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LOOKING AT LAST NIGHT'S RAW

WWE RAW, JUNE 10, 2024

DREW WINS

Drew McIntyre vs Damien Priest this Saturday in Glasgow will be a red hot match in front of a molten crowd, and the world title picture is very unpredictable as we head towards Summerslam. Drew will be the de facto babyface on the night, but that left Raw with two heels in the main event spot on Raw, in front of an already unenthusiastic crowd. The promo segment to open the show was unmemorable, as was Drew vs Balor (The highlight was Pat McAfee’s introductions). Drew didn’t seem particularly annoyed that he was laid out by The Judgment Day last week either. The match was fine, but the crowd just didn’t really care. Judgment Day will be barred from ringside on Saturday, but CM Punk won’t be. I think Punk has been intentionally downplayed on Raw in recent weeks in anticipation of him showing up in Glasgow, in what I expect to be reminiscent of John Cena in the Hammerstein Ballroom. Raw did nothing to add to my excitement for this world title match, but I am looking forward to it, and there are MANY different ways it can play out. 

DADDY

Liv Morgan wants to call Dominik Mysterio “Daddy”. Good for Dom. And it was good to see him return to the ring this week, and still get crazy levels of heat from the crowd. The most talked about portion of Raw was Liv Morgan trying to get Dom to her hotel room, and it left me wondering if I’m writing about pro wrestling or a sitcom. This was some fun stuff, and at times completely ridiculous. The eagle eyed will have seen Finn Balor grab the key card to Liv’s room.  We have seen Liv talking to both Balor & JD in the background in recent weeks. So are they pulling the strings? Liv is slowly finding her feet as an interesting character on Raw. 

RIP-ochet

That’s the end of Ricochet in WWE… at least for now. This was another good week in the continued build of Bron Breakker, who is probably the most exciting future prospect in the company at the minute. I was surprised at just how much Ilja Dragunov got in on Bron, but he is another new character that needs to be kept strong. Because his character is one that will take an ass kicking and keep coming back for more, means that a loss doesn’t hurt him. It was an extremely physical match, unfortunately hampered again by a lifeless crowd. Samantha Irvin was a great addition to add as much realism to the angle as possible. I think its just a matter of time before we see Ricochet in AEW re-creating those famous Best of the Super Junior spots with Will Ospreay. For better or worse, which is a debate for another time.

OTIS

For the majority of his WWE career, Otis has been a one dimensional cartoon character. An entertaining, and much loved character, but one dimensional nonetheless. The backstage segment with Sami Zayn was the first time we have been given some depth to the character, and what his motivations are. He trusts Chad Gable, because he was there for him when others turned their back on him. Stockholm Syndrome has struck the once fun loving big guy. Chad has taken his confidence. Again, the conflicted Otis teased snapping on Gable. As good as this angle was, we are nearing the point where this is becoming long in the tooth. These angles are becoming somewhat repetitive and there is only so long we can see Otis stand there and take shit from Gable before he starts looking stupid. So hopefully Saturday will give us a big moment in this story.  I was hoping we would at some point get a big Zayn vs Gable singles match, with the focus entirely on their story, and the IC title, which after Gunther’s reign, meant more than ever. That will not be the case this weekend, with Otis now a more important element of this story than the title is. 

TAG TITLES

Awesome Truth has run its course. I’m not sure who was asking for a nostalgia run from a team that was bad the first time around, but it has long overstayed its welcome, and has killed the tag titles as anything of importance.  AOP getting pinned with a distraction roll up kills any momentum they had when they returned and seems like a strange use of a monster tag team. The Raw tag division has very little going on, and Smackdown isn’t much better. DIY aren’t connecting there either, and at times feel like an NXT black and gold nostalgia act, also doing DX nostalgia. Last year the tag titles were involved in main event level angles, so I hope an effort is made to inject some importance into both divisions as the summer moves on.

UNREMARKABLE

This was in large part an unremarkable episode of Raw. Was there some good stuff? Yes. Was there logical storyline progression? Yes. WWE are in somewhat of a rebuilding period after the highs of Wrestlemania. But was there anything on this show that would make me text a friend and say “You need to see this!”? Absolutely not. This crowd was lifeless and made most of the matches a slog to sit through, even when the work was perfectly fine. There was near silence at times during both womens matches, and even as Ilja and Bron tried to kill one another.  This was another Raw that felt lacking in star power.  

 

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