Finn Balor got his this week. For starters, WWE gave us a taped segment where Finn got a chance to allude to him a few weeks ago. And you know what? I bought it. Finn’s problem with Seth isn’t the fact that he injured him during their match seven years ago; His problem is that Seth laughs in Finn’s face at his deepest moment. That’s incredibly relatable, and in every other story, that’s the babyface angle. Everyone has bad days, but the best Batman stories remind us that what you do after that bad day defines who you are.
Finn let his bad hair day rule him for seven years and blames one man. In fact, he says his bitterness stems from Seth, which is hard to blame on a person. But that’s exactly what villains do. Eddie Brock had a horrible, horrible, not a good day, a very bad day and blamed it on Peter Parker. Eddie became Venom and the rest is history. Peter Parker, on the other hand, is no stranger to bad days and he dedicated his life to making sure no one else suffers as many losses in their lives. Obviously, Finn chose Eddie’s path, and this week we saw more of the results of that choice.
Seth called Finn, but not before noticing Carmelo Hayes sitting in the crowd. For those who don’t know, let’s be clear: Carmelo is my favorite wrestler at the moment. His showing up on Raw and becoming a plot point for one of the big WWE movies excites me to the core. I even laughed at the old woman who sat next to Melo as the crowd gave him props.
But I digress. To Seth’s surprise, Finn appeared with a chair in hand. The two fought and once again Melo saved the champion from a heavy punch from Finn. This inspired the worst GM in the world, Adam Pearce, and we got a match between the NXT champ and possibly the greatest NXT champ of all time, The Prince.
Before I talk about the match itself, I want to quickly argue with Melos Backstage promo. Something about it felt weird, and if you’re one of the NXT believers, you might have felt it, too. Most of it sounded like generic babyface stuff.
He thanked Seth for inviting him, gave Seth all the props in the world, acknowledged the challenge Finn presents and even the possible stupidity of facing Finn the night before defending his championship against Bum Ass Baron Corbin. That sounds all well and good, but that’s not Melo.
I have no problem with him showing respect to Seth, but he was too forgiving. He adored Finn a little too much. And Melo never aspires to be like anyone other than Melo. Yes, he’s a babyface now, but let’s not shave the heel edges that made NXT audiences fall in love and basically force a face makeover.
I have nightmares about the last time WWE took a charismatic, athletic, cocky wrestler and basically took everything that made him cool once they made him the “man” and made him their best good. The fact that Melo is said to have a close relationship with Shawn Michaels and that Shawn sees so much of himself in Melo only adds to my deja vu.
But that’s for the future. The immediate future involves a match with two goals: make Finn look strong and show off Melo. They had great successes on both sides.
Finn just looks great right now. Every move comes from a violent place with so much passion. Melo looked great too, hitting all of his signature points, showing off his innovative offense and proving he can keep up with the big boys. I wasn’t expecting a clean W either, but I’m glad they gave us a real finish instead of gimmicks.
Seth gave Melo a beating and they spent much of the run time talking and showing Melo’s stupidity. Seth also noted how dangerous Finn is right now. That Finn defeated Seth’s handpicked man even after he did his best says a lot about Finn and the challenge Seth faces.
Melo? His status increases. He looks great in a loss, much like Bron Breakker did on NXT last week, and has upped the ante for his championship game with Baron.
Everyone wins, but none more so than Finn. After the mishap a few weeks ago, WWE retrieved an audible notification. They let Finn speak in his own words, showed him how to behave physically, and then reminded everyone how serious he is between those ropes.
Kudos to everyone involved.
B-sides
Dead Presidents II
Bronson Reed was present during the Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura game, but not in the way I expected or wanted. The big man sat ringside until Ricochet and Shinsuke practically combined against him. After getting the big man out of the big picture, Shinsuke and Ricochet focused more on each other.
Don’t get me wrong, they make a great game because they’re both spectacular. But when I went to MitB I was expecting a non-degree or at least a DQ. I like the idea that all the competitors have momentum on their side in the grand battle for the briefcase. Ricochet comes into play with a lead over his rival, which is justified, but I prefer that they never fight tonight so all the frustration during ranked play boils over.
It may well be that they still compete at MitB and reduce their chances of winning, but it’s not the same knowing that one of them just beat the other.
As usual, while I know I’m thinking about this too much, I stand by those thoughts.
Afro puffs
I’m never quite sure what to think of Ronda Rousey’s singles games. She feuded with Raquel Rodriguez this week in a rather brief fling that didn’t really impress. Ronda still looks awkward and rough in the ring (hence the song) and her moveset is still limited. Her best fights play to her strengths, meaning she looks best when the fight resembles a fight rather than a wrestling match.
Raquel is a wrestler, not a fighter. Ditto for Liv Morgan, who backed her partner and knocked out Shayna Baszler. Ronda claimed the win when she surprised a distracted Raquel. The story revolves around Raquel and Liv working from the inside out to get their rematch with the tag champs. We’ll make it, but I still don’t care about Ronda’s part of that equation.
Welcome back
Tommaso Ciampa explained why he turned his back on Miz last week. In short, he never heard from Miz while sitting on the shelf at home and the whole absence gave him a chance to think. He wondered why Tommaso Ciampa would play second fiddle to anyone, let alone Miz. And this week he’s starting to go his own way.
yes, about it
Miz went to the ring with a different energy for his scheduled match against Tommaso this week. And he approached his former partner. The game didn’t start at all. We got angry, vengeful, Miz, who only had one thing on his mind.
I really liked this side of Miz. Every now and then he reminds us not to sleep on him because he has an ugly streak. It’s also a different challenge for Tommaso, so we’ll see if he finds a way to recover.
Public Enemy No. 1
Dom Dom and Rhea Ripley opened Raw this week. Well they tried. The boos drowned them out, as usual, so Cody Rhodes filled in for the greeting.
With Dom and Cody in the same ring, both men engaged in the traditional verbal battle. Rhea stood up for her husband because she’s the best, but Cody kept his focus on Dom. He even challenged Dom to prove he’s half the man of Rey Mysterio and not mommy’s little boy.
Dom took on the challenge in his own way. That is, he took his frustration out on someone else, hoping to use it to prove his point. Dom requested a match with Tozawa, believing an easy win was on the horizon. Tozawa, of course, competed with Dom and surprised him. But Dom recovered relatively quickly, Tozawa was distracted by Rhea, and Dom got the W thanks to a Frog Splash.
I don’t think any of this has any impact on his match with Cody in London. It makes people hate Dom even more than they already do, and I, for one, can’t wait to hear London boo him across the pond.
millions
Corey Graves hosted a women’s MitB summit which, to no one’s surprise, ended in a brawl. Imagine!
Most of the mic time went to Zelina Vega, which makes sense as she’s still defined within that framework and gets the least amount of praise. She asserted herself by either giving credit to her competitors or overtaking them. However, Trish Stratus secured the win for best heel performance by somehow beating Bayley in the obnoxious competition. She ran up to everyone saying they thanked her for sharing their big moment in London and came across as completely scruffy.
But Becky Lynch? Becky let her fists do the talking. Great thing because Becky is done with that crap and just wants to fight. Entertaining segment where The Man climbed the ladder and IYO SKY, well, took to the skies to secure a big spot outside the ring.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
Becky met Rhea backstage. Rhea, posed like the villain in a western, caught Becky’s attention and tried to intimidate her. While Becky used fists and kicks during the summit, this time she used words, referring to Rhea as a “main event supporting actress” who doesn’t get the main event spots that Becky got as champion.
For Becky vs. Rhea this summer, it’s either a misdirection or a direct telegraph.
Bring it on.
Fed up with the cops*t
The undisputed tag team champions are fed up with empire. They’re sick of them interrupting them, they’re sick of them going after Matt Riddle’s ankle again this week, and they’re just sick of them looking in the face.
So Sami Zayn did something about it and challenged GUNTHER to a fight with revenge on his mind. And what a match it was.
GUNTHER and Sami always put together impressive fights and this one delivered. just look at it Don’t even read what I’m saying, just watch the fight. We even spotted Giovanni Vinci limping to the ring on crutches. And Chekov’s crutches say we need to see how those crutches are used.
Sami pushed GUNTHER to its limits like a song in the Scarface soundtrack. When things got bad for the ring general, Giovanni hit Sami with a crutch. This, combined with a powerbomb from the Intercontinental Champion, spelled the end for Sami.
Kevin Owens, obviously upset for a number of reasons, got into a fight with GUNTHER and Ludvig Kaiser. Then Matt went in the ring! Well, he hobbled to the ring, but still! The odds are evened out and we’ll see what happens at MitB when Gunther jeopardizes his championship against young Matthew. But I expect Matt to come to the ring with Sami & KO at his side as all three men know that IMPERIUM plays by their own rules. If that doesn’t happen, I just don’t know what WWE is doing.
Judgment Day
Cody had a long night. He found himself in the main event against a motivated Damian Priest. Damian continued his streak of good matches while Cody looked great in front of the home crowd. He defeated Damian despite interference from Dom and Rhea.
I mean, that’s really what I can say about it. Dom will have nowhere to hide in London and Cody is ready for a fight.
Another solid Monday evening! Nattie challenged Rhea to another championship game and Viking Raiders & Alpha Academy exchanged words. The fact that I didn’t even get to the top shows what a packed show it was, because the Nattie story fascinates me and everything Alpha Academy touches turns to gold.
While SmackDown might provide the better go-home show atmosphere in front of a boisterous London audience, this week’s Raw delivered worthwhile matches and more action for breaking stories.
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