WWE RAW HITS & MISSES (2/24): Logan Paul and CM Punk, Gunther-Jey Uso, Cody and Seth exchange, Sami Zayn interview, Greakker vs. Dominik

Logan Paul and CM. Punk – HIT: Raw got off to a good start with the verbal exchange between Logan Paul and C.M. Punk. They are both very good at playing their roles. WWE has to sell all six of their Elimination Chamber participants as possible winners of the match, and possible challengers for Cody Rhodes’s WWE Championship. They also want to tease some possible WrestleMania matches for them as well. They’ve done a great job of this. Here, both Punk and Paul were making a case for themselves in the EC, while also pointing to a possible WM match between them if neither wins (I’m still going with Punk vs. Rhodes and Paul vs. Cena). Punk also has issues with Rollins, Reigns and Cena if he doesn’t win, but this sets up a match against Paul. At the very least, it builds anticipation for them fighting in the chamber on Saturday.

Penta vs. Dunne vs. Kaiser – MISS: I don’t like having Penta losing a match even if he doesn’t take the pin in a triple threat like this one against Ludwig Kaiser and Pete Dunne. Some people don’t count this as a loss since he didn’t get pinned, but he lost the match. He certainly didn’t win it. I don’t understand this feud. I’d rather see a simpler, one-on-one feud instead. The wrestling action was good and certainly Hit worthy. But, it was done in a way to give Penta most of the offense despite not getting the win. I’m not a big fan of that booking. I guess we’ll see Penta vs. Kaiser now without Dunne involved, but we’ve seen it a few times now.

New Day vs. LWO – HIT: This was a good tag team match with New Day playing perfectly into their heel roles. We’ve seen them do that in their mic and character work, but now they are getting a chance to show it in their in ring work also. Cruz Del Toro & Joaquin Wilde are talented and exciting wrestlers. They were good opponents for New Day, which fits into their storyline against Rey Mysterio and the LWO. They even got the better of Dragon Lee after the match, which answers some of my criticism of the angle from last week.

Gunther – HIT: I still don’t know how WWE gets all the way to WM with the long-established matchup between Gunther and Jey Uso for the World Title. It is a long time to keep that story going before their match. I am enjoying it so far. Gunther had a good week on the mic with the way he brought out Akira Tozawa to berate him, and compare him and his goofiness to Uso in terms of everything that Gunther hates about him. The squash match that followed was strong with Tozawa getting a few hope spots in, but not enough to overcome Gunther. I feel like AEW would have made this a 15 minute 50-50 style match to have a “better match” but this was so much better than that would have been. The interaction with Jey afterwards was also strong. I’m assuming we’ll see Gunther vs. Otis next week.

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Valkyria vs. Kai – HIT: This is a marginal Hit for the good work put in by Lyra Valkyria and Dakota Kai in a match that was cold and arguably should never have happened. They did have a good match and won over the crowd in the end which isn’t surprising given their talent. The Ivy Nile attack after the match was much more intriguing to me. I would have just gone right to that match instead.

Sami Zayn Interview – HIT: The acting from Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens the last few weeks has been spot on. I am not a fan of the concept of unsanctioned matches. At least WWE does’t do them very often, so this does feel more novel, but the idea of them doesn’t make any sense. And I’m still expecting this match to also happen at WM, so I’m curious how the match will go at EC to set up their WM match. But, maybe they go in a different direction? I’m sure it will be a great match, and I am enjoying the ride to get there.

Breakker vs. Dominik – MISS: I don’t understand the idea of protecting Dominik Mysterio, especially against Bron Breakker. Given the tension that exists in Judgment Day, a relatively quick and clean loss by Mysterio to Breakker would have been fine. Breakker’s character is still poorly defined. He gets a babyface reaction and was playing a face here, but he has played more of a heel in his current program against AJ Styles. Pick a lane already! This also didn’t do anything to further advance that angle. I thought we might get Styles vs. Breakker for the Intercontinental Title at EC, but it probably makes more sense to save it for WM.

Rhodes – Rollins – HIT: I wasn’t as upset about The Rock’s involvement in Smackdown last week, but it was an overly long segment, and his performance was a bit odd. I saw this as a set up for a WM 17 style main event, where either Cody Rhodes turns heel like Steve Austin did to join with The Rock, or he stays a babyface. If he doesn’t turn, his opponent certainly could. A heel Cody can be fun (with eventual Title defenses against Reigns and Cena), but so could a heel Punk if he joins with Rock. This segment was a good straightforward way to follow up on that rambling segment from Smackdown with Seth Rollins addressing Rhodes. They were both very good here. I’m not always a fan of Rollins on the mic, but I loved what he did here. Rhodes was also very good in firing back by bringing up Rollins’ past, to make him look like a hypocrite. This furthered the story of Rhodes’ choice, while hinting at a possible Rhodes vs. Rollins WM match. Rollins will face Reigns, but this at least keeps the idea of him winning EC alive.

Bel Air & Naomi vs. Morgan & Rodriguez – HIT: This was a very good main event Tag Team Title match. I particularly appreciated the physicality brought by both teams which makes sense given their long feud. There were multiple dramatic and believable near falls for both teams as the match built to the eventual end when the Judgment Day duo got the win to become the new Tag Team Champions. Obviously, the Jade Cargill attack mystery is the backdrop for this match beyond just the Tag Title situation. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriquez maintain their innocence. I suspect Cargill will return during the women’s EC match on Saturday to cost the real culprit the match. But who will that be? Bianca Bel Air? Naomi? Both? Neither? I’m still not sure who will win that match. If WWE turns one as the attacker, they could have her face Cargill at WM, while the other faces Rhea Ripley after winning EC.

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.