Change in Speak
Jey Uso interests me right now. Raw kicked off with LA Knight jumping him after Jey got the drop on him last week. Adam Pearce intervened and LA told him the only way for the Megastar to keep chill is to give him the Brons. LA picked the only tag partner he could, and one that surely got under Jey’s skin: Jimmy Uso.
At this point of the saga, Jey truly is becoming his cousin. After Jimmy
politely declined LA’s invitation due to not wanting to take sides against the family (shoutout to Vito Corleone) and wanting to stay fresh for Wrestlepalooza, Big Jim caught his little brother on the phone talking to…someone. Rather than divulge that info, Jey told Jimmy not to worry about it and switched subjects. That’s a Roman move if ever there was one. Jimmy & Jey have no secrets between them. Jey hardly, if ever, dismisses his brother like that, even when they’re not on the best terms. Jey also crossed the line—and indicated he doesn’t watch the product—when he told Jimmy to decline LA’s invitation to tag. Why? Because family is all that matters. Jimmy, rightly, scoffed at all of that noise and told his little brother that last time he checked, there’s no Ula Fala around his neck. He didn’t like his brothers tone nor the intimation that he gives orders. Funny enough, Jey’s actions chased Jimmy right into LA’s welcoming hands, which is also a Roman thing to do. Roman ruled with fear but the more he told the Bloodline what not to do, the more they pushed back, even if it was on the outskirts of an issue. Tribal Chief or not, they didn’t like taking orders when they realized that “family” was just another word for “Roman.”
Fast forward to the main event where Jimmy & LA took a necessary L from Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed. The latter have to look hot going into Wrestlepalooza, and they took on two guys who are only kinda sorta on the same page. Postmatch, Bron & Bronson added insult to injury.
Jey was never letting his brother take a fall, even if he disagreed with his actions. But I wonder if he blames Jimmy for the BFT he took in the middle of the ring. There’s a lane where Jey looks at Jimmy funny for choosing LA over “family” and putting them both in bad spots mere days before they take on two boys who look like they eat planets as appetizers. That would affect their camaraderie, even if it’s obviously not Jimmy’s fault.
But it’s how Roman would think, which means it’s more than likely how Jey sees it.
B-Sides
Two Heads Are Better Than One
I wish Roxanne Perez got the W over Lyra Valkyria, especially considering where the story went post match. It felt like 50/50 booking; Raquel Rodriguez defeated Lyra last week, so now Lyra gets the drop on her partner this week. Props to them for factoring in Lyra’s lower back injury from last week. She favored her back on her way to the ring and Roxanne applied plenty of pressure. This gave Lyra the gutsy win. BUT, post match, she still caught the beatdown from Roxy & Raquel. That beatdown was happening regardless, so let Roxanne get the win, through chicanery if need be, then go to work on Lyra. Mafia style.
All that said, the beatdown was all about getting Bayley back on television proper. This showed how they’re planning on executing this multiple personality storyline when they can’t rely on voiceovers or editing. Bayley saved Lyra with some aggression right before hugging people around the ring. This clearly shook Lyra, who went to thank Bayley later but overheard the Role Model having a three-way convo with herself that got a little violent. I’m torn on this as of now. I really liked the way they introduced this story. It gave Bayley depth and hinted at something tragically sad. Nailing something like this requires subtlety, which isn’t always professional graps’ forte. It’s always gotta play to the cheap seats by necessity. The quick flip from angry to hugging struck me as silly. The backstage segment in her dressing room less so, but still a little campy:
Lyra is doing her best to sell it For any of this to work, even a little, I have to believe her. I’m still on board because I think it has potential for something cool. Dare I say, Harvey Dent/Two-Face Batman: The Animated Series cool. I’m just not sure if any territory can pull this off in a way that makes it compelling since there might be a tendency to lean into absurdity. I hope they prove me wrong though. The last thing I want is Harvey Dent/Two-Face Batman Forever style.
Album Cuts
- The Mexican Destroyer is nowhere near banned, so Penta keeps finding new ways to use it. This week he combined it with a springboard off the ropes and finished Kofi Kingston. This is the latest chapter in New Day’s feud vs. the man with zero fear. Thankfully it looks like we finally hit the next gear on this story. I enjoy these matches because, well, it’s New Day and Penta, but it felt like we were treading water a bit. Well, no more. Much later after the match, Xavier Woods went agro on Penta with a chair. The worst part of the whole thing? The attack interrupted Dirty Dom’s triumphant promo where he declared himself the Mega Intercontinental Champion.
- TRÈS EL GRANDE AMERICANOS! That’s not a typo. Many moons ago, I asked WWE to give me multiple El Grande Americanos, with a new person under the mask every week. Well, the territory is finally almost giving me what I want. The Ludwig Kaiser recipe of El Grande wrestled Dragon Lee. And not one but two other cats posing as El Grande made sure Dragon didn’t come away with the win. They even did the Spider-Man pointing meme after the match.
- All that El Grande madness led to more Judgment Day friction. The group celebrated Dom’s success but Finn Balor put all that to an end. The Prince, once again, questioned the Dirty One’s relationship with El Grande and, more importantly, what does El Grande get in return. Dom remained indignant despite JD McDonagh also wanting answers. I’m sure it doesn’t help that Finn is clearly in his feelings about Dom holding two titles while he doesn’t even have one. But that doesn’t make his questions less valid. No one does anything just for the love in this business. Despite how hard Dom wants to convince his crew that El Grande is paying homage to “the greatest Lucador,” they aren’t buying it. There’s a lot happening with El Grande Americano right now, and I’m curious how Dom plays a role in that. AJ Styles lent a hand, but he and Dragon Lee need at least one other aggrieved person to fight this war.
- In the meantime, Dom’s got a new headache: Rusev. The Redeemer introduced himself to Dom as “the new Intercontinental Champion” then walked away. Give Rusev all the belts, please.
- I didn’t dislike this face to face between AJ Lee, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and Becky Lynch. I was just underwhelmed. I loved Becky and Seth in full heel mode here. Their ad-libs to the crowd’s disrespect made me chuckle mightily. And AJ noting that she has no idea how her neck will react to taking a bump for the first time in 10 years added some stakes to a match that is purely about grudges and comebacks. But for the most part, it felt generic. Seth tried sowing some dissent in the married couple when he warned AJ that her husband runs when things let him down. I get the goal but I find it hard to believe that AJ would fathom for a second that Punk would ditch her if they start losing the match. It’s a heel thing to say, sure, but it doesn’t add any tension to the match since it’s not very credible. Especially when Becky noted all but less than five minutes earlier that Punk got into a war with Drew McIntyre over a bracelet that had AJ’s name on it. Even the ending was generic; Seth and Becky fronted like they weren’t on the same page, Punk and AJ fell for the ruse, Punk chased Seth out of the ring, Becky dropped AJ with the Manhandle Slam.
- If it’s me, I’m sticking to AJ’s injury and whether or not Punk will stick to his role as a wrestler rather than a husband. Does he pull a Rocky from Rocky IV and throw in the towel the minute he thinks AJ is in deep trouble? Or does he trust her instincts and let her find her way back to prominence? That’s a true test of trust, especially since Punk and AJ are both strong-willed competitors who don’t want or believe they need help.
- Stephanie Vaquer vs. IYO SKY is official. But before we get to that, Asuka challenged Stephanie on Kairi Sane’s behalf. News to Kairi, obviously. This resulted in a fun match that put Stephanie in the spotlight ahead of Wrestlepalooza, while also further stacking the deck against IYO. How so? Well, Stephanie defeated Kairi, Asuka confronted Stephanie post match, and IYO came down to stop the madness. This only got her further on The Empress’ bad side. IYO, once again, begged Asuka to let her handle this alone at the next PLE, but I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for The Genius of the Sky. I’d like to see Stephanie win the championship cleanly but I foresee a world where Asuka interferes and makes it all about her.
- John Cena gave the opening promo in front of the Massachusetts faithful. It was the standard Johnny promo at this point. But the crowd was hot and had a few choice four-letter words for Brock Lesnar.
Raw was very generic this week. Once again, another show that I didn’t object to, but didn’t offer much in terms of compelling narratives. It’s setting the table for their big ESPN debut show, which I’m still very much looking forward to.
What say you, Cage siders?
