Tiffany’s Takes: WWE RAW (7/8/19)

The Paul Heyman Era of WWE RAW started off with a bang, literally, last week, but how will this week stack up?

Tiffany Takes you on her journey through the July 8 episode of WWE Raw in this edition of Tiffany’s Takes!

Can someone tell me why Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch vs Andrade and Zelina Vega was the opening match? You’ve got the two top champs on RAW in a Mixed Tag match and that’s the opener? Seriously. At least Seth didn’t go out there in that ‘Man’s Man’ shirt because that is extremely cringy. Rollins vs Andrade is a dream match, at Vega didn’t drop a pregnancy bombshell on everyone, which made it a vast improvement from last week. We did get Lacey Evans, so the match at Extreme Rules got a build, but the Mixed Tag Elimination was dumb because Lynch had nothing to do except get taken out so Seth would lose focus. At least the show started with a match instead of a 20min promo.  Baron Corbin and Evans running in wasn’t a shock, and I am so ready for this feud to be over so Rollins and Lynch can move on to better feuds for SummerSlam.

I have a great deal of respect for what Paul Heyman did for wrestling, for better or worse, but I’m so sick of his Lesnar schtick, it’s not even funny. Stay in the back Paul, we’re all happier that way. I don’t care about Braun Strowman vs Bobby Lashley. If this nonsense at Extreme Rules ends this stupid feud, great, just so it ends.

I’m still not totally onboard with The Miz as a face, it just doesn’t seem like a natural fit. Also, why are we cutting away from Miz’s six man for Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre? Also, why are we having a 2-out-of-3 falls six man tag match? Did they draw this stuff out of a hat? At least the faces won, but when are the Usos going to get a title match?

I feel for Drake Maverick’s wife Renee Michelle, thank God she’s a wrestler or this could get really awkward. Hopefully the pay off is her coming to WWE. I have a theory that she was going to help Maverick in his feud with Mike and Maria Kanellis, but since Maria is pregnant, that’s probably been put on hold.

I love Rey Mysterio, but his return to WWE hasn’t been as great as I was hoping, mainly due to his injuries and the open challenge didn’t help when he got squashed by Lashley.

I’m happy The Club is back together, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows are a great heel team. I’m bummed that the Shield is no longer around to feud with them.

So No Way Jose got another chance at Cesaro, but Cesaro wasn’t anymore impressed than he was last week. Cesaro’s a great wrestler, but he doesn’t seem to have much of a personality of his own that translates on-screen, which is why the end of the Bar sucks because Sheamus had enough personality for both of them.

Why are The Street Profits here? We literally get a plug for the Network in every other segment during a RAW or SmackDown, why do we need them?

Okay, we know that Maria’s pregnancy is legit, so I’m impressed that they’re continuing to use her since the SOP is to keep pregnant women out the spotlight for their safety. I also love that Mike Kanellis is going to be used from now on. However, who turns their nose up at DAISIES?!

I really hope the match at Extreme Rules is the start of Nikki Cross vs Alexa Bliss. I love Nikki, but she can’t be THAT blind to not realize that Alexa is using her and that everyone TELLING her that has more experience with Alexa than she does.

Carmella and R-Truth are one of the best teams in WWE, male or female. Let’s have them vs Rollins and Lynch next week!

Ivar and Erik went ‘A Viking’ as they say, sadly for their opponents, whose names I didn’t catch.

It’s a little frightening that Roman Reigns and The Undertaker are on the same page. Just saying.

I loved Ricochet vs Luke Gallows, As big as Gallows is, you’d think he’d be a lug, but he can move, which makes him perfect for Ricochet. The finish was eh, but Ricochet needed the momentum after last week. Same with the match against Anderson, which was an excuse to tease Styles vs Ricochet again.

Okay, I can’t have Maverick and his bride vs Mike and Maria Kanellis, but I’ll take them vs Truth and Carmella!

The whole storyline about Shane and McIntyre finding people who have no wrestling skills to be Reigns’ partner was a little…yuck.

Yay, Sarah Logan is back! I wish the Riott Squad was still around, but I love the new-ish gimmick. Seems more her style. I was also surprised and very happy to see Logan get time to really get a match in with Bayley instead of being squashed. I’m a little bummed that Logan lost, but she got a really good match and looked like a legit threat. Also, yay for Dana Brooke being back on RAW! Brooke and Logan have had quite a feud on Main Event, but it’s nice to see them having matches on RAW, even if it’s not against one another. However, I don’t think Brooke seeming to be in Bayley’s back pocket is the best way to go, especially since Nikki won. I”m intrigued by the handicap match stipulation, but I love nasty Bayley. Thank god for Sasha Banks bringing that out of her.

This situation with Mike and Maria is funny and weird at the same time, but since it keeps Maria on TV for now, I’ll take it.

Why is Corey Graves interviewing Rollins and Lynch? Is he going to be like Jesse Ventura of the 2010s? Also, Seth and Becky are super cute, but their on-screen relationship feels too forced. I wish they’d done it as them teaming up and falling in love. Yeah, the cat’s already out of the bag, but it would’ve been cute.

Is Shane getting paid by the word? Dude, shut up! also, who the fuck is the schmuck in the mask because I can’t imagine anyone surviving with a name like Garbutt. I’ve never known a janitor who could do flips like that. Oh, poor Cedric Alexander. Ya went from being undefeated for nearly a year to wrestling under a mask and losing to Shane McMahon. Lord, please let this feud end on Sunday!

This was an okay RAW overall. It wasn’t as explosive as last week and there were a few hiccups, but it wasn’t terrible. Coming off a big holiday weekend and having to build Extreme Rules while also promoting EVOLVE was tough. I’m hoping a lot of feuds will be coming to an end on Sunday so the SummerSlam build can start with fresh ones, specifically Rollins/Lynch vs Corbin/Evans, Shane/McIntyre vs Reigns, and Strowman vs Lashley. Seriously over all of them.

That’s it for Tiffany’s RAW Takes! Tune in tomorrow for SmackDown and 205 coverage!