Fatman here and welcome back to this week’s edition of LIKED and DISLIKED of WWE Raw. This week is the Raw go home episode for Extreme Rules. Let’s jump into this week for the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota!
LIKED: FINN BALOR, THE BEST BFF
Raw opens with THE Judgment Day talking about how Edge was forced to quit 11 years ago and how Balor will force him to quit at Extreme Rules. Rhea whispers something into Dom’s ear (probably about what she’s going to do to him in bed tonight) and Dom’s like “I hate you Daddy!” Balor mentions that he could have ended AJ Styles’ career last week but didn’t because he’s AJ’s best friend. Styles and shit Daddy Rey Mysterio face Balor and Priest. The match is good but I liked the storyline progression. Rey gets distracted by Rhea and Dom because “Numbers Game”, AJ can’t make the tag, and Balor gets the win. Styles pushes Rey after the match and Rey is like “FUCK THIS” and leaves. Judgment Day kicks Styles ass and Balor says that he is Styles only friend. Balor’s master plan to reform the Bullet Club is working like gangbusters.
LIKED: DEMANDING A SHOT
Lashley is showed form earlier today backstage when Mustafa Ali shows up and wants a shot at Lashley. Lashley pretty much pats Ali on the head. Ali isn’t asking for a shot, he is DEMANDING it. This leads to a match between the two which Ali gets his DESTROYED. However, he keeps coming back from each escalating ass kicking. When Lashley gets him in the Hurt Lock, he doesn’t submit. At least they are doing something with Ali. It’s a good start. After the match, Rollins attacks Lashley, stomps him twice, and stomps Ali cause he wants to kick his ass also. Later, Lashley wants Rollins next week with the US Title on the line. That leads to the Face to Face “confrontation” between Rollins and Matt Riddle. Speaking of which…
DISLIKED: FACE TO FACE
So Riddle and Rollins weren’t allowed to touch each other before Extreme Rules. It really took away from their build. Their promos weren’t bad but they were the exact same as they have been for 2 months. A physical altercation 5 days before their Fight Pit match would have helped. Having Daniel Cormier getting involved could have helped also. I don’t know. Just wasn’t for me.
DISLIKED: FRACTURE IN THE BLOOD…LINE
Sami Zayn is telling a story to Jimmy Uso and Solo Sioka when Jey Uso is like “What’s so funny? You talking about me? Am I funny looking?” They run into the Street Profits and they “Disrespect” Roman Reigns (at this point… who doesn’t?). Solo steps up to Dawkins’ challenge. Later in the night, they have a match that went on for FUCKING EVER. I’m pretty sure I painted my apartment, washed it dry, and put the second coat on before this slug of a match ended. Jey and Sami argue with each other on the apron because “reasons”. That gives Dawkins the advantage. When Solo is outside the ring, Sami goes to help but Jey doesn’t like that. Dawkins hits them all on the outside but the damn “Numbers Game” catches up with him and Solo gets the win. This should have been a 3 minute squash instead of a 12 minute?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? (THERE IS NO WAY THIS MATCH WAS 12 MINUTES. 1200 MINUTES MAYBE) competitive match.
DISLIKED: VOLDEMORT
Why is this still a thing? It’s been going on forever with no end in sight. Why would Miz not have any police protection at this point? Why wouldn’t he call the police on Lumis at this point? Lumis can’t get Miz in his locker room. When Gargano is walking backstage he walks past Lumis holding a passed out Miz. When Gargano looks again, Miz is just laying there with a picture. I just don’t get and none of this matches any sense.
LIKED AND DISLIKED: DAMAGE CONTROLLED
I’m going to lump all of the Damage Control segments into one. The first is Dakota Kai v. Candice LeRae. The match was solid. That’s the best thing I can say about it. SKY distracts teh ref, Bayley trips Candice, and Kai wins with the ROLLUP OF DEATH. That damn “Numbers Game” comes into play yet again. Secondly, Bayley and Bianca Belair have a contract signing. Bayley continues her whole “Belair was handed everything” and Bianca is like “NO! Yous a liars”. Bayley wonders where Kai and SKY are and they go backstage to see them beating down Asuka and Alexa (mmmmm). Bayley attacks Belair but Belair runs to check on them. Alexa wants SKY in a match later. The match was like Kai and LeRae, solid, SKY gets the win due to a very common theme throughout the night…”NUMBERS GAME”. Damage Control beats down Belair, Asuka, and Belair. They stand tall as Raw goes off the air. That ending segment made up for their lackluster effort from Smackdown. It was very effective in setting up the ladder match.
LIKED: ALL DAY ACADEMY
I’m going to lump these two segments together as well. Otis v Gargano was pretty decent. Having Otis win (due to the fucking NUMBERS GAME) was the right call. The ADA beatdown Gargano till Strowman shows up. That leads to Gable v. Strowman. I have a question: Is… is Strowman good at pro wrestling? He had a great match with Otis on Smackdown and this match with Gable was very good. Two good matches against two guys with two different styles. Gable, Otis, and Theory continue to be super underrated and the highlights of they weekly shows.
That’s it for this weeks LIKED and DISLIKED for the 10/3/22 WWE Raw. If you have a different opinion, please leave a comment.
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