In the end, the show closed with a reveal that leaves WWE in a perplexing position.
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And the crowd turns soft
Another main event of “WWE Raw”, another interference ending. This week, he was the masked man, assisting Logan Paul once again, as he stomped on Rey Mysterio to secure Paul’s victory. However, this time, Austin Theory revealed himself as the man under the hood of Survivor Series: WarGames, aiding in the heel team’s victory.
Well, first of all, Mysterio and Paul have great chemistry and were building up to a potentially interesting ending. CM Punk ran out of Vision with a chair, so interference was caused anyway. As for the reveal, reports had already revealed that Theory was the mystery man and despite that, it was still unknown if he would be revealed as such.
Unfortunately, WWE stood their ground and the Hershey crowd couldn’t care less, as everyone expected. Presumably, that’s why there were no reveals at Survivor Series.
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I have nothing personally against Theory, but he has never been in favor of virtually any facet of professional wrestling. Objectively, however, he’s just not a big name worthy of this surprise reveal. Could this be a turn towards greener pastures? It could certainly be expected.
Rough start for ‘The Ring General’
It wasn’t known what to expect immediately after Gunther’s victory over John Cena, but what we got wasn’t good.
My theory that Gunther’s “You tapped out” chants would disappear thanks to Cena’s victory died immediately with the former world champion’s arrival. The Hershey crowd grasped at straws on that one. Admittedly, they did a great job of making this moment reminiscent of the night after Roman Reigns beat Undertaker at WrestleMania.
Gunther was booed and only commented saying that he did what he promised and made Cena submit and tapped “like ab****.” Subtle, substanceless heel work.
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Where this whole segment became wildly stupid and pointless was when Gunther finally walked backstage with the camera following him. He had brief interactions with Alpha Academy and R-Truth, who were reasonably angry with him; Gunther then ran into “Raw” general manager Adam Pearce, who was also upset. He then forced Gunther to leave.
That?
So is Gunther punished for rightfully enjoying a victory in a match he managed to win in a tournament? There is no other way to describe this kayfabe “logic” as bafflingly stupid, because it doesn’t make any sense.
Ultimately, a slight saving grace for the segment was a tease between Gunther and AJ Styles, who claimed earlier in the year that he would be retiring next year. Having the man who was just part of one of the literal biggest on-screen moments of the year leave the show essentially before it started was WWE’s “brilliant” way to capitalize on Cena’s retirement.
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It’s actually maddening.
👑 Gem of the Uncrowned Night 👑
Wow, it was good to have CM Punk back.
Sometimes it’s nice to have a little reminder here and there. After Bron Breakker’s excellent promo on Punk after Survivor Series, the “Voice of the Voiceless” once again fought back and clapped in classic style. This was Punk on the mic at his best and he left the ring surprisingly uninterrupted.
Fortunately, Punk has been given the ability to use common sense more than most in his promotions. While cutting Breakker, he mentioned the nonsense in Breakker’s comments about being disappointed that it was so easy to pin him. Well, that’s because of all the help Breakker had, including from a masked man, which Punk mentioned. This was all before he personally attacked Breakker and raised his father and uncle Steiner. It was classic Punk, apparently motivated by a new feud.
Earlier in the night, we put some nice touches on all of this when The Vision was in the locker room. Paul Heyman highlighted how good it was to see them get help, given all the enemies they’ve made and the need to be careful after the LA Knight beatdown last week. With Breakker, in particular, he wanted to attack Punk tonight, but Heyman begged him not to be stupid and ruin their upcoming title match. These were all realistic little touches.
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👍 MONDAY NIGHT MONEY 👍
1. “WWE Raw” began with a phenomenal recap video package of Cena’s final match in Saturday Night’s Main Event. The company has always been great at making a little film when it feels the need to go all out, and this was one of those times.
2. The Usos defeated The New Day with 1D. It was a match with some sloppy moments for longtime rivals, but they hadn’t interacted in a long, long time. The Usos were never going to lose this, and it was solid, as the chemistry between the couples is still there. However, Xavier Woods coming off a double splash by Uso was pretty surprising.
Also, Jimmy Uso has a noticeably better spear than Jey Uso, which is kind of funny, considering how much less we’ve seen Jimmy use this move.
3. Maxxine Dupri made a successful first defense of the Intercontinental title against Ivy Nile. First of all, this match should have been a squash for the champion after her incredible training vignettes, and Nile hasn’t been on “Raw” since June in a match she lost. Instead, they put together a pretty solid physical match that ended with Dupri relentlessly pursuing the ankle lock until the tag came. It was clear that WWE used this to continue making Dupri a bigger force as champion, but a squash title defense would have been even better story-wise.
🤷♂️ IT HAPPENED 🤷♂️
1. “RhIyo” made his entrance solely so that the Kabuki Warriors could attack them. This may have been the most “happened” moment of all time.
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It concluded with Iyo Sky protecting Rhea Ripley from Kairi Sane’s In-Sane Elbow. I hope, and hope, that was just a nice touch for their title match next month, leading to Asuka refusing to protect Sane and costing them their titles. After all, the promotions for the latter two have largely predicated on family dynamics. She also fits the abusive role of Asuka perfectly. Predictable can be good. Don’t let me down, WWE.
👎 RAW OFFER 👎
1.n Stephanie Vaquer defeated Raquel Rodríguez by disqualification thanks to an interference attack by Nikki Bella that ruined the match. I’m not even going to spend time on this because Bella remaining in the title picture without winning is ridiculously horrible. He is 2-7 since returning and hasn’t won since July. There is no reason to worry about this.
2. The whole Bayley-Lyra Valkyria angle is officially tired, especially since they’re treading water repeating the same fights. I really don’t understand why WWE refuses to put them in more prominent positions that they need so much right now. Yes, I’m talking about each world title image.
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👑 WWE somehow feels more lost and directionless every week, and something needs to change. I give this show a Crown score of: 4/10. 👑