I don’t have much to say about Judgement Day and the Terror Twins here, other than that I like this approach.

Rhea Ripley started Raw with a thirst for revenge and the odd joke at Dirty Dom’s expense on the tip of his tongue. Then we finally got Dom’s reasoning for leaving Rhea for Liv Morgan. He said a few stupid things, but basically it boiled down to him wanting someone to soothe his ego and make him feel like a “real man.”

He’s not man enough or grown up enough to handle Rhea, as evidenced by his statement that Liv lets him play video games whenever he wants and feeds him “tendies.” If a grown man saying tendies doesn’t make everything about Dom’s maturity clear, I don’t know what does.

Rhea said something that caught my attention. While Dom was bragging about Liv helping him defeat Rey Mysterio, something Rhea never did, Ms. Ripley noted that she never pitched in during those fights because she never wanted Dom to question whether he was the better man to his father. She believed that it was better for him in the long run if he did, which is a very mature statement. It’s also an interesting point because it shows how much he meant to her.

Rhea doesn’t often show hurt; she did mention this week that Dom broke her heart, but that comment about Dom and Rey showed how much she wanted the world for Dom. Liv doesn’t support Don as much as she enables him. She helps him get out of trouble, like she did this week when Rhea almost threw him into the Riptide, but it doesn’t feel like a truly supportive partnership.

On that note, here’s more of the Terror Twins. Damian showed up during the promo and beat up Dom in the concession stand. Rhea eventually got her hands on Liv as well, but that didn’t last long.

Damian defeated Carlito in an impromptu match, which led to more Judgment Day shenanigans. They are clearly setting up Finn Balor as the final boss for Damian, so I expect his involvement in the mixed tag match between Liv, Dom, and the Terror Twins.

They can’t quite get their hands on him and Finn has promised that he will always be there to stab Damian in the back. This keeps the pressure on Finn and delays the fight as long as possible. Why not in the aptly titled Bad blood?

There is so much to like here, and every bit of it tickles my pleasure sensors.

B-Sides

filthy dog

I knew it. I saw it coming. Well, to be fair, I’m sure everyone saw it coming when Ivy Nile approached Maxxine Dupri before American Alpha faced American Made in a Tornado match. Ivy suggested putting in a good word with Chad Gable to get Maxxine on the new team. Maxxine declined due to her loyalty to her family. Ivy smiled and said she expected that response.

So I wasn’t surprised when Ivy went after Maxxine during the Tornado match and put her in a Dragon Sleeper. But I felt bad. To make matters worse for Tozawa and Otis, Ivy used her love for Maxxine against them and threatened to do them real harm. Tozawa froze in shock and the Creed Bros. took advantage.

This is such a good picture for Ivy. It shows her evil side, puts her firmly in American Made, and hopefully sets up a future match between her and Maxxine. It also makes a personal feud even more personal. Chad’s betrayal feels less important now considering the former coach’s issues with the Wyatt Sicks. Ivy and Maxxine were real friends, so that’s a deal breaker. And it helps that Maxxine is easy to root for.

The match itself was an incredible car crash, and I mean that in the best way possible. But the ending gave it meaning for me. We have another layer to this feud that cleverly uses past angles to influence the present.

The Crack Attack

GUNTHER sets the tone for his rule. He says why he is superior to everyone. He gives them respect, but then immediately explains why they are not on his level. He did this with Damian Priest in a way that The close to racism, and he’s doing it again with Randy. It doesn’t sound quite as good, though. Randy is going to be in the Hall of Fame; WWE tells us that every time the man is on TV. Saying Randy is great but has wasted some opportunities just doesn’t work when the man is a 14-time world champion. So I didn’t like that part of their back and forth.

What did Work was everything, however, after Drew McIntyre showed up. Drew Mac, believing CM Punk had flight issues, strolled into someone else’s business like he belonged there. Punk surprised him and the two went at it. Randy hit an RKO on the distracted GUNTHER, which gave away the champion’s words that he saw it coming. Well, not this time. It punched a hole in the Ring General’s armor while also increasing the threat of Randy Orton. GUNTHER hates being embarrassed and this was embarrassing.

Punk and Drew O’Mac continue to be hot. Punk continues to stand in Drew’s way of winning championship gold, which only makes Drew angrier.

Where am I

Where does Sami Zayn go from here? That’s my main question after this well-paced and exciting match with two losses out of three. I didn’t go into it thinking about winning; I mean, come on. And I definitely expected better than what we got. SummerSlamwhich was too fast for my taste.

The nice thing here, besides the overall game, was the layout. Imitation SummerSlam but Sami turned it around and scored a pretty quick fall about 18 minutes into the fight. It came out of the blue and embarrassed Bron. This happened some time after Bron had gone on his usual rant during the fight while Sami was down. Despite their recent struggles, Bron didn’t take Sami too seriously at first and paid the price for it.

But the fight continued and no matter what Sami did, Bron kept wresting control from the former Intercontinental Champion. Like most Sami fights, this one was Rocky; Sami takes a beating, but he keeps at it, frustrating his opponent in the process. Bron fought through this upset and did something I’ve never seen in a wrestling match: he hurled Sami like a spear over the barrier into the timekeeper’s area.

If you missed it, please watch it because it was awesome and scary at the same time. Bron carries grown men like little shopping bags and Sami can keep up with the best of them. In moments like these, the two feel like perfect opponents. These moments also show how well Sami has got a handle on Bron. He makes the big man look even better and does such moves willingly because they will pay off later.

Shortly after, Bron got his first fall, which took the fight in a new direction. I liked the faster pace during the sudden death. It gave the final moments a sense of urgency and showed both men countering moves they had previously fallen victim to. Sami countered the spear that took him down with a kick to the head. Bron quickly moved out of the way before Sami even thought about attempting another Helluva Kick.

And finally, Sami shoved Bron to the mat as the big man jumped to the top rope for another Frankensteiner. It didn’t matter though, as it only delayed the inevitable. Sami jumped off the top rope while Bron played dead. The champion got up and rammed the challenger in mid-air for the final three-count.

Unbelievable. Even though it didn’t look particularly smooth, it was still an amazing finish (pun intended).

So back to my original question: where does Sami go from here? Jey Uso mentioned that they’re going after the Judgment Day Tag Team Championships. Is Sami in the right environment for that? Or is this a prelude to Sami and Jey going their separate ways for a while so Jey can join Roman Reigns’ crusade against Solo Sikoa? Although I’d love to see Sami be a part of that. In fact, this may just be a way to get Sami out of it. The Championship picture to get him into another and then finally into the hottest angle on Friday night.

Single

• So Team Forehead is now officially called Pure Fusion Collective. That sounds like a rock band I never want to see. Their Damage CTRL feud continues while the Unholy Union lurks.
• Karrion Kross looked pretty prophetic this week. Kofi Kingston had everything under control and made sure that he and Xavier Woods took on Odyssey Jones for the big man’s first fight on March 1. Rawand even interrupted X as the former King of the Ring was setting up a tag match against Final Testament. The unrest and tension is clear, but I don’t think Xavier is doing the heel turn here; I think Kofi is. He already has the big Odyssey as his muscle, and is also very condescending towards his New Day partner. I still don’t want them to break up, but it seems inevitable.
• Bronson Reed crushed R-Truth this week. And then he just kept crushing him. Over and over and over again. It’s crazy how this simple spot of Bronson hitting multiple tsunamis on anyone who gets in his way already won over the crowd. Texas still liked Truth, but the tsunamis liked her a little more.
• Pete Dunne defeated Sheamus this week with another Attack. I love the bitterness coming from Pete. He blames Sheamus for abandoning him, for that stupid name, and for forcing him to watch “The Sheamus Show” for months.

Fantastic show. It started hot, ended hot and there was no lag in between. I wish I had more but sometimes fewer words are enough.

What do you say, Cagesiders? What do you think of Pure Fusion Collective as a name?