By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw Hits
Dominik Mysterio vs. John Cena for the Intercontinental Championship: Cena getting a feel-good Intercontinental Title win during his final match in his hometown venue was a nice moment. I can’t say that Cena becoming a Grand Slam champion did much for me, because it’s not like his career would have felt incomplete without an Intercontinental Title win, but it was still a nice hook for the match. It will be interesting to see if Cena drops the title during one of his last three advertised dates or retires as champion.
Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs. “The Kabuki Warriors” Asuka and Kairi Sane for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles: This match was as much about setting up the women’s WarGames match as it was about moving the titles to the Kabuki Warriors. Asuka and Sane are off to a strong start in this heel run. As champions, they can appear on all three brands and feud with babyface teams such as Flair and Bliss, Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky, Lyra Valkyria and Bayley, and NXT’s Sol Ruca and Zaria. The post-match appearances by Ripley and Sky to counter Nia Jax and Lash Legend, while also setting up WarGames, were over big with the live crowd.
CM Punk and Logan Paul: Punk calling out Paul for a fight was a logical development after Paul hit him with brass knuckles last week. It was still unclear whether Paul is an official member of The Vision or if it’s a temporary alliance that will end after the Survivor Series. Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso coming to the defense of Punk set up the men’s WarGames match. Barring a change in the format, both teams will need to add two members. Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, Jacob Fatu, and LA Knight have all been rumored at one time or another, and John Cena being added to the babyface team would also be fun. Drew McIntyre would be a logical fit on the heel side. McIntyre should be available for the match, as the filming for The Highlander movie is not scheduled to start until early next year, according to HollywoodReporter.com.
Stephanie Vaquer vs. Raquel Rodriguez for the Women’s World Championship: There was no reason to think Rodriguez would win, but they still produced a quality match. It was laid out in a way that highlighted Rodriguez’s size and power better than usual. It felt inevitable that Nikki Bella would eventually turn on Vaquer. Will they be added to the women’s WarGames match or go right to a title match?
Sheamus vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a The Last Time Is Now tournament opening round match: More of an in the middle than a Hit or a Miss for the better of the two tournament matches. The late spot where Nakamura went for a Kinshasa only to be rolled up by Sheamus looked awkward, but there was some decent back-and-forth action.
WWE Raw Misses
Rusev vs. Damian Priest in a The Last Time Is Now tournament opening round match: A minor Miss for a bit of a flat start to the 16-man tournament. Priest was protected because Rusev exploited the eye injury caused by Aleister Black’s fireball. Hopefully, the tournament will become more interesting with the mystery entrants scheduled for Friday’s Smackdown and next week’s Raw. It’s just hard to get excited about a tournament when the company hasn’t revealed the brackets. We don’t even know if the night one winners, Sheamus and Rusev, will face off in the next round. On the bright side, the tournament gives meaning to several television matches.
(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.)
Are they still telling the story that Kairi Sane is reluctantly going along with Asuka, or have they forgotten about that now?
So cool to read ‘hits’ for a show and not have every single one include some negative comment
So cool to read ‘hits’ for a show and not have every single one include some negative comment .
But we know when that’s going to happen
I thought Vaquer/Rodriguez was stiff and clunky in spots. The heel turn was lame because there was no build/reason to do it yet. That said, Nikki throwing Perez into the barricade was really good.