 Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed and Paul Heyman Addressed Their AdversariesIt was about time we heard from the other members of Rollins' crew and not just him. In fact, he barely said anything here and allowed everyone else to do the talking for him, which made for an effective segment as they hyped all of the matches they'd be having throughout the show. Heyman hinted at it being an Empire Strikes Back type of night and he wasn't wrong. By the way, can we give this group a name already? Kairi Sane def. WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Roxanne PerezIt's pretty impressive how many wins Sane has racked up since returning a few months ago. She's beaten Raquel Rodriguez, Liv Morgan (technically twice) and now Perez. Granted, she's never the focal point, but it's better than her losing constantly. Nonetheless, this was a nice match that was allotted some time, which I appreciated. Asuka helped Sane fend off Perez and Rodriguez afterward with it subsequently being announced that The Kabuki Warriors will reunite and represent Raw in the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship Fatal 4-Way match at Evolution. Bron Breakker def. Sami ZaynWe've seen so many matches between Breakker and Zayn dating back to last summer that this wasn't going to be anything new if it was a competitive contest, so I liked how it turned into a glorified squash for Breakker with Karrion Kross attacking Zayn on the ramp beforehand. Zayn showed heart in defeat while Breakker went over decisively. Heyman said in a backstage segment later on that Zayn would be out "indefinitely." Lyra Valkyria Attacked Women's Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch and BayleyThe storyline surrounding the Women's Intercontinental Championship has been one of WWE's best since WrestleMania 41 and I've really enjoyed how it's progressed. The mic work has largely been strong and that was once again the case here, at least in my opinion. Valkyria standing tall was the right call, but it did leave me thinking that Lynch will find a way to retain (ideally by pinning Bayley so Valkyria is protected). Jey Uso def. Bronson Reed by DisqualificationThere wasn't much to this match prior to Reed getting himself disqualified, but as an angle, it worked really well. Sure, I would've preferred to see Reed beat Uso like Breakker beat Zayn, but I can't complain about him looking like a badass by chucking the air at Uso out of nowhere before laying him out with several Tsunami Splashes. Breakker should continue to be presented as a destroyer. El Grande Americano def. Dragon LeeIt's a shame Lee has primarily been utilized as a stepping stone since joining the Raw roster last year. He's too talented to be wasted in this role. At any rate, this was designed to be an easy win for the new Grande Americano, portrayed by Ludwig Kaiser with Chad Gable out injured (shh, don't tell anyone), but they had a fun match prior to the obvious outcome. I'm not sure how long of a shelf life the Grande gimmick is going to have without Gable, though. Goldberg Attacked World Heavyweight Champion GuntherThis segment was exactly what it needed to be with Gunther talking trash, Goldberg showing up to a big pop, striking Gunther and nearly hitting him with a Spear before Gunther got out of harm's way. In fact, the entire feud has been exactly what it should have been and I've been happy with how it's played out. Granted, I'm worried about how Goldberg will do once the bell rings on Saturday, but if they keep it short and sweet, it could be the perfect sendoff for him. Seth Rollins def. PentaRollins and Penta headlining a Raw together was certainly surreal. Good for Penta for being positioned as an upper-midcard guy. This was an entertaining outing with Penta scoring plenty of offense before eating defeat, and I'm glad we got a straightforward finish. The crowd went nuts for LA Knight getting the better of Rollins afterward. I'm convinced Rollins is beating Knight at Saturday Night's Main Event as well, but Knight's crowd reactions remain consistently loud. Overall ShowThis edition of Raw had the tough task of hyping both Saturday Night's Main Event and Evolution for this weekend, but I thought it succeeded on both fronts, specifically with the usage of video packages. Props to the crowd being lively throughout the night as well. Rollins' faction got a lot of focus and it made for a solid show-long storyline, with everything else holding my attention as well.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
December 2025
|
RSS Feed