Powell’s WWE Raw Hit List: CM Punk and Drew McIntyre, Finn Balor and JD McDonagh vs. Sami Zayn and Jey Uso in a non-title match, Bron Breakker vs. Ilja Dragunov for a shot at the Intercontinental Title

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

WWE Raw Hits

Bron Breakker vs. Ilja Dragunov for a shot at the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam: Let’s get the negative out of the way. It was bad enough that Breakker wasn’t punished for returning to the building after Adam Pearce ejected him last week, but it was absurd that it was simply forgotten to the extent that Breakker was actually rewarded with a spot in this No. 1 contenders match. If you can put that aside, the actual match was one of the highlights of the night. The finish was great with Breakker spearing Dragunov in mid-air, which led to the ref stoppage. The finish not only made Breakker look like a badass, it actually protected Dragunov, as it’s better for the guy with the all heart gimmick to go down in a blaze of glory than it would be for him to take a pinfall loss.

CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, and Seth Rollins: Punk declaring that he received medical clearance and was ready to fight McIntyre on the spot was great, as was McIntyre’s heelish refusal to engage. Adam Pearce naming Rollins as the special referee for their SummerSlam match creates several interesting scenarios for the match finish and where they go afterward.

Damian Priest and Gunther: The creative team has done a really good job of positioning Priest as the babyface of this match despite the fact that he is the leader of the brand’s top heel faction. Gunther labeling Judgment Day as street trash followed by Priest coming out and simply hitting him rather than trading verbal jabs was perfect. The two pull apart brawls were nicely done and it feels like the storyline is peaking as they head into the World Heavyweight Championship match at SummerSlam.

Rhea Ripley, Dominik Mysterio, and Liv Morgan: Dom chose Mami and went so far as to tell Morgan that he hates her. It could be a swerve, but this could also lead to an even more unstable and dangerous Morgan character. It’s worth keeping an eye on Finn Balor in all of this. Balor stole Morgan’s hotel room keycard during a Judgment Day clubhouse skit a while back. Balor was the one who got Dom worked up about going after Jey Uso, and then he also sent Dom in the direction of where Morgan just happened to be waiting while they were searching for Jey.

Karrion Kross, Akam, and Rezar vs. Xavier Woods, Otis, and Akira Tozawa: The live crowd’s love of their home state hero Otis made this a mild Hit. The post match angle with Chad Gable and The Creeds was solid, and I also enjoyed Uncle Howdy putting Gable down with Sister Abigail. Unfortunately, the Kross and Woods feud continues to feel cold.

Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark: Another mild Hit. The #PushZelina campaign feels manufactured, especially if you listen to the fairly mild reactions that Vega gets during her entrances. Ultimately, the only thing that matters is whether the campaign works. The match was solid and gave the babyfaces a measure of revenge for the heels helping Sonya Deville steal a match earlier in the show. Am I the only one who thinks it would be appropriate if Zelina named her flip-flop Big Johnny?

WWE Raw Misses

World Tag Team Champions Finn Balor and JD McDonagh vs. Sami Zayn and Jey Uso in a non-title match: A Hit for match quality for sure, but a Miss for the overall WWE tag team division. Balor and McDonagh won the titles last month and have yet to defend them since then. In fact, this was their first traditional tag team match since they won the titles. So Balor and McDonagh haven’t had a successful title defense or even a non-title win since winning the belts and yet they want the fans to feel like it’s a big deal that Zayn and Uso beat the champions? It’s okay to occasionally have vulnerable heel tag team champions, but it feels like we just went through this on Smackdown with Grayson Waller and Austin Theory. Paul Levesque has done some great things since taking over creative, but the booking of the tag team divisions continues to be disappointing.

Sonya Deville vs. Lyra Valkyria: What happened to Valkyria’s push? She had a run to the finals of the Queen of the Ring and then qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match. Now she’s just hanging out with Kayden Carter and Katana Chance, seemingly for no other reason than they need a third woman for this feud against Deville, Shayna Baszler, and Zoey Stark. This match concluded with Baszler distracting the referee while Stark interfered. I get that they are trying to establish this new heel trio, but they are just getting started and this finishing sequence already feels tired and lazy.

Nikki Cross video: This was quick and painless and yet also uneventful and forgettable.