WWE RAW HITS & MISSES (8/12): Breakker vs. Sami for IC Title, Rhea Ripley-Dominik, Pete Dunne interview, Creeds vs. Alpha Academy, Orton-Gunther-Punk-McIntyre, Bronson Reed, more

Opening Segment – HIT: Raw got off to a good start with Rhea Ripley coming out to address what has been happening with Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan. They also appeared to interrupt. Damian Priest eventually got physical with Dirty Dom which ultimately led to Carlito getting involved as well. Everyone played their parts well on the mic and with the physicality. This further advanced the build to the eventual mixed tag match of Domink & Morgan vs. Priest & Ripley which should be a lot of fun. It also teased the first match for after the commercial break as Carlito faced Priest.

Carlito vs. Priest – HIT: That match was solid as Priest got a strong win over Carlito, who got in enough offense of his own. The physicality afterwards with the rest of Judgment Day getting involved and Ripley coming back out worked very well. But, the new Judgment Day does need some more credibility. They need to get the better of Priest and Ripley, especially when they have the numbers advantage.

Alpha Academy vs. The Creed Brothers – MISS: The wrestling action was perfectly fine, but the Creed Brothers are not being booked well at all. They should not need a distraction from Ivy Nile to get a leverage pin win over the total goof Akira Tozawa. He isn’t presented as anything of a threat of a wrestler. The Creeds are talented and have a great finisher which wasn’t on display here. I would have had them win strong, and then have them threaten to beat up Tozawa afterwards, and have Maxxine Dupri try to stop them, and then have Nile turn on her. The Creeds have too much potential to not be treated better than this after playing second fiddle to the Wyatt Sicks. They have been one of Triple H’s biggest misses on the main roster.

Pete Dunne – HIT: Pete Dunne gave a good interview about why he is so upset with Sheamus. Everything he said made sense, but in a way where fans won’t get behind him. He is still the heel in the situation. My only concern is pushing so hard on the Butch name which was backed up later in the show when Sheamus reacted to the interview. I like what they did, but I fear it will just turn into a series of Butch taunts which isn’t great.

Bronson Reed Stats – HIT: I liked this video package on Bronson Reed. It was a fun way to recap what he did to Seth Rollins last week while emphasizing his size and physical prowess. The last little joke about kangaroos wasn’t needed. It was too sports entertainment while the rest of the video felt more like pro wrestling. But, otherwise it was a good video. This led into Reed demanding a match on Raw, which ultimately led to R-Truth accidentally signing The Miz up to face him. That little bit was fun, especially Randy Orton’s involvement.

Damage CTRL vs. Pure Fusion Collective – MISS: A big part of this Miss is just for the new name of Sonya Deville, Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark’s faction. The rest of the Miss is for the ending of the match. Endings matter. Yes, the wrestling action before the ending was Hit worthy. These are four talented workers. Despite not having an actual babyface turn, Iyo Sky was able to get the fans behind her team, and Kairi Sane did well too. But, having the Tag Team Champions, The Unholy Union at ringside sitting in such a conspicuous spot telegraphed what was going to happen. You knew that they would get involved after one of the wrestlers in the match got thrown into them, or ran into them in some way. There was no other possible outcome. Why would they cause a disqualification? Don’t they know that by doing so, they will just end up having to defend their Titles in a triple threat match? How stupid are they?

Orton/Gunther/McIntyre/Punk – HIT: I am definitely looking forward to Gunther defending the World Championship against Orton at Bash at Berlin. Their verbal encounter was very strong here. They both played their parts well. Drew McIntyre’s appearance was nicely set up earlier in the show when he complained about Orton getting a Title shot instead of him. Punk’s surprise attack worked well as it had been established that he wasn’t there. We found out later he had lied to Pearce about that. This clearly is setting up a strap match between Punk and McIntyre. I would rather see a regular match without the gimmick of a special referee, but it still should be good.

Miz vs. Reed – HIT: The match was good. It was kept short to give Reed the strong win over Miz, while allowing Miz to get in some offense as well. The post-match beatdown of R-Truth was strong. I like how it started with Truth saving Miz. I also liked how the officials tried to help by rolling Truth out of the way only to have Reed go up to the other turnbuckle for more Tsunamis. This was a good way to follow up on Reed’s attack on Seth Rollins last week.

Breakker vs. Zayn – HIT: I wasn’t a fan of Bron Breakker’s pre-match ring entrance. Unless WWE plans on going babyface with Breakker going forward, that was not a way to present a heel. The match itself was better than their previous matches. I’m not usually a fan of best 2 of 3 falls matches. Here, the match was well laid out with that stipulation. Zayn saves face by winning the first fall, so he can claim that he would have won the Intercontinental Title if it had been a 1 fall match. The second two falls were strong with Breakker ultimately getting the win. The way he lawn darted Zayn into the time keeper area was awesome. That spot will be remembered for a long time. Zayn can still team up with Jey Uso to go after the Tag Team Titles. But, who will be the next challenger for Breakker’s IC Title? And was that entrance, playing to Pat McAfee and the barking fans a sign of Breakker leaning more face going forward?

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.

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RECOMMENDED NEXT: WWE RAW RESULTS (8/12): Pomarez’s alt-perspective report on Breakker defending against Sami, Priest vs. Carlito, plus Orton, New Judgment Day, Odyssey

OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: Powell’s WWE Raw Hit List: Bron Breakker vs. Sami Zayn in a best of three falls match for the Intercontinental Title, Damage CTRL vs. Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark for a shot at the WWE Women’s Tag Titles