WWE RAW HITS & MISSES 7/4: Lashley makes strong babyface statement, Judgement Day misses, more

WWE RAW HITS & MISSES

July 4th – MISS: As soon as I realized that this Raw was airing on July 4th, I knew we were in for some bad Independence Day content. The opening video package was cheesy. The scenes from the BBQ party were terrible. Having all of that with the hot dog eating contest as a set up for Otis throwing up after his match later in the show was stupid and predictable. This type of content turns off far more viewers than it attracts. Vince McMahon just can’t help himself. This Miss also entails R-Truth dressing up as Uncle Sam to get bet up by Gunther who isn’t on Raw and should be so far above the tired anti-American evil foreigner gimmick.

Lashley – Theory – HIT: It was nice to see Raw start off with the new United States Champion, Bobby Lashley who is certainly getting a big babyface reaction from the fans. He made a strong statement to start the segment off. Theory interrupted and he was good as well. I don’t really need to see a rematch between them at SummerSlam even though their Money in the Bank match was good. I wish WWE would move on to something new, especially with Theory now as Mr. MITB. But, this was still a good way to follow up on their match from MITB, point to their rematch at SS, and hype the 6 man tag that they’d be part of later in the show.

Mysterios vs. Judgement Day – MISS: I feel like The Judgement Day needed a win much more than The Mysterios did here. I get that WWE wants to prolong the feud which will likely be won in the end by Judgement Day, so I get wanting to give a somewhat fluky win to Rey & Dominik. The match itself was fine overall leading up to that Eddie Guerrero inspired win which didn’t work for me. I get the strong connection between Eddie and Rey Mysterio, but the Eddie tributes feel played out to me. I hate to sound like an ass, but when every Mexican wrestler I see on WWE and AEW does Eddie’s shoulder wiggle and a frog splash, it starts to feel like pandering after so many years. And now they are having the Mysterios using one of his classic lie, cheat & steal tactics to win which feels cheap. It also doesn’t make sense why it would actually work. I didn’t buy the referee calling for the disqualification at that point.

Miz/Paul/Styles/Ciampa – MISS: Ugh. I don’t mind WWE signing Logan Paul as much as some fans. But, he is a natural heel and trying to position him as a babyface against The Miz doesn’t make any sense. Miz vs. AJ Styles was a good match, but I’m still not a fan of Ciampa’s involvement with Miz. They just don’t seem to go tother at all. Miz is mostly used in trivial mid-card goofiness, so Ciampa is immediately defined down by being involved with him. As I said in the past, he attacks wrestlers and then loses to them, so why would I take him seriously the next time he attacked a wrestler? So we have him attacking Styles here after Styles easily beat Miz. And I have to ask, why should I take Ciampa seriously if he is going to lose in his match against Styles next week? I was hoping Styles would move on from Miz, but no such luck. It seems like they are setting up Miz & Ciampa vs. Styles & Paul for SS which doesn’t do anything for me.

Belair & Morgan vs. Carmella & Natalya – HIT: The segment that set up this match was fine. Apparently the brand split is over at this point. We got some lip service from Carmella about how Liv Morgan and Natalya don’t belong on Raw, but then she was happy to team with Natalya to attack Morgan a moment later. But, Morgan had a nice moment with the fans who definitely are behind her. The tag match was good, thus it gets a Hit. It was nice to see Morgan and Bianca Belair sharing some screen time. That’s a nice boost for the new Smackdown Women’s Champion, but I do question putting the Title on her at this point.

Rollins vs. Ezekiel – MISS: The match was Hit worthy from an in ring wrestling stand point. But, the set up with Ezekiel accidentally spilling ketchup on Seth Rollins at the July 4th BBQ was idiotic. I still don’t know what we are supposed to think about the whole Ezekiel/Elias situation. What became painfully clear this week is that without Kevin Owens the angle doesn’t work. He is what makes this stupid story work with his great performances. Take him away, and I find myself not caring at all about Ezekiel, Elias or whatever the other brother’s name is. The RKO out of nowhere from Riddle afterwards was a nice moment though.

Street Profits & Lashley vs. Alpha Academy & Theory – HIT: While this was ultimately just a place holder until Otis could throw up afterwards, it was a fun match. There was obviously a lot of talent and athleticism in the ring. There were some cool spots, particularly when Angelo Dawkins shoulder tackled Theory over the announce desk. WWE still could get much more out of Chad Gable than they do. He is super talented. But, having him take the loss here after a Lashley spear made sense.

Otis Throws Up – MISS: I already mentioned this a few times, but I have to lift it up as a Miss. It was bad enough that they had it at all, but did they need to do slow motion replays of it too?

Asuka vs. Lynch – HIT: This match started off rough. Before the commercial, I was expecting to give it a Miss as Becky Lynch and Asuka were having a clunky match due to the No Holds Barred stipulation. Becky had trouble setting up the chair in the turnbuckles. There were awkward exchanges around that time with the other chair set up in the ring. Thankfully, they got it together and delivered a good match in the end. It wasn’t great. I can’t ignore the poor start. But, it was good enough in the end to get a Hit, especially with the strong ending as Lynch hit the Manhandle Slam on Asuka through a table from the turnbuckle. Now, is Becky really back? It will be interesting to see where they go from here with her journey. And what is next for Asuka?

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.

CATCH-UP: HEYDORN’S RAW RECEIPT 7/4: Liv Morgan displays biggest strength with first promo as champion