does excellent work as the general manager. One of the bigger road to WrestleMania mysteries is where everything is going with Zayn and Owens, and how Randy Orton fits in. Could it be as simple as Orton returns and inadvertently costs Zayn the unsanctioned match, leading to a Triple Threat at WrestleMania?

AJ Styles vs. Dominik Mysterio: The highlight of the segment was Styles making a no-look catch when Bron Breakker threw his t-shirt at him. Anyway, Styles got the expected win and then got the better of Breakker during the post match angle. I am looking forward to their eventual title match.

Dakota Kai vs. Ivy Nile for a shot at the Women’s Intercontinental Championship: A solid match that set up the rematch between Kai and Lyra Valkyria for next week’s show.

Penta vs. Pete Dunne: A soft Hit for Penta winning and still being really over with live crowds. I’m not sure what the issues between Dunne and Ludwig Kaiser are leading to, but I don’t find the friction all that compelling.

Roxanne Perez vs. Raquel Rodriguez in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match: More of an in the middle than a Hit or a Miss. The match was fine and concluded with the expected outcome. But the live crowd was quiet, presumably because they didn’t know which wrestler to cheer for. Rodriguez is clearly a heel. Perez is a heel in NXT and has also played that role on the main roster by having issues with babyface Bayley.

WWE Raw Misses

Bianca Belair and Naomi: Jade Cargill’s mystery attacker storyline has been dragged out. The idea that the video showing Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez walking in the distance while Cargill was loaded into an ambulance somehow incriminates them is a groaner. Here’s hoping that Morgan and Rodriguez win the tag team titles next week so that Belair can get back to being a singles wrestler. I may get my wish, as she strikes me as the favorite to win the women’s Elimination Chamber match.

Follow-up to New Day attacking Rey Mysterio: Make no mistake about it, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are a blast as heels. But last week’s show went off the air while Kingston and Woods were attacking Mysterio. It was a nice UWF style cliffhanger. But I wasn’t a fan of the way this was made it feel unimportant by waiting until late in the second hour to actually address the situation.