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.
-I really liked the tone of Becky Lynch’s return promo. Could have done without Bob, as that was a bit too silly for The Man in my eyes, but she detailed a solid foundation for what she will do on Raw and in WWE now that she is back.
-We’re still doing the concession stand brawls? An ode to your father in-law eh, Paul Levesque? I’ll give him this, the brawl in general felt fresh in terms of how it was setup. Now, next time, they can just brawl. There isn’t value in getting cute with the merchandise stand stuff.
-Thumbs up on the eight person tag match between Judgement Day and The OC. Both sides really have conveyed aggressive disdain for the other and that was showcased during the match.
-Rhea Ripley has been tremendous since joining Judgement Day. She’s found a voice and more importantly, a presence. Ripley had nothing going on the main roster and now you can easily picture her in big-time championship match at some point.
-Good to see The Street Profits back. They add some star power depth to the show and though this week’s showing was paint by numbers in a lot of ways, but they will help the freshness of the three hour Raw on a regular basis.
-The Bloodline hit again. The chemistry of that group is two levels higher than anything else in professional wrestling right now. All members of the group are contributing and it allows for the entire Bloodline story to infiltrate other babyfaces like Kevin Owens.
-Speaking of Owens, he was great. The real talk with Sami Zayn on their history, but threatening ton of voice and body language really made the words stick out in a big way.
-Smart to give Candice LeRae the time to define herself on the microphone, cut a promo, and then get a victory. The promo itself? Not great. It felt forced and a bit out of character for her if you know what she is. All that said, “A” for effort and by the looks of things, she’s in line for some kind of push.
-If it weren’t for The Bloodline, “segment of the night” would have easily gone to Austin Theory and Seth Rollins. Theory and Rollins showed a ton of chemistry together and both were excellent. Theory looked the part of a champion and did a nice job conveying the story of his title win at Survivor Series. Rollins played the confident babyface nicely and the crowd was very much on his side. It seems that both of these guys will likely be in the Royal Rumble match. Since that’s the case, I could see WWE building to a major US Championship title match on Raw at some point before the next PPV.
-We’re still not done with this Dexter Lumis vs. Miz stuff? It was promising there for a minute when Lumis won the match and then passed out money to fans, but Miz had to go ahead and attack again, which brought out Johnny Gargano. A tag match is brewing. Grrrrrrrrreaaaaaaaaat.
-A great main event for Kevin Owens and Jey Uso. The action was exciting and Kevin Owens overcoming all The Bloodline odds was a nice touch that not only captured the audience, but set Owens up for a credible showdown with Roman Reigns. Really good stuff.
CATCH-UP: Bianca Belair names her dream opponent for WrestleMania
I think Miz/Lumis/Gargano is done.