Reverse Hipster What Mattered
4. Karion Kross
Karion Kross had a mostly one-sided match against Humberto where he defeated him after punching Humberto out of the air. Humberto was an excellent candidate because he has no momentum, so this loss doesn't hurt him. However, I think Humberto got too much offense in. This match would have been fine if Kross was undefeated, but going forward, he needs to aggressively dominate his matches because he doesn't have an undefeated streak to fall back on.
3. Charlotte vs. Nia Fight For Real
Sad when one of the most entertaining things on Raw is a match devolving into a real fight. However, here we are; it looked like Charlotte slapped Nia in the face, and Nia didn't appreciate that, and a fight started. It was awkward to watch, but they tried to get home after some punches and no selling and sandbagging. However, they weren't in sync anymore, and the match suffered. In the end, Nia power slammed Charlotte audibly hard and won the match clean, but the look on her face says it all.
2. Raw Tag Team match
RKBro is the hottest thing on Raw. However, they have been thrown in the main event several times when they didn't have a story when they would have been better off in the first hour. This was one of those matches. However, they did beat Mvp and the WWE Champion Bobby Lashley, and it was a good match, so overall, it was good.
1. Drew vs. Damien vs. Sheamus
This match should have been the main event of the show. Damien defeated Drew and Sheamus continuing his ascension into stardom. Most importantly, Damien pinned Drew clean. The match itself was extremely long, and that would have hurt most matches. However, I think they had the in-ring action to justify the length of the match. They delivered PPV quality in the middle of Raw. The united states championship feels like the most important Mid card belt in WWE right now.
Rob’s What mattered
2. The Viking Raiders vs. Jinder Mahal and Veer
It was nice to see the Viking Raiders back. They beat Jinder Mahal and Veer in a quick but fun match. I felt like this addressed my criticism of WWE not giving time to actual tag teams. In addition to the Viking Raiders, I think Jinder Mahal, Veer, and Shanky could be a great addition to the tag team division.
1. Damian Priest’s Open Challenge
This was the best match of the night by far, and it could have been the best match on a PPV too. Sheamus and Drew McIntyre already have great chemistry, and they gave a rub to Damian Priest. It was the perfect booking. The match was great, which got all of them over. I didn’t want Priest to fight McIntyre because McIntyre is so protected, but he ended up pinning him. It didn’t hurt McIntyre because he took three finishers. It didn’t hurt Sheamus because he wasn’t involved in the finish. It got Priest very over. This should be a great reign for him and a sign of more to come.
Rob’s What didn’t matter
3. Eva Marie vs. Doudrop
I like that they are investing in this feud, but Eva Marie and Doudrop weren’t together for long enough for this to feel like a substantial breakup. More importantly, Eva Marie’s character isn’t inviting any in-ring action, so it feels like she’s getting go-away heat. You can hear that the crowd just isn’t into it. Finally, I don’t like that Piper Niven is sticking with the Doudrop name and character. She will have a long way to go to overcome this feud if she wants to be a title character.
2. Nia Jax vs. Charlotte Flair
Nia Jax already has a reputation for being a dangerous, sloppy wrestler, and this match did not help. The pace of the match was weird, the grappling was messy, and the punching sequences didn’t make sense because this isn’t over as a feud yet. I am happy for Nia Jax being the number one contender, and I like her story with Shayna Baszler, but it feels like there is real work to do for this to be a championship feud.
1. The pacing and booking of this whole show
WWE advertised John Morrison vs. the Miz for this week, and it never happened. For some reason, we got Morrison vs. Omos instead. WWE overused the weird gimmick where people come out as another match is ending. It’s a great plot device when used correctly, but this week it looked like Rhea Ripley was interrupting the opening segment of Damien Priest’s open challenge, AJ Styles came out to connect Omos/Morrison’s match to Styles/Xavier Woods, and then RKBro came out to connect that to the main event between RKBro and Bobby Lashley/MVP. The matches were good, but I was too distracted by the bad booking. Weeks ago, I said that RKBro were the highlight of Raw, but that doesn’t mean they should be in the main event every week. Damian Priest, Sheamus, and Drew McIntyre should have clearly been the main event tonight, so everything following it felt like an afterthought. This felt like another classic case of Vince McMahon rewriting Raw at the last second, and we were left with this cluster.
Reverse Hipster What didn't Matter
7. First Segment
The first segment was so convoluted. Damien holds an open challenge but then Sheamus answers but then Drew answers, but then Bobby wants to fight for the title. However, then RKBro comes out for no reason at all, and then suddenly Bobby doesn't care about the United States title. He wants a tag team title match. Then Sonya and Adam remember that they are supposed to make the matches sometimes and come out to make it all official. It was a cluster, and it didn't need to be. Also, why are the champions facing each other instead of having new challengers established for extreme rules?
6. Alexa Bliss
WWE seemingly started a huge feud last week between Charlotte and Alexa last week. However, this week Alexa was missing in action, and Nia has beat Charlotte clean. So are we just forgetting Alexa vs. Charlotte and moving on to Nia vs. Charlotte?
5. The 24/7 Championship
R Truth and Akira dressing up was funny, and Reginald dodging them with flips was cool, but it's starting to feel formulaic. The 24/7 championship needs to take a look back at what made it hot in the first place. To do that, you have to look at R truth and Drake Maverick, the best 24/7 title feud ever. They had a running story, so every little clip advanced the story. Currently, they have no story. R Truth and Drake had frequent title changes, which made it unpredictable. Reginald hasn't been pinned since winning. Finally, R truth and Drake were creative; their segments could take anywhere, and anybody could win it even though Drake and R Truth were the main rivals.
4. Rhea vs. Shayna
This isn't a bad match; in fact, it could be excellent, but we have been given no reason to care about this match-up. We were explicitly told not to care by Nia at the beginning when she said that she wasn't sure Shayna could win, but she would flatten everyone anyway. When Rhea won via rollup and Nia flattened everyone, it made everyone involved look very weak. It also made the match look unimportant in comparison to the post-match action.
3. Pointless matches
Jinder, his crew lost again as they continue to fall down the card. The Viking raiders picked up the win, but they didn't really gain much because Jinders crew have no momentum. Also, why was Jinder in the match instead of Veer? Shouldn't his muscle tag together? Also, I guess they aren't feuding with Mansoor and Ali anyone because they just moved on. AJ beat Xavier in a pointless that he didn't need to win and gained nothing from. Omos beat John Morrison, making him look weak in the middle of his feud with Miz. Also, while Morrison tried to make this match enjoyable, Omos did not support John well, and it made some of the spots look really bad.
2. Flow of the Show
Rumor has it Vince was not satisfied with what creative had planned for this episode of Raw and tore the script up. This theory lines up with a show that seemed to be lacking some continuity and very oddly paced. Oddly, WWE doesn't get the creative done a day before Raw on Monday so that the creative team can at least have a day to rewrite it before Monday night Raw. The result of the last-minute changes left a noticeable mark on Raw, which felt disjointed.
1. Eva vs. Doudrop
I'm an Eva & Doudrop fan, but this was bad from start to finish. First, Doudrop the babyface attacks Eva from behind before the match and why? It's not like she couldn't beat Eva fair and square. Also, we shouldn't feel bad for Eva, but when you have Doudrop take heel actions against her, it messes up the story. Also, Eva did a terrible job selling Doudrops attack and that was a significant factor in this match falling on its face.
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