Powell’s WWE Raw Hit List: The Usos vs. Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed in a tornado tag team match, Dominik Mysterio vs. Rusev for the Intercontinental Title

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

WWE Raw Hits

Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley’s program with Asuka and Kairi Sane: This has quickly become the most entertaining storyline in WWE. Sure, Sky acts like a pouting eight-year-old, but the basic story of Asuka being on a power trip and expecting her former students to fall in line has been really good thus far. It’s also refreshing to see Ripley get a storyline that she can sink her teeth into instead of just making random appearances on Raw because the creative team didn’t come up with anything better.

Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes: Rollins did an excellent job of showing that he’s obsessed with beating Cody at Crown Jewel. Playing up the personal rivalry between the two is much better than trying to make people care about the gaudy Crown Jewel Championship belt. That said, Cody saying that Rollins’ claim that the match winner will decide the future of the industry for the next 10-20 years was “a bit much” was so true. Rollins is doing far more good than bad these days, but no one takes that line seriously, regardless of how many times he repeats it.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Rusev for the Intercontinental Title: Dom is one of the most over babyfaces on the roster, even if he’s technically a heel character. The fans love the guy. It will be interesting to see how the creative forces approach this. The fans love Dom’s heel antics, so turning him into a traditional babyface would be a mistake. What’s next for Rusev after taking this loss?

Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed in a tornado tag team match: The main event was fine, but it was more about the return of Roman Reigns than having one team go over strong. The closing moments of the show were compelling, with Roman encouraging his cousin’s Jey First mentality, as a frustrated Jimmy watched it play out.

Bayley vs. Raquel Rodríguez: The match and segment were enjoyable despite the late blown spot. Bayley’s character showing signs of having a personality disorder has been a fun twist ever since we got past the silliness of being able to hear her character’s inner dialogue.

WWE Raw Misses

LA Knight vs. Kofi Kingston: A minor Miss for what felt like a filler segment designed to get Knight on the show. Is he still involved in the Jey Uso drama, or is Knight in need of a new storyline? Meanwhile, New Day turning heel was fun when it started, but I wish they were playing darker heels rather than carrying over the obnoxious aspects of their babyface characters. Sure, it leads to heat initially, but it eventually starts to feel like channel-changing material.

AJ Styles and Dragon Lee vs. “Los Americanos” Bravo and Rayo: The match was fine, but it’s hard to care about the Americanos since they have no stated goal. The new guys have names, but that’s the only development the trio has had lately. More importantly, Styles thanking the fans and saying he loves to beat up John Cena was a forgettable way to sell their upcoming match. Cena isn’t advertised for any shows before Crown Jewel, so it’s on Styles and the production crew to hype the match through his mic work and their video packages.

(ProWrestling.net Editor Jason Powell has worked in journalism for 27 years, including as the Assistant Editor of PWTorch.com and as a Senior Editor at Fanball.com before launching ProWrestling.net on Feb. 11, 2008.)