SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Contract Signing – HIT: Raw got off to a good start with the aborted contract signing for the Universal Championship match between Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman. The mic work from those two to start things off was strong to build on their storyline of being friends and tag team partners, but also getting ready to face each other for the Title. The interruption from AJ Styles didn’t work quite as well, because he was pointing out the ludicrousness of having this Title match. You shouldn’t have anyone, even a heel like Styles, pointing out the stupidity of your storylines. It is stupid to have Strowman earn a title shot just by looking at the title belt. This set up the match for after the commercial break to keep fans tuned in.
The OC vs. Rollins & Strowman – HIT: This was a good tag match which ultimately was a set up for a big five-on-two beatdown of the Tag Team Champions with Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler working with The OC to beat up Rollins & Strowman. The match was good, but the beatdown worked well to give Roode & Ziggler some momentum into their Tag Team Title match at the PPV. And it gave The OC some edge too.
The OC Beat up Alexander – MISS: This felt far too random. Last week, WWE set up Cedric Alexander having a leg injury which could be exploited this week by Baron Corbin in their second round match in the King of the Ring tournament. He already had an injury to have an out for losing. Why did they need to give him an arm injury this week after The OC randomly attacked him for no reason during his pre-match interview? WWE is setting up Alexander to be Styles’ opponent for the United States Championship at the PPV, which is fine, but they could have gotten to that point much better than just having The OC randomly attack him. And where was the outrage from the announcers? They asked why they had done it, but showed no outrage over it. Corey Graves said that Alexander got in their way, which was a baseless thing to say, yet the other two didn’t question him on that statement. It was terrible announcing.
Roode & Ziggler vs. Hawkins & Ryder – MISS: WWE got Roode & Ziggler some momentum by having them attack Strowman and Rollins earlier. It made sense to give them a win later in the show as they are establishing their team. However, they went 50-50 and almost lost to a bottom feeding team in Hawkins & Ryder. They should have gotten as much of a squash as the Viking Raiders did against the two Baltimore hating jobbers. WWE also needs to do more to establish their team as characters, beyond showing them in the ring together.
Becky – Banks – HIT: This was a very good segment with Becky Lynch talking about Sasha Banks who then came out to respond. Both of them were great on the mic. Lynch was clearly the babyface and Banks was clearly the heel. The promos were both well written and well delivered. This added to what was already a good build to the Raw Women’s Title match at the PPV which is definitely the match with the best build so far.
Alexander vs. Corbin – HIT: I hate to give a Corbin match a Hit, but Alexander carried him to a good long match. I obviously would rather see Alexander win as the only reason WWE is pushing Corbin in KOTR is to troll the fans which is a terrible reason to do anything. But, the match quality was very strong, probably Corbin’s best match to date.
Double Pin – MISS: How are you going to have a triple threat match in a tournament? Ricochet vs. Samoa Joe was well on its way to being a Hit, before the stupid double pin. That ruined an otherwise good match. If they had to do this in order to not have either Ricochet or Joe take the loss, having them both advance is better than having Corbin get a bye. But, the scene with the referee in the back was terrible. He was overacting and it wasn’t clear why he was so happy to stick it to Corbin. Corbin was terrible too. It wasn’t clear who made the decision to make it a triple threat. Having a babyface/neutral authority figure (like William Regal) make a statement with the decision would have been better, assuming that figure can act better than the ref. But, it would still end up with the preposterous move to have a triple threat in a tournament.
Firefly Funhouse – MISS: I continue to be one of the few fans who hates this Bray Wyatt character. This wasn’t good. My biggest issue is that after being off of WWE tv for several months, Wyatt came back with a children’s show, has beat up a bunch of hall of famers, and has had exactly one match, but somehow he is going to get a Universal Title match? One win over Finn Balor isn’t enough to earn that opportunity. And he should be punished for attacking Kurt Angle and Jerry Lawler, but he hasn’t been. He will be rewarded just for issuing a challenge. And it will be the first match in their series, so why will it be inside Hell in a Cell? And The Fiend shouldn’t’ lose, but he shouldn’t win the Universal Title either, so this is a big Title match at a PPV in a gimmick match which should have a clear winner but which likely won’t result in one.
Mysterio Follow Up – MISS: This interview with Rey Mysterio wasn’t nearly as good as the one that set it up two weeks ago. Considering how WWE made a big deal last week about how we would hear from Mysterio this week following him nearly retiring the week before, I was expecting something bigger. It was a let down. I get that they don’t trust Mysterio to stand in the ring and cut a solo promo, so they opted for another backstage interview here, but it wasn’t as good. It didn’t feel like it was leading anywhere. After nothing last week, we should have gotten something more this week.
Bayley Heel Turn – HIT: At this point, WWE needed to do something with Bayley as her main roster babyface run had never worked nearly as well as her great run in NXT. It had run its course. She wasn’t clicking with the audience despite a strong push coming out of Money in the Bank. She often appears to be more of a jerk so why not go full on heel now that she can be reunited with her old partner Sasha Banks? The tag match that set it up with her teaming with Lynch to face Cross & Bliss was pretty good until Banks caused a DQ by attacking Lynch. They had teased this a little when Bayley said earlier in the show that she would show that she wasn’t in anyone’s shadow by the end of the night, but overall they played it well. My only concern is the lack of babyface depth in the women’s division. She is feuding with Charlotte Flair who is a heel and should be. Flair should not turn babyface in response to this as she is such a natural heel and a bad babyface. Bliss and Cross are heels. Natalya is a babyface, but isn’t getting strong positive reactions because of her recent feud against Lynch and the way she’s exploited the anniversary of her father’s death to get sympathy which backfired. Ember Moon is a babyface, but she has no momentum. Asuka & Kairi Sane are babyfaces, but they aren’t being utilized at all right now and as a team, neither is likely to get a singles push either. Bayley needs a babyface challenger on Smackdown, and I have no idea who it could be at this point.
Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com’s WWE Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw and Smackdown each week. Email him at jmezz_torch@yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @JonMezzera
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Naomi or Carmella could conceivably stand up to Bayley…..