SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Cena – Rhodes – HIT: This wasn’t as good as last week’s encounter, but it was just good enough to get a marginal Hit. There is still novelty in seeing John Cena playing a heel character. Cody Rhodes played his character well. This introduced the idea that Cena is planning on retiring as the WWE Champion if he wins at WrestleMania, which add some intrigue to the match as fans will be even more against him possibly winning with that promise. But, what is The Rock’s role in all of this? He hasn’t been a part of the story since the turn at Elimination Chamber. There also doesn’t seem to be anything personal between the two of them. Cena could include those aspects into his character and into this story. They have time to heat it up, but the next encounter has to be better.
The Usos vs. A-Town Down – HIT: Jimmy Uso was a nice surprise teammate for Jey Uso against A-Town Down. Grayson Waller and Austin Theory aren’t presented as a serious threat to anyone, so you knew that The Usos would win, but it was still a good match. It was nice to see the Usos in a regular tag match for the first time in a long time. The aftermath with Gunther worked well. The later scene between Jimmy and Jey with Jimmy trying to pump up his brother, leading to him slapping the hell out of Gunther was great. Gunther seemed to appreciate it too. Perhaps Jimmy can bring that killer Main Event Right Hand Man out of his brother.
Valkyria vs. Rodriguez – MISS: Lyra Valkyria is good in the ring, but she is missing something. I can’t get excited for her matches even though they are usually good. She isn’t connecting with the fans. Raquel Rodriguez is solid in the ring, but you knew she wasn’t going to win here. So, this ended up being a rather bland match. It was ok. But, the Women’s Intercontinental Championship doesn’t mean much unfortunately. I guess we are heading for Valkyria vs. Liv Morgan for the IC Title, and ultimately Valkyria & Bayely vs. Rodriguez & Morgan for the Tag Team Titles. But, none of that is particularly interesting.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Women’s Title Picture – MISS: Is it a Miss, or a mess? Both. This story with Iyo Sky, Bianca Bel Air, and Rhea Ripley continues to be the worst part of WWE right now which is crazy given the talent of the three women. The story has been terrible, and the performances haven’t been much better. Ripley and Bel Air continue to look particularly bad. They are just jerks. At least Sky is presented in more of a positive manner. We all know that Bel Air will end up causing a screwy ending as the special guest referee for Ripley’s rematch against Sky next week. We are going to get that triple threat at WM which stinks. The damage being done to get there far outweighs the fact that the match will likely be fun to watch.
Dragon Lee vs. Americano – HIT: I am a huge fan of El Grande Americano. I laughed out loud during his hype video when he was listed as being from the Gulf of America. Michael Cole is doing a good job with the angle. It will be fun to watch the story develop with Chad Gable, and presumably the rest of American Made’s involvement. The actual match against Dragon Lee was very good. Gable went to someone to learn the dark art of Lucha Libre. What did he actually learn? Perhaps going after his opponent’s mask was lesson #1?
Penta vs. Breakker – HIT: I posted on BlueSky at the start of Raw that there was no chance that we were getting a real finish to the Intercontinental Championship match between Penta and Bron Breakker. Judgment Day’s involvement was predictable, but worked well to advance their story of Dominik Mysterio trying to recruit Penta to the chagrin of Finn Balor. But, that doesn’t excuse the fact that WWE shouldn’t do these crap finishes so often. That finish brought down the quality of the match for sure. I am still giving it a marginal Hit for the wrestling quality and the enjoyment of the match until that ending. The physicality with the chair afterwards worked well to have Penta stand up and refuse to join Judgment Day. So what happens next? A fatal four way for the IC Title seems most likely with Breakker defending against Balor, Mysterio and Penta. But, might we get a 6 man tag before that with Balor, Mysterio, Carlito vs. Breakker, Penta & a mystery partner (perhaps Penta’s brother?).
(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. Follow him on BlueSky @jonmezzera.bsky.social.)
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