By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw Hits
Gunther vs. Je’Von Evans in a The Last Time Is Now tournament opening round match: The return of Gunther wasn’t given much fanfare, but perhaps that was intentional to avoid making him look like an even stronger favorite to win the tournament. Evans continues to make the most out of every opportunity. There’s plenty left for Evans to do in NXT, but he’s talented enough that he could be pushed as an immediate main roster sensation. He has an infectious personality to go along with his impressive in-ring skills. If he’s ready from a maturity standpoint, then why wouldn’t the company want to feature a 21-year-old prodigy who can connect with a younger demographic?
Final segment with the men’s WarGames teams: The addition of Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar gives the men’s WarGames match even more star power. Lesnar’s manhandling of world champions CM Punk and Cody Rhodes was logical in that he will probably end up challenging for one or both titles again at some point. Reigns was also made to look strong, but the angle at the end with him spearing Bronson Reed and two fake cops through the ringside barricade was nothing special. Viewers should be thinking about the WarGames match, not wondering if the company will follow this up with a wonky arrest angle.
Solo Sikoa vs. Dolph Ziggler in a The Last Time Is Now tournament opening round match: Terrible entrance music aside, it was fun to see Ziggler back on WWE television for one night, and the live crowd clearly agreed. It would have been nice if Ziggler or Zack Ryder had won a first-round match, but no one should be surprised that WWE officials opted to have their contracted wrestlers go over.
John Cena, Sheamus, and Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio, Finn Balor, and JD McDonagh: It was likely a letdown for a lot of fans who paid big bucks to see Cena’s final match at MSG turn out to be a six-man tag. But the actual match was enjoyable, and the live crowd seemed to have fun with it. The angle that preceded the match set up the Intercontinental Title match for Survivor Series in a logical manner, with Dom pointing out that Cena beat him for the title in Cena’s hometown, so the rematch should be held in Dom’s hometown. Dom was cheered everywhere before he started working with Cena. Will the majority of San Diego fans root for the hometown guy or cheer the legend wrestling his penultimate match? I suspect that most of the San Diego fans will side with Cena, but it would be fun to have one more split crowd during a Cena match.
Becky Lynch vs. Maxxine Dupri for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Dupri scoring the upset win over Lynch was a cute surprise in the moment. While I’m not looking forward to Dupri’s title matches, they could be suspenseful, as most challengers should feel like legitimate threats to beat her. Lynch was protected by having Dupri win thanks to the distraction of AJ Lee showing up at ringside, and this likely sets up Lee and Lynch as the last two entrants in the women’s WarGames match.
Overall Show: WWE always puts its best foot forward for television events at MSG. They had a strong hook of John Cena making his final Raw appearance as a wrestler, and they made the most of it by loading up the show with surprise appearances by Roman Reigns, AJ Lee, Brock Lesnar, and Dolph Ziggler. This was the most effective push WWE has given this year’s Survivor Series.
WWE Raw Misses
Nikki Bella and Stephanie Vaquer: The attack on Vaquer didn’t seem damaging enough to justify her staying down on the ground and putting up no fight while Nikki cut a generic heel promo. The booking of Nikki getting a title shot felt lazy in that she hasn’t won a singles match in four months. It could have been explained away by simply having Vaquer demand that Adam Pearce make it a title match as opposed to just announcing the match for Survivor Series. These things may not matter to some fans, but it wouldn’t take much extra effort to please the fans who want logical booking.
Alexa Bliss promo, Charlotte Flair flip-flops: Bliss’s promo didn’t click with the live crowd. Worse yet, Flair saving the babyface WarGames team felt rushed in that she just left the team on Friday’s Smackdown.
(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time dating back to 1997. He hosts a weekly podcast, Pro Wrestling Boom, and also appears regularly on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast. Reach him via email at dotnetjason@gmail.com and on social media via @prowrestlingnet.bsky.social or x.com/prowrestlingnet. For his full bio and information on this website, click here.)
So Becky Lynch was beaten by a crossbody by Maxxine Dupri? Wow. Tune in next week to see Cody Rhodes pinned after a drop-kick by Xavier Woods.
You’re making me long for the days when wrestler didn’t take Triple Lindy moonsaults off the top of the lighting rig, through seven flaming tables, and then kick out at one to get a “fight forever” chant.
Jason, I would respectfully suggest there is a happy medium.
I would respectfully say GFY! Kidding. Of course there is.
There IS NO happy medium between those.
(I mean, how can you go through only three and a half flaming tables?)
You keep the seven tables and set 3.5 on fire, and then cover the other 3.5 with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos? And instead of the Triple Lindy, the wrestler is put through the tables with a devastating old school arm drag.
My prediction is Roman’s arrested for his dastardly actions thus the babyface team needs a replacement.Maybe Orton?
Skattebo was the best part of the show last night