WWE RAW HITS & MISSES 2/27: Women’s tag title match misses, Bloodline hits again, more

Opening Segment – HIT: WWE keeps slowly telling the story of the Bloodline and this was a good step in that story as we saw Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa without Jey Uso. Jimmy did a good job of talking about the Bloodline while hyping up Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania. The Street Profits interrupted and also did a nice job of playing into the fact that Jey was not with his brothers. It set up the opening match well, so it was a good opening segment.

Bloodline vs. Street Profits – HIT: This was a good match. We’ve seen The Street Profits vs. The Usos multiple times, so it was interesting to see the same match, but with Sikoa instead of Jey which gave the match a different dynamic. It fit in well with the story they are telling. I was a little surprised to see The Bloodline win. Shouldn’t they have lost? Give Montez Ford a win and more momentum after his star making performance in the Elimination Chamber, while adding fuel to the fire of the crumbling Bloodline story. It didn’t look like Jimmy needed Jey when he won with Solo. The save from Kevin Owens afterwards was good too.

MVP Lounge – MISS: In a vacuum, this would be a Hit for the fun segment, and the good performances from Brock Lesnar and MVP. The problem entirely lays in the context, which was largely bad due to the problematic nature of Lesnar’s match against Bobby Lashley at EC. There is just a disconnect between that cowardly low blow, and the fun cowboy Brock. The other problem is that the ultimate destination that this fun segment set up is Lesnar vs. Omos at WM which is a very disappointing development which was teased the previous week, and confirmed here.

Rhodes vs. Gable – HIT: This was a good match which isn’t surprising. I’m glad the bit with Otis was kept short, as it was amusing how Cody Rhodes tried to help him spot Maxine Dupree in the crowd. The wrestling action between Rhodes and Chad Gable was fun to watch. The bump Gable took on his head from the Crossroads was scary. He can cut back on those types of bumps without hurting the strong quality of his matches. Rhodes was good afterwards in his short to the point promo about being on Smackdown this week.

Asuka vs. Carmella – HIT: Carmella isn’t a great worker, but she can certainly have good matches. The best matches she’s had were against Sasha Banks. This one against Asuka didn’t rise to that level, but it was certainly good. Asuka’s new arm lock is great. I love how it differs from other submission holds in that it requires a verbal submission, as her opponent can’t physically tap out. I like how they are keeping her and Bianca Belair strong. They can certainly build to their Women’s Title match at WM as just being a very strong champion defending against a very strong challenger. But, will they add any layers to it?

LeRae vs. Niven – MISS: I would protect Piper Niven at this point, not have her lose to Candace LeRae who hasn’t been booked strongly since her return. I’m a fan of LeRae’s for sure, but at this point, I don’t see much value in giving her a fluke win over Niven after distraction from Nikki Cross. I am curious about what they are doing with Cross and LeRae, but they could have advanced that story without sacrificing Niven in the meantime.

MizTV – HIT: I had mixed feelings about this segment. I don’t want to see The Miz multiple times during WM weekend, so having him be the host for WM isn’t exciting to me. He and Seth Rollins were both annoying at times here. Rollins hasn’t found a voice as a babyface. He gets good reactions, the fans love to hum his song, and he has great matches. But is there anything more to him? I did get a kick out of Rollins knocking Miz out and then using his face to open his phone so he could Facetime Logan Paul. Their interaction was pretty good, starting with Paul complaining about Miz calling him again. Paul is a heel, which is good, but it still fits in with his personality to accept Rollins’ challenge. So, they got where they needed in the end.

Lashley – Wyatt – MISS: I am not sure at all how WWE wants the fans to feel about Bobby Lashley. I don’t know how we are supposed to feel about Bray Wyatt. I want to cheer for Lashley, and I’m glad he squashed Elias. The workout video from Wyatt that mocked Lashley as he was leaving the ring was embarrassing. It was terrible. I care less about Lashley vs. Wyatt than I do about Lesnar vs. Omos which is saying something.

Otis vs. Gargano – MISS: The wrestling action between Otis and Johnny Gargano was fine while it lasted, but it was too short to amount to much. The quality was also brought down by what happened at ringside with The Maximum Male Models and Dexter Lumis. I continue to be disappointed by Lumis being part of Gargano’s act. Gargano has been a big disappointment since his return based on his character and storylines. He always brings it in the ring, but he needs more than that.

Lita & Lynch vs. Damage CTRL – MISS: I hate to say it, but Lita looked very slow and very rusty in the ring. She ruined the quality of a match with three talented workers in Becky Lynch, Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky. Unfortunately, it was not a good match. The Trish Stratus run in was way too convenient. Did she come to Raw secretly, just to keep an eye on Bayley in this match? I would have much rather seen Lita get on the mic before the match and bring out Trish as a surprise to Becky, saying something like “I know that Bayley is going to get involved, so I made a call to get someone here to watch out back.” Have Trish at ringside the entire time and book the ending the same. That would have been better. I’m not sure how I feel about the actual Tag Title change, but I’m not thrilled. I will wait and see what they do from here. Presumably they are heading for a six woman tag, but what happens with the Tag Titles at that point? What are they doing with Shayna Baszler & Ronda Rousey?

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 WWE RAW RECEIPT 2/27: Becky Lynch and Lita win tag titles in clunky main event