I thought tonight was a fun show with a good deal of good wrestling while the promo segments didn't make me wanna gag, so that's always nice.

Becky Lynch vs. Kairi Sane was a fun match, both girls got physical, it was given a lot of time and the fans really got into things once it became clear to them that this wasn't going to be some 3 minute squash or end suddenly with Asuka interfering. Neither of the ladies went all out here because you'd have a potential MOTY candidate if they had, but it was still quite good. There were a couple of really close near falls for Kairi, especially the one after she hit the spinning back fist as Becky got her shoulder up genuinely a small fraction of a second before the ref would've counted three. It was pretty clear that Kairi wasn't gonna pick up the win here but, again, the near falls helped things nicely with Becky winning via the Disarm-Her. The post match stuff with Paige was good for what it was in that Asuka & Kairi are now full fledged heels, so turning on Paige and Asuka spitting the green mist in her eyes was a nice little touch that the crowd responded to. It took me a second to remember why they were suddenly beating Paige down in that she's not medically cleared to take action due to the neck problems that forced her to retire. Still, it was nice to see her in a ring again. ***1/2

R-Truth vs. Buddy Murphy wasn't the outright squash it should've been, in my opinion, and I could've done without all the 24/7 Championship shenanigans as the novelty is wearing off for me. Truth's a talented guy in the ring but he's far, far too damaged to be a stepping stone for someone while simultaneously getting in as much offense as he did. It was really too short to rate but all in all, I was kind of disappointed in that Murphy struggled a bit to win over Truth and that it also took the circus of the 24/7 Championship to distract Truth. NA

The Street Profits are making headway in getting over with the fans. They're giving them a lot of time to get into their personalities and it seems to be paying off. Montez Ford especially has crazy charisma to go along with a ton of athletic ability, the guy has the potential to be a major player as even without all the overly excited zaniness, the guy knows how to work a mic.

Ricochet vs. Drew McIntyre was another strong outing from these two, maybe not quite on the same level as last week's but still quite good. One thing that took away from the match was that I thought McIntyre was in control just a little too much, so much that it started to get a bit boring at times. You get the strong feeling that WWE has plans for these two, especially McIntyre as it FINALLY feels like he's back on track to being this determined stud after being sidetracked for much of this year playing babysitter to Vince's little bastard man-child Shane. I get the sense that the start of McIntyre's long awaited big push is just around the corner, or it may have begun. Ricochet also gives me the impression of potentially being a World Champion in WWE someday, he's not that much on the mic and he'll never be THE FACE of the company, but he's got the fan support and ability to be a major player. The match was hard hitting and it was fun seeing McIntyre mock Hogan and get into Hogan's face at various points throughout the thing. I would have marked out if Hogan had been allowed to get physical only for McIntyre to kick the crap out of him, though that'd probably never happen as what'd most likely happen would be McIntyre getting the snot kicked out of him by 66 year old Pappy Hogan. The finish worked out well and, again, you get the sense that WWE is really protecting both guys but McIntyre especially as they didn't want Ricochet getting pinned two weeks in a row, even to Drew, while not wanting Drew to get pinned. The way Ricochet took Orton's RKO looked sick as his athleticicm affords him ability to take some moves in which it looks like he's been friggin' killed. ***3/4

The War Raiders vs. the "Chicago Cubs" was just what it needed to be: just pure, glorious carnage. I know I've said this before, some probably agree and some don't, but I just wish WWE would have one big tag team division for the men like they're doing for the women. They've got enough teams with enough talent to have a strong division and it'd give the Raiders a couple of really strong programs before they eventually lock horns with AOP.

Sin Cara vs. Andrade was okay for what it was, though I didn't see a need for a rematch. Sin Cara, at least this second version, used to be known as Hunico though he's been doing the Sin Cara thing for well over 5 years now with the highlight coming from working in NXT with Kalisto as the Lucha Dragons, where they became NXT Tag Team Champions. Andrade feels like he's in some kind of holding pattern, he's got all the talent in the world yet he seems to be stuck in these mid-card feuds in which he comes out on top of, but isn't moving up in the ranks. The action here was solid but nothing spectacular, though I'm glad to see Andrade pick up the win and I hope they move him on. WWE's not going to do anything with Sin Cara, Andrade has all the ability in the world to be a player and there's no need for another match between them. **1/4

Natalya & Charlotte Flair vs. the IIconics was about what I figured it'd be, though it was a little bit more competitive. Peyton Royce actually looked fairly competent in there while Billie Kaye just continues to stink up the place. You knew the outcome here once you saw it was the IIconics. The pairing of Nattie and Charlotte highlighted a couple of my biggest pet peeves with WWE: for one thing, Nattie is talented in the ring but the woman has no personality or charisma to speak of. Some people can show charisma through promos, some can show it inside the ring during matches, some can do both while Nattie doesn't show it anywhere, yet she's still a regular fixture on WWE television. WWE has this tendency to put focus on people that they really shouldn't, sometimes way too much focus, and I think Natalya is one of those ladies. To be perfectly honest, I think Nattie would be of better use in NXT than the main roster because as least there's a chance for some fresh programs, maybe even a fresh start altogether for her because she's ultimately done and gone as much as she can and as far as she's going to go on Raw or SmackDown. Another issue is the spontaneous character change that we're seeing, yet again. Just a few weeks ago, Charlotte was a heel and without any sort of explanation, now she's back on Raw as a babyface. Vince just does not give the furry crack of a rat's rabid rump about continuity. **

Seth Rollins vs. Erick Rowan was a fun FCA match, nothing over the top or spectacular, but a good physical outing that had both of them looking good. I kept expecting the Fiend to show up at some point to interfere in the match, thereby causing some sort of no contest because, let's face it, little things like actual endings in matches that are no DQ don't often count with the boss. At any rate, I'm also not seeing any sort of real backlash against Rollins among the fans. To listen to the jabber online, you'd think that fans were going after him as if he were Baron Corbin but, as is often the case, you can't pay much attention to internet fan drivel. Rollins is still getting big pops, fans are digging his matches, and they wanna see him do his thing. The ending with the forklift seemed a bit unnecessary given that Rowan had just eaten a Stomp against a ladder backstage but, on the other hand, he did kick out of one earlier due to Rollins not being able to make the cover in time. A good warm up for Rollins for what I feel is the inevitable disappointment that will be Rollins vs. Fiend II. ***1/4

Aleister Black does another backstage promo with his usual schtick. Is this guy really from the Netherlands because I can't detect the slightest hint of any sort of accent from him. He speaks better, straight up American English better than any European I've ever heard. Like Andrade, he's someone you get the feeling that is waiting around for something which can be blamed on a lack of creative direction from WWE or the fact that they have such a friggin' huge roster. I could buy into either one.

Humberto Carrillo vs. AJ Styles was another good showing for Carrillo, one that I enjoyed more than his match against Rollins last week. Humberto is slowly coming along with fans getting behind him but they're wary of investing to any real degree because we've seen so many fresh young faces be put into showcase matches against top guys on the roster, they look great but then they wind up in mid-card limbo. Humberto needs a different name and/or some sort of mouthpiece, in my opinion, and I'm thinking should try to do some sort of young, Latin stud character because he's got the looks for it. At any rate, he put up a strong outing against Styles with the outcome not being in doubt, but this was all about how the young cub was able to do against the old lion. Styles comes up with the win via the Calve Crusher. Humberto sticking up for himself after the match after the show of disrespect from Styles was a nice little move as was the Street Profits coming out to aid him once Gallows & Anderson jumped in. ***1/2

The King's Court segment was one I actually enjoyed for the most part. I figured I'd hate this because I expected it to be some Mickey Mouse B.S. with Lana giving some lame answer as to why she began her "affair" with Lashley. When I say lame, I meant that I figured she'd say something like Rusev no longer paid attention to her, that he no longer seemed as into her and all that stuff. The actual introduction and use of the word "sex" into this thing automatically told you that Paul Heyman was behind this particular segment, as was Rusev telling Lana that Lashley was talking "shit" when Lana said Lashley had told her Rusev had cheated. Hearing Lana talk about how Rusev wanted sex all the time, anytime, anywhere got a good response from the fans and the entire scenario needed to be spiced up. I mean, it was still firmly within PG territory, bordering on PG-13 at times, but it was ediger than most promo segments you see in WWE these days. The physicality between Lashley and Rusev was well done and, again, fans were responding to it rather than sitting on their hands. Rusev getting the best of Lashley only to take a couple of nut shots from him, after being distracted by Lana, was a fitting way to end things before they started making out again. You can tell there's still some awkwardness in this because, let's face it, Bobby Lashley isn't some trained actor or anything, so you have to think that it's a little awkward slobbin' with another man's wife with said man literally three feet from him. Still, yes, there's still a bad element of daytime soap opera drama to this whole thing, which Vince McMahon absolutely loves, but it's not nearly as bad as it could've been.

Overall, last night's Raw was a good show that featured mostly quality wrestling, good hype for Crown Jewel and storyline progression. Still, for me, there's this sense of apprehension that I can't quite get over or put my finger on. There's so much of what goes on in WWE that can be treated like it matters one week and then is casually tossed aside the next week or week after; it's a common occurrence because Vince will sometimes lose and gain interest in something at the drop of a hat. Also, Crown Jewel ultimately still feels like a glorified house show, though here's hoping his is a house show that's actually worth watching as I've skipped the others they've done. They actually feel like they're putting a little effort into it but, again, you get the sense that nothing that goes on at Crown Jewel really matters, plus Survivor Series is coming up and WWE, as usual, won't really have the proper time to really build things up to the levels they should be as that's generally the price you pay for having a PPV every 3 to 4 weeks. Overall though, I give last night's show a B-. If you want to watch anything, check out Lynch vs. Sane, Rollins vs. Rowan, Carrillo vs. Styles and MAYBE check out the King's Court segment.