HEYDORN’S WWE RAW RECEIPT 1/2: First Raw of the year swings and connects for a base hit, nothing more

This week’s episode of WWE Raw has wrapped. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the madness.

-I give WWE an “A” for effort on the opening this week, but something about these Bloodline attacks aren’t doing it for me. They don’t seem menacing enough out there executing them and I think that dilutes the impact a great deal. Also, this wasn’t a great follow-up for Sami Zayn losing Friday’s Smackdown match to Owens and Cena. There needed to be big time story and narrative and WWE missed the mark on it Monday night.

-Man, Bianca Belair vs. Alexa Bliss was a tough watch. Everything was disconnected, sloppy, and too ambitious as it turned out given the faulty execution. Just not a good match and another week of Bianca Belair looking less than strong as the Raw Women’s Champion.

-Alexa Bliss heading back with Bray Wyatt or even being manipulated by Wyatt at this point just seems out of touch. It’s like an 80s band trying to relive the glory days on stage and it just not working for whatever reason. Bliss and Wyatt had their time and it just doesn’t seem like the audience is interested in a reunion at this point.

-Why is the hell is Solo Sikoa selling that much for Elias? It’s freaking Elias for crying out loud. What are we doing here?

-A decent six-man tag between The Bloodline and the team of The Street Profits and Kevin Owens. Pretty much a setup for the Friday tag team title match, though.

-Dexter Lumis without Miz is even less interesting than Dexter Lumis with Miz was. That’s hard to believe, right? The Lumis character is an interesting one, but the audience isn’t connecting with it. He needs to communicate, like most wrestlers, and the inability to do that because of the act itself is limiting the investment he can get.

-Really good video package for Cody Rhodes. I have to imagine that this episodic look at his story will lead to an announcement for his return at the Royal Rumble at the end of the month.

-Becky Lynch skewered Bayley on the microphone. Lynch is levels higher than Bayley right now and it shows.

-It felt like WWE, oddly enough, went out of their way to put over the women’s tag champions this week. Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky got a good amount of offense in on Lynch and secured the victory, too. I hope this is the beginning of respecting more tag teams in this way due to their craft being working with a partner in the ring.

-Dominik doing hard time?! Yes, I’m behind this. Dominik played that segment perfectly and it’s right on par with what that character would do, how he would act, and how he would present himself coming out of being in jail. WWE has done a really nice job with the Rey and Dominik stuff and if they stay the course, it should be hot enough to be on WrestleMania.

-Just an excellent main event between Austin Theory and Seth Rollins for the WWE United States Championship. The near falls were believable, unique, and had the audience on the edge of their seats. Theory can work and getting the win via a low blow is the exact kind of booking that he needs to stay a heel. Rollins was great in the match itself, but his character is still just a damn song. As a babyface, I’d like to see him show some depth even while the song is central to him being over.

CATCH-UP: 1/2 WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW RESULTS: Keller’s report on Seth Rollins vs. Austin Theory, Bianca Belair vs. Alexa Bliss