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Welcome boys and girls! Raw isn’t TV 14 yet, but phew, they’re circumnavigating that line with a few moments in this week’s episode. I’ve written a lot about it. do you want to read it
Here it comes.
And don’t forget to check out Claire’s blog for play-by-play because she’s the best in the business.
let’s talk Raw!
I am sorry
I promise I won’t make this one long diatribe. Well I promise to try. WWE puts Titus O’Neil in front of his hometown audience to talk about “goodwill,” “smiles,” and um, and all the good work that WWE is doing around the world has been absolute crap. As Nas and AZ once said in 1996, the move was more fake than a bulky $100 bill, which was a thing back then. Titus is often WWE’s shield when the heat of the outside world gets a little too intense for Vince and his friends. The frequency with which they suck Titus’s reputation in the hope that only a portion of it will drip onto the company is way too high. Vince using Titus as a smoke screen for the heat coming his way due to alleged allegations is disgusting.
AND WE DON’T TALK ABOUT POLITICS OR RELIGION? REALLY?
The same company that positions Sgt. Carnage as a treacherous soldier in the Gulf War? The same company that once hired a Bill Clinton impersonator during a PPV from Washington DC during a government shutdown and asked him about that shutdown? The same corporation that created the Nation of Domination as a divide with the Nation of Islam? THE SAME company where Jack Swagger and Zen Colter walked around with an American flag for at least a year and shouted “We the People!” at the height of the Tea Party movement? THE SAME COMPANY where Barack Obama faced Hillary Clinton in a wrestling match?
And, yes, the same company where the owner and his son wrestled Shawn Michaels and…checked notes…oh, that’s right, GOD. God was Shawn’s partner because Vince wanted proof that he was better than God. There was even this segment:
Yes, certainly this company does not talk about politics or religion.
i love wrestling That’s why I love this job and all that it entails. But moments like this make it really hard to even think about covering Raw. Not even because of the lies, but because they treat us, the audience, like idiots. And it’s insulting.
Isn’t 2 Proud 2 Beg
The crowd — at least the one in Tampa — doesn’t feel Logan Paul. At least not in the way I’m sure he or WWE want it to be. A mixed reception welcomed him to Miz TV. It wasn’t weird at all because duh. Logan is a natural heel. For a guy who’s made a name for himself as an antagonist to life, bragging to the crowd even felt unnatural.
Miz’s mic work here was fantastic. He brought Logan over, read out a list of his accomplishments, and reminded everyone that he’s not on Miz’s level when it comes to wrestling. A tag match is one thing, but a singles match against an 18-year-old man is a five-color horse.
And he’s right. This builds a great story from Miz’ perspective. Logan, on the other hand, is used to hearing things he can’t. Miz is just another person who doubts him, so he wants to do something about it. But Miz declined Logan’s challenge for his own reasons. Miz sounded like a guy who really cares about Logan and doesn’t want to embarrass him. Almost like a big brother disowning the little brother just to save him from himself.
All that maturity vanished the moment Logan spoke about Miz’s mumbling. Miz showed off his latest t-shirt proclaiming the size of said marbles and accepted the challenge. Remember how Marty McFly reacted when someone called him chicken? This is Miz now. Miz accepted the match on behalf of those marbles and Logan thought he’d nailed it. Then Ciampa came out as he is Miz’s muscle and the two tried to knock Paul down. I say tried because they failed. Paul escaped, his music played and WWE reminded us that Paul is coming to Madison Square Garden next week to host his version of MizTV.
Logan Paul isn’t quite there when it comes to the speaking part of our thing. But I’m sure he’ll make it. Working with Miz is a great tutorial for everyone at this point, so hopefully Logan is paying attention. Still think he’s a meh idea at best as a face, but it is what it is at this point.
extracurricular
do it again
The Big Time finally gets their next shot at the title. While it was heartbreaking to be thrown straight into an argument and match with Titus O’Neil so soon after the first leg of the WWE Apology Tour, the women delivered. Carmella and Bianca were unsurprisingly very good. They showed the storytelling acumen they displayed last week, and Mella showed that she deserves a lot more than the speed bump spot between Ms. Belair and Becky Lynch. Bianca wants redemption SummerSlam for what happened the last time these two played tango at the biggest party of the summer. Becky, on the other hand, believes this is a story of her comeback tour.
To quote a great movie character, make them fight.
Do not judge…
Damian Priest and Rey Mysterio provided a highly entertaining match. Damian showed his strength, grounding and pounding Rey almost into submission. Rey stayed true to his form and never gave up. He evaded defeat several times, dealt with a distraction from Finn Balor and fought like we expect any father to fight for his son. See, Damian promised us before the match that Dominik’s entry into Judgment Day will happen. On Raw. In this week. Strong words from a strong man, but the priest says a lot of things.
Priest dominated this match and looked great. And ended up getting a huge win. Beating Rey is a big deal for The Judgment Day, a group that needs nicks on their belts.
But then came the confusion. So Damian and Finn threatened Rey with a concert after the match. The only thing that stood between Rey and a concussion was Dom. If Dom joins the group, Rey will be spared. Dom eventually comes to his father’s aid, saying he’s downstairs. Damian and Finn say “no”, tell the young man that this is not possible and throw him out of the ring.
Priest and Balor say Dom failed the test. He shouldn’t save his father. He should destroy him, just like they did Edge. And next week in MSG, as WWE celebrates 20 years of 619, they’ll finish what they started and destroy the Mysterios. I like it. I like it all very much.
But Edge is coming back next week, right? Judgment Day cannot survive a single segment without its name on their tongues and these mysterious vignettes grow clearer and clearer…
the stomp
Let’s turn back a little. Luckily, Kevin Owens returned for another edition of The KO Show. He offered his guest Riddle an olive branch. RK-Bro was cool, but bro-KO? This is the new sharpness. Riddle not only calls KO a liar, but says he can’t trust the man. KO talked rubbish about Randy Orton and Riddle just didn’t feel it. Just as Riddle began his exit, Seth Rollins showed his face. Two stomps later and Riddle is ready. Later, Ezekiel expresses his displeasure with Seth bullying anyone he wants. Seth spoke about Zeke’s “family,” and those are combative words. So of course a match was in their future.
Once again Seth and Zeke delivered a good match. The story here was all about the pounding. Zeke countered twice. Once by simply moving and rolling up Seth, then the second by catching him and showing off his power. The best moment was when Zeke hit Seth with a flying knee as he was throwing himself off the top rope. It was a beauty thing and something that makes me want more of these two in the ring. But alas, all good things must do what good things do.
There was no third counter from Zeke as Seth went to stomp. 1, 2, 3, thing thing. Seth gets the W and it’s official: Seth vs. Riddle at SummerSlam.
Extinction Level Event
Remember last week when Omos pinned Angelo Dawkins? Don’t worry, if not, it happened. As a result, Omos, well, MVP, challenged Dawkins to a match. The big man versus the man who wants the smoke. The Usos liked the sound of it all, so they got front-row seats.
But with both Montez Ford and MVP interfering in the game at different points, it was only a matter of time before the referee caught one of them. MVP disqualified his client, Adam Pearce made a tag match between the Profits and MVP & Omos,
The best moment before the wired Usos disruption resulted from it Another DQ, was simply Montez’s reaction to Omos kicking out his frog squirt at one. Tez looked like he saw 50 ghosts. The man even punched himself to get back into the game and focus. He climbed up the ropes again, and that’s when the Usos intervened.
Indeed true
I like the good guy Dolph Ziggler. He sat ringside while AJ Styles and Theory wrestled in a fight that was okay with me. Maybe it was the change in pace of everything before that Raw, but it felt lacking. They wrestled a more methodical match that, based on the ending, probably had more time than it needed. While AJ and Theory definitely have beef, anything with Dolph is more interesting right now because we still don’t have the answers.
Theory caught himself engaging with Dolph a few times during the game, with Dolph looking as innocent as a baby. That ended the minute the referee turned his back on her.
Standing outside the ring, Theory recovered from an AJ attack. AJ, unwilling to let Theory live, pounced on Mr. Money in the bank. theory catches AJ, nearly throws it at Dolph, but throws it at the commentary table instead. Dolph watches and makes sure his hands are clean. Theory throws AJ back in the ring and while the ref takes care of AJ, Dolph superkicks Theory into the next month.
Theory can’t beat the 10 and AJ wins by count. It’s an ending that makes sense as neither male needs an L, but as I said maybe a slightly shorter matchstick will help with this ending.
scenario
“From everything I saw, that was definitely the latest.” When it comes to the “Six Women’s Day Match” between Asuka, Alexa Bliss & Dana Brooke vs. Nikki ASH, Tamina & Doudrop, Graves has it best expressed.
To be fair, I was looking forward to the actual game. What we got was 24/7 shenanigans, with the title changing hands at least five times. And even Alexa Bliss is now a former 24/7 champion.
I was not sportingly entertained, which is what I wanted.
I’M BACK
I just notice that Veer came back this week. That’s all.
That’s all Raw suitable for printing. And you know what? I enjoyed most of this week’s show. The third hour is still sluggish, especially this week as Miz TV’s main event and the match before it is basically a joke. But once we got past that awful opening with Titus, the show was pretty awesome for two hours. And the build for these SummerSlam Games get better every week.
Grade B
That’s my grade and I’m sticking with it. It’s your turn.
