WWE Raw results, highlights (July 28): Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed destroy Roman Reigns, Jey Uso

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2 days ago

The go-home edition of "WWE Raw" before SummerSlam burned the house down in Detroit with some unexpectedly creative angles and matches. That's not to say we didn't encounter some of the typical weekly nonsense, but this was as good as it gets for a weekly offering on a Monday night.
Bookended by bollocks
I can't be the only one who feels like Jey Uso's realignment with Roman Reigns is one of the bigger revisions of history in recent memory. At least that's how Uso's typical, sweaty, winded promo came off as he failed to counter Paul Heyman, laying out the truth about The Bloodline's history and how Reigns treated him.
It's remarkable how Seth Rollins' justified reasoning for "heel" work over the past year has quickly permeated Heyman's character. The more you peel back this onion, these guys really are more anti-heroes than they're supposed to be, or are portrayed.
Honestly, the whole segment was ramble-heavy from both men, but was an appetizer for the most obviously predictable DQ main event imaginable: Uso vs. Bronson Reed. The match was pretty solid until Bron Breakker just ran out to spear Uso and force Uso's DQ win.
Seriously, what's even the point, man?
Not just with these consistent, stupid DQ endings, but specifically with Rollins' crew, who evidently don't care about winning matches whatsoever unless implications are on the line. Why wouldn't Breakker just attack immediately? There's zero logic behind him waiting and giving his man a chance to lose or take damage. It's dumb, and I'm becoming a broken record at this point.
Reigns predictably made the save, as he was advertised for the show and wasn't seen once until the match started. It was just a tease for the SummerSlam tag team match, closing with Breakker looking like a monster when he hit a double spear through the barricade.
However, let's address a different problem that has come from the Rollins injury fallout.
Missing man
LA Knight has been completely screwed. He's gone. Where is he?
Since Knight got essentially buried in the World Heavyweight Championship contender gauntlet match after Saturday Night's Main Event, he's been off television. Rumor has it that he was lined up for a big rematch against Rollins at SummerSlam to get his redemption. So, first of all, seeing his absence should debunk any conspiracies about the legitimacy of Rollins' injury and a surprise SummerSlam cash-in. If that ends up happening, and Knight is just diverged away from with that plan, I don't know how he doesn't walk out of the company from what would be a complete and utter mishandling. Even as we stand now, not having Knight on TV at all is mishandling of the highest order.
Sure, it's not his fault that things have unfolded this way, but man. How do you leave one of the most over acts on your roster off TV when they heated up so much after you booked them pretty damn well? All hope — at least for SummerSlam — appears lost for the "Megastar."
The start and the end of this "Raw" were mostly all that was bad about it, though. Let's get into all the good that was the rest of the show.
👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑
I am so wildly impressed and satisfied with the level of creativity we saw in the first match on this "Raw." This is what happens when Triple H tries. We get the Uncrowned Gem of the Night, this time in the form of AJ Styles and The Kabuki Warriors vs. The Judgement Day's Dominick Mysterio, Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez.
Mixed tag team matches are always somewhat of a tricky area to navigate, but this was a first. One male with two female teammates is something I can't recall. At least not recently. The dynamic of having the genders only able to go against each other makes this a puzzle, but this was handled surprisingly well, and all built to get Styles tagged in for a massive pop when he got his hands on Mysterio. After that, there was even some creative trios offense to finish the match, when Styles absolutely launched Kairi Sane over the ropes into Rodriguez. He followed it with the Phenomenal Forearm on Mysterio to get the win.
It was far from the best match you'll ever see due to the restrictions, but with those in place, it was pretty damn perfect. This was fun and worked so, so well.
😅 Miscalculation of the Night
Taking Lyra Valkyria seriously with her big, silly shoes on was going to be impossible until she addressed them as her "Becky Stompers." I laughed.
Overall, she delivered a good promo before it descended into silliness when Becky Lynch's music hit. Lynch never appeared, which made it obvious she would do a sneak attack. But instead, Lynch just kind of bumbled around by the apron with a kendo stick before Valkyria used her spidey senses to detect Lynch and run the ropes to kick her in the head. Then Lynch just took a plethora of shots from the kendo stick without any defense, as she watched them all come her way.
Listen, this was undeniably hilarious, but I'm not sure it was bad. It didn't make Valkyria look dumb, like it trended towards. It was actually quite the opposite because Lynch just decided to hang out near the ring. It wasn't good, but I don't know. The feud has obviously been exhausted, and the trilogy title match will be great.
👍 MONDAY NIGHT MONEY 👍
1. WWE opened "Raw" with another tribute to Hulk Hogan, as it was the first Monday show since the legend's passing. Rather than just repeating the one from Friday on "SmackDown," this was a different, and equally great highlight video. The Detroit crowd also seemed much more receptive with its cheers than the Cleveland crowd was.
2. Sheamus defeated Grayson Waller with the Brogue Kick in a fine match. It wasn't quite a squash, but it wasn't that competitive either. Ultimately, it was a vehicle to continue the Sheamus-Rusev, as Rusev tried to cost Sheamus the win but failed before attacking afterward. If interference is going to happen, do it this way. There was no need for shenanigans to ruin that match of all matches, anyway. A Sheamus-Rusev best-of-seven works for me.
3. In Rollins' absence, it looks like Breakker is starting to take over in that leader role of the group. He suddenly isn't a barking bozo henchman anymore, and that's great to see. He already feels legit acting as a leader.
4. After the lackluster Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross rematch, the pair delivered a phenomenal backstage interview segment with Kross continuing to tease Zayn to show his true colors. These guys are so great together that it almost feels like they should have a never-ending thing going similar to Rollins and Punk. Regardless, hopefully, we get an epic — brief — conclusion at SummerSlam.
5. I'm not really sure what to make of Bayley's admission of directionlessness. It's hard to imagine she won't play some part in Lynch vs. Valkyria, but if we didn't know better, this felt like a pre-departure promo. Ultimately, Bayley's emotion was palpable through the screen, leaving us with intrigue about what was next.
6. Stephanie Vaquer hit the SVB on Chelsea Green (with The Secret Hervice and Naomi) to get the win for her team, including Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky and Nikki Bella. This was essentially an all-stars vs. the champion and modern-day J.O.B. Squad match. There was zero chance of Naomi's team winning, but an easy element to play off of would have been the fact that Ripley, Sky and Vaquer are all enemies within the title scene.
It didn't matter, though. The match was surprisingly good and had some great spots, like Piper Niven taking out Sky and Bella after doing Sky's taunt. That led to her facing off with Ripley before the finish.
More than anything, this was yet another big Vaquer showcase, as her hot tag led to her taking out all four of her opponents. She's being set up so perfectly as a future long-reigning champion. It doesn't matter who comes out of SummerSlam as the Women's World Champion. The winner is keeping that belt warm until Clash In Paris. I'm thoroughly convinced.
One little closer note, it was nice to see Naomi not act like a coward champion when she started the match against Ripley.
🤷 IT HAPPENED 🤷
1. The Judgment Day defended their World Tag Team titles against LWO. It was a stellar match, as expected, but was way more overbooked than anticipated and unnecessary. El Grande "Amerikaiser" ran to the ring purely to get into it with Dragon Lee before another masked man cost LWO the match. As much as I love Ludwig Kaiser, Chad Gable's injury really dampened the silly nature of the Americano character, and it's just "meh" with Kaiser under the mask. It doesn't help that he could be doing better things as himself.
2. Gunther and CM Punk had another promo battle. Before it started, I couldn't help but think about how awfully booked Gunther has been since WrestleMania 41. He doesn't even wrestle on "Raw" anymore.
Anyway, the promo battle was good and intense, but something stuck out that didn't quite land. Punk essentially ripped off Eddie Guerrero's classic "addicted" promo on Brock Lesnar. Why this didn't work was because of where they were in their careers at the time of delivery. Guerrero had yet to be a world champion, whereas Punk has literally been there and done that. He doesn't need to be a champion at all, and his current run has proven that, yet that's what he declared in the face of Gunther.
👑 "SmackDown" is getting the short end of the booking stick lately because "Raw" seems to have more of the consistent goods, and this show was no exception. I give this "Raw" a Crown score of: 9/10. 👑