SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
This week’s episode of WWE Raw has wrapped. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the madness.
-Well, at least night two of the 2023 WWE Draft kicked off with the very big names left on the board. I’m not a fan of the draft, but it could have gone many other bad ways and instead was logical. A low bar to clear, but they cleared it nonetheless.
-How fun was that interaction between Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman. Just great stuff. Rollins is really feeling the character right now and Heyman is able to sell for anybody. He does it in the exact right way. Such a master. This did a nice job in laying the groundwork for three things. First, Rollins winning the new world championship. Second, Rollins vs. Roman Reigns down the road. Third, Rollins vs. Solo Sikoa in the main event. The accomplished a ton.
-Why on earth are the women’s tag team champions losing to the team of Bayley and Dakota Kai? I know they mean nothing, but a valiant attempt at relevancy would not have seen them take that loss. The win doesn’t do much for Bayley/Kai and hurts Morgan and Rodriguez. Yeah, I’d say that’s a bad finish.
-Huh. Kind of strange to see Braun Strowman & Ricochet dust Alpha Academy so quickly, but hey, it’s a definitive finish and that’s better than trying to walk a silly line of protection for both teams. Strowman & Ricochet are a fine mid-card tag team, I suppose. Until The Usos win the titles back, though, they’re stuck due to being babyfaces.
-Good fight between Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar ahead of their match at Backlash. Cody looked great and Brock sold the hell out of the attack. I’m expecting a hot match when these two square off on Saturday night.
-Hmmm…Riddle defeated Jimmy Uso? Thinking The Bloodline takes the six-man match at Backlash with this result on the books. Not sure I’d be jobbing Jimmy or Jey out much more given their importance to the Roman Reigns character and Bloodline story.
-Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Miz doesn’t do much for me. Nakamura got some chuckles from the crowd for his “tiny balls” line to Miz, but the entire thing felt beneath him at this point. To me, Nakamura is boom or bust right now for Triple H in WWE. He can be a player as long as he opponents that jump off the page as special. Reigns, Gunther, Austin Theory, Bronson Reed, and others fit that bill. Opposite them, he can shine a the top of the mid-card. Anything less than that and he falls very low down the order of importance.
-An Omos squash. Yay? The dude is facing Seth Rollins on Saturday and there wasn’t any mention of it. Strange. Also, not that strange.
-Awesome promo from Judgement Day this week. Damian Priest really has come into his own in the last month or so and oozes a confidence and charisma that a lot of talent on the roster don’t have. As for Dominik? Many would kill for the heat he had. Nuclear stuff and such a blast to watch. Thumbs way up.
-LWO couldn’t really get this win because Priest has a major match coming up against Bad Bunny. That said, if they are going to be viable players as a faction, they need one badly really soon. Maybe Santos Escobar is going to turn on Rey and then we know why this run of losses happened. I’d be down to see that feud, but until we get there, they need a jolt of momentum to keep them relevant.
-One of the better promos in a while from Bianca Belair. She simply seemed more real here and it made her come across as likable and someone you’d want to invest in.
-So, about that main event. What in the?!?! That was a nasty finish. How about having Omos come in and costs Seth the win or something. Just a DQ? And then the show gets cut off on top of that? Not good. Solo Sikoa vs. Seth Rollins is a big match for WWE. Not giving it some sort of larger purpose with a finish hurts the taste of the show.
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