Raw recap & reactions: Yeet

Jey Uso gets a heroes welcome, Charlotte Flair gets a villains reception, and Sami Zayn faces repercussions to his actions on this week’s Monday Night Raw.

I’m Ready

I’m keeping this short since GUNTHER and Jey Uso didn’t cover new ground when the former stepped to the latter during Raw’s opening segment. Instead of focusing on whether Jey takes on GUNTHER or Cody Rhodes, I’m thinking about the fact he’s in the position and the apparent displeasure it’s causing in some circles. Anyone who watched Raw’s opening moments shouldn’t question why Jey won the Rumble, but in case some need it spelled out, I’ll try to find the words.

Pro wrestling is very simple at its core. The more popular a wrestler, the better their chances at succeeding or getting big spots. Some wrestlers need otherworldly matches to do that. Some do it using the microphone. Then there are those who do both. But no matter how it happens, the main objective is getting the audience invested. And that’s not always about “this is awesome” chants either.

Jey has the audience in the palm of his hands right now in a way few wrestlers in the territory do. They hang on his every word, stand for everything he does in the ring, and genuinely love him. There’s legitimate admiration and respect for a guy who worked his way up as a tag team wrestler, became part of one of WWE’s greatest ongoing sagas, and struck out on his own as a compelling part of that story. They watched him as a face, a heel, a conflicted heel, and go back to a face. He stumbled onto a catch phrase that the crowd eats up, and interacts with them. And he showcases genuine emotion, like this:

At the end of the cliched phrase, that matters more than any move he does or doesn’t do in the ring. The audience connects with Jey on a human level; they feel his pain and his triumphs. Does that mean he can go out there and stink in the ring? Of course not. But it means that what he does in the squared circle means more to those in the seats. I’m not a fan of every Jey Uso match or promo but I know the name of the game (not you, Triple H). A wrestler’s main goal is to get over and Jey accomplished that with more than simply flying colors. Not every champion or potential champion has to be a “ring general” worthy of 10 star matches every time they lace up their boots. At the end of the day, it’s still entertainment a wrestler must entertain and draw emotion.

Whether you think Jey does those things is all personal but what can’t be denied is no matter what city WWE visits, the crowds are more into him and what he does than almost anyone else. Wrestling’s evolved a lot over God knows how many years but the basic tenants remain the same. And right now, nobody is getting at the heart of those basic better than the man who will probably win a heavyweight title at this year’s WrestleMania.

B-Sides

Respect Mine

Charlotte Flair entered Cleveland a face but more than likely left a heel. No matter how hard WWE wishes fans adorned this woman with cheers, the boos keep outweighing whatever love she gets. What makes that weirder is she’s a natural heel. Charlotte carries herself with an arrogance that’s hard to get behind. So even though she came to the ring armed with a promo about how much she missed the fans and all the work she did to come back from a severe injury, the audience wasn’t having it. The Charlotte face thing is fetch, so just stop trying to make it happen. Especially when she’s toe to toe with someone like Rhea Ripley.

I liked how Rhea connected the dots in this long saga between her and Charlotte. She capped it all off with the fact that those fights gave her immense respect for Charlotte, and that this rubber match means the world to her because of that adoration. But Charlotte, once again, became the perfect heel. She made the title match about her. She deems that whoever she challenges, be it Giulia, Tiffany Stratton, or Rhea, is the lucky one, not her.

While it means we’re not close to a decision on Charlotte’s WrestleMania opponent, it also means I want another match between her and Rhea. Rhea’s quest for satisfaction and respect works for me. And honestly, a lot of that is because Charlotte accomplishes more as a heel than she could as the other option.

Rarities

• Penta continues taking to WWE’s style like a fish to water. It’s not a huge surprise given his career but it’s delightful to see. And yes, I said “delightful.” He, unsurprisingly, remained undefeated with a W over Ludwig Kaiser. But the story came after the match as it looks like we’re getting his first feud in the territory. The Man Formerly Known as Butch came out after the match and distracted the luchador long enough for Ludwig to get some licks in and avenge his loss. I assume Pete Dunne is mad because he is the one who breaks fingers and limbs, no one else. Should’ve put a patent on it, pal.
• With all the talk about music, New Day got themselves a tough new theme. I’m glad they changed it and it fits their new attitude better than OJ’s glove. They didn't get some generic rap song either; this one is made for them. More of this and less of whatever else WWE is doing.
• Why’d I mention their theme? Because they wrestled Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee this week! They defeated them with a lot of help from Logan Paul. Yeah, I don’t have anything nice to say about son but I have to acknowledge his presence. Logan and Rey wrestle next week for a spot in the Elimination Chamber, so this was all about getting an early advantage. Mission accomplished on that front. Fun match that moved everyone forward while showcasing Dragon Lee.
• Speaking of Elimination Chamber, IYO SKY and Liv Morgan got it on for a spot in the women’s chamber. Before that, Liv attacked her backstage and Raquel Rodriguez attacked Rhea Ripley. If you’ve seen enough wrestling, you knew where this was going. Liv controlled most of the match thanks to the cheap shot she got on her opponent before the match. Once the match got on an even playing field, Rhea came out for some revenge on Raquel and just to even the odds for her friend. Liv pulled on Rhea’s hair, which caused Rhea to involuntarily swing on Liv, thus getting her friend IYO disqualified. My heart broke. Rhea felt terrible and IYO, rightly, wasn’t hearing it. I don’t know if that means we’re getting IYO vs. Rhea at Mania or Elimination Chamber, but it feels like it’s coming soon. And based on how this played out, I’m on IYO’s side.
• AJ Styles is now a member of Raw. I knew that transfer portal would come in handy right before it closed shut.
• Seth Rollins, dressed like a cowboy of a western I never want to see, addressed the crowd. He’s happy Roman Reigns didn’t win the Rumble, thrilled CM Punk didn’t win, but bummed he came up short. The real reason he showed up was Sami Zayn. He called Sami to the ring and gave him a nice pep talk. His main point? Screw, CM Punk and everything he says about Sami not being on his level; Sami is levels above Punk. Seth wants Sami in the Elimination Chamber with him, not Punk. Yeah...about that.
• Sami and Punk put on a pretty awesome main event. And they told a simple story: Punk never took Sami lightly but didn’t expect to work hard. Sami kept backed down and survived an Anaconda Vice even after Punk spent most of the match weakening Sami’s arm. I loved Seth playing the heel here and reveling in his arrogance. He has no problem doing whatever he needs to get to Mania, which is a good place for him. Does that mean he’ll become desperate down the line? Possibly. But it also means he’ll make even more enemies if necessary and create more drama. Sami eventually fell to the GTS but only after Punk tried multiple times to use the move. It’s hard keeping Sami down, which is something Punk learned the hard way.
• Right when it looked like Punk was ready to show Sami some respect, guess who attacked Sami out of nowhere? Kevin. Owens. I knew it was coming and actually expected it during the match, but leave it to KO to attack Sami at his lowest. Kevin looked like death warmed over and like he shouldn’t even be on two feet, but it worked. It made it look like he fought through all that pain just to attack Sami, which speaks to how much he hates the man. Good ending to a dope match.

I had fun with this Raw. From the emotional opening to the also emotional ending, this was a well-paced show that didn’t languish on the Royal Rumble. Elimination Chamber is right around the corner so the show had urgency and made sure it put pieces in play for the big Toronto show.

What say you? How do you feel about KO and Sami going at it one more time?