WWE RAW 7/1/2024: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," the show where just about everyone has issues with their family, which is fun, because now there's a bunch of animal-headed goth weirdos who seem to be here to punish that sort of behavior. It is possible we have us a stew going. Anyway, lots to talk about this week, from Money in the Bank qualifiers to Judgment Day drama to more Money in the Bank qualifiers, though of course, we're not going to be able to touch on everything (sorry, Liv Morgan title defense).

If you need the facts, our "Raw" results page is here to help. If you want our opinions, you've come to the right place. Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 7/1/24 episode of "WWE Raw."

I barely know where to begin with this, with Judgment Day and their constant shenanigans consistently taking over the entirety of "Raw" some weeks, between their infighting, the fact three of them are now champions, and of course, who could forget everything with Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan, but I'm going to try and keep my thoughts streamlined to the fact that this was a terrible go-home angle for Money in the Bank. I feel like I often preach about WWE's bad go-home angles, because I truly want to be excited for a premium live event. Now? I'm much more excited for tomorrow's episode of "WWE NXT" and the upcoming Heatwave PLE on Sunday than I am for World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest to be taking on Seth Rollins on Saturday. Even though that match has a stipulation with potentially heavy implications on Judgment Day and the fact the winner of the Money in the Bank contract could be waiting in the wings, depending on where the matches fall on the card. Drew McIntyre has already made his intentions of cashing in known if he wins the contract.

Rollins coming out and running down Priest was to be expected. Which was fine. But, rather than Priest coming down to defend himself, we started off seeing Finn Balor run his mouth about how Rollins has been the one to cause problems within Judgment Day and turn Damian Priest into a different person. Rollins was also kayfabe annoyed at this, and told him to shut up, and that Balor seemed jealous of Priest because he had the "one thing Balor couldn't get – the World Heavyweight Championship. Rollins said if Balor wanted to step in his ring, he'd knock Balor's teeth down his throat. Only then did Priest come out, and Rollins was sure they were going to gang up on him. Priest iterated it wasn't a trap, because he was out there to handle his own business and needed no help. Rollins started with the "let's do this right here, right now, let's not wait until Saturday!" troupe, but Balor was actually the one to beat down on him before Priest pulled him off his MITB opponent.

Rollins took a South of Heaven from Priest, but Priest wasn't even standing tall at the end of the segment for a good go-home visual on the show, he rather went right to check on Balor. I hate the fact that there was absolutely nothing in this segment to make me excited for their match, it was more a segment to further the Judgment Day dissension that we all know is going on already... because of the Liv Morgan storyline. There are just too many things going on with them right now, and I wished I cared about anything more. I'm going in to Saturday knowing that there are going to be plenty more shenanigans, from Judgment Day, from Liv Morgan, and possibly even from CM Punk, potentially, if it's McIntyre to win the briefcase and attempt to cash in on Priest or Rollins, and that's just in this one match. It's almost enough to make your head spin, and I need these stories to wrap up. But, I find that doubtful until Rhea Ripley gets back and either whips everyone into shape, or kicks their heads off their shoulders. I think I'd appreciate the latter, at this point.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Fine, it's not like she's been in eight in a row, but for the second consecutive year, Zoey Stark will be participating in the Women's Money in the Bank ladder match. And while last year, with Stark earning her way into the match not yet two months into her main roster run, I thought, "Hey, cool. A nice showcase spot for the new girl," this time around, I'm just left asking why, especially at the expense of Dakota Kai, who I thought deserved every opportunity to shine come Sunday.

Obviously, Kai is meant for some other spinoff story here (or at least she'd better be) and while I didn't expect her to win Money in the Bank, I thought it would present a spotlight she's worked very hard to get to step into, overcoming injury, and being a team player and all that. In fact, she leaned that recently too, making sure to mention that this would be her first chance to make an impact on a PLE as a singles competitor (although I don't really get that if you think about Royal Rumble appearances but I digress). Of course, nobody is saying that Stark hasn't worked hard but when you look at what she's done on the main roster, to me, it's a bit less-than. To me, since she's already challenged for a world title three times since being elevated from "NXT," that seems like plenty for someone who has otherwise pretty much just palled around with Shayna Baszler to minimal results.

Conversely, Kai's held tag team gold three times as part of the most dominant female faction the company has seen in, hell, ever? And from an intangible perspective, to me, Kai's got charisma, finding her way as a heel amongst Damage CTRL, whereas Stark very much still seems to be figuring out, without a single moment I can recall that made me come away from her time on screen thinking, "Damn, that was something." But hey, maybe I'm just looking at this one from a fan's perspective and as such, I need to respect that someone else is probably pretty happy to see Stark back vying for ladder position and a guaranteed title shot. Fair winds, Lady Stark. Fair winds.

Written by Jon Jordan

They say that some things are just meant to be left alone, like an ex after a bad breakup. The father-son issues between Dominik Mysterio and Rey Mysterio is the perfect example of one such thing.

Don't get me wrong: I love a good run it back kind of match. It's always cool to see an old rivalry between two wrestlers get renewed, and is a fun, nostalgic trip down memory lane. That said, I feel like we're way past the point of needing to run it back between Dominik Mysterio and Rey Mysterio. It's a match that feels played out and has been done several times before (whether that be as singles or tag team), and a rivalry that feels like it's lost much of the spark it had a little over a year ago around the time of WrestleMania 39. It made for a boring and uninteresting watch on an episode of "Raw" where those two words could describe most of the show.

With the manner in which things played out Monday night, it seems as if this won't be the last time we see these two share the ring with one another, as it's pretty clear that WWE is setting up a mixed tag team match between Dominik and Liv Morgan, and Rey and Zelina Vega. It was no surprise that Morgan and Vega were involved in the finish of the match given both Dominik and Rey's presence at ringside during their Women's World Championship match. The thing is, though, is that ending that match as well as this one in interference was predictable and boring. There's just no need to continue this storyline between these four Superstars, and unless anything changes, it will be one that I will be glad to see come to an end when it eventually does.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

After the massive debut of the Wyatt Sicks on the June 17 episode of "Raw," the question on everyone's mind was "How will they follow that up?" A million ideas were pitched across the length and breadth of the Internet Wrestling Community (are we still calling it that?) but I'm betting nobody at that time wrote down "they scare Chad Gable and deliver a VCR tape featuring Bo Dallas talking to his alter ego. Then they do that again the next week." Not on my bingo card at least, that's for sure. And if people are getting impatient, I can't say I don't understand, especially after how long it took the QR codes to pay off. If there's one thing that's been proven on recent WWE programming, it's that Paul Levesque likes to let these stories simmer, often for too long, and that he will refurbish or even just straight up re-use story beats if it will help him extend things out a little longer (see: Dominik Mysterio accidentally helping Liv Morgan win a women's title match yet again).

That said, I'm still riding with Bo Dallas. I didn't expect the follow-up after the debut to be "Bo Dallas cuts the best promos of his life while simultaneously channeling his late brother and also building a completely unique character," but what am I going to do, complain about it? This is probably the one WWE storyline that actually pairs well with Levesque's infinitely slow pacing. I need VCR tapes for every character in the stable now (also, love that the Sicks, who have been abandoned, are using abandoned technology to communicate their message) and honestly, any other pieces of lore you want to give me along the way. It was so important that we do this — that the storyline recognizes that Bo and Uncle Howdy are the same person, that we learn Bo's motivations, see his inner conflict, feel his anger. The whole thing is going to be so much richer and more relatable because of these segments, and if they keep being this good, I don't care how many there are.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

This was the last episode of "Raw" before Money in the Bank, but it didn't feel much like a go-home show. Sure, there were MITB qualifying matches, but it just felt like another episode. That is, until the Intercontinental Champion made his way to the ring.

Sami Zayn told the crowd that he's been reading what people say online about how Bron Breakker is going to wreck him like he does everyone else. Breakker came down to confront him. Zayn told him "maybe you aren't as smart as you think you are, and maybe you aren't as good as you think you are." In a predictable move, Breakker speared Zayn practically out of his shoes. After Zayn got out the ring, Breakker came running around the ring to spear him again, but the champ was ready. Zayn leapt over him and Breakker slammed shoulder first into the steel steps. After staggering to his feet, he was sent into the commentary table and the veteran pummeled him. Zayn continued his dominance by suplexing his challenger into the turnbuckle. His Helluva Kick was interrupted by another monster spear. Breakker gave fans a glimpse of what could be his future by holding the Intercontinental Championship in the air.

Both men looked great in this segment. Zayn knows what Breakker's MO is and had him scouted. He will not be intimidated by his opponent just because he's bigger and the new hot thing. Breakker works smarter, not harder. He knows what works and uses it to decimate everyone in his path. He wants to be taken seriously, and holding a title will give him more validity and prove that he's not just a nepo baby. This is what a go-home segment for a title match should be, and both men delivered.

Written by Samantha Schipman

Forget about the fact that the main event of episode of "Raw" was one hell of an enjoyable brawl between Sheamus, Ilja Dragunov, and Drew McIntyre. Instead, let's celebrate the wonderful story beat of McIntyre now finally thinking he's starting to catch a break or two when it comes to his pursuit of the World Heavyweight Championship. As he told us after the match, he is more than confident about his chances of leaving Money in the Bank in Toronto not just with the briefcase itself but with the title, too.

On the one hand, not so fast, bud. You put CM Punk down for the moment, laying him out on "SmackDown" a couple of weeks ago, but here you are again, now with an opportunity at a guaranteed title shot come Saturday, and it sure seems like the time is right for (even a hobbled) Punk to show up and screw you over for a third time. On the other hand, those words that McIntyre spoke were either a mistake on his part or a tell as to the match order for Saturday's show. If he plans on coming out of Money in the Bank with the World Heavyweight Championship, after all, he'll need the right timing in place to have the briefcase already in hand with time left in the show to interfere in the Damian Priest/Seth Rollins match in the first place. So that tells me that the men's ladder match will kick things off on Saturday, with the World Heavyweight Championship match closing the show.

Unless the very specific utterance was an error, which I find unlikely from a seasoned pro like McIntyre, what we have in front of us is perfect whether McIntyre wins at Money in the Bank or not. If he does, one has to think at this point that Punk is locked and loaded to interfere in the promised cash-in we just heard of. And if he doesn't, it's highly likely that it's once again because of Punk screwing McIntyre over. Frankly, I'm not sure which (if either) is more powerful of a next chapter between the two, but with a blowoff likely for SummerSlam, this is simply the next step on the journey. And when it can go one of two ways with each of them equally as impactful (in theory), well, that's the proverbial good problem to have.

Written by Jon Jordan