Powell’s WWE Raw Hit List: An off week for CM Punk and Roman Reigns, a surprising best match of the night, doubling down on Oba Femi getting the better of Brock Lesnar

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

WWE Raw Hits

Oba Femi and Brock Lesnar: Brock should get his heat back at some point before their WrestleMania match, but they got it right on this episode by doubling down on Oba getting the better of him. The stunned look that Lesnar gave was more effective than the clothesline over the top rope that preceded it.

Je’Von Evans vs. Grayson Waller: The best match of the night. As impressive as Evans is, the aggressiveness that Waller showed while performing his offensive moves actually stood out more in this match. I’m not sure why Waller has been wasted as the sidekick to New Day. The oddball pairing had potential, but it didn’t receive much creative attention. Hopefully, this performance was impressive enough that the creative team will get behind Waller and give him another shot as a singles act.

Bayley and Lyra Valkyria vs. Asuka and Kairi Sane: A soft Hit for a solid tag team match designed to make the babyfaces look good heading into their WWE Women’s Tag Team Title match. Ideally, the creative team would plan further ahead and spend weeks building up Bayley and Valkyria as top contenders. This was their first televised tag team match in over a month. Worse yet, this was their first win in a televised tag team match since October 13, 2025. Why was Bayley put in a tough spot of telling Boston fans about next week’s tag team title match at Madison Square Garden?

AJ Lee and Becky Lynch: A soft Hit for a solid segment that led to the announcement of their WrestleMania match.

WWE Raw Misses

CM Punk and Roman Reigns: My least favorite of the Punk and Reigns verbal exchanges. I could have done without Punk saying that he shit-talks for a living and explaining that wrestlers say awful things to each other to sell title matches. Fans bonded with Punk because they felt like he was more real than most of his peers. Granted, what he said was true about promos, but it was counterproductive and unnecessary. So, he was honest about being dishonest with fans? And they are doing a hell of a job if the goal is to tear each other down until they are both unlikable. Despite the flaws, this was still the most compelling segment on the show. Hopefully, they will do a better job with Roman’s last two advertised dates before WrestleMania.

World Tag Team Champions Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso vs. Logan Paul and Austin Theory in a non-title match: This was initially listed as a non-title match, then it was billed as a title match, only to be turned back into a non-title match. Why all the back-and-forth when the bad finish they used would have worked either way?

Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio for the Intercontinental Title: A minor Miss. You had to know this match would have a weak finish simply because of the lack of hype it was given. The post-match angle with Dom running away from Finn Balor was simple and effective. Will Dom put his AAA Mega Championship on the line against Balor, or will they both end up in a multi-person Intercontinental Title match with Penta?

(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.)