Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
- Sasha/Charlotte/Rusev/Lana/Reigns:
Starting with the women's champion is a bold move, and something new-ish. I like it, and definitely prefer it to Stephanie and Foley starting.
I like the namedrops to wrestlers Sasha grew up watching. It's something of a cheap babyface tactic, but it sets the stage for who she is.
Big face promo here.
Whoa, what!? That's a really big match for those two.
I can't say I expected Rusev to interrupt this.
I really hate the "nobody cares about X" line, because it throws the segment under a bus.
HIAC between Sasha and Charlotte should be interesting.
Damn, is Lana reading from a GOP platform?
Charlotte and Sasha working with each other is odd, but it makes sense in this case.
That was a good ending to a really big opening segment.
- New Day promo:
Pretty funny overall.
Note Cesaro didn't get any promo time. Is that an acknowledgement of him not being great in that department?
- Cesaro vs. Kofi:
Pretty good opening.
First match of the night and our first flippy dive of the night. Uggghhhh....
Both men have good fire.
Sheamus' actions at ringside are more entertaining than Uppercut Man in the ring currently.
Pretty good action and story.
- Goldberg segment:
Ohhhhhh boy. It's actually happening.
- Bayley vs. Fields:
Pretty good action to start.
Fields is doing pretty well for herself.
Well, so much for that.
- Post-match:
As much as I like Bayley, I wonder if putting her on Raw was the right move. Currently she's clearly behind Sasha as top babyface.
- Y2J/Truth:
Well that was something.
- Nese/Gulak vs. Dorado/Cara:
Didn't take long for Cara to end up in the cruiser division. The Lucha Lynxes?
Good work so far. I'm very glad we're seeing Nese and Gulak to do something other than FLIPS.
That was fine for a brief showcase of smaller wrestlers.
- Foley/Steph backstage:
We ALMOST went a full hour without seeing these two. I suppose that should be commended.
- Foley/Steph/Owens/Y2J:
I hate the Raw/Smackdown rivalry. It always comes across as arbitrary and forced.
LOTS of HIAC matches set up. That's a risky strategy.
I like Jericho as the Kevin Owens suckup.
Y2J vs. Foley would have been pretty interesting years back.
I like Y2J being put in such an interesting position here.
Stephanie trying to glom off Foley's overness is lame.
- Rollins interview:
Seth is absolutely THE MAN. That was a good promo, and I buy into his journey to be champion again.
- Enzo/Cass/Club:
Anderson and Gallows trying to make their mark after the 375th title match loss. At some point, a reboot's hard to pull off.
- Axel/Bo promo:
Fine enough to unofficially continue the Outcasts.
- Axel/Bo vs. Neville/Zayn:
Fine work by the heels to keep the faces off-guard early.
That was a pretty good ending sequence for the faces to show off their cool moves.
- Charlotte/Lana:
Umm, unless that's leading to these two facing off and Charlotte turning face (for some reason), I don't see much reason to do anything between them. Why not just have Rusev heel Sasha?
- Titus promo:
I like Titus well enough, but I wonder where he's headed these days.
- Truth vs. Titus:
Fine stuff so far to build a lower/midcard feud.
Well that didn't really accomplish much of anything. I guess we're in for Titus getting revenge to sort of kind of continue his push. With the brand split, they have to stretch feuds out longer since there aren't as many opponents to run through.
- TJP/Kendrick backstage:
10 out of 10 promo for the Inspector Gadget reference.
That was mostly good. I'm glad we're seeing some character progression here.
- Splash promo:
I'm loving the ridiculous jobber promos. A good show should have some levity here and there.
- Strowman vs. Splashes:
I wish they'd pipe in Strowman chants like WCW did for Goldberg years back.
- Braun promo:
I like Bruan just taking the mic.
I would probably watch Braun beat 20 guys. Bring about 15 from ROH and 5 X-Division guys.
- Sasha/Roman:
That was good. Quick, but effective, like we've wanted from Roman for a while now. No forced catchphrases, no juvenile references, etc.
- Rumble promo:
Oh they're definitely building the Rumble as a big deal, which they'll need to do to fill the Alamodome. I'd definitely like to see Taker compete that night in what could very well be his last match in Texas. We'll see, though.
- Rusev/Charlotte vs. Roman/Sasha:
Good stuff so far.
I'm looking forward to Roman vs. Rusev in HIAC. They could have a war.
More solid action.
That was well put together. The Big Dog did a few big moves and let Charlotte and Sasha get most of the shine.
- JeriKO backstage:
I like what they're building between these two.
Fun segment, as usual from those two.
- Heyman promo:
IT'S HAPPENING!!!
I'm fine with a few big Goldberg matches as a special attraction. It's not like Sami Zayn and Cesaro are pulling in ratings.
Paul selling Goldberg as a legitimate threat is great. Put over your opponent, and it means something when you beat them.
This is all really solid.
Two of the top hosses in the history of modern wrestling facing off again? Works for me, and it doesn't throw any new talent under the bus by having to job to a legacy name.
- Daivari promo:
I've liked what we've seen from Daivari so far. He's fine for a lower-level name in the division.
- TJP vs. A. Daivari:
Nice action so far.
I love the focus on the kneebar.
Good psychology by Daivari.
This is pretty solid.
Nice win for the champ.
- Y2J/Steph/Owens:
Funny stuff.
- Goldberg announcement:
OHHH MAN. It's getting real.
- Rollins vs. Y2J:
Good start to things.
Rollins is very impressive in the ring, and Jericho plays mind games well.
Nice story of trying to put the odds against Seth.
I'm really liking the focus on the ribs.
Rollins definitely reminds me of Jeff Hardy with his "do big flashy moves no matter what" style.
Really good back-and-forth here.
NICE counter into the Walls of Jericho. Jericho's doing some of his best ring work in quite some time.
Both men doing everything they can to make an exciting match.
Good counter-wrestling to end things.
That was pretty good overall. I'm surprised Y2J isn't involved in the match. I'm curious what we'll see him do at the PPV instead.
- Post-match:
Really good ending to the show.
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