The post WrestleMania 41 Raw happened and usually you expect new stories moving forward after such a major event. I was in high doubt after seeing the WrestleMania 41 event whether or not I wanted to do anymore reviews moving forward (just in that I need to shift my focus elsewhere in terms of productivity). However, there were more things that happened on this Raw that were noteworthy as well as interviews that confirmed some of my suspicions that I wanted to address. Regardless, I think my approach here on out is that if a show has anything worth mentioning and it’s not just one long, boring talking segment, then I’ll write about it because then I’ll have something worth saying. Otherwise, I’ll just stick with clips and wait until something catches my attention.
John Cena Opening Promo
Cena came to the ring to declare himself the last world champion, the best champion of all time due to having 17 titles (which as per a lot of old school guys meant you lost 16 other times, but I digress…). He’s trying to ensure that the crowd hates him by sticking with his story about how the crowd maintains this abusive relationship with him and denigrates the Las Vegas audience in their almost manic depressive mood swing treatment of him and others. Somehow he gradually comes back to talk about Cody and how Cody received similar treatment and mangled up words to effectively say that is why Cody lost (meaning Cody cared too much about the crowd and probably couldn’t focus which makes him a loser).
Regardless, after a meandering speech, Cena is about to pose for the crowd and Randy Orton sneaks from behind to deliver an RKO. As both guys came up together over in OVW, it’s only fitting that Randy does his spiel to partake in the Cena retirement tour. People are critical of Randy as a possible challenger but there aren’t many people at Randy’s level who can have a meaningful PPV match against Cena at this stage. Since both have history and with both being on the last leg of their careers, it only makes sense that they would encounter each other at least once.
Becky Lynch and Lyra Valkyria vs Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez
This was a rematch for the tag title from WrestleMania 41. Now as an aside, you’d think that if Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez got their title rematch immediately the following night, every single title holder that lost (especially Cody Rhodes) ought to have demanded a rematch. This is why rematch clauses are stupid especially if the situation isn’t consistently held up. Short match that I barely paid attention to. I periodically would glance whenever Raquel and Lyra were in the ring (not necessarily together) because I prefer watching those I’m less familiar with. Lyra just does not impress me. She tried a few power moves on Raquel and probably shouldn’t have. It simply makes her appear small and frail. Also, if she hits them, it looks like she could injure someone because she might not have enough strength, etc. to execute them well.
Either way, Becky got tossed to the outside leaving Lyra inside. She got distracted on the ropes which allowed Liv to hit her finish to regain the tag titles. Post match Becky became infuriated and beat the hell out of Lyra. Lyra sold like shit and poorly acted surprise then Becky hit her slam multiple times, partly because the crowd kept encouraging her. Stuff like that makes me laugh.
So in a way, not unexpected once they announced this match. The tag title win from last night was stupid but I suppose it was to give Lyra (and Becky to a lesser degree) some more accolades which in reality is worse because they immediately would lose. At that rate, they should’ve just kept Bayley and have her eat the pin. Lyra looks like a pigeon shit on her face after this fiasco because the crowd still loves Becky. Most of the reason is that Becky has personality and Lyra is some generic robot that does moves and appears more like some random mark they picked up off the street. I get that the story moving forward is to probably elevate Lyra at the expense of Becky but didn’t they just have a similar fiasco with Charlotte and Tiffany Stratton? It didn’t do either woman any favors.
Also, this just highlights the desperation of the WWE needing young, fresh blood to move to the top. They get these lightning fast pushes but there’s no middle tier for them to work with most of the time especially in the women’s division. Like with Jacob Fatu, by comparison, he’s ready for the main event. But they have him with the US title and there’s plenty of meaningful, solid midcard to upper midcard people for him to gain more momentum for another 6 months to a year. The women’s division in particular doesn’t have a good middle tier because the veterans in those spots are either injured or aging out and their matches just aren’t burning down the barns.
I think part of the issue is that a few key people got released during the pandemic who probably would have filled those spots nicely. Sadly, the WWE’s best bet is if some of the AEW crop leave to try their hand over in the WWE * cough * Kris Statlander * cough *.
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods in Ring Promo
The new New Day’s heat have practically frozen over. It’s sad but they really lost momentum after their turn on Big-E. The real problem is that the WWE tag division is nonexistent and the people they were put in the ring with mean nothing (except for Rey Mysterio Jr. who needs to retire for his own health). They managed to get a little heat back but it’s forced. I think the real issue is that they didn’t do anything spectacular to get good heat right after their turn. Instead, the focus switched to stupid topics like their mothers and the locker rooms not supporting them. That portion was drawn out too long. At this stage, you can use 1-2 shows to establish that where the focus gravitates on them. Then have them come out and do something horribly dastardly to really heat things up, which becomes their latest gimmick to win matches. But I think all the initial heat made the WWE lazy and just allowed the crowd to do all the work rather than maintaining the momentum. It works for about 1-2 shows because it’s sustained. After that you need a different tactic to progress the story.
Regardless, Alpha Academy came out where some idiot in the back allowed Maxxine to get the microphone to repudiate the new New Day. It was a mess because Maxxine can’t speak. She’s nothing more than window dressing for the Alpha Academy but no one takes them seriously. Oddly, the new New Day accept the challenge as the arena lights dim and….
Miro…I mean Rusev is back!
Initially, the crowd went apeshit for his return. The new New Day bailed and Rusev looks physically great. He beat the crap out of the Alpha Academy while the new New Day mentioned on the outside that the tag title challenged was nullified. Rusev put Otis in a camel clutch until they pulled him off. But the crowd were really behind him, despite his heel tactics. Obviously, someone in the back probably thought that Rusev bullying the lowest rung curtain jerkers was going to turn Rusev heel and reset the clock, but some moron doesn’t realize that the initial return for an endearing character (especially one who was known to not get his fair share in the opposing camp) would receive a massive reaction. This might change over time but Rusev might be like Sid. And don’t forget Sid got pops all the time when he was squashing jobbers because the audience respects dominance.
IYO SKY with A Mic
Who the fuck thought this was a good idea? Iyo’s English probably is better than the other two from her normal squad (discluding Giulia) but it’s horribly painful anytime she’s forced to speak. To make matters worse, Stephanie Vaquer showed up and had a mic. You have two non-native speakers trying to cut a long promo (long for them) and it’s like putting your ear inside a blender. Cutting in and out of their native languages sucks because there’s no translation so the promo just feels meandering. I have a proposal: don’t let people who can’t cut a fucking promo cut a fucking promo. If they’re good at their in ring work, stick with that. Not everyone needs to be a mic worker. Let the experts handle that.
Regardless, match was meh to me. I like Stephanie Vaquer but I’d prefer seeing her work against a veteran who controls her. Roxanne Perez and Giulia interrupt to cause a double DQ. I think most of this was to setup tonight’s NXT show (still in Vegas) and to demonstrate the future of the women’s division. That said, while I like three of the four here, the one obvious star is Roxanne Perez. She does have personality and can cut a promo. Not to mention her work isn’t bad, despite being tiny. Like I would’ve put her in Lyra’s place instead because Roxanne does stand out more than many of the other women in the back at this point from what I’ve witnessed.
Jey Uso Celebration
Horribly long segment that went nowhere. Sami and Jimmy came down to join him. There was a moment that many people thought Sami would turn on Jey especially since Jey kept looking at Sami with disdain (at least that’s how Jey came off). I thought (and was kinda hoping) Sami would pull the old Terry Funk “give me a match” deal, get frustrated and go nuts on Jey. Heck, I was hoping Jimmy would’ve whacked Jey across the face with the belt last night. This really was mostly a circle jerk of a segment. That said, it did lead to the second best segment of the night.
Before that happened, AJ Styles was in the back for an interview that got interrupted by Karrion Kross. Effectively, Kross was pissed at AJ for letting everyone down in losing to Logan Paul and AJ said that Kross should go do something and that AJ wasn’t going to return to the person he was before. So earlier Karrion Kross (with Scarlet) had an interview where he came out super pissed and ranted. Given that Kross maintained that demeanor here, I’m lead to believe it was a worked shoot promo that might allow Kross to do something big. But I have to be honest; his matches simply do nothing for me. So unless there’s a monstrous change where we see “the real Karrion Kross” then this whole thing is a waste of time.
The Second Best Segment on This Show
After a commercial break, we return to Gunther yelling at the announcers (particularly Michael Cole) then causing a disturbance, including putting Cole into a choke sleeper hold. Pat McAfee tried to defend his bud in helping to get Gunther off of Cole but Gunther attack McAfee and put the choke sleeper hold for a prolonged period on the ground while officials futilely tried to get Gunther off of McAfee. That was great! Oddly, I just had been watching an old Bobby Heenan and Nick Bockwinkel video where Bockwinkel explains the difference between his version of the sleeper hold and Verne Gagne’s. With the close up of Gunther’s sleeper, I could see he didn’t have it really cinched in since his forearm wasn’t pressing under the chin with the bone of his forearm. But McAfee did seemingly turn red (maybe he was just drunk) and eventually the officials took Gunther out the back way while helping McAfee and Cole to the back.
McAfee continued to choke and hobble around as they lead him backstage while Cole was approached by Adam Pearce who told him to take the night off. Cole talked about being threatened for having an opinion which got Cole a nice pop especially when he decided to go back and not be bullied. Then he was joined by Joe Tess at the desk and went on a rant about doing his job and having an opinion. You have to wonder where all this came from.
First, I will say that Gunther turn monster baby face for taking out McAfee for the internet fans. I mean, a lot of people hate McAfee’s announcing style or him (mostly because of his pro-MAGA views). I laughed my ass off seeing this brain dead jock goof get kayfabe choked out. If this was meant to give these ass clowns sympathy, then the WWE better start by taking a deep look at whom they’re in bed with at the moment politically. Then there’s the whole “opinions” part. I know the WWE had a lot of flack from their press tour for WrestleMania 41 and HHH especially received a few nasty shots because of comments he made towards the fans, which put a ton of egg on his face. Part of me thinks that the “opinions” part is indirectly directed at people like me who shit on the product for having “opinions”. HHH’s whole “shut the fuck up and watch the show” tone deaf statement make someone like me go harder on my criticisms towards the product. Ironically (or not ironically), a segment like this merely produces laughter from me and I can’t tell whom they’re really serving at this point. But not having to listen to McAfee’s nonsensical, puerile statements made this show that much better.
Dominick Mysterio vs Penta
IC title match that was short. Jd McDonagh returned to help Dominick score the win in a night of returns. But at least Penta got a rematch. While I’m sure Bron won’t get one (for a certain reason), I do have to wonder if Finn will get one. Of course, Finn isn’t 100% happy and it’s a matter of time until either he gets kicked out of Dominick does.
Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman Segment
Rollins does his saunter and the unending singing goes on until Rollins speaks in a speed equal to molasses to try and address his actions. Luckily, that doesn’t go on long as CM Punk’s music hits and he bolts to the ring to get some revenge. He takes out Rollins momentarily then confronts Heyman for betrayal for which Heyman tries to defend himself. He corners Heyman when Rollins sneaks up and blinds Punk. Punk goes down to allow Seth to curb stomp Punk into the mat. From there, Heyman declares the new future of the WWE in Seth Rollins.
The crowd chants for the OTC and here comes Roman! Seth kicks Punk’s body out of the ring so that he can focus on Roman. Roman does hit a massive spear on Seth though and faces a groveling Heyman. However, Roman hits his superman punch on Heyman and Heyman takes a bad looking bump to the mat. Man, Heyman has taken more bumps than I ever him do in WCW. But I suppose it’s all fair considering the various people that had been damaged from ECW. Anyway, Roman sets up another spear for Heyman but takes one from Bron Breakker in a hoodie. Crowd goes absolutely bananas. Even the
Seth then comes around to confront Bron but Bron takes out a groggy Punk trying to get back in the ring with another spear. In turn, Seth smiles at his newest ally. They hug to confirm their alliance. Afterwards, Seth does another curb stomp to Punk then points to Roman who’s still on the floor. Bron tries to attack the groggy Roman who nails Bron with a nasty punch. That doesn’t deter Bron as he revs up the engine and delivers his signature ring running spear on Roman through the barricade. Then Seth has Bron drag Roman’s carcass back in the ring to deliver the final message with another curb stomp. Paul Heyman raises Seth and Bron’s arms as the newest faction in the WWE.
Final Thoughts
See what I mean in how the best stuff involves Heyman and how he’s really the main guy involved at the center of everything? Even the Cena starting promo was lame compared to this development. But once Bron removed his hood, I immediately thought, “I can get behind this!” The crowd obviously did because they exploded. People know Bron is the real deal. Also, see what I meant when Bron losing the IC title meant him going on to the main event? Now, he’s going to be intertwined in the hottest feuds and story lines by being associated with Heyman, Punk, Rollins and Reigns. Do you even hear Cody around right now? No, the talk of the town is going to be Bron (and Gunther but we’ll get to him in a second).
Here’s the thing. This Raw was hot and in my estimation far more interesting than that tepid excuse of a WrestleMania. It felt like WrestleMania had nothing really going in except Heyman turning on Reigns and Punk to align with Seth. With this Raw, that story has continued in a massive way. So if anything I’ll be tuning in for those segments.
That said the pacing still kills me about these TV shows. They really need to kill the length of these promos. I bet they could get more mileage of people on their roster if they cut down these promos to 2 minutes again and have 5-8 minute matches (not including commercial breaks) by adding the old “10 minute TV time limit” stipulation. I guess with Cena it kinda worked because he’s leaving but until Randy Orton came out he said nothing of value. They even put on the screen how many dates he has left before he goes into the sunset. So I hope they really maximize what he does because that promo was boring as hell until Randy came out.
I’ve already made my statements about the women’s related stuff. So I’ll move onto Gunther, whom I mentioned, had the second best segment on the show. The odd thing there was that Jey didn’t come back out. He didn’t even show up to check out McAfee whom, Jey seems cool with (now he seems cold towards). Obviously, if Penta and Liv/Raquel are able to get their rematches, then Gunther should too. But the mess with Gunther’s situation makes me wonder what should be next on his agenda. I think that Gunther should stay away from Jey. I mentioned that I think putting the title on Jey would be the only way Sami can eventually get his world title. With Cena as a heel, Gunther doesn’t really have any meaningful opponents. Cena shouldn’t immediately go baby face. So that leaves a possible suspension for Gunther or….
Gunther needs to join Seth’s new faction.
There have been rumblings on reddit where people talk about Paul Heyman forming a new Dangerous Alliance. I’d love to see it. Not necessarily a 1:1 matching but imagine this line up:
- Seth Rollins (the architect)
- Bron Breakker (the muscle)
- Gunther (the ruthless technician)
- Drew McIntyre (the devilish brawler)
- Becky Lynch (the beauty and the beast)
That would be one hell of a stable. I’d love to see a group like that run roughshod over the entire roster. The counter parts would be:
- Roman Reigns
- Jacob Fatu
- CM Punk
- Cody Rhodes
- Roxanne Perez
I chose Roxanne because I see her as the most hopeful in the upcoming girls from NXT. Also, because she has a good relationship with Punk. Otherwise, Bayley would probably be the more meaningful choice, although ring-wise, she’s not quite where she was. But I could really get behind this mega feud if we see it evolve over the next few weeks. This could easily lead towards Survivor Series and a War Games.
I don’t know how much longer this type of momentum will be sustained by the WWE. But I’m hoping there’s more because right now creatively, they need a massive shot in the arm. This gave me some hope.
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