By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw Hits
Bron Breakker vs. Sami Zayn: This Hit is for the entire story of Seth Rollins offering Zayn a shot at the WWE Championship if he agreed to leave Raw. I thought there was a chance that Zayn would actually be a member of Seth’s new heel faction, but any chance of that happening was erased on Monday when he rejected the offer and told Rollins to go to hell. The match made Breakker look as badass as ever, and the post-match beatdown was strong. So why were the heels cheered? More on that later.
NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer vs. Ivy Nile in a non-title match: Another strong showing for Vaquer on the main roster. The fans have taken to her quickly, and it feels like her stay in NXT will end soon unless the plan is to make her the star that fans watch the Tuesday show to see. Nile had her best in-ring outing to date. Although it’s probably no coincidence that it occurred while she was working with Vaquer, it’s clear that Nile has put in the work and has really improved since she debuted during the NXT 2.0 days.
Rusev promo: It pains me to have to put aside my desire to see Rusev get another amazing tank entrance, but this was a compelling speech. Rusev’s desire to “perfect” those who made the same mistakes that he did is interesting. As much as it seemed like this could have been a babyface mission statement, it left me wondering if his character would have a twisted take on which wrestlers he needs to fix. The fact that he’s advertised for a match with the lovable Otis character on next week’s show suggests that the Rusev character has his own demented heel logic.
Jey Uso and Logan Paul: Jey stopping to visit the young cancer survivor who held up the “Yeet 4 Cancer” sign in the front row was a nice moment, even if it was planned and not something that happened organically. I like the idea of going with Paul as the first challenger. Jey is a vulnerable champion, meaning fans should buy into the possibility that he could lose the title whenever he faces a credible challenger. And given how much the fans despise Paul, any good near falls that he gets during the match with Jey should elicit a strong reaction from nervous fans.
Pat McAfee promo: It feels like they are rushing to McAfee’s match with Gunther for some odd reason. Even so, McAfee’s strong promo increased my interest level in their match and made him more likable in the process.
Becky Lynch and Lyra Valkyria: Lynch did a fine job of generating heat, which led to Valkyria getting the most favorable crowd reactions to her mic work yet. There was no hint of Lynch joining her husband’s faction, but that doesn’t mean it can’t still happen.
Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez: A soft Hit for a good match that did not end clean, yet had a logical interference finish. Ripley’s clean losses should be saved for key moments, and it’s smart to avoid having Perez take a pinfall loss as they try to establish her on the main roster. Giulia’s interference, followed by Iyo Sky making the save, set up an obvious tag team match. The only negative in all of this is that fans who don’t watch NXT know very little about Giulia’s character. Heck, those of us who do watch NXT know very little about her character given the audible that was called to turn her heel.
“War Raiders” Erik and Ivar vs. Finn Balor and JD McDonagh: More of an in the middle for a win that sets up the War Raiders with a rematch with New Day for the World Tag Team Titles. Meanwhile, the latest loss combined with Carlito’s distraction backfiring should add to Balor’s growing frustration with his Judgment Day faction mates.
WWE Raw Misses
Fans cheer for Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker: No, I am not going to complain about fans being fans. When live crowds do the opposite of what a company wants them to do, it’s on the company to figure out where they went wrong. In this case, there are a couple of obvious problems. First, the fans love to chant Seth’s entrance theme. Take it away from them. Second, the fans love to bark in response to Breakker barking. Take it away from them. Some people in the industry will claim that it’s all about getting a reaction, but that’s often a copout because the creative forces should be able to push viewers in the right direction. And perhaps the fans will turn on Seth’s crew once Roman Reigns and CM Punk return, and the three heels are not the biggest stars on a particular show. But it was rough to see the heels cheered at the expense of the company’s lovable underdog, Sami Zayn. It could only help if they turn Heyman loose with heat-seeking promos, but I don’t even know if Heyman at his best can stop the fans from chanting along to Seth’s theme song.
Seth should go back to his original song without the wooooooaahh.Or maybe they just use the old Dangerous Alliance theme from WCW?Highly unlikely I know.
Or, to quote Gorilla, “Highly unlikely, Brain.”
Not very often I say this, but I think you’re being harsh on WWE here. Crowds in general now have far too many people who just want to be noticed and I am not sure what the company can really do anything about that. Sure they can stop people barking and singing Seth’s song, but how are they to blame when smarks are chanting “one more time” when one of the best babyfaces in wrestling is getting destroyed?
They need to lean in being heels.Seth was shaking hands when he was coming down to the ring when instead he should be calling the fans idiots or something like that.
Look at the way Cena has laid into the fans recently. Watch MJF. They’ll still cheer of they think that makes them look edgy and in the know.
So they should just throw their hands up and not try to combat the problem by taking some obvious steps? Wade Keller and I had a long discussion about it on his Tuesday podcast. It wasn’t a live show and without any prompting for anything other than email questions or comments, several readers made very similar points about WWE not doing their end to combat it. Here’s another simple one. If you know the fans are going to pop for tables, stop having heels pull out tables from underneath the ring (unless they are going to taunt the fans by shoving the table back under the ring).
I’m not saying they shouldn’t do the things you suggest. They should. But I would bet my (modest) house that a vocal portion of the audience would still cheer them. “It’s on the company” is far too simplistic.