SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Opening Segment – MISS: To paraphrase a fictitious Rick James, I wish I had two more hands, so that I could give Seth Rollins’ outfit four thumbs down. Rollins is bringing this feud down. It is a hot feud between two alphas who have gone back and forth verbally and physically for months. This has built well to the point where they are finally going to fight at SummerSlam. Rollins or any special guest referee isn’t needed. I am worried that too much focus is going to be on him, especially the end of the match. And coming out dressed as a clown version of a referee isn’t helping. He is a clown at this point with his song, dancing, goofy-ass outfits and laugh. He is a great performer, but I can’t take him seriously. He plays the role well I guess, but it isn’t a great role. The performances from Drew McIntyre and C.M. Punk were strong at least.
Raw Pattern – MISS: Wrestler A makes their ring entrance. Cut to commercial. Back from the break, there is a video package or backstage scene all while wrestler A waits in the ring. Then Wrestler B makes their entrance. They wrestle for about 2 minutes before it cuts to a commercial break which lasts about 4. Then, it comes back for 2-3 minutes of wrestling before the match ends and there’s some type of in ring angle. This happened with The Creeds vs. Alpha Academy, Jey Uso vs. Carlito, Sami Zayn vs. Dominik Mysterio, and the six woman tag. Bronson Reed vs. Sheamus had a similar pattern, but it wasn’t quite the same. Gunther vs. Finn Balor had a similar one too. I’m guessing this isn’t new, but it really stood out to me this week. It got very old watching the same exact pattern over and over again. How can I judge an 8 minute match when I only saw about 4 of those minutes? Was it a Hit? Was it a Miss? How would I know? Let me say that the ones that ended with interference or some type of lame finish were definitely not Hits.
Creeds vs. Otis & Tozawa – MISS: I would have made this a 3 minute squash without a commercial. The Creeds need more credibility. Otis & Akira Tozawa are comic relief jokes. They want the Creeds to be a serious act and a strong opponent along with Chad Gable for the Wyatt Sicks’ in ring debut next week, then have them plow through their opponents this week. Give those 4 minutes to one of several 8 minute matches which could have used more time. I also don’t get the Holy Shit chants for The Wyatt Sicks doing a few moves on the Creeds. They didn’t do anything cool or special. It was fine, but nothing to get that reaction. I guess I’m the only one who realizes that Joe Gacy and Dexter Loomis aren’t good wrestlers, and that Eric Rowan was by far the least talented member of the Wyatt Family. Why are we excited about these guys?
Priest and Gunther Videos – HIT: These videos were among the few highlights on an otherwise bad Raw. WWE has done a nice job of building to the World Title match at SS between Damian Priest and Gunther. Priest is clearly positioned as the babyface, and Gunther the heel. They are playing into their strengths well with these videos. Gunther needs to win, but Priest can come out of it still a strong upper-mid card babyface depending on the story they continue to tell with the rest of Judgment Day.
The Miz as SummerSlam Host – MISS: I don’t understand the obsession with wrestlers being excited about hosting PLEs or special themed episodes of NXT. You should want to be on the card as a wrestler. Hosting is some type of lame consolation prize, but you get The Miz acting like it is the greatest honor of his career. Throw in some lame R-Truth humor and this did nothing to make me excited to actually watch the show.
Morgan – Ripley Videos – MISS: The only way for Liv Morgan to save face is if she is just pretending to like Dominik in order to mess with Rhea Ripley. She is a heel, so if this is a ploy and she and Dom are working together, that will work ok. The only way for Ripley to save face is for her to dump Dom. So if Dom turns on her and screws her out of the Women’s Title, that makes her weak. So while that would be better for Liv, it would be terrible for Ripley who is the star. So no matter who wins on Saturday, Ripley has to be the one to dump Dom. Anything else is a big mistake.
Damage CTRL – MISS: How long has it been since we saw Damage CTRL on Raw? I honestly don’t know. It doesn’t seem like it has been that long, but to hear the announcers talk about their return, it has been several months. I also don’t remember them turning babyface. I think we are supposed to be excited about their return to face Sonya Deville, Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark, but they haven’t been gone long enough nor changed their act in any way to make fans excited to see them. It is a heel vs. heel faction battle for some type of idea of who controls the Raw women’s division, which means nothing. There is a lot of talent in these groups and potential for some good matches, but the story is non-existent.
Gunther vs. Balor – HIT: This was a good main event which is to be expected with Gunther and Balor. It was heel vs. heel which is a bad dynamic, so the match lacked a high interest level. Gunther was always going to win, so there was no suspense. But, the action was strong and I liked seeing Gunther make Balor pass out with the sleeper. He hasn’t won a match with the sleeper in awhile, so it was good to reinforce that move as a legit finisher since Gunther has multiple ways to beat an opponent. That will make it a more believable move against Priest. The physicality between Gunther and Priest to end the show worked well.
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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