By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw Hits
CM Punk and Roman Reigns: A tremendous verbal exchange that left me anxious to see their match at WrestleMania. This wasn’t a case of two wrestlers who don’t get along going for the jugular while trying to top one another. This came off like two wrestlers who worked together and played on real-life drama from the past, which helped make the segment feel intense and believable. There’s a lot of time between now and WrestleMania. Hopefully, that doesn’t make Punk’s title defenses feel overly predictable. I’m not worried about the build peaking prematurely, simply because Reigns appears so infrequently that the build is sure to cool off for now, and then they should have no problem heating things up again once we get closer to WrestleMania. This segment will be tough to top, but I look forward to seeing them try.
Bron Breakker and Adam Pearce opening: The cold open with Breakker throwing a tantrum at ringside was a good way to start the show. Perhaps the most interesting part of the segment was when Breakker gave Paul Heyman the death stare for a couple of seconds. Pearce continues to be a strong performer, but it was confusing to see him go from coming off as leery of punishing The Vision last week after taking a mysterious phone call to showing no fear of the heel faction this week.
Gunther: The fans popped big when AJ Styles’ entrance theme played, only to find out that Gunther was trolling them. Gunther was his usual delightfully smug self. Dragon Lee’s character showed heart by attacking Gunther for mocking his tag team partner, which also saved Gunther from having to deliver a promo that could have come off as repetitive and too similar to his comments after he retired Goldberg and John Cena.
Stephanie Vaquer vs. Raquel Rodriguez in a Philadelphia Street Fight for the Women’s World Championship: They could have trimmed a few minutes from the match time, but it’s hard to complain too much about it running a bit long when this was one of only three matches on a nearly three-hour show. The wrestlers worked hard and had a gritty brawl that lived up to the street fight billing.
Liv Morgan’s Royal Rumble celebration: Dominik Mysterio returning to deliver her introduction was fun. Morgan cut the expected gloating promo and didn’t give away which champion she intends to face at WrestleMania. If the current champions keep their titles until then, one can only assume that she’ll end up challenging Stephanie Vaquer. Raquel Rodriguez confronting Morgan about eliminating her from the Royal Rumble was more laid back than I anticipated. I was also surprised that Morgan’s interference during the Women’s World Championship didn’t completely backfire in a way that would make her fully responsible for Rodriguez’s loss. Even so, Morgan interfered despite Rodriguez telling her to stay backstage, which added fuel to the fire.
Penta vs. Bronson Reed: The count-out finish worked out nicely. When Reed stood up while the referee was late in his count, it looked ike he was going to return to the ring at the nine count just as most wrestlers do. Instead, he collapsed again in a believable manner. LA Knight costing Reed the match was logical, given that Reed and Logan Paul attacked him to set up his absence from television. Knight is getting some of the biggest pops in the company. It will be interesting to see if the company listens and gets behind him.
WWE Raw Misses
Je’Von Evans vs. El Grande Americano: A minor Miss. The wrestlers weren’t on the same page at one point during the match, which was odd considering how consistently strong these two are in the ring. I get that Evans needed to get his win back after he had to bow out of their previous match due to injury, but one can only hope that he will move on from working with a heel who is more about comedy than drawing heat.
Maxxine Dupri: Watching her yell that she will break Nattie’s ankle next week was a groaner. Is anyone buying that she’s a confident badass after just a few training sessions with Nattie? She’s not believable in the role. The creative forces should find something closer to her true personality so that she doesn’t have fake it.
Oba Femi destroys the War Raiders: Mixed feelings. I’m all for pushing Oba to the moon, but while this was good for him, it was damaging to Erik and Ivar. It’s tough to see them as a badass tag team after watching one person manhandle them. It’s fine if they are not long for WWE or if they are going to be exclusive to AAA. I just hope the War Raiders weren’t the first of several tag teams that will be fed to Oba.
Finn Balor video: The NXT Origins video was fine when it aired on NXT TV, but I was baffled by the decision to air it again on Raw. Balor cemented his heel status by attacking CM Punk at the end of last week’s Raw. So why air footage of him coming off like a humble guy who is grateful for his time in NXT?
(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.)
Ima try to get through most of my points quickly.
1-Punk-Reigns is it. Punk can carry everything on his own while dealing with Balor. He’ll make it believable AND he wants to elevate Balor to a place that higher ups can’t ignore.
2-I love what they are doing with Breakker right now. He feels like a certifiable badass (not just a t shirt tag). Any given day, he might take out Pierce or Heyman or both. They’ve clearly got big plans for him and without being a former world champ at the highest level, they’re letting him loose and it doesn’t feel out of place.
3-The Vision, to me, just feels mostly flat. Since Seth’s unfortunate injury, no one outside of Breakker seems to be really getting anything out of it. Theory is a jobber again. Paul no longer feels like a big attraction that you want to see get the hell beaten out of him, and Reed is just there. Beating Roman did what for him? Where was the followup?
4-I like what they’re doing with LA Knight because at the very least, WWE is giving him some decent spots to get the crowd behind him, not that he needed their help. It’s a great place for him to be without being a top guy.
4-Gunther…..dude is reaping all these rewards and making himself look so good in the process. It goes without saying how good he really is, but he’s just straight up being a dominant heel that doesn’t just beat people (cleanly I might add) but he grind them into submission to the point they can’t fight back. That’s monster heel energy. But, what do they have planned for Mania. As much as I want to see him face Lesnar, I don’t feel like it’s the best match for Brock….because…
5-OBA! Holy hell are they doing him right so far. I want him and Lesnar at Mania in a match where Oba actually backs Brock down and breaks the mystique. Brock can handle it. It would make Oba. Hell, if Taker was active and still undefeated at Mania, I’d have Oba be the one to not just beat him, but dominate him. I was leery of him for a long time. But he has that IT factor. I’m old enough to remember the beginning of Goldberg’s run. I’m not saying Oba shouldn’t lose or anything. But he has that aura and the feeling that when his music hits, someone’s night is about to get very bad.