Pantoja’s WWE Raw Review 5.8.23

WWE Raw

May 8^th, 2023 | Vystar Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Jacksonville, Florida

For the first time in forever, I’m attempting a Raw review. I typically don’t do them because while I watch the show, I don’t always have the time for a review and multiple other writers handle it for 411mania. Alas, this is an important episode.

Cody Rhodes kicked off the show in ring gear but he was out for a chat, not a match. He talked about being back in Jacksonville where he made a lot of memories during the pandemic. OMG HE’S HINTING AT AEW, HOW EDGY. He shifted to Brock Lesnar and claimed that he’s in his rearview mirror as the World Championship is what’s next for him. He threw to the bracket which revealed that the matches are:

Seth/Nakamura/Priest

Cody/Miz/Finn

AJ/Edge/Mysterio

Theory/Lashley/Sheamus

That was it, he was just out there to hype up the crowd so it didn’t do much else as an opening segment. We did get him and Seth staring each other down as Seth came out for the opener.

World Heavyweight Championship Tournament First Round: Damian Priest vs. Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Priest was interviewed before the bell to say that either he or Finn will bring the title to Judgment Day. He got tossed early to give us some Seth/Shinsuke action. Nakamura looked more motivated than he has in a while, meaning his back and forth with Seth heading into commercial was solid. Upon return, Seth gained momentum and hit both men with tope suicidas but getting leveled by a shot from Priest. This match followed the WWE triple threat formula where one person would spend time resting outside to mostly give us singles action and then they’d join back in for a bit. I’d be down for a Seth/Priest match or program after seeing them here. Everyone was down after a spot where guys were throwing a bunch of kicks. Seth avoided the Razor’s Edge and hit Priest with the Curb Stomp but the pin was broken up in a great close call. The actual finish was cool as Nakamura had Priest in a submission only for Seth to hit a twisting Frog Splash on him. He added the Pedigree to win in 13:14. A really good way to start the show as you kind of just know these tournament matches will deliver. [***½]

Imperium arrived at the arena, bragging about Gunther debuting on Raw next week. They ran into Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn who wanted five minutes to finish their conversation but Imperium took it as disrespect. Owens’ response about guys around WWE having henchmen was funny. Anyway, this set up a match.

Mustafa Ali vs. Otis

Maxxine Dupri and Chad Gable were out with Otis. There wasn’t much to this match as it was kept short. Otis did some power stuff but when he wanted the Caterpillar, Gable and Dupri argued about whether he should use it. That allowed free agent Ali win with the 450 splash in 2:16. [NR]

World Heavyweight Championship Tournament First Round: Cody Rhodes vs. Finn Bálor vs. The Miz

We got a fast start with everyone getting some stuff in, making for an enjoyable little sprint before a break. Once this came back, Cody was clearly hurt but he still managed a double Cody Cutter. He and Finn had some really good exchanges including a Cross Rhodes counter that eventually led to a Disaster Kick. All three men got chances to come close to winning but it was Cody who hit Cross Rhodes. I liked that they teased the finish I hate of a guy stealing a pin as Miz did that but Cody got right back in. He hit him with three Cross Rhodes (overkill tbh) and that’s when Brock Lesnar pulled him out of the ring, costing him the tournament. Brock delivered the F5 outside and inside, Finn beat Miz with the Coup de Grace n 9:34. Not quite as good as the opener but another entertaining match that was booked right. [***]

The layout of this tournament is dumb, right? Like why are Smackdown guys involved? You could’ve just added two dudes from the Raw roster (Woods, Riddle, Braun, Ricochet, etc.) and done a traditional 8-man tourney.

Brock put Cody through the table with an F5 and challenged him for Night of Champions.

Dana Brooke vs. Rhea Ripley

Some non-title action here. You know how this went. Dana got taken down quickly, made a short comeback attempt and was beaten by the Riptide and Prism Trap in an efficient 1:39. [NR]

Post-match, Rhea continued the attack until Natalya came out for the save. Rhea let go and they stared each other down. There’s Rhea’s next challenger and that doesn’t sound very interesting at all.

A video package aired to hype the NXT stars who got called to Raw during the draft.

Zoey Stark was interviewed backstage but stopped because Nikki Cross was off to the side being weird. She called her out for it, setting up a match.

Imperium vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

Non-title stuff again. Pretty lame to book these in a throwaway match on Raw. Handled properly, this could be a huge tag title program where you could even get Gunther defending the IC Title against both Zayn and Owens. Anyway, as you’d expect, the match itself was pretty damn good. Sami started well but the tag work of Imperium was enough to turn the tide. They isolated him and agitated Owens to get in some underhanded tactics. After a break, Zayn made the tag but Owens also found himself in trouble. The champs weathered the storm and KO hit a Stunner. He got the tag  and Sami hit the Helluva Kick to win in 9:50. The commercial cut a fair bit of this but it was still good. The booking though? The champs shouldn’t lose and neither should’ve Imperium in their first match so maybe just don’t book this. [***]

Backstage, Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green tried to get more signatures for their petition to get a Women’s Tag Title shot though they lied about what people were signing. They found Candice LeRae, Johnny Gargano, and Indi Hartwell, who weren’t convinced. They showed it to Dexter Lumis, who gave them the thumbs down. I love The Way.

Nikki Cross vs. Zoey Stark

Stark was hot from the start, waving off some shots and hitting a springboard dive in the opening minute. She remained on the offensive and won with Z360 in 2:20. I’ve never fully gotten into Zoey but that finisher is cool. [NR]

Backstage, Rhea Ripley was interviewed but Dom got pissed when he heard Akira Tozawa and Xavier Woods laughing too loudly. Woods traded words with Dom and Rhea accepted a match on his behalf.

Trish Stratus came out with a shirt that showcased Becky Lynch as a missing person. She faked concern over Becky not being around but then said Becky is somewhere crying with her dumb daughter. Trish said Becky won’t be coming to Raw because it’s her show now. That triggered Becky’s theme for a fakeout that Trish had a laugh about. It was a fine fake but nowhere on the level of the Matt Hardy and Shawn Michaels ones from the mid-2000s. Trish continued to talk smack until Becky popped up behind her and sent her packing. I enjoyed this for what it was though it dragged at points.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Xavier Woods

Right off the bat, you could tell this would be a basic match and that’s fine. Dominik is still learning and working a guy like Woods will only help that. Woods broke up an early 619 attempt but got thrown outside to give Dominik the upper hand heading into commercial. Returning, Woods fought back with the Honor Roll and a tornado DDT. Things were even down the stretch until Woods missed the Limit Breaker and Dom rolled him up with a handful of tights to steal this in 10:36. [**½]

Jinder, Veer, and Shanky ARE COMING.

The Miz yelled at Nakamura for not having his back which then led to them agreeing to a match for next week.

Elsewhere, Green and Deville found Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, who agree to sign the petition. Green and Deville then said the petition is for them to face Damage CTRL since they expect them to win on Friday. I mean, why would you do that? Just make a petition for the title match regardless of opponent.

Further elsewhere, Cody agreed to Brock’s challenge.

World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semifinals: Finn Bálor vs. Seth Rollins

Man, I love SummerSlam 2016. These two have a history of bangers together from that night to some IC Title matches in 2018. This started off with a feeling out process but quickly spilled outside where Finn hit a powerbomb into the guardrail, calling back to SummerSlam 2016. He even shouted “HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?” That sent us to commercial and Seth’s arm was damaged upon return though he still got going with a comeback. Finn cut off his momentum with a Fujiwara armbar. Seth survived and they started trading strikes and really picking up the pace. Finn even was bleeding from the mouth as the two smiled at each other knowing they could keep going with this pace. Seth avoided the Coup de Grace by hitting a superplex only to have the Falcon Arrow countered into the 1916. However, Seth found a way to turn it back around and win with a one-armed Pedigree in 13:45. A really good main event that delivered on the talents of both men. [***¾]

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

That was mostly a good episode in this “new era.” The focus on the tournament was easily the high point and I liked the shorter, squash style matches for some people even if it seemed a bit unfocused in some parts.