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WWE Raw the show where a groundbreaking new championship belt is announced — before the cameras start rolling! We, uh, have some feelings about that here at WINC, though we also have some feelings about the women’s division getting another “Raw” main event and their WarGames match taking center stage this week. The ongoing story of the New Day is also in our sights ahead of their 10-year anniversary celebration, along with the opening segment between GUNTHER and Damian Priest, a video promo from Solo Sikoa, and the absence of Seth Rollins, who doesn’t appear to be on the Survivor Series card whatsoever.
If you want to read about the other stuff that happened, go do that over on our “Raw” results page! If you want to read our strongest feelings about the show, stay right here. These are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 11/25/24 episode of “WWE Raw.”
Hated: The new women’s title announcement feels more like a pat on the back than a big deal
WWE
Some of the women on “SmackDown” are currently competing for the Women’s U.S. title, and many fans have been expecting another new women’s title would be added for the women who compete on “Raw.” They were right; the title was unceremoniously announced to the live crowd prior to this week’s show starting. On a show where the women were main eventing for a chance for their team to gain the advantage of a WarGames match this Saturday.
Unveiling a new midcard title before a show instead of live comes off as it not being important already. It’s giving “here, damn.” The video did eventually air on “Raw” prior to the women’s main event, with a chyron that read “earlier tonight.” Pearce complimented the women by calling them the “workhorses” of “Raw.” He went on to say that “every week, they pour their blood, sweat, and tears into their craft and every week, they prove to me time and again that they are the true workhorses in WWE.” Pearce added that it was his “distinct honor” to unveil the title. If they can take the time to air the segment that was pre-recorded earlier in the night, then they could’ve easily made the announcement live. Why not have the women standing in the ring or at the very least, on the stage? Make it feel meaningful and not like a checkmark.
“SmackDown” General Manager Nick Aldis announced the women’s U.S. title in a pre-recorded video. Similarly to Pearce, he put over the Blue brand’s women’s division. WWE could’ve put in just a bit more effort and had both announcements made live on air. If you’re going the effort to pre-recorded a segment, go a step further and do it live. It takes the same amount of time and preparation. Make the titles feel like they mean something and aren’t just a pat on the back because each women’s division gets a new title.
WWE has been making some questionable decisions when it comes to what they air live vs. pre-recorded. They introduced their brand new tag team –- and once again, one of the greatest teams of their generation –- on social media. I get it. Viral moments are helpful in creating buzz. But these are three things that should have been presented live on air. Wrestling is all about creating moments. These announcements could’ve been moments for both the live crowd, the audience watching at home, and the talent themselves.
When it comes to women’s wrestling, take notes from Shawn Michaels. He seems to be the only one that gets it, and gets it right more often than not.
Loved: Solo Sikoa finding his groove
WWE
It is more than an unenviable task for someone to have to fill the Air Jordans worn by “The Original Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns and there have been moments throughout this year where it was glaringly obvious Solo Sikoa wasn’t going to be that guy. Now, I have been a vehement defender of the “New Tribal Chief” with the idea that he was never going to be a like-for-like replacement, but rather using the platform left by his older cousin to grow into his own. It’s taken a fair while to get there, but tonight’s show saw Sikoa taking another step on that path, delivering a calm and measured promo that felt authentic and further way from a bad imitation of Reigns. It’s no coincidence that Sikoa was his most interesting when he was the stoic and intimidating “Enforcer” of The Bloodline.
He is the youngest both in age and within wrestling of the core group, and simply isn’t ready to be the “Tribal Chief.” He appeared deluded, whether that was the intention or not, while he was trying to be the new Reigns. But since his predecessor has returned it’s highlighted that as the crux of the tale; he knows that he isn’t supposed to be the guy, but he is applying the “Fake it until you make it” methodology. Sure enough, the pieces have started to fall in line for him, as less has become more and he has built a stable with a different dynamic. It’s been an interesting exercise watching Sikoa learn on the job over recent months, and the backstage vignette has become a fantastic device for his character to grow. He’s not going to be the new Roman Reigns, but it certainly seems like we’re starting to learn who Solo Sikoa is.
Hated: The De-GUNTHER-fying of GUNTHER
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I don’t know if I’m the first one to say it, but the entire storyline “Raw” has going with Damian Priest and World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER ahead of their match at Survivor Series: WarGames is going to look pretty stupid if Priest doesn’t beat “The Ring General.” For the last two weeks, Priest has beaten down GUNTHER and made him look like a pretty big fool, and GUNTHER doesn’t seem to be too terribly worried about it — or at least not as outwardly worried as I would like to see him before their match.
Priest intercepted GUNTHER’s backstage attack last week and left the champion laying (albeit with a fire line about being the king in the street while GUNTHER is the general in the ring). This week, as GUNTHER chatted with Jackie Redmond in the ring, Priest interrupted him not too long after the interview began, and the two had a promo battle. It was GUNTHER who clocked Priest with the microphone first, but “The Archer of Infamy” quickly gained the upper hand and sent GUNTHER crashing through the announce desk with an impressive Razor’s Edge. That’s seemingly the last image we’ll have of the two before Saturday’s match, and it’s one with the challenger standing tall once again.
GUNTHER has seemingly, in character, lost his stride since losing to Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, though Rhodes barely acknowledges the match and GUNTHER won’t come right out and say it, having played it off like it was fine and Rhodes was the better man. I feel like he may need to drop the title back to Priest, go out and find his confidence again, and come back even scarier and more menacing than before. I say that because GUNTHER hasn’t gotten the upper hand once in recent weeks, and if he wins the match on Saturday, it’s going to make Priest look extra weak; I’m not sure where he’ll be able to go from there. There’s a fear that The Judgment Day interferes, with Finn Balor forever having Priest on his mind, and GUNTHER retains his championship, while Priest is back to Judgment Day purgatory. That would suck, but at least a disqualification would keep him stronger. I just haven’t been a fan of this feud this time around, and I’m not sure who, if anyone, comes out of Survivor Series looking any better than they did before — unless it’s Priest walking away with gold around his waist.
Loved: New Day dissention comes to a boiling point
WWE
There are absolutely no shortage of storylines going on in WWE at the moment, but there are very, very few that I’ve actually enjoyed from the beginning. The dissension between Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston has been one exception to that, with their surprising loss to Alpha Academy as well as the tense argument that followed backstage only further cementing it.
While initially it was confusing to see New Day take such a quick loss to Otis and Akira Tozawa, the aftermath of the match contextualized it. It served as the perfect set-up for Woods and Kingston to both let out their frustrations and years of pent up emotions in the heat of the moments afterwards, making it feel like a legitimate verbal disagreement that had gotten out of hand despite it all being part of the story. Neither Woods or Kingston was afraid to point out the other’s shortcomings or give a reminder that they wouldn’t have achieved many of their accomplishments without the other all the while addressing things that WWE often tend to ignore such as Woods never having won a singles title in his time with the company or Kingston’s six second loss of the WWE Championship in 2019 to a certain “Beast Incarnate.” The tension also served as a way to create hype for next week’s 10-Year Anniversary celebration for New Day, doing something different than what WWE tends to do to advertise things during segments on their programming. It was all-around well done, and easily took the title of being my personal favorite part of the show.
Hated: Missing The Architect
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Last week’s “WWE SmackDown” saw Hell freeze over for the second time as it pertains to CM Punk in WWE, joining Roman Reigns and The Original Bloodline in their WarGames match this coming weekend. It was a prudent moment considering the history between the pair of Paul Heyman guys, dating back to The Shield’s 2012 debut and subsequent working with the “Second City Saint” (which no one involved has spoken well of in the time since) but also because Punk was taking a place that had been offered to another one of his mortal enemies — and another former Shield member — Seth Rollins just a week before.
Alas, this week’s show did very little to address that thread. There was a brief backstage segment involving Sami Zayn and The Usos, questioning whether they can trust Punk. But nothing neither Punk nor Rollins were seen or heard from at all, even despite there being no abundantly clear reason for either not to be on the show (CM Punk is supposed to be a “Raw” superstar, after all). It really was a sorely missed opportunity to strike while the iron is hot and give Rollins a live microphone and warm up the brewing subplot between him and Punk, especially considering they have been working their rivalry since Punk returned at last year’s Survivor Series.
Punk is now taking Rollins’ place alongside Reigns, merely days after “The Architect” explicitly said he would fight alongside any of The Bloodline but Reigns. How does he feel to have that thrown in his face in lieu of his mortal enemy? How does he feel about someone he has called self-centered and spotlight stealing standing alongside someone he once called brother? How does he feel about Bronson Reed’s involvement on the other side of things? We don’t know any of these things because they weren’t addressed at the right time to do it. To be perfectly honest, the story has been really good leading into this weekend. I just felt like it was an opportunity sorely missed, and could have done so much to further the story beyond WarGames.
Loved: Just enough time devoted to men’s WarGames match that the women are able to shine
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With the grand reveal that CM Punk is the fifth member of the original Bloodline’s WarGames team, I kind of expected “Raw” to be dominated by that storyine, especially now that the brand split seems to be completely relaxed ahead of Survivor Series as it usually is. However, I think WWE did just enough to keep the intrigue of the men’s WarGames match going, without doing too much in just two hours, and thankfully still letting the women shine. The women’s WarGames match also still has a bit of intrigue to it — if you haven’t read spoilers — with Jade Cargill being brutally taken out last week. While we didn’t outright find out who would be taking her place, we did see Bianca Belair vs. WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax in a WarGames advantage match in the main event, which was the spotlight the women needed. Thankfully, and amazingly, that main event wasn’t given to the Bloodline, and the video recap of Friday aired earlier in the night.
WWE did just enough, including the obvious (and probably necessary) recap of what happened with Paul Heyman announcing Punk as the fifth man to end Friday’s episode of “SmackDown.” WWE went a bit farther from there, which I thought was also necessary, with a nice, short, backstage segment with Sami Zayn and the Usos. They pondered whether or not they could trust Punk, and one of the Usos noted Punk’s past behavior, and the fact that he does have not-so-good history with Roman Reigns. The other brother mentioned that because “The Wise Man” said it and brought Punk in, they should be trusting. Though I don’t exactly think Punk is going to turn or cause any shenanigans with this story on Saturday, it’s just enough to make you wonder, to put that thought in your head, that maybe it’s Heyman who’s going to turn heel on Reigns and somehow either re-align himself with Solo Sikoa, or go off with Punk.
Sikoa also had a video promo where he came off much more relaxed, yet still menacing and boss-like. While WWE was doing a good bit to highlight the shock of Punk being added to the match, it was helpful that the other team had a presence tonight, as well. It wasn’t the most memorable thing, and was filmed quite a lot like Sikoa’s other promos, but it reminded you that he’s still there, and there’s an entire other half of this big match coming up this weekend. Overall tonight, I think WWE did just enough with the men’s WarGames match tonight, and gave the women a bit of extra time to shine.
