Powell’s WWE Raw Hit List: Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and Paul Heyman, AJ Styles vs. Karrion Kross, Liv Morgan vs. Bayley, Penta vs. Finn Balor

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

WWE Raw Hits

Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and Paul Heyman: Rollins carried the segment while establishing that Heyman chose to make good on his promise to Punk. Rollins did a fine job of stirring the pot by telling Reigns that there must be a reason. Of course, this also served as a message to viewers that there could be a lot more to this than meets the eye. The weak points of the promo required Rollins to lay it on too thick by playing up that this will be the biggest Triple Threat in history while also stating that the winner will somehow define the future of the industry. Nevertheless, the conspiracy allegation left this viewer more interested in the WrestleMania night one main event.

Gunther promo: As good as Rollins was, Gunther came through with the performance of the night. The typically smug and uber-confident World Heavyweight Champion did an excellent job of showing that he was rattled by Jey Uso’s newfound confidence. It felt at one point like the build peaked prematurely. But between Jey’s excellent promo last week and this performance by Gunther, they ended up in a good place heading into WrestleMania.

Bayley vs. Liv Morgan: This match was a nice preview for the Women’s Tag Team Title match at WrestleMania. Bayley going over to make the challengers look strong was the obvious call. Don’t sleep on the Women’s Tag Team Title match, as it has the potential to be a very good match.

Penta vs. Finn Balor: A soft Hit for a throwaway match that was mostly about getting all of the players in the Intercontinental four-way at WrestleMania involved. On a side note, what is the point of The Sacrifice? It was once portrayed as doing significant shoulder damage but is now just a throwaway move that Balor shrugged off in a matter of seconds. Save the move for when it counts.

WWE Raw Misses

Michael Cole: Sit your ass down, Michael. Pat McAfee dancing along to the entrances of certain wrestlers meshes with his man-child persona. And it was kind of cute the first time Cole danced along with McAfee, but it’s gotten out of hand. Cole is making Jey’s entrance less cool while simultaneously hurting his own credibility.

AJ Styles vs. Karrion Kross: Kross grew his hair out to look like Styles and is now dressing like him. All of that just to lose a throwaway match on Raw heading into WrestleMania? I’m not suggesting that Kross should have won, but was there a reason they needed to have this match on Raw? Perhaps there is. Either way, it would be great to see things work out for Kross after several swings and misses on the main roster, but it doesn’t feel like there’s much cause for optimism. On a more positive note, Logan Paul continues to draw tremendous heat.

Rey Mysterio vs. Julius Creed: Actually, the match was fine for what it was. This is actually more about the one-note joke that is El Grande Americano. I got a kick out of it initially, but I hope it ends at WrestleMania unless the plan is for El Generico to make his glorious return to pro wrestling to counter Americano. Heel comedy characters can generate laughs, but they rarely draw heat, which puts their babyface opponents in tough spots.