Powell’s WWE Raw Hit List: CM Punk and Roman Reigns trade verbal haymakers, Penta’s big win spoiled by Danhausen cursing Dominik Mysterio

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

WWE Raw Hits

CM Punk and Roman Reigns: Another tense promo with both men doing an effective job of creating the impression that they aren’t pulling any punches. A couple of Punk’s lines could be interpreted as him planting seeds for an eventual heel turn. I don’t know how he kept a straight face while saying he doesn’t hold grudges or care what people tweet or say about him on podcasts. And the closing jab about burying Reigns next to his late father was straight out of the Christian Cage playbook. While it was an overly aggressive line for a babyface, it may have been done for shock value, so I’m not sure how much to read into it. It remains to be seen whether  Punk and Reigns can maintain this level of intensity with four Roman appearances and 46 days before WrestleMania weekend. Either way, the build to the match has been outstanding thus far.

Gunther vs. Dragon Lee: A great match to open the night. It looked like it was going to be fairly routine with Lee starting strong before Gunther took control and put him away. Technically, that’s what happened, but they included several twists and turns in between. The crowd got behind Lee, but it still doesn’t feel like he’s truly over. Good luck naming even one personality trait that his WWE character possesses that makes him and Rey Fenix different. Being a terrific wrestler will only get Lee so far. He needs a distinct persona that fans can connect with.

Seth Rollins takes out Paul Heyman: It was surprising to see Heyman get his comeuppance out of the blue. I can’t imagine that he’ll be sidelined for long with Brock Lesnar scheduled to make five appearances leading into WrestleMania. Speaking of which, the timing is interesting, as Rollins seems to be in need of a WrestleMania opponent now that Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed are sidelined. Although I had Oba Femi pencilled to accept Lesnar’s open challenge, I’m not sure what else they could do with Rollins that would fit with the current storylines now that it appears Logan Paul and Austin Theory will feud with Usos for the World Tag Team Titles.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Penta for the Intercontinental Title: A Hit for an enjoyable title change and the latest Judgment Day drama. Penta winning would have been a big surprise had it not been for Danhausen placing a curse on Dom before the match. Granted, there are a lot of fans who are unfamiliar with Danhausen’s schtick, but those who followed his career had to know that they were going to use this match to establish the curse. I wish they would have used the opener or another undercard match for that purpose. Even so, night two went much better for Danhausen than his debut at Elimination Chamber. It was surprising to see Dom drop the title this close to WrestleMania when everything seemed to point to him facing Balor (and perhaps JD McDonagh in a Triple Threat) for that title. I suppose Dom could defend the AAA Mega Championship instead, but it’s not as meaningful as the Intercontinental Title to the vast majority of WWE fans.

The Original El Grande Americano vs. Rayo: A soft Hit for a quality match that includes a couple of solid near falls for Rayo, thanks to help from Americano Black and Bravo. I dig the new Dark Patriot approach to the look of the Ludwig Kaiser version of Americano.

WWE Raw Misses

Jimmy Uso vs. Austin Theory: There wasn’t much to this brief match that ended with a lazy disqualification. It was there to get to the post-match angle with Jey Uso helping his brother, which seems to set up a bland feud between the Usos and the last men standing in the Vision faction.

Oba Femi and Rusev: A minor Miss. Rusev should feel like a challenge for Oba, but he’s colder than Punk’s closing line about Roman’s late father. It’s a shame they didn’t build up Rusev and keep him fairly strong so that it would actually mean something when Oba beats him.

(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.)