WWE RAW 6/3/2024: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," the show where so many things happened we can barely even keep up, much less talk about them all! Seriously, this episode was packed — with nothing going longer than two TV segments and several things only lasting one, this three-hour "Raw" included eight matches and four in-ring promo segments, plus numerous backstage angles; pretty much every storyline saw significant advancement, even relatively minor ones. Normally, right around here is the part where we say we couldn't cover everything that happened on the show in this space — this week, we didn't even come close. If you haven't watched the show, you're definitely going to want to check out our "Raw" results page, because this is one of the least comprehensive loved/hated columns we've ever published.

So, are we still getting all the feelings from the Chad Gable vs. Sami Zayn story? Did we appreciate a new team appearing to challenge Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair for the women's tag titles? And most importantly, is WWE really doing an Owen Hart thing just as AEW is kicking off its annual Owen Hart tournament? Because that would just be delightfully petty. Here are three things we hated and three things we loved from the 6/3/24 episode of "WWE Raw."

"Raw" was dominated by Judgment Day's presence on screen throughout several times Monday night, and while for the most part it was relatively solid, the same cannot be said for the segments between Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio.

In the opening segment of the show, Morgan celebrated winning the Women's World Championship from and subsequently retaining it against Becky Lynch until Dominik confronted her about kissing her and she chose to flirt and seduce him. This continued later in the show when Morgan once again appeared to save Dominik from an attack at the hands of Braun Strowman, and Dominik seemed somewhat less resistant to her charms.

Morgan wanting to take everything from Rhea Ripley as part of the "Liv Morgan Revenge Tour," with one of those things being Dominik Mysterio, makes perfect sense, but there are other ways for her to draw Dominik away from Ripley aside from trying to seduce him. It would be much more effective (and much more pleasant) viewing experience if Morgan were to do something like playing mind games with Dominik about why Ripley left him and what happened to Judgment Day in her absence to get him to side with her. It's just an unnecessary story point that involves another "fake romance" in professional wrestling where one isn't needed in the first place.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

Another week, another crack in the foundation of the Alpha Academy. Last week, it was Maxxine Dupri who stood up to Chad Gable when he was going to hit Otis with a belt. Perhaps as a form of punishment, she had to read Gable's letter to Sami Zayn thiis week. Of course, Gable took shots as each member of the Academy, and said the only way to end what has been happening was for Zayn to give him a title shot at Clash at the Castle.

Gable attacked Zayn from behind while his students were in the ring and proceeded to berate Otis when he didn't join in, but this time it was Akira Tozawa who stood up to Gable, grabbing him firmly by his shirt after he slapped Otis in the face. It was only for a moment, but it was enough to show that Gable's students are fed up. Gable ordered an upset Dupri to get on her knees and beg him to stop threatening Tozawa; as he berated her, Otis stepped between them. Each week, he seems to be gaining the confidence to stand up to Gable, if not for himself, for his friends. The part of him that wants to please Gable keeps winning out.

After Gable pushed Zayn into Dupri and Tozawa and made them fall off the apron, injuring them both. Gable convinced Otis it was Zayn's fault, so Otis slammed Zayn. Otis carried his friends to the back, where Gable praised Otis for what he did. This behavior has kept Otis from turning on Gable for good. With each passing day, the members of Alpha Academy find ways to stand up for themselves and one another. Now that Gable is finally getting his title shot, Otis can stand up for himself once and for all, cost Gable the title, and end his loyalty.

Written by Samantha Schipman

Kiana James getting a win in her in-ring debut on "Raw" is a wonderful thing for the upstart from "NXT" drafted to the red brand back in late April. To get that dub against a bonafide legend in someone like Natalya is far more than just the proverbial feather in her cap as well. But here's the thing: Nattie has done that for so many for so long that, simply stated, enough is enough and it's time for a change.

By invoking her late, great uncle Owen Hart and his legendary words, uttered out of frustration by "The King of Harts" as he turned heel on Ken Shamrock and aligned with The Nation of Domination in April of 1998, Natalya has signified a turning point in her career, be that a heel turn of her own, developing a vicious streak, aligning with an unexpected ally, or maybe even by leaving the company altogether. After all, her contract is said to be up later this summer (and perhaps as soon as within a few weeks). After all, there is an Owen Hart Tournament going on elsewhere very soon here. And after all, that organization's world champion just said that the odds of WWE and AEW ever working together are higher than ever (at, like 2.5%), so maybe she wouldn't even technically have to sign over there. Maybe she could be loaned down Jacksonville way. Maybe ... Okay, I'll stop.

Instead of donning the tin foil hats, let's appreciate this for what it likely is — a hard and fast shift for a longtime, valued member of the WWE family, with the promise of a better tomorrow (and a forever legacy) as a new contract nears closer. And we'll call the fact that the invocation of Owen's catch phrase comes just as that tournament in the other place is about to kick off nothing more than a coincidence. (Right?)

Written by Jon Jordan

Let's play a little "Jeopardy!" shall we? Non-title matches. Touching a championship that isn't yours. Playing entrance music before a sneak attack. If you answered, "What are professional wrestling tropes that Jon Jordan hates?" you win! Give yourself however many points you like and call yourself the champ (cause I've got nothing for you, other than the rest of this portion of this week's column).

Here's another one to add to my list of dislikes in tonight's Hated: Awarding a title shot to an individual or a team solely because of their interference in a match or attack in some other manner on the current champions, which is surely what we're about to get with Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn involving themselves in Bianca Belair's and Jade Cargill's defense against Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark. No disrespect to Fyre and Dawn, of course, but since losing the NXT Women's Tag Team Championships in a unification match against Baszler and Ronda Rousey in June, they have won exactly zero times on any show not named "Main Event." And yet, there they were, backstage after their interference, namedropping Clash at the Castle while questioning why Baszler and Stark got a title shot just because when they have even less of a claim, other than being Scotland natives.

With that in mind, what will probably end up happening is a triple threat match in which Belair and Cargill come away looking even stronger after disposing of all of Baszler, Stark, Dawn, and Fyre in Glasgow, so I guess that's fine. But in the future, I'd like to see a little more equity built up in any championship challengers. That's all. And no such thing as non-title matches. And hands off the titles, bridesmaids! And keep the "sneak" in sneak attack, okay? Okay. Thanks.

Written by Jon Jordan

Yeah, I know. Laugh if you want, but I legitimately enjoy it when acts as dead as The Final Testament seemed a few weeks ago actually show signs of life and get me excited for something new.

Last week, Kross randomly showed up in a backstage segment to ask Xavier Woods why he's still wasting his time with Kofi Kingston. It caught my attention because Kross wasn't doing his normal "Tick tock, my wife is super hot and she reads tarot, BE AFRAAAAAAAID" thing. He was dressed normal, he was talking normal. He sounded so much more natural than I've ever heard him sound before, and more than that — he actually has a legitimate point. The New Day in 2024 doesn't have the same pop as they did at any previous point in their careers since joining up (granted, I'm not sure what kind of pop any tag team is expected to have in a division inexplicably still championed by what is primarily a backstage comedy act, but whatever). They're honestly just not terribly relevant at the moment; they haven't had belts of any kind in over a year, and even that was a two-month vanity run with the NXT tag titles; it's been more than four years since they held gold on the main roster. Woods is the youngest member of the group, and not only is he the only one who's never been world champion, he's never held a WWE singles title at all. He's barely even wrestled singles matches — since joining the main roster in 2013, he's had 54 televised singles matches on "Raw" and "SmackDown," and one PLE singles match (when he won a watered-down version of King of the Ring). 55 matches, total, in 11 years. Honestly it's amazing it took this long for a manipulative heel to be like "Hey, do you realize that these guys have been holding back your career for a decade now?"

That's what I like best about this version of Kross: he's manipulative, but he's not going full over-the-top psychopath anymore. He's using warped logic and twisted psychology to try and corrupt and destroy a beloved babyface team, presumably because it's fun. I like that, and I really liked the New Day vs. Authors of Pain match Monday night, which was exactly long enough to do what it needed to do. Woods gets beaten up for a few minutes, goes to make the hot tag, but Kross is distracting Kofi so Woods can't tag out and gets pinned. Boom. Done. Now Kross, who's already been planted seeds in Woods' head, has arranged for Woods to lose a match because Kingston was out of position. Again, it's a twisted way of making your point — by manipulating events so it looks like you're right. Now Woods has reason to doubt Kingston, just a little bit, and Kross has his foot in the door. You've achieved a major story advancement in like 5-7 minutes of TV time. It was perfect.

What I like best about this story overall, though, is that I have no idea where it's going, but I'm very invested in the possibilities. The New Day has always been vocal about wanting to be the team that stays together, but things have changed; after two years, it might be time to admit that it doesn't look like Big E is coming back from his neck injury. That means they can't finish out their careers as a trio, and the Woods/Kingston tag team feels superfluous in 2024. Could they actually split up? Have they finally accepted that going out as a team isn't in the cards? Could we get a heel Woods in the Final Testament, or just a heel Woods out on his own, presumably stepping over Kofi's dead body to finally go for the singles run he never even had the chance to achieve? Those are very intriguing possibilities.

And if it's a swerve and they actually stay together, that's fine too; I'm a sucker for the power of friendship prevailing over evil. The important thing is that they made me care, and Karrion Kross hasn't done that in ... ever.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

Championship matches on Premium Live Events should have television time dedicated to them, especially for titles that are of the high profile variety. It feels as though that is turning out to not be the case for the World Heavyweight Championship match between Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre at WWE Clash At The Castle, as the only build up on Monday, less than two weeks out, happened when McIntyre blindsided Priest at the tail end of the show and fought off the rest of Judgment Day when they looked to help Priest.

Not only did the attack feel more centered around Judgment Day overally, with JD McDonagh, Finn Balor, and Carlito's involvement, but both Priest and McIntyre feel as if they're involved in other storylines at the moment. It's vastly taking away from what could be a great build-up to a promising match. Priest has been trying to lead Judgment Day in the midst of their feud with LWO, Liv Morgan wanting to take Dominik Mysterio away from Rhea Ripley, Braun Strowman trying to kill McDonagh, and the slow implosion of the group while fans are still hurling CM Punk chants on McIntyre ahead of their inevitable match despite Punk's absence from television as he still recovers from injury. All those storylines should be on the backburner as Priest and McIntyre fight, argue, scratch, and claw over wanting to be at the top of the "Raw" men's division as World Heavyweight Champion to prove themselves feel like they're the main ones instead of side storylines for the time being. It almost feels as though there's little to no time or room on the show for a story to be built, and in turn generates less interest from fans which is an extremely bad thing for what is sure to be the main event match of a Premium Live Event.

Written by Olivia Quinlan