WWE Raw: A Tsunami through the roof of a car

Thomas Starr

WWE Raw: A Tsunami through the roof of a car

Raw is in Providence, Rhode Island. This is the last Raw before Bash in Berlin and the week before Joe Tessitore begins his weekly mic peaking. Uncle Howdy makes his in-ring debut against Chad Gable. There are two triple threat matches. And Bronson Reed looks to make Braun Strowman his latest victim. It is Raw and it is live!

The New Judgment Day is out first. I like this version of Judgment Day better. Five unlikable wrestlers. Especially, Dom and Liv. They are my favorite part of Raw.

Finn says they are not the bad guys. He says Rhea and Damien betrayed The Judgment Day. Liv Morgan’s voice is naturally irritating, so this role suits her. Dom tries to talk, and the crowd boos him out of the building. Carlito and Dom try to quiet the crowd by talking Spanish. I would translate, but some of it was not nice.

Dom announces he is entering the Intercontinental Title Number One Contender tournament. The LWO interrupts him. Rey is walking like he is eighty. I cannot imagine what condition his knees are in after all these years.

Rey says someone must put Dom in his place. He calls his son a “jackass.” The LWO clears the ring of The Judgment Day. It is a small thing, but Carlito was not “cleared out” as much as he jumped out himself. That totally fits his character. Hilarious.

The LWO vs. The Judgment Day

This match was made during the break. I am not joking when I say I just found out the one LWO member is named Cruz Del Toro. He was always just there. They did some lucha spots. The heels are getting heat on TV. WWE has a bad habit of going to break during the heels’ heat. Joaquin Wilde did that cool spot where he stands on the middle rope facing the outside of the ring. Then his partners pull the rope like a slingshot and propel him into the air. That is awesome.

Rey is in with the hot tag and gets to beat on his son for a bit. The heels intervened. Joaquin and Cruz try simultaneous springboards into the ring, but Joaquin gets hung up on the rope and falls on his face. Yikes.

Rey is about to finish off his son when Liv interferes leading to the pin. The Judgment Day is not done though. They team up on Rey and put him on the announce table. Dom is about to splash his dad when the Terror Twins come out. Rhea takes out Liv and Dom is trapped on the top rope. Rhea and Priest dump Dom, Finn, and Liv. Then they both chokeslam JD and Carlito.

Winners: The Judgment Day

Thoughts: A fun tag team match. The heels are over and Rey is a legend. Joaquin and Cruz had their moments, especially that slingshot move from Joaquin. Unfortunately, Joaquin also had that fall, which was embarrassing. I feel bad for him. Dragon Lee is just another guy in a mask unless they differentiate him. Wonderful way to start the show, though.

Jackie Redmond is in the back with the most annoying wrestler ever, Miz. He complains about not wrestling in his hometown for SummerSlam. He sees the IC Title Tournament as a chance at redemption. Bronson Reed interrupts and says when he finishes Braun Strowman, he is coming for Miz.

Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston have a passive aggressive exchange backstage. Woods is jealous of Odyssey Jones.

Pure Fusion Collective is backstage with Cathy Kelley. They talk about all the wrestlers they have injured. Sonya Deville is especially good on promos.

Damage CTRL vs. Pure Fusion Collective

There is no crowd heat for this match. Damage CTRL are now babyfaces without any explanation. Zelina Vega attacked Sonya Deville out of nowhere. Sonya had not interfered, so this was just revenge. Cole said she made an assist to Damage CTRL. She did? Kairi hit the elbow for the clean win.

Winners: Damage CTRL

Thoughts: I do not know what Pure Fusion Collective is supposed to mean, but the group is growing on me. I have said it a few times, but I will say it again. These mid-card women need some character development. You have three hours of TV and as viewers we do not know much about Kairi or Iyo for that matter.

Having said that, why this finish? This match had no heat. The one group building any momentum is PFC. Damage CTRL has never explained why we should suddenly cheer for them, which led to apathy from the crowd. That was a waste of a segment,

Bo Dallas has another VHS promo. He calls Gable a serpent and a false prophet. His delivery is great, but what is the point of this?

Drew McIntyre is out next. I do not know who I love to hate more, Drew or Dom and Liv. This guy went from floundering and overexposed under Vince, to arguably the best heel in wrestling.

Drew mocks Punk’s interview style. He even goes crossed legs in the ring. According to Drew, the fans are enablers. They pump Punk’s ego up so much he does stupid things like accept a match with Drew. He also mentioned Punk always attacks him from behind.

Drew describes the violence he intends to dish out on Saturday. Punk’s music plays and he attacks Drew from behind. Punk whips him with the strap repeatedly. Drew takes over but takes too long to use the strap. Punk throws Drew over the announce table and whips him and beats on him until security comes out. Intense.

Kofi Kingston vs. Karrion Kross vs. Jey Uso

Cole lets us know this is Karrion Kross’s first triple threat match in WWE. I just realized this is two babyfaces versus one heel. Why?

After several minutes of moves, Jey Uso won with the splash.

Winner: Jey Uso

Thoughts: More triple threat laziness. This is especially bad, because Karrion Kross is in it. I am not sure what happened to him, but he is the most boring guy on this roster. Plus, what is his gimmick? Who is the old man at ringside? I know him, but how many viewers know who he is other than his name? This is a waste of time.

If Jey Uso had lost this match, I would question the sanity of WWE officials. Karrion and Kofi are two guys with no heat. It does not help that they are locked in a feud that goes on and on with no end in sight.

Randy Orton is out after the break. It is a lovefest as Randy thanks the fans for their support. Orton does a truncated history of the heavyweight titles. He could have gone on for hours explaining all that.

Orton calls Gunther a legend in Europe. He says there were points in his career that forced him to be humble. He wants to humble Gunther at Bash in Berlin.

Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn do a promo for their match at Bash in Berlin. I have no idea which one is Alba and which one is Isla.

Braun Strowman vs. Bronson Reed

Strowman started the match with a dropkick, which looked like it hit Bronson in the leg. Lots of hard slaps. Bronson does a suicide dive to lead into break.

Bronson decides to leave the match. He just turned around and left. Braun followed and Bronson was waiting with a garbage can and threw it at Strowman. They then fought out into the parking lot.

Braun threw Reed onto the hood of a car. They fought onto another car. Reed hit Strowman with some sort of pole. Then he set him up on the roof of the car and hit the tsunami.

Winner: Double count out

Thoughts: The match was good while it lasted. That spot on the roof of the car was an incredible visual.

Miz vs. Xavier Woods vs. Pete Dunne

These triple threat matches will determine participants in a four-way match. This was a typical triple threat match.

Winner: Pete Dunne

Thoughts: These triple threat matches are so lazy. The pins are always a fluke, and no one gets any sustained heat or a comeback. It is just one guy taking a time out while the others do moves until it is their turn to take a time out. No one gets over in these matches.

Nothing was gained here. Dunne wins in a fluky way.

American Made have a promo package. Gable says he is not a false prophet. He points out that Bo Dallas must wear a mask to hide his true self.

The Terror Twins do a promo package. They say they are the bad guys. They are devils and they are coming for Judgment Day.

Uncle Howdy vs. Chad Gable

After some back-and-forth action, American Made interfere. The Wyatt Sicks intervened. Bo Dallas hits Sister Abigail for the win.

Winner: Uncle Howdy

Thoughts: This latest version of the Wyatts is not working for me. Just like with Bray, there are issues that make it impossible to suspend disbelief. One is the smoke machine. These guys came in and killed WWE’s backstage staff. Now, not only do Michael Cole and Adam Pearce treat them like babyfaces, but members of the WWE staff bring the smoke machines out.

Another major issue is that American Made have not gotten heat on the Wyatts. If American Made are the heels, then they need to get heat on the Wyatts. As it stands, the Wyatts are bullies that constantly beat up American Made and especially Chad Gable. So, what is the point? What is the end goal? They must overcome nothing. Plus, we are supposed to cheer for a group who constantly attacks another group?

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