Bad to Be Good
I don’t feel old but today is the day where I officially sound old. The 1996 Survivor Series turns 30 in a few weeks. That night in Madison Square Garden welcomed Bret Hart back to the game for his first match since WrestleMania XII. Bret found himself in a very different WWF than the one he left that fateful night in Anaheim. He wrestled the man who became the catalyst for a new attitude in the territory, and
witnessed a different dynamic. Fans cheered Steve Austin but gave the traditional babyfaces tepid responses. That shift inspired a heel turn several months later and gave us Bret at his peak. Seriously, the man was on fire in ‘97.
He was pissed at the audience for not responding to him how they used to. He hated that someone like Stone Cold got the props and respect usually saved for clean-cut cats like Bret. The Hitman saw himself as not just a good guy but the good guy. He didn’t change; American values changed.
Sami Zayn sounds a lot like that right now with his Last Real Good Guy gimmick and I love it.
After promptly scooting Adam Pearce out of the ring, Sami let loose. He scolded the crowd for cheering people like Roman Reigns, Trick Williams, and CM Punk instead of him. As Sami put it, that’s his fault; he gave the crowd much more credit than they deserve. He thought they were smart enough to see greatness but they only cheer for people who constantly remind them of their greatness. The audience loves people who talk a good game rather than those who let their actions do the talking. The rebel in me loves that he essentially called the audience sheep. I’m the guy who wishes Nirvana went with Kurt Cobain’s first titlefor Nevermind. Sami channeled a lot of that energy.
Much like Bret in the late ‘90s, Sami’s words rang true. American pop culture did change as we headed to the year 2000. Antiheroes, vigilantes, and rebels were en vogue. Fast forward to 2026 where pop culture is more homogenized and the edict is “follow the leader” rather than do what you like. Of course, Sami is a jerk while being right, which doesn’t help his case. I loved him saying the only people worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as him are named Shawn, Eddie, or Kurt, plus he took credit for The Bloodline’s success. That nicely tied the whole thing back to Roman.
The Undisputed Champ mentioned Je’Von Evans in his promo, which promoted an appearance from the Young OG. Shocking no one since this is a wrestling show, that led to a title match between the two. This was Je’Von’s first big title shot since coming to Raw. It was just a taste as he and Sami whetted my appetite for more. Sami backed up everything he said in that promo while Je’Von showed why the territory is high on him. Obviously the champ retained but they did so in a way that made the challenger look good.
Best of all, it didn’t ignore continuity when Bron Breakker showed up to wreck everything for everyone. Penta, for his part, looked dumb. He came to the ring with a referee and his briefcase only to look confused as to what to do with either. This wasn’t the last pump fake on a cash-in either. Sadly, I’ll speak on that later.
Bron destroying all good things for everyone is why GM Adam booked a tag match for next week in Brooklyn: Penta & Je’Von vs. The Vision for the tag titles.
And we got all that because the Undisputed champ felt compelled to tell the world why he’s so hot right now.
B-Sides
- Bayley said this thing between she and Lyra Valkyria ends when she says so. Well, I think she said so in their no DQ match. This was brutal. Not only was it longer than I predicted, but a lot more violent as well. WWE can pay lip service to the idea of a no-DQ match or a falls-count-anywhere match. These two let their actions do the talking with a match befitting the very bad blood between them. And I really appreciated that. At one point, Lyra set up Bayley between two chairs only for Bayley to move at the last minute. Lyra’s moonsault attempt ended with her landing stomach first on the back end of the chair. Somehow, that didn’t stop her from functioning as a human being. This match was filled with moments like that, which is a testament to their dedication. It helped the overall story as it showed the lengths they went out of pure hatred. Very much like Anakin Skywalker at the end of Revenge of the Sith, hatred is the only thing that kept these two going after crashing through tables, chairs, and getting hit with kendo sticks. Bayley got the W though, which should effectively end this. I say should because I don’t know where else they can go after this or how they top it. I hope I’m not wrong as this was the perfect capper to a very long saga.
- Sigh. Guess who called a play this week? If you said Royce Keys, you win nothing. But you do earn my respect if that means anything. We got two pre-recorded videos, one with 946 and one with The Bloodline. Royce challenged Solo Sikoa and Solo accepted. It was cool seeing Roman in the background of Solo’s video even if it went against the idea that Roman wasn’t there since WWE never stated these videos weren’t live.
- IYO SKY is next in line for a shot at the Women’s Intercontinental Championship. The sky’s genius didn’t soundly defeat Raquel Rodriguez, but a win is a win. Or so I’ve heard. This was a solid match that, understandably, had a ton of work cut out for it since it came after Bayley vs. Lyra. This was clearly the first step for IYO and the champ, so I expect more down the line when IYO gets her title shot. NOW, after IYO got the roll-up win, Roxanne Perez showed up in Nikki from Obsession cosplay and helped Raquel get a little bit of revenge. That sets up the usual Judgment Day dynamic going into an eventual title match. IYO is rolling solo these days and needs a crew. It’s the same issue every person going up against the Judgment squad faces. Speaking of which…
- Let’s get to Raw’s ending, which loops back to its beginning. Stephanie Vaquer’s injury is clearly worse than everyone thought as she’s still not cleared to get back in the ring. Hopefully it’s not too serious but it’s crazy WWE announced this match this weekend only to cancel it a few days later. As a result, Becky Lynch skipped the number one contender match and went straight to the champ. Becky and Liv faced each other in a main event that I really dug until the ending. It wasn’t just the DQ finish, which narratively gets back to the point about Judgment Day’s numbers advantage. I know it’s a bit of a lose-lose situation because they don’t want to shift from Chelsea Green vs. Liv, nor do they want Becky to lose clean because she logically loses her leverage in challenging for another shot. Just because I get it doesn’t mean I like it. What I really didn’t like came after the beat down. Follow me here: Raquel and Roxanne interfered when Becky had the match won. That prompted Chelsea to come down to not only help out but further her drama with Liv. IYO followed for some get back of her own.
However comma but did I really didn’t need another cash-in tease from Tiffany Stratton. This one made her look especially dumb as Liv laid motionless in the ring with nary a Judgment Day member in sight. Tiffany drops the briefcase in the ring, hits The Prettiest Moonsault Ever, and then acts like she’s never done this before. She finally comes to and hands the briefcase to the ref, who also acts like this is brand new. That provided the Dirty One enough time to save his girlfriend from a sure defeat. After they did a variation of this with Penta at the top of the show, I’m stunned they did it to end the show. It made both Money in the Bank briefcase holders look silly. This was a sour end to a very dope Raw.
This was an excellent episode right up until the end. Thankfully, that didn’t kill the vibe entirely. I liked a lot of the wrestling, thanks mostly to everything Bayley and Lyra did. They pushed the stories forward and made it seem like next week’s Brooklyn show is must see tv. Oh, and John Cena is showing up. If you’re into that sort of thing.
What say you, Cagesiders?
