Powell’s WWE Raw Hit List: Thoughts on Logan Paul hitting CM Punk with brass knuckles, the ongoing Mysterio family drama

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

WWE Raw Hits

CM Punk and Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed: The opening promo segment effectively set up Punk and Logan Paul with common enemies in Breakker and Reed. Meanwhile, the idea of Jey agreeing to team with Punk after losing to him at Saturday Night’s Main Event also made for an interesting dynamic. The match finish was disappointing, but this was the first time in a month that Raw concluded with a weak finish. Still, I feel bad for the New Mexico fans, who finally hosted their first Raw, only for the main event of the show to end in a double count-out. That said, the bulk of the match was entertaining, and the post-match angle with Paul teasing that he would help Punk, only to hit him with a pair of brass knuckles, played out nicely. Is Paul joining The Vision faction or simply replacing Seth Rollins in the WarGames match? Is Paul first in line for a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship? If so, how will Breakker and Reed react?

Dominik Mysterio and Rey Mysterio: The company would have been hard-pressed to find a better live crowd to hold this angle in front of. This was the first Raw in New Mexico, and while it wasn’t the biggest venue, the fans were hot for everything, especially the Hispanic babyfaces (and Dom) throughout the night. Rey asking Dom if he thinks he’s better than Eddie Guerrero, only to have Dom tell Rey to keep his father’s name out of his mouth, was tremendous. I’ll be surprised if we hear a better line on any wrestling television show this week. Rey challenging Dom for either the Intercontinental Championship or AAA Mega Championship (or both) at Survivor Series in their hometown of San Diego would be a blast. And one can only assume that Dom vs. Rey headlining a AAA show would lead to big YouTube numbers for the lucha brand.

“The Kabuki Warriors” Asuka and Kairi Sane vs. Bayley and Lyra Valkyria: A good television match that made Asuka and Sane look strong heading into their shot at the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles next week. There wasn’t much to the post-match appearances of Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, but next week’s title match looks great on paper.

AJ Styles and Dragon Lee vs. Finn Balor and JD McDonagh for the World Tag Team Titles: It was cool to hear Punk call out McDonagh as a potential challenger for his title, along with Balor, AJ Styles, and John Cena. McDonagh is tremendous in the ring, and it would be great if the company could build his credibility enough that he feels like a threat to win even a secondary singles title. This was an entertaining tag match, though not as strong as their previous outing. The dynamic shifted since then, in that the babyfaces are now the champions rather than the challengers. It’s easier to create drama when fans hope to see babyfaces win the titles, as opposed to when the fans know the babyfaces just won the titles and have no reason to think there might be another title change this soon.

Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez vs. Stephanie Vaquer and Nikki Bella: Rodriguez got the win for her team to help set her up for next week’s shot at the Women’s World Championship. Yes, she would feel like more of a threat to win had she beaten Vaquer rather than Bella, but the company wisely wants to keep Vaquer looking as strong as possible. Whether they pull the trigger or not remains to be seen, but Nikki telling Vaquer that she will be there to cheer her on next week seemed to set the table for a heel turn.

Penta vs. El Grande Americano: Penta was over in a big way, and it was good to see him get a clean win over one-note joke Americano.

WWE Raw Misses

None: A good show that turned the page from Saturday Night’s Main Event to the build for Survivor Series. Nothing on the show blew me away, but the matches were entertaining, and there were some interesting twists and turns from a creative standpoint.

(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.)