WWE RAW HITS & MISSES 8/15: McIntyre and Owens hit with promo, Judgement Day turns around as group, more

Judgement Day – HIT: I haven’t been a fan of The Judgement Day (or the The in The Judgement Day), but this was a better presentation of them. I am a fan of the three individually, so hopefully they can make this work. This was a nice follow up to what happened between them and the Mysterios last week while also hyping up the Damian Priest vs. Edge match in Toronto next week. Rey Mysterio’s attack worked well as a surprise, but Judgement Day got the better of him largely because of Rhea Ripley. At some point, a woman will presumably get involved with the babyfaces to neutralize Ripley. But who? Beth Phoenix would obviously make sense.

Asuka & Bliss vs. Doudrop & Cross – HIT: The outcome of this first round Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament match was never in doubt. They were clearly going to set up Asuka & Alexa Bliss vs. Kai-En-Sky. But it was a good match despite the predictable finish. I’m glad it didn’t go longer as Doudrop & Nikki got in some offense, without taking away from the momentum being built by Asuka & Bliss. I’m hoping that Nikki having a leather jacket instead of her cape is the start of a gimmick and name change for her (and Doudrop too).

Miz & Ciampa vs. Ali & Alexander – HIT: I see a lot more potential in the team of Mustafa Ali & Cedric Alexander than in The Miz & Ciampa. They performed well here despite taking the loss. It was a fun match with some very talented wrestlers plus The Miz. The ending didn’t quite go as planned, in what may have been an overly ambitious spot, but that is a minor complaint about an otherwise good match.

McIntyre – Owens – HIT: This promo exchange between Drew McIntyre and Kevin Owens certainly has been getting buzz with good reason. McIntyre started it off well talking about wanting to win the Undisputed Championship from Roman Reigns in order to defend the Title against a series of opponents on Raw and Smackdown. Owens was good in his interruption. They both showed great fire and passion. I am loving the new more serious Owens. I loved how he accepted McIntyre’s challenge for an impromptu match. Heels don’t have to cower in the face of a strong babyface. Also, McIntyre said wrestler and wrestling, so that’s good.

McIntyre vs. Owens – HIT: The match that came at that point was also very good until the end. Disqualification finishes can be ok and it made sense in this case. McIntyre can’t lose going into his match against Reigns at Clash at the Castle. Owens needs to be protected right now too. The problem is that these types of finishes have been done to death, so even one that can be justified like this is going to be bad given the history. At least we got to see 15 minutes of great wrestling action between two great wrestlers before that lame ending. I am curious to see what potential relationship Owens has with The Bloodline going forward after his interaction with The Usos here, and his old buddy Sami Zyan’s relationship with them on Smackdown.

Rollins – Riddle – HIT: This was another good segment involving strong mic work, this time from Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle (seriously, give him his first name back please). The fact that Riddle was actually in the arena wasn’t a big surprise, but it was still a fun moment. The best part of this segment was the more serious persona for Riddle which he has been working on since Randy Orton’s injury. Riddle vs. Rollins was the match I was looking forward to the most at SummerSlam, so I was disappointed when it got postponed. I am still greatly looking forward to it at the next PLE.

Lashley vs. Styles – HIT: Once again, WWE did a good job of building to a big Title match with a video package on Bobby Lashley and AJ Styles. If you are going to have outside interference in a match like this United States Title match, do it this way when Miz & Ciampa come out in the middle of the match but weren’t actually involved in the ending. Styles was a good challenger to Lashley, but Lashley still was able to win in the end. They are continuing to present Lashley as a big deal and the fans are responding to him. They also worked in another tease of what they are doing with Dexter Lumis.

Theory vs. Ziggler – HIT: It is rare to have a Miss-less Raw. I didn’t love everything on the show. I think it is odd to have a match between Theory and Dolph Ziggler as the main event instead of the US Title match. But, my complaints are minor and nothing stood out as being bad enough to get a Miss. It was a very good show with a lot of good wrestling action culminating in this good match. Theory needed a strong win after his bad night at SummerSlam. Ziggler isn’t someone who needs to be protected, so the clean win was definitely the way to go. I’m not sure what is next for Theory as he isn’t likely to try to cash in Money in the Bank any time soon.

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.

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