Welcome to the latest edition of our weekly WWE RAW hits and misses series.
Last night’s episode went down at Boston’s TD Garden. Fans were treated to some very good matches including the men’s triple threat Money in the Bank quarterfinals among other action.
Here’s what went down on 7/1 RAW.
Miss – Opening segment
Jey Uso kicked off WWE RAW. Uso said he’ll win Money in the Bank this year. Chad Gable interrupted. Both men went back and forth on the mic before Gable laid him out with a cheap shot. Jey Uso got the upper hand. The lights went out and Gable walked through the crowd while seeing multiple silhouettes of the Wyatts. Sister Abigail appeared and handed Michael Cole another a box to cap off the segment.
The confrontation between Jey and Gable was okay at best. Jey asking Gable how he survived the Wyatts was funny. The Sicks should’ve got Jey but he was nowhere to be seen as soon as the lights went out. Gable confronting the Wyatts on his way to the back made for some very good visuals. Corey Graves entire reaction to Sister Abigail appearing before him was hilarious.
Hit – Karrion Kross takes out Kofi Kingston
Karrion Kross met Xavier Woods in singles action on RAW this week. Kross dominated most part of the match, but Xavier picked up a sneak win. The Authors of Pain attacked both men. Kofi tried to fight back only for Kross to destroy his arm with a new submission maneuver.
The wrong guy won despite Kross spending the majority of the match on the offense. At least they are trying something new with The New Day instead of shoving them in random tag team matches. Kross’ new submission hold looked brutal.
Miss – Women’s world title match on WWE RAW
Liv Morgan put her title on the line against Zelina Vega. The challenger got the upper hand on the champion in the early goings of the match. Dominik Mysterio arrived. Rey Mysterio showed up next. Rey shoved time as a payback for what he did last week on WWE RAW. Dom took a chair throw to the face. The distraction allowed Morgan to pick up the win.
The in-ring action was sloppy. Liv and Zelina didn’t have the chemistry to pull a decent, let alone a great match, on weekly television. Dom’s involvement made things interesting. Liv called Dom the “most gorgeous man in the world” after her win. It will be interesting to see how WWE books Liv’s next world title feud.
Hit – Seth Rollins & The Judgment Day segment
Seth Rollins came down to the ring. Rollins cut a promo on his upcoming match for the world title at Money in the Bank. Finn Balor interrupted. Balor blamed Rollins for trying to create a wedge between Damian Priest and The Judgment Day. Priest showed up and told Balor to stay out of his business. Balor jumped Rollins only to be taken out with a curb stomp. Priest took out Rollins with a South of Heaven to cap off the segment.
Rollins got right into business instead of giving us his maniacal laugh. The foreshadowing of Priest versus Balor was great. All three men have a stake in the world title match at Money in the Bank. Priest taking out Rollins all by himself reiterated his point that he can beat Rollins without Judgment Day’s help. The World Heavyweight Championship match this Saturday in Toronto has got me hyped.
Miss – Women’s Money in the Bank qualifying match
Dakota Kai, Ivy Nile and Zoey Stark collided for the opportunity to compete this Saturday in Toronto. Kairi Sane tried to help her fellow Damage CTRL teammate but was jumped by Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn. Stark got the win after hitting Kai with the Z360.
The Women’s Money in the Bank build-up has seen better qualifying matches in 2024. Dakota Kai was probably the weakest link. Ivy Nile had some good showing. Stark was as reliable as ever in the ring. I wanted Ivy to win but it seems WWE wants a third high-flyer in the Women’s MITB.
Hit – WWE RAW main event
Drew McIntyre, Ilja Dragunov and Sheamus got in the ring to determine the final participant in the Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match. All three men battered each other with stiff strikes. Dragunov looked ferocious with his multiple H-Bomb strikes. Sheamus and Drew brutalized each other, but it was the Scottish Warrior who picked up the win.
Arguably the best match out of the entire Men’s MITB qualifying series and a Match of the Year contender in my opinion. Sheamus and Drew have now faced the two men they so fondly critiqued three years ago for a WWE YouTube video, and both triple threats didn’t disappoint in the slightest.
Congrats to Sheamus on a spectacular 15-year run in WWE. It’s truly been banger after banger, after banger, after banger.
Honorable Mentions
- WWE played the tape Sister Abigail handed to Michael Cole on RAW. The vignette picked the conversation between Bo Dallas and Uncle Howdy from last week. Bo mentioned “false profits belittling their families for their own gain. He then seemingly morphed into Uncle Howdy towards the end of the video, suggesting he and Howdy are the same person.
- Sami Zayn and Bron Breakker had their final confrontation between Money in the Bank. Breakker took out Sami with a spear. Sami did a brilliant counter to a second spear, but wasn’t lucky the third time. This was a great segment and really put my hopes up for what could very well be a show stealer this Saturday in Toronto.
- Dominik Mysterio versus Rey Mysterio was a really solid match. Of course, they had to bring Liv Morgan and Zelina Vega to add to the drama. The spot where Dom falls on top of Liv and she didn’t want him to get off tells me RAW on Netflix is going to be wild. Rey won after a distraction, which wasn’t the outcome I was expecting.
