By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw Hits
Tribute to AJ Styles: Styles was emotional during his entrance, but he did a nice job of fighting off his emotions long enough to get through his speech. It was really nice to hear him speak so highly of his wife, who appeared genuinely touched. The surprise of Undertaker showing up was fun and had me wondering for a second whether he was there to set up another cinematic match, er, fight between the two. Rather, Undertaker announced that Styles will receive a well-deserved induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. The big questions now are who will induct Styles and whether he or Stephanie McMahon will headline the ceremony.
Paul Heyman announces Brock Lesnar’s open challenge for WrestleMania 42: The usual strong mic work from Heyman, while Lesnar got paid to make his entrance and listen to Heyman’s promo. That’s a great gig if you can get it. The open challenge approach to Lesnar’s WrestleMania match was fun. The announcement that Lesnar will appear on five shows before WrestleMania suggests that someone will accept the challenge before the big event, as I can’t imagine how Heyman talking about an open challenge for five weeks wouldn’t get repetitive. Gunther and Oba Femi strike me as the two most realistic candidates. The company could make Oba in one night by having him beat Lesnar clean at WrestleMania, and Gunther could be saved for a potential Lesnar retirement match at SummerSlam in Minneapolis.
Raquel Rodriguez vs. Iyo Sky vs. Kairi Sane in a Triple Threat qualifier for the women’s Elimination Chamber match: Rodriguez going over felt like a mild upset, as I suspected that Sky would win so that she and her tag team partner, Rhea Ripley, could square off at some point in the Chamber. While Rodriguez won’t stand out to most fans as a favorite to win the Chamber match, I consider her a dark horse candidate. This isn’t a prediction, and it’s certainly not a spoiler. It’s simply a long-shot scenario. Traditionally, the winner of the women’s Chamber match would challenge for the WWE Women’s Championship now that Royal Rumble winner Liv Morgan has opted to challenge for the Women’s World Championship at WrestleMania. But what if Rodriguez wins the Chamber match and decides she also wants to challenge for the Women’s World Championship? This is pro wrestling, and lord knows they change rules on the fly. Rodriguez and Morgan could have a falling out, which would be logical given the tension that carried over from Morgan eliminating her from the Royal Rumble match. Or maybe they continue to play nice, and Rodriguez sells a suspicious Morgan on the idea that she wants to help her win the title in a Triple Threat. Stephanie Vaquer would look like a fighting champion, and it could come off like she’s a step ahead of the challengers if she stirs the pot by predicting that the Judgment Day women can’t coexist. Either way, this would keep Jade Cargill free to defend the WWE Women’s Championship against someone else, which might explain why she and Charlotte Flair have been eyeing each other up lately.
Je’Von Evans vs. Kofi Kingston: A soft Hit for a solid Evans win heading into his first Elimination Chamber match. It’s just a shame that beating former world champion Kingston doesn’t mean even half as much as it should.
Jey Uso vs. Bronson Reed vs. The Original El Grande Americano in a Triple Threat qualifier for the men’s Elimination Chamber match: A middle-of-the-road segment more than a Hit or a Miss due to Reed’s injury. The referee spent a lot of time talking with Jey and Americano at ringside, which is understandable given that he had to relay the new plan to both wrestlers. Jey and Americano did a nice job of adjusting on the fly after getting their marching orders.
WWE Raw Misses
Liv Morgan announces her WrestleMania 42 decision: Morgan crying after Dominik Mysterio gave her a loose interpretation of what Stephanie Vaquer said in Spanish last week was strange. It carried over to this week when Morgan came out looking distraught. I don’t know if the idea is that Morgan’s character was legitimately bothered by Vaquer’s words or if this was a ruse, but it felt confusing and just plain unnecessary.
CM Punk’s promo: A rare Miss on the mic from Punk. The “what if” theme didn’t really work. Teasing that Roman Reigns was in the building, only to say that he wasn’t there but will be next week, upset the live crowd for no good reason. And Punk barely even mentioned his title defense against Finn Balor on Saturday.
Nattie vs. Maxxine Dupri: You can’t spend years having wrestlers barely sell being run into the ring post and then expect fans to buy in when Dupri acted like she was knocked out after stumbling into the ring post casing. The timing of having Dupri sell a worked injury was lousy after Bronson Reed was legitimately injured during the opening match.
Mystery crate: The crate’s first appearance generated a lot of fan interest and looked like a great hook for the Elimination Chamber event. It’s been minimized ever since in what seems like an attempt to lower fan expectations. It was used as a prop for a Johnny Gargano gag on Smackdown. It didn’t get much better last night when it was shown just long enough for Adam Pearce to have it shipped to Chicago for the Elimination Chamber. It will still be a letdown if there’s not a big payoff. And if they do have something big in mind, then they should have done more to make this feel like a must-see reveal.
(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.)
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