WWE RAW 7/22/2024: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," the show where Dominik Mysterio kisses the girls and makes them cry. Yes, this week's episode furthered the Dom/Rhea Ripley/Liv Morgan love triangle storyline, and yes, we have THOUGHTS. We have some pretty opinionated thoughts about this entire episode, actually — not, like, all of it, because it's three hours long, but several parts of it! If you need info on the parts we don't talk about here, you can always go check out our "Raw" results page; this is where we get to tell you what we actually thought of Monday's latest offering from the red bran — specifically the parts that moved us most deeply, in one direction or the other.

So with that in mind, are we still having a good time with the latest Wyatt Sicks fare, videotape related or otherwise? Are we looking forward to the next chapter in the CM Punk/Drew McIntyre feud, now featuring Seth Rollins? And most importantly, are we ready to run through a wall for another Sami Zayn vs. Bron Breakker match — or possibly for what could come after it? Here are three things we hated and three things we loved from the 7/22/24 episode of "WWE Raw."

Last week on "Raw", GUNTHER cut an awful promo on Damian Priest reminiscent of HHH's infamous promo against Booker T. In his version, GUNTHER stated that "living on the streets is a choice," implied Priest's family didn't love him, and called him "street trash".

GUNTHER opened "Raw" by doubling down and standing by what he said. After having a week to simmer, Priest came to the ring with his title in one hand and a mic in the other — but the champion let his hands do the talking as he sent "The Ring General" to the mat. He continued to pummel him with the fight eventually spilling into the back. GUNTHER deserved every bit of the beating he received.

Last week's segment succeeded in wanting Priest to retain his title, but insulting houseless people was an unnecessary tactic to get there. It's lazy, outdated, and just gross. There's other ways to get "heel heat" that doesn't take shots at people in one of the worst moments of their lives, especially when there's a housing crisis in this country. HHH ended up beating Booker T after that promo, but hopefully history doesn't repeat itself.

Written by Samantha Schipman

Bron Breakker is a star. There is nothing more I can say about that. He needs mid-card gold right now, so he can grow. I also love Sami Zayn as a performer, and I believe he needs bumped back up to a world title scene. So, why do I hate this? Well, for starters, and as anyone can see, it's incredibly redundant. Breakker lost to Zayn in a championship match at Money in the Bank. And, well, I don't know about you, but many folks I know were taught, "losers, weepers," and frankly, Breakker is a loser... But also... yet, a winner? So, while I really like Breakker, I'm not entirely sure that this seems "fair."

Breakker won a great match tonight against Ilja Dragunov. I, personally, love Dragunov, but also, I thought this was going in to a triple threat match. And, well, it still might, but, Breakker has had his chance. And his chance was absolutely excellent. So, it kind of, strangely, stinks to see he's getting another one. Dragunov seems like he's everyone's best friend at the moment, and I wouldn't be mad if we all saw him stab Zayn, one of the most likeable people, on the roster, in the back. I think this match, whether Breakker wins it or Zayn retains it, is best suited for a match with Dragunov involved.

So, why Breakker, again? Of course, I know why, his sheer brute strength, physique, and overall "WWE look," but also, I think Dragunov has that, and just as much character. I'm really hoping this match turns out to be a triple threat, somehow, before Summerslam. My predication? Breakker, of course, but I don't say that despairingly. Zayn is one of the best talents out there and he always have, and always will, deserve an upper card championship. Breakker and Dragunov are perfectly set down here, in the warm ol' mid title, for a bit.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Dear Paul: Can we please just fast forward this Liv/Rhea/Dom love triangle thing to the part where Dom shockingly turns on Rhea and helps Liv retain at SummerSlam? Cool, thanks.

I'm honestly not even mad that it's predictable; it's just boring, and I hope they get a video package or something next week and don't take up an entire segment of the show. Believe it or not, there are some decent threads you could work into a story like this one, considering all the Liv/Rhea history, and I don't mind using it as a device to officially turn Rhea babyface and split her off from Dom, who shouldn't be a babyface again until he's like 40, maybe. But you know whoever's writing this thing has run out of ideas when they have Liv tell Rhea Ripley — Rhea Ripley — that she's not the kind of woman men thirst after. That's like telling the ocean it's not the kind of water fish swim in.

There's just so much here I don't need. I don't need Liv crying because a dude rejected her (even if it's all for show) and I don't need WWE trying to make me sympathetic toward Rhea because she's a babyface now and she has emotions. I was already cheering her, y'all. We all were; not sure if you remember but she's massively popular. Don't need more reasons for her to beat Liv's head in, would just like to watch the head-beating now, please and thank you.

Supplementary love: The women's division killed it in the ring this week, with two very good singles matches involving the Sonya Deville/Shayna Baszler/Zoey Stark pairing. With Damage CTRL apparently on vacation, the women's undercard on "Raw" has basically been entirely devoted to building up Deville's team, and it's been very well done. It just sucks that the title the division is primarily meant to be fighting for is around the waist of Morgan, who has wrestled three total TV matches since winning it back in May.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

You know the saying "actions speak louder than words"? Well, Chad Gable has truly mastered what it actually means.

It's clear to the audience and the rest of Alpha Academy that Gable is afraid of the Wyatt Sicks based on his efforts of recruiting numbers and trying to get Otis, Maxxine Dupri, and Akira Tozawa to realign with him by playing off their own fears. His ability to not have to outright say anything while getting that point across has made him the perfect person for the Wyatt Sicks to have their first feud with. Despite the intentions of the group having been fuzzy at one point, they've become clear thanks in large part to Gable.

As an added bonus, while WWE are (rightfully) holding off on Bo Dallas and the Uncle Howdy getting too physical in the ring until he has his first official match, this was a fun glimpse into what was to come when such time arrives. Hitting one simple Sister Abigail on Chad Gable was memorable and said everything that needed to be said without having to utter a word, and is a true testament to both his abilities as a performer in this role and just how good the Wyatt Sicks are.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

At long last, we finally have a Drew McIntyre/CM Punk showdown afoot, with their SummerSlam match made official by "Raw" GM Adam Pearce. But then Pearce kept talking and lo and behold, Seth Rollins was introduced as the special guest referee for said match and while some may look at that plot twist as a cherry-on-top-type thing, I see it as overthinking 101. For starters, special guest referee situations almost always suck. Yell at the one guy you don't like, then yell at the other guy you don't like. Get in one guy's face, then get in the other guy's face. Threaten to disqualify someone, then someone else. Blah blah blah. It's rarely pulled off with much excitement and in this case, it just isn't necessary. I just don't see how it adds anything special to the feud. (And no, Rollins "explaining the rules" or whatever next week doesn't do anything here either. Since when is that a thing?)

Sure, he's got history with both guys. We all know that. But this story was always going to progress after this match with Rollins eventually getting his hands on Punk too, as was inevitable from the very moment the latter rejoined WWE and made Hell freeze over. Having Rollins as the referee doesn't change that one way or the other. If anything, it convolutes things, likely ending with everybody hating everybody still regardless of the result of the match, and then there's Rollins and McIntyre, a three-way at some point, I'm sure, maybe a friend is found somewhere out there and a tag match goes down as well. Great. But again, this was going to progress this way regardless.

If Rollins isn't the referee here, you know he would've had some involvement anyway, either before, during, or after the match, and the story would have continued just fine. But now, we've forced this square peg into a round hole, and frankly, it takes away from the Punk/McIntyre blowoff, which deserved to get its own shine, right off the bat. This isn't the greatest loss in the world and Rollins is a great performer so at the end of the day, they'll pull this off and we'll continue down the path we were already going to head down. I just wish it wasn't so forced, and there's rarely anything all that "special" about special guest referees anyway. Leave it to the pros, I say, and let Rollins linger on the outskirts, still very much a part of this story without having to wedge his way between the ropes for a match that could easily stand on its own without him.

Written by Jon Jordan

I think it's pretty likely that Sami Zayn is losing the Intercontinental title to Bron Breakker at SummerSlam, and if that's the case, I'm not sure his first IC title reign as a babyface is going down in history as one of the greatest reigns ever. This has happened to Sami a couple years in a row now — big title win at WrestleMania, used as a regular "Raw" main eventer in the months since, but ultimately doesn't really get to sink his teeth into anything meaty as champion before eventually losing the belt. After this week's "Raw," though, it looks to me like there's a massive silver lining ahead for Sami fans, of which I obviously am one.

Zayn teamed up with Jey Uso in the main event and defeated the tag team champions, the first time they've teamed together in 2024. It doesn't feel like an accident to me that just before Sami presumably loses his midcard title, he's reunited with Jey and they even score a win together over the tag champs, all around the same time that most people are expecting Roman Reigns to come back and start another Bloodline Civil War. If the plan is, as many have theorized, to run the New Bloodline Wolfpac against a babyface version of the original group, I'm not sure how you do that without Sami involved. Hell, you could even bring Kevin Owens in, seeing how long he's been involved with this whole storyline. If this is a WarGames build, it's going to be five-on-five, and Solo Sikoa already has Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Jacob Fatu, and presumably Hikuleo before too long. Sami and Kevin are the only people who really make sense to fight alongside Reigns and Jimmy and Jey Uso.

And yeah, this could all just be fanfic, but I don't think so. In the wake of the record-breaking GUNTHER reign, WWE is clearly attempting to move the Intercontinental title into the realm of the newer, younger wrestlers, and one of the reasons Sami's reign has felt disjointed is because he's a main-eventer who hasn't been wrestling main-eventers. It's been a year since Sami was involved with The Bloodline; I think it's a fantastic idea to bring him back in.

Written by Miles Schneiderman