Thursday, January 12, 2023

WWE Raw Jan 9, 2023


Let's go for the latest Raw:

Kevin Owens Speaks/Kevin Owens vs. Baron Corbin-Starts off with an attempt at a promo against The Bloodline before JBL and Corbin arrive trying to insert themselves into the mix talking about their past and him being the only one to pin Roman. I understand the point but they're not needed here which means KO runs through him easily like he should. The Usos arrive after the match to start something again before being driven off to keep Owens hot as well as the show proper which is a nice touch.

The Usos are escorted out of the arena-Nothing more than a bit discussing how Solo has a match later on which Jimmy and Jey won't be around for.

Alexa Bliss doesn't conform to Uncle Howdy-So, instead of doing something like usual Alexa stands on the announcer's desk and talks about Uncle Howdy not having control of her and that she was responsible for everything which goes nowhere before Uncle Howdy arrives. Not only was this awkward from the start with her just arriving and starting the promo blankly with no emotional resonance it appears confirmed we're going backwards to put her back in the Wyatt camp which isn't interesting in the slightest.

Mia Yim vs. Bayley-Before the match, Bayley speaks about trying to be the role model for Becky and doing the right thing by sending Io and Dakota to the back. Match itself was fine and seemed stuck in second gear but was still a decent TV match ending with Bayley cheating for the win.

Candice LeRae backstage-Another bit where Nikki spies on Candice being interviewed, this time talking about Gargano's injury and how that means she has to go forward in the Rumble. Rhea mocking her and setting up a match later on shows off her confidence and arrogance while setting up Candice being quite spunky not backing down.

Austin Theory Speaks-An impressive bit here, bringing Theory out to gloat about last week's win over Rollins and try to antagonize the audience by proclaiming a new challenge is needed for his belt. Out comes Seth on crutches to sell the leg injury from last week, or does he as he shocks everyone by throwing it aside to go back-and-forth in the ring as they go at each other to continue their rivalry that I'm all for on the strength of this segment. Then Lashley arrives to spear the hell out of Austin keeping himself in the mix and really making the belt feel incredibly important. I'm still all on board with this three-way feud for the belt and have been from the beginning.

Candice LeRae vs. Rhea Ripley-A short and brief affair that's all about showing how violent Rhea is and batters Candice around the ring before the easy victory. Short and fun that I don't have much else to say about it.

Bobby Lashley backstage-So it looks like they're going to bring MVP and Lashley together again with him offering a solid motivation for getting their relationship going. Lashley as a heel is intriguing enough and this might be a nice way to add even more fuel to the U.S. Title triangle setup so let's see where this goes.

Dolph Ziggler and Ali backstage-A brief bit exploring a second bit of Ziggler screwing Ali out of a title, hopefully adding some fuel to a potential program between the two.

Bronson Reed-The perfect way to confirm Bronson is nothing more than a hired gun looking for money and Miz is too stupid to realize it. Inoffensive but fun for what it is.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Solo Sikoa-Nothing more than a chance for Solo to look dominant beating on a human pinball which Dolph excels at which makes this a generally fun if overall meaningless segment.

Bayley Speaks-Attempting to get a word in about the previous match with Mia, Bayley and the rest of Damage CTRL start in on Becky before Mia returns wanting answers for Bayley cheating and instead gets beaten down for her troubles, serving a fine idea to continue the feud while adding Mia to the mix.

MizTV with Dom-Truly great stuff here, playing into the absurdity of him passing off the experience of a life-changing event despite everyone knowing he was there for a few hours but the rest of Judgement Day having his back. One of the best stories in the company and plenty of fun with everyone doing their part perfectly.

Tag-Team Turmoil-So they're going all in on the Judgment Day with them going bell-to-bell and pulling off tons of great stuff with tons of fine work against great teams in a long, grueling affair that gives this a lot of great spots as the matches went on. Inserting Dominik in the final match is a solid touch based on that previous segment and had a fantastic series of near-falls to finally put Judgment Day over at the end with Rhea getting involved as well. I can see this working for a one-shot deal but a full stable war could feel off with both teams being heels and might not be a long-term solution.

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WOW: Women of Wrestling Jan 21, 2023

Let's go for the latest episode of WOW: Women of Wrestling: