WWE RAW HITS & MISSES (1/8): McIntyre and Punk verbally spar, Kaiser Snaps, Jax and Ripley, R-Truth video, Cody vs. Nakamura, Miz vs. McDonagh, Becky reacts to loss

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Opening Segment – HIT: Drew McIntyre and CM Punk were good here in this opening segment. It started off with Drew McIntyre addressing his loss to Seth Rollins in the World Title match from last week’s show. It was interesting how he started off taking the blame, but then shifted the blame to Damian Priest. He was continuing with his recent heel character who is sort of right and often makes good points despite being a heel. CM Punk wasn’t as good as McIntyre. He was good, but McIntyre actually came across better to me. I loved his mocking pose in the turnbuckle. Once they started going back and forth, McIntyre actually came across as more of a babyface to me, so the segment could have been better. But, it was still two alphas going after each other in a way that made an inevitable match between them feel like a huge deal.

Ciampa vs. Balor – MISS: I am all in favor of a DIY vs. Judgment Day feud over the Tag Team Championship. This match between Tommaso Ciampa and Finn Balor was fine, but the ending didn’t work. I don’t like Gargano cheating to win, and then he was late on the cheat and the ending got botched a little and looked bad.

Becky Lynch Interview – HIT: This was a good way to follow up on Becky Lynch’s loss to Nia Jax last week. She didn’t make excuses. She didn’t whine. She owned her loss, while also pointing to the fact that she came out of this encounter against Jax much better than the first one. She nicely pivoted to looking forward to the Royal Rumble.

Kaiser Snaps – HIT: Ludwig Kaiser vs. Kofi Kingston was a good match with a slightly disappointing double count out ending. But, the way Kaiser snapped afterwards and destroyed Kingston was very memorable. He performed well in his intensity in beating down Kofi, and Kofi also sold the beating very well. This was a good way to follow up on the real life injury to Giovani Vinci last week. It helped put over Kaiser and should set up an interesting return for Gunther next week.

Jax – Ripley – HIT: After Jax defeated Lynch last week, it seemed that this match had to happen soon. Jax’s win set her up as a strong opponent to take on Rhea Ripley for her Women’s Championship. Now, that match hasn’t been announced yet. I thought they might announce it for the Rumble, but Jax is entered in the Rumble match itself so that doesn’t seem likely. But, will they build to it at Elimination Chamber? The performances from Jax and Ripley were good. But, at some point WWE has to address the elephant in the room that Ripley is a babyface according to the fans, but clearly a heel in Judgment Day. If they want to cement her as a heel, having her face Jax is the worst thing they could do. If they want to turn her babyface, then they need to get her away from Dominic and the rest of Judgment Day soon.

Carter & Chance vs. Niven & Green – HIT: This was better than their first Tag Team Championship match when Carter & Chance won the Titles. The moves were all executed more crisply. It was fun to watch. Carter & Chance feel like a real team, as opposed to so many of the women teams which feel like two singles wrestlers slapped together randomly. I continue to appreciate the effort that they put in to coming across like a cohesive team and the creativity of their double team moves. Hopefully, they avoid the Women’s Title curse and actually get a nice run as the Champions.

R-Truth Video – HIT: This was funny. I don’t want to see R-Truth’s silliness bringing down Judgement Day. But, I have to admit to being entertained by it all. The video with him photoshopped into past moments with the group was really well done. His Tom and Nick Mysterio line made me laugh out loud. I do want to see them move on from him soon, but at least this was a fun moment.

Miz vs. McDonagh – MISS: I’m bored with The Miz. He admittedly has been putting in better efforts in the ring, but his matches still aren’t particularly good. He is very soft in the ring. I don’t get him still playing into the massive balls bit now that he’s a babyface. That was a lame bit for a heel, but why continue to bring it up? I would rather see McDonagh get the win here, than Miz. This was more of the negative side of Truth’s involvement with the group.

Rollins – Mahal – MISS: Ugh. Jinder Mahal is not good at anything to do with wrestling. He has never had a good match. He has had literally one good moment in his entire very long WWE career, in the Behind The Music video on 3MB when he deadpanned the line that he was the funny one in the group. That is it! Why is he on my tv? I could reluctantly accept him as a heel manager for a group like Indus Sher. But, he should not be wrestling. He certainly should’t be wrestling for the World Championship against Seth Rollins next week. It makes the entire concept of earning a title shot a joke when he is getting one despite never wrestling anymore.

Rhodes vs. Nakamura – HIT: WWE has been building to this main event for several weeks now. They had the fight earlier in the show to set up the stipulation being added to make the match a street fight. Given the intensity of the feud, that stipulation made sense here. Cody Rhodes and Shinsuke Nakamura worked very hard and put on a good long main event. They were physical and intense throughout. The spot with the time keeper getting the poison mist in his eyes was well done. It was good to see Cody playing the good guy in the match, juxtaposed to Nakamura. The announcers talked about how Cody might be too good of a guy to win this type of match, but he was able to do so while keeping true to himself. The ending sequence was particularly strong with Nakamura going through the table in the corner and immediately being hit with he Cross Rhodes for the loss.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com’s WWE Raw Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw each week. Email him at jmezz_torch@yahoo.com.

OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: Powell’s WWE Raw Hit List: Cody Rhodes vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a street fight, CM Punk and Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins and Jinder Mahal, Rhea Ripley and Nia Jax, Ludwig Kaiser vs. Kofi Kingston