Powell’s WWE Raw Hit List: Oba Femi and Bron Breakker cross paths, Roman Reigns rejects LA Knight, Becky Lynch and Stephanie Vaquer step up as challengers to Liv Morgan

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

WWE Raw Hits

Oba Femi and Bron Breakker: This was unexpected fun. Oba delivered a brief promo about his Hell in a Cell win over Brock Lesnar, and then crossed paths with Breakker on the stage. It’s hard to say whether this is something they are setting up for now or just whetting our appetites for a future showdown match. Either way, it should be a huge thing when it happens, and the start of a rivalry for many years to come.

Liv Morgan, Becky Lynch, and Stephanie Vaquer: The surprise returns of Lynch and Vaquer breathed some new life into the title picture. It felt odd to have Lynch return as The Man without any explanation, but it’s fine as long as it’s explained soon. Lynch has some strong verbal zingers at Morgan’s expense, and I got a kick out of the way she just sat on the top turnbuckle and watched Vaquer beat up Morgan. It was also fun to see Lynch and Vaquer go face-to-face rather than being friendly with one another now that they have a mutual enemy.

Roman Reigns and LA Knight: A solid exchange that set the table for a future match. Knight has been the one guy who has consistently called Reigns on his shit, so it’s good to see them finally sharing the ring again. Roman balked at Knight’s request for a championship match, so it will be interesting to see how they get there. The Reigns character is all over the place during this episode. He spoke respectfully regarding Seth Rollins, then was more heelish while exchanging verbal jabs with Knight. The guy who said there would be no leaders when he was trying to put the band back together was clearly in leader mode when he scolded Jacob Fatu and the Usos for losing at SummerSlam. I wasn’t sure what he was going to do when he walked out after Jacob Fatu’s violent attack on Royce Keys, but the fact that he approved of Fatu’s actions screamed heel. And just when I thought it was safe to label him a heel again, he headed backstage and had a friendly conversation with beloved babyface Rey Mysterio. The shades of gray approach works for Reigns because he’s so cool that most of the fans cheer him regardless of what he does, but it’s tough to follow at times, and makes things more difficult for the babyfaces he works with.

Je’Von Evans vs. Ethan Page (and Big Cass’s post-match attack): Here’s hoping that SummerSlam was the last major WWE event these two won’t be booked for. This was better than several matches that made the cut for SummerSlam. This match also started the streak of the referees being booked to look competent for a change. In this case, the referee caught Page trying to remove a turnbuckle pad. I hope this is the start of a new trend in WWE, because too many companies have become lazy when it comes to making the referees look like morons, which puts the heat on the referees and company more than the heels in most cases. Big Cass attacking Je’Von Evans after the match went well. While I’m not crazy about feeding Evans to anyone, I’m excited to see Cass back in WWE, where the company needs monster heels to feud with Oba Femi.

Chad Gable and Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh: Good work from all four wrestlers throughout this enjoyable tag team match. There are still no signs of friction between Gable and Penta, even after Gable beat Penta for the Intercontinental Title at SummerSlam. I’m curious to see if they will maintain a friendly rivalry or if this will lead to a Penta turn. Meanwhile, I continue to hope that Dom will be kept away from the Danhausen comedy and be pushed as a serious act again.

WWE Raw Misses

Sol Ruca vs. Roxanne Perez: It wasn’t all bad, but there were some rough moments. Ruca looks like she’s carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. She still smiles when she’s playing to the camera, but it seems like the stress of her rough start on the main roster is getting to her. I still feel like the sky is the limit for Ruca once she gets more in-ring reps and regains her mojo. I miss seeing the confident Ruca that looked like she was having fun during her NXT matches. It’s worth adding that the referee in this match didn’t fall for the usual Judgment Day antics and actually disqualified Perez after catching Liv Morgan interfere.

Jacob Fatu vs. Royce Keys in a Street Fight: A minor Miss. Had you told me a year ago that Fatu was facing Powerhouse Hobbs in the main event of the first Raw after SummerSlam, I would have assumed that the match would feel bigger than it did. The fans like Keys, but they haven’t connected with him. His character is that he’s a grieving son from a rough neighborhood who wants to maintain an old friendship. Those things can be part of the character’s identity, but they are not enough. It’s tough for fans to care about a wrestler if they don’t really know who he is. So while the brawl between Keys and Fatu was fine, the outcome felt trivial since the fans haven’t been given enough incentive to rally behind Keys. AEW had the interesting Book of Hobbs videos that were solid, yet never got past the surface level, yet even that incomplete series is better than what WWE has done with Keys. WWE has earned the reputation of being a character-driven company, and they do a very good job with most of the main event players. There are, however, too many mid-card acts who don’t get enough creative attention, which limits their chances of actually getting over in a meaningful way.

(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time since 1997. He hosts the 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.)