By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw Hits
Bianca Belair and Naomi vs. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the WWE Women’s Tag Titles: A strong main event with a good title change that seemingly frees up Belair for a singles run and ideally a WrestleMania match with Rhea Ripley. Morgan and Rodriguez are a good team and hopefully they can breathe some life into the women’s tag team division. Their assisted Codebreaker looks great and it’s surprising that they don’t use it as their finishing move.
Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins: It was surprising to see Cody make an appearance on Raw coming out of his segment with The Rock on Smackdown. It’s baffling that the company didn’t push his appearance aggressively given the buzz that the Smackdown angle generated. There was no way that Cody was going to respond to Rock’s offer during this segment, but he effectively teased the possibility of accepting the offer by explaining all of the people it would affect. Although it was a little too convenient that Rollins came out before Cody could say too much, Rollins was the perfect person to confront Cody given that he sold out to join The Authority. None of this managed to sell me on the likelihood of Cody accepting Rock’s offer, but I am genuinely curious to see if another wrestler becomes Rock’s champion. John Cena or CM Punk would be truly shocking reveals, but the wealth and celebrity status that Rock is offering to Cody seems right up Logan Paul’s alley.
CM Punk and Logan Paul: They created enough friction between the characters that it should feel like a moment when they face off during the Elimination Chamber match. Are they also setting up a WrestleMania match?
Sami Zayn promo: Has there ever been another go-home promo with a babyface speaking sincerely about having a lovely conversation with the mother of his heel opponent just days before a blood feud match? Sami is one of just a few characters who can make that seem believable. If you’re familiar with the full history of the Zayn vs. Kevin Owens feud going back to Ring of Honor, the fact that they are talking about how their unsanctioned match will be worse than anything they have done before is a little frightening. I hope it’s a great match, but I also hope the hype is just that and they don’t actually try to top some of the insanity from the El Generico vs. Kevin Steen years.
Lyra Valkyria vs. Dakota Kai for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship: A nice match with some encouraging reactions from the live crowd. Valkyria got a favorable reaction when they showed her face to the crowd during the opening sequence, and the fans also got invested in this match to the point that there were some “this is awesome” chants. The post match attack by Ivy Nile set her up as Valkyria’s next challenger.
World Heavyweight Champion Gunther vs. Akira Tozawa in a non-title match: A fun television match with Gunther giving up a few hope spots that were mostly due his character’s own arrogance. Jey Uso saving Alpha Academy from the post match attack got him on the show for a brief appearance without overexposing his big entrance through the crowd. It will be interesting to see how they fill seven weeks of television time. Did the build to Gunther vs. Jey peak too soon or can they bring it down now and heat it up again once we get closer to WrestleMania?
Ludwig Kaiser vs. Pete Dunne vs. Penta in a Triple Threat: A well worked three-way match with Kaiser stealing the pin on Dunne, presumably to set up another match between him and Penta.
“New Day” Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods vs. Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde: It’s only one show, but the live crowd’s reaction to New Day was down compared to what they’ve been getting in other cities. It probably didn’t help to keep them in the ring throughout a commercial break. Nevertheless, they had a quality match with Del Toro and Wilde, who do a great job of making other teams shine while also working in some of their own flashy offense. It’s just a shame that the fans have no reason to see Del Toro and Wilde as threats to beat most of the teams they work with.
WWE Raw Misses
Intercontinental Champion Bron Breakker vs. Dominik Mysterio in a non-title match: A soft Miss for what felt like a needless DQ finish. If they do a rematch next week, then this was fine. Otherwise, it was overprotection for a wrestler who doesn’t need it. The fans love to hate Dom, so he wouldn’t have lost anything had he taken a pinfall loss. The post match angle still could have taken place by simply having Finn Balor and Carlito jump Breakker after the bell. Save the cheap finishes when they are actually needed.
I give a mild hit to the waller/theory/uso skit as that sets up some matches for a bit (expect shenanigans)