WWE HITS & MISSES (5/22): Iyo Sky vs. Lyra Valkyria, Miz & Truth vs. Balor & McDonaugh, Bron Breakker, Chad Gable vs. Sami Zayn, more

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Gable vs. Zayn – HIT: The opening segment with Sami Zayn and Chad Gable was solid and did a nice job of hyping the Intercontinental Championship triple threat for King & Queen of the Ring on Saturday, while setting up this impromptu opening match. This match was much more about the story involving Alpha Academy than the match itself, but that was ok. The wrestling action in the context of that story was very good which is to be expected with Chad Gable and Sami Zayn in the ring together. It was interesting to see how Akira Tozawa and Maxxine Dupree refused to cheat for Gable, only to have Otis reluctantly do so in the end. WWE followed up nicely with that throughout the show. How will it all play out on Saturday?

Bron Breakker – HIT: Assuming that the goal of WWE was to present Bron Breakker as a heel, then this presentation was well done. He did a great job of showing anger and intensity. The physical beatdown of that poor jobber was very memorable. Breakker’s reaction to being left out of the King of the Ring tournament helps to sell the importance of that tournament. The way he attacked Ricochet later in the show sets up a match for them which hopefully will not be just a squash. But there have to be consequences for his actions, so hopefully WWE has a plan for that.

Sky vs. Valkyria – HIT: This was a good semi-final Queen of the Ring match which isn’t surprising. Iyo Sky is one of the best women on the roster. I always look forward to her matches. Lyra Valkyria is impressive in the ring too. I will say that the match was too long. It would have benefited from being 15 minutes instead of 20. So, it certainly could have been better. But, it was still good enough to get a Hit. Sky vs. Bianca Bel Air would be the best final match for the tournament strictly in terms of in ring action. But, Nia Jax would make a good obnoxious Queen. Plus, Valkyria will get a boost from getting this win and having a strong showing in the finals.

Awesome Truth vs. Judgment Day – MISS: I’m bored with Awesome Truth’s run as Tag Team Champions and it hasn’t been going for long. The humor has always been Hit or Miss, but it definitely been more Miss than Hit lately. The Judgment Day is also just spinning its wheels right now. I’m not interested in Carlito’s involvement. I don’t care to see any more matches between these teams. Braun Strowman’s involvement was ok. I guess you can build something for him against Damian Priest for the World Title, but keep Miz & R-Truth out of it.

Fatal Four Way Women’s Tag – MISS: WWE is starting to rely too heavily on triple threat / fatal four way matches to determine #1 contenders for various titles. Actually, “starting to rely” is a major understatement. Write some stories. Build up a challenger naturally with a series of wins. Make wins and losses matter. Help wrestlers get over and connect with the audience. I wasn’t a fan of having his match in the first place. Unfortunately, the match wasn’t good. There were some good moments here and there, but most of it was overly choreographed. Nothing about it felt authentic. There were some talented women in the match, but overall it didn’t work.

Gunther vs. Uso – HIT: The King of the Ring semi-final main event was very good. The long entrance from outside the building to inside the ring for Jey Uso was cool. The changes in production and presentation in the last few months on WWE tv have been great. I assumed Gunther would win this match as I assume he will win the entire tournament, but I couldn’t discount the possibility of a Jey Uso vs. Toma Tonga finals. The lack of predictability helped the match. The lack of outside interference from either The Bloodline or Ludwig Kaiser also helped. The little bit of a referee bump wasn’t too bad when it comes to giving Uso an out for taking the loss. But, I would just have Gunther beat him totally clean. There is no shame in that. At least it was a very good match with the shoulder work from Gunther to Uso playing a role throughout the match.

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 me on Twitter @JonMezzera .

OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: Powell’s WWE Raw Hit List: Gunther vs. Jey Uso and Lyra Valyria vs. Iyo Sky in King and Queen of the Ring semifinal matches, Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn vs. Chad Gable in a non-title match