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It’s time for a Raw POV you didn’t know you needed. It’s time for the “Overs and Unders” of Monday Night Raw where we walk through and highlight the most overrated and under-appreciated moments of the night. Grab a spoon because It’s clearly going to be a Rocky Road to WrestleMania, so let’s dig in.
UNDER-APPRECIATED – CODY’S CAMERAMAN
The smoothness of the camera work during Cody’s entrance deserves applause. He perfectly dipped with Cody as he did his subtle ground pound, and quickly landed back on a medium close-up, not missing a second of his facial expressions. That’s precision right there folks.
OVERRATED – THE ROCK
Man, oh man, hearing a “Rocky Sucks” chant takes me back to the mid-’90s. WWE has to be panicking a bit, especially knowing they’re heading to one of the most vocal wrestling cities in America for WrestleMania (looking at you Philly). Seeing recaps of Cody’s weak (non-) decision on Friday night doesn’t help. This just makes me want to boo Rock out of the building more… and I’ll be in Philly, WWE. Fair warning.
UNDER-APPRECIATED – SETH POP
I love it when wrestlers take subtle digs at each other. This half under-his-breath rebuttal to Roman’s “no pop” dig was great. I popped even more when he said it.
OVERRATED – SETH POP 2
Nope. Seth ruined it by making the same comment again a few seconds later. Saying it twice takes away from the organic delivery and clearly outs it as a planned comment, likely written for him.
UNDER-APPRECIATED – SETH’S SHOULDER PADS
Seth’s shoulder pads. Say what you will about Seth’s fashion, and Roman certainly did, but the shoulder pads on Seth’s jacket were like if an Oscar had a baby with Mortal Kombat… and I’m here for it.
UNDER-APPRECIATED – NO WOW
This isn’t necessarily a great under-appreciated moment, but I enjoyed the absurd misfire of WWE cutting to the crowd during Cody’s entrance, looking for a great visual of people doing “wow” and somehow managed to capture the only section of the audience that wasn’t into it and didn’t participate. Cody is still more over than an Olympic high jumper, but this was still a funny mistake that I thoroughly enjoyed. Sorry, Cody.
OVERRATED – CODY’S DECISION
Hasn’t this been made? He already flat out said “but not at WrestleMania.” Stretching this out is wearing on my patience. You already wounded us, WWE, don’t throw salt on it over and over.
UNDER-APPRECIATED
Drew McIntyre’s new smug swagger. I like Punisher Drew. His demeanor, his cadence, his actions, even his beard are all darker, and I’m all in on it. Also he has his headbutt down to a science. It’s so explosive. I thought he’d attack Seth but that headbutt was so quick it actually made me jump. Drew is thriving right now. Honorable mention for his C.M. Punk shirt. I love it when WWE storylines mirror real backstage feelings.
OVERRATED – TAG HYPE
I hate it when WWE has these brief moments where they pretend they care about tag team wrestling. I honestly had to stop and think about who the champs were. I was even more surprised when I realized it was The Judgment Day. Those titles have become nothing more than ring entrance attire so this hype to face them seems really empty.
OVERRATED – KOFI NEARLY TOOK OUT GUNTHER
No he didn’t. It’s one thing to let the match and its nearfalls speak for itself, but it’s another to hype this attempt as Kofi almost dethroned Gunther. They were never going to give Kofi the belt on the cusp of a 600-day run. WWE loves to have milestones to brag about and, while Kofi always puts up a great, somewhat unbelievable fight for gold, I don’t think anyone believed he was going to beat Gunther. I get that it helps his credibility going into the Tag Team Qualifier, but can’t we just highlight that he’s a part of one of the most successful tag teams of all time? That should be enough. Don’t try to tell me he almost took out Gunther. You’re just spitting in my Booty O’s and calling it rain.
OVERRATED AND UNDER-APPRECIATED – PAT MCAFEE
Literally everything out of Pat’s mouth is an exaggeration. At first, I found it completely annoying when Brutus did a very sloppy moonsault that Pat called “picture perfect.” Then he said Brutus jumped 25 feet into the air onto his opponents. Let’s also not forget the rant about Julius’s athleticism when all he was doing was kip ups. That said, as annoying as I found all of it, it did make me enjoy it more. He has shades of Jerry Lawler’s over-selling and it’s growing on me.
OVERRATED – KOFI’S TRAVIS SCOTTS
I’m sorry. Those are ugly shoes. Pat McAfee oversold those kicks and made me hate them even more. Also, lest we forget that Travis is still persona-non-grata after his concert tragedy. WWE doesn’t need this kind of attention right now. How about a nice, crisp pair of Steph Curry’s, or some classic Jordans?
UNDER-APPRECIATED – GREEN TRIBUTE
Xavier’s nod to the late great green Power Ranger with his ring attire. Awesome.
OVERRATED – DIY’S PAT ON THE BACK
I know they’re trying to get DIY over on the main roster, but it’s just not working yet. This self-applause and pat on the back gimmick feels a bit like we’re trying to make fetch work. Ciampa seems completely uninterested. I think they should focus on their in-ring work and WWE should be showing NXT highlight reels to build them as a great tag team.
UNDER-APPRECIATED – RHEA’S ENTRANCE
My GAWD does Rhea have her entrance down. There’s so much fluidity, swagger, and evil confidence in her entrance. Unlike a lot of talent who feels like they’re doing choreographed poses, Rhea is direct, organic, and – take notes everyone – FAST with her walk to the ring. It’s long enough to love but doesn’t overstay its welcome.
OVERRATED – LIV ON THE MIC
That was pretty terrible in my opinion. Also, did she lose a bet and have to do an entire promo without blinking? That was the most impressive part of this segment.
UNDER-APPRECIATED – BECKY 2 SAD
I love Becky Lynch. I’m not normally a fan of moping characters on a losing streak, but Becky is really giving this limited character development her all.
OVERRATED – MASTER OF JOINT MANIPULATION
I’m a big fan of Becky, yes, but I’m not sacrificing my grasp of reality. Becky is NOT a master of joint manipulation. Saying that on commentary when she’s in the ring with a legitimate master of submissions is just over hype.
OVERRATED – TOZAWA
Tozawa as a credible threat in any match. Literally just putting him in a match as a contender feels like over-hyping him. They’ve diminished him to nothing more than an action figure.
UNDER-APPRECIATED – SHOOSH CLOTHESLINE
Maxine’s clothesline outside the ring. Seriously, go back and watch it. She’s very green and clunky with her moves but that was explosive. I hope she watches back the match and sees the fire she had there so she can continue to stoke it. Honorable mention to Ivar’s show of strength lifting Tozawa up like a ’90s Wrestling Buddy.
OVERRATED- J.D. VS. ANYONE
I just don’t buy J.D. McDonagh as a credible threat to anyone in any match.
UNDERAPPRECIATED – WIPING WINDOWSILLS
I have to give props to R-Truth for his great quip about how J.D. should be “wiping windowsills” after he said he’d wipe the floor with him.
OVERRATED – J.D. AND MIZ ENTRANCES
I’m sorry but J.D. hasn’t done enough to deserve an entrance. They should have done that during the commercial break. Also, can we do away with the massive balls schtick? I don’t think WWE should have anyone bragging about their genitalia to the masses right now. Poor taste, but kudos to Miz for always giving 110 percent to any gimmick.
UNDER-APPRECIATED – PICTURE PERFECT MOONSAULT
Okay, J.D. ribs aside, he actually did a “picture perfect moonsault.” Pat, where is your line now? This is where that should have been exclaimed for the masses. That was damn pretty, J.D. Honorable mention to Pat’s drink spilling on the commentary table, and the towel they used to clean it up, that they tried to pull out of frame. Too late, WWE, that towel is over.
OVERRATED – HEAVYWEIGHT YEETS
They are trying too hard by overusing the word “heavyweight” after Intercontinental. Let Gunther’s reign give it credibility. It already has. Adding that overworded prestige is unnecessary. Also, can we not make “Yeet” the new “What!?” I hate the ebb and flow dynamic it forces promos to operate in. It kills the momentum of the back and forth.
UNDER-APPRECIATED – SIMPLE HEEL WORK
Gunther tearing down- dare I say, demolishing – Jey’s entrance as “simple gestures for simple people.” That was brutal. He knows how to burn a crowd and shine as a heel.
OVERRATED – PRESS CONFERENCE HYPE
Thursday’s press conference hype. They’ve put more time into promoting this press conference than any match on the air tonight. If I have to see that image one more time with Rock in the middle and Cody pushed off to the side, literally and symbolically, I’m going to yeet in my mouth. Is that the correct use of yeet? Please don’t answer that question with a non-decisive yeet.
UNDER-APPRECIATED – SIGN WITH ME
I like seeing talent like Bron Breakker getting courted by Raw and Smackdown competitively. It creates a fun format beat we can expect when someone gets called up to the main roster. Side note: Bron has the “it factor” Mojo Rawley never achieved. This guy got more of a pop from doing nothing than DIY got in victory.
OVERRATED – CG FACES
The CG faces in the WWE 2k24 promo. Ew. Creepy. This is like some kind of bad deepfake.
UNDER-APPRECIATED
The fact that Michael Cole does not understand irony. I thoroughly enjoyed him describing the last bull rope match being a Dusty Rhodes throwdown as irony when, it is in fact, just coincidence.
OVERRATED – PRESS CONFERENCE HYPE II
More press conference hype. We get it! You’re going to have famous people talk to a calm audience of reporters. What a main event build this is getting…
UNDER-APPRECIATED – SAMI’S OSCAR-WORTHY PERFORMANCE
Sami’s interview. He is such a natural actor. I buy every word out of his mouth and I really dug the organic ebb and flow of this interview. It made him feel completely unscripted.
OVERRATED – WHAT A BUNCH OF BULL
Why is this a bullrope match? They tried to explain this as Cody wanting an advantage and that is his dad’s match but what does that have to do with Shinsuke Nakamura? Why would he want to get an unfair edge? Isn’t that a heel move? This is so random. I get that they want to have a big main event, but this just seems poorly thought out.
UNDER-APPRECIATED – SALESMAN CODY
Cody’s selling of literally any move he takes, in this case, the mist. He is a master of making people’s moves look devastating. Cody could sell a mirror to Ray Charles.
(This is the debut column from Kevin Duncan, a/k/a Kevin Thats Weird. Find his videos with his 3.5 million follows on Tik Tok. You’ll be mesmerized. He plans to write “Over and Under” following Raw and Smackdown each week exclusively for PWTorch.com.)
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