By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw Hits
Oba Femi and Paul Heyman: Oba was excellent here until the very end, when he told Heyman to deliver the message to Brock Lesnar that he fought to beat him last time they met, and this time he’ll be fighting to kill Lesnar. Babyfaces shouldn’t make claims they can’t follow through on. Otherwise, Oba was poised and believable, and Heyman sold perfectly by showing the right amount of intimidation without going overboard and making it campy.
Brock Lesnar sit-down promo: Lesnar showed just how good he can be in the sit-down promo format during his UFC run. I like the idea of Lesnar saying that he’s not going out with the dominant loss he suffered to Oba Femi at WrestleMania 42. But the creative forces are trying to have their cake and eat it too by having Lesnar say he’s retired, yet is still wrestling.
Penta vs. Je’Von Evans for the Intercontinental Title: A strong opening match with believable near falls for both men during the last couple of minutes. Evans showed more of an edge during the match and when he declined to shake Penta’s hand afterward. It would be crazy to turn Evans heel, so I assume the idea is that his character is evolving. The youthful exuberance was fun in NXT, but I like the idea of him taking a more serious approach on the main roster.
Seth Rollins vs. Montez Ford: It was logical to have this match before the two got on the same page by rallying around Angelo Dawkins. Rollins getting the win was no surprise, but it was positioned as Ford taking him to the limit in a match that could have gone either way. It’s a shame that Theory slamming the chair on Dawkins’s head looked was shot from an angle that showed the chair hitting the floor rather than his head. It’s even more of a shame that they actually replayed it from the same angle. The story between Rollins and the Street Profits has been solid, and it’s giving Ford and Dawkins something to talk about rather than recite their usual promo lines. But is it possible that one of them could end up joining The Vision to replace the injured Logan Paul as one-half of the World Tag Team Champions? It seems like a long shot, but never say never.
LA Knight and Jimmy Uso: The Knight and Jimmy relationship has been interesting to follow, and this segment was no exception. Knight’s character has every reason to be concerned about a Bloodline reunion, and Jimmy is doing a good job of trying to say that things are different this time. Jimmy felt overshadowed as the fourth man in The Bloodline, but he’s always been a good talker, and he’s getting a chance to show it off during his exchanges with Knight.
Austin Theory: Bad chair shot aside, it was a pretty good night for Theory, who sought revenge for Logan Paul’s injury by attacking Joe Hendry and Angelo Dawkins. Given the circumstances, I’m fine with the explanation Paul Heyman gave about the contracts stating that any Vision member can defend the tag team titles. It was also good to see the Theory and Maxxine Durpri pairing move beyond having conversations in the background during backstage segments.
WWE Raw Misses
Bayley and Lyra Valkyria vs. Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez: There were some rough moments, and way too much outside interference from Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio. Speaking of Dom, why has he had only six matches so far this year? And even if there’s a good reason, it doesn’t explain why they’ve cut back his mic time when he was getting such strong crowd reactions as the wrestlers the fans loved to hate.
Rey Mysterio vs. Rusev for a shot at the Intercontinental Title: The match was fine, and Ethan Page was fun on commentary. It landed as a minor Miss because of the strange way the match was set up. Penta and Rey agreed to a future Intercontinental Title match, only to have Rey agree to face Rusev in a No. 1 contenders match. While the idea may have been to make Rey look noble for agreeing to put his title match on the line, the way they went about this made it Rey’s win feel more predictable than it would have been had they just booked these two in a No. 1 contender match from the start.
(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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