WWE Raw Hit List: Seth Rollins, Paul Heyman, and Bron Breakker, Gunther attacks Pat McAfee, John Cena and Randy Orton, Jey Uso’s World Heavyweight Championship celebration, Rusev returns

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

WWE Raw Hits

Seth Rollins, Paul Heyman, and Bron Breakker: A strong show-closing angle with Breakker aligning with Rollins and Heyman, and leaving CM Punk and Roman Reigns lying. I was hoping that Rollins would get a makeover by ditching the wild outfits and his entrance theme, but it’s not like he can’t make those changes later. If there’s one thing that felt questionable about the angle was Reigns landing the Superman Punch on Heyman. That’s a moment the fans should have to wait for. It’s also something that non-wrestler Heyman should have sold for more than a matter of seconds. But I love the idea of Breakker joining what may or may not be a new Dangerous Alliance. Is Becky Lynch next? Will there be others? They wisely left us wondering as opposed to giving away everything all in one night.

Gunther attacks Michael Cole and Pat McAfee: I got a kick out of Gunther attacking Cole, who gave the weird speech about being unbiased during the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania, yet also dances on top of the broadcast table in support of the guy who beat Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship. As much as Gunther’s attack on McAfee felt like a babyface move in some ways, this angle was well done. I also liked the speech that Cole gave to Adam Pearce about not letting a bully prevent him from doing his job. An assist goes to Joe Tessitore for showing the right amount of concern and outrage over what Gunther did to his colleagues. Tessitore has turned out to be a great hire and has quickly established himself as the worthy heir apparent to Cole.

Women’s World Champion Iyo Sky vs. NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer in a non-title champion vs. champion match: This was unexpected fun, and the live crowd ate it up. They went 14 minutes before expectedly going with a finish that avoided having either wrestler taking a loss. Roxanne Perez attacking Sky to end the match was good for some heat, and it was an interesting surprise to see Giulia come out and side with Perez. It was a nice touch to have Rhea Ripley run off the heels and then share a moment with Sky to make it clear that their rivalry is far from over.

Jey Uso’s World Heavyweight Championship celebration: A feel-good moment with a wrestler who wasn’t considered a likely candidate to be a singles world champion actually winning the big one. Sami Zayn coming out to congratulate Jey was perfect. It made sense for Sami to congratulate his friend, and yet the threat of Zayn turning on Jey surely had fans scooting up to the edge of their seats. I loke that Jey showed that his guard was up for the possibility that his title belt will turn Sami into Gollum seeking the “precious.”

John Cena and Randy Orton: Cena delivered a quality promo by heeling on the fans and counting down the days to his retirement. The Orton RKO out of nowhere spot reignites a rivalry that was so overdone that there was a time when I know I wasn’t alone in never wanting to see them wrestle against one another again. Enough time has passed that I’m actually fine with Orton challenging Cena, presumably for the championship at WWE Backlash in Orton’s hometown of St. Louis. We shouldn’t expect a classic given Cena’s performance at WrestleMania 41, but here’s hoping that these two have enough veteran tricks to exceed low expectations.

Becky Lynch and Lyra Valkyria vs. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles: The rematch topped their WrestleMania match. More importantly, it was followed by Lynch turning heel on her strange bird lady friend. Valkyria’s act is quirky, but she comes off like a genuinely nice person who looks up to Lynch. As such, it packed a punch when Lynch attacked Valkyria after the match without cause. The big question now is whether Lynch will be aligned with her husband or if they will continue to do their own thing.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Penta for the Intercontinental Title: It was clever to have JD McDonagh help Dom win, as it left Finn Balor appearing to be more alienated than ever. JD has always been Finn’s guy, and Balor even opposed adding a new member while McDonagh was sidelined by an injury. But the first thing McDonagh did when he returned was help Dom retain the championship that he won by pinning Balor the night before. Balor’s character did his best to put on a happy face, but it’s obvious that all is not well with the Judgment Day.

Rusev returns: I would not have predicted Rusev beating up Alpha Academy in his return, but it was well received. Plus, it would have been foolish to give away everything in one night, so it’s not a negative that we were left waiting to see what direction the Rusev character will take.

WWE Raw Misses

None: This was the best Raw after WrestleMania to date. It did what a good post WrestleMania show should by making the two-night WrestleMania event feel massive while also turning the page and starting new programs. Forget the weak marketing they do around the start of the NFL season, this is Raw’s true season premiere. With only three matches in three hours, this Raw wasn’t for the match junkies, but it’s not like those fans look to WWE for their fix anyway. This was the red hot show that WWE needed to wash away the bad taste left by the second half of WrestleMania 41 night two.

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