This week’sWWERaw from Philadelphia, PA, saw a new champion crowned in an explosive main event for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.Bron Breakker recaptured his title by beating Jey Uso with a thunderous spear, after kicking out of the Uso Splash. The now-former champion had just been attacked by The Bloodline at ringside with Jacob Fatu superkicking Jey, returning fire after Uso threatened to knock him out on SmackDown. It was a blistering end to the night’s action with enormous consequences for everyone.
Elsewhere, Damage CTRL vs Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez’s match was again interrupted by NXT’s Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson, Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee and The New Day made it through to meet The War Raiders in next week’s number one contender’s match for the Tag team Championship, The Wyatt Sicks are coming for The FInal Testament andSeth Rollins and Bronson Reed brawled all night long to get their match at the upcoming Crown JewelPLE.
Bron Breakker
And New Intercontinental Champion
What an electrifying start Bron Breakker is enjoying to life on the main roster. In his opening six months, he has built captivating feuds with Ilja Dragunov, Sami Zayn, and Jey Uso, culminating inBreakker being a two-time Intercontinental Champion after regaining his titlefrom the latter. Jey and Bron are two of the leading names to take WWE into their bright future and this flip-flopping of the IC title only adds prestige to these bouts.
For Breakker,this title win makes Bron look like the dominant force that he is. Kicking out of the Uso Splash, before any Bloodline involvement in the match, felt huge for his credibility. By contrast, Bron Breakker’s spear that won him the championship looked paralyzing. With men at the top of the card now fighting over the IC title and the belt having a vital part to play in the next part of The Bloodline story, the Intercontinental Championship feels important when it’s hotly contested as much as it is when someone has a long title reign. Bron Breakker is back at the top of the mountain.
Seth Rollins and Bronson Reed
Raw Fired On Ten From The Very Start
As Joe Tessitore is listing the rundown of the evening during Raw’s intro, viewers are settling in and superstars are shown arriving. Bronson Reed casually enters the arena, luggage innocently in tow, before being attacked by an uncharacteristically unhinged Seth Rollins.These two men’s venom for one another has made this feud instantaneously electric, Rollins following his assault by stomping to the ring with a purpose. So angry that he cut his song off early, Rollins called out the monster and Reed came raging from the back for a feral brawl that ended with the Australian missing a frog splash and crashing through the announcers' table.
This carnage would continue all night. An innocent interview with Adam Pearce couldn’t even begin before Rollins and Reed barreled into one more. The exact same outcome happened again later in the evening, as Raw’s GM attempted to speak to the camera once more, beforeAdam Pearce finally got the chance to confirm Seth Rollins vs Bronson Reed at Crown Jewel. It is a much-needed match with a long-term story at an event that is currently being characterized by short-term thinking.
Dominik Mysterio
Dirty Dom Is Seeking A Challenge
It started out like any other day in The Judgment Day’s clubhouse. Finn Balor is targeting Priest, Liv Morgan is still fending off Rhea Ripley but then came a new development.Dirty Dom wants to challenge Gunther for the World Championshipand is serious about making it happen. Deadly serious, much to the hilarity of everyone but Liv in the WWE locker room.
With Carlito assuming the role of The Judgment Day’s “fixer”, he approached Adam Pearce about Dominik Mysterio vs Gunther. Pearce laughed like he’d just seen his first Ali Wong special. When he finally calmed down, it was announced thatDom will face a former world champion on next week’s Rawfor a match to be Number One Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. There is a real future for the WWE’s largest heat magnet. This story could be great (especially when someone tells Gunther).
Jey Uso
A Heavy Loss Caused By The Bloodline Civil War
This past Friday,Main Event Jey Uso stole the show on SmackDown when arriving unscheduled to confront The Bloodline. In appealing to Solo Sikoa to reconsider his actions and quit tearing their family apart, Jey Uso became the first person to threaten the horrifying Jacob Fatu, and took the WWE universe’s collective breath away in the process. It was the moment of the night and a quick reminder that in among the Yeeting and the playing, Jey Uso doesn’t play games, has he told Fatu that he was going to get knocked out if he didn’t stop staring.
With extreme actions come extreme consequences, as Sikoa and Fatu had ringside tickets for Jey’s title defense, before Tonga Loa and Tama Tonga also arrived from the other side of the crowd. He took out Solo and the SmackDown tag team champs, but ran into a superkick from Jacob Fatu. Jey has turned down Roman Reigns and his brother’s advances so far, butThe Bloodline costing Jey Uso his IC title will make him reconsider his cousin and brother’s proposals. The road to Survivor Series is about to heat up on SmackDown.
The Miz and The Final Testament
The Wyatt Sicks Have Their New Victims
In the first Tag Team Champions Number One Contenders tournament, The New Day defeated the Authors Of Pain and their problems would not end there. The most significant occurrence of their match came whenThe Miz joined his new friends in The Final Testament at ringside. Dressed in a black suit and jet-black shades, Miz was happy to assist his new gang before R-Truth launched himself out of the crowd, pummeling his former partner and manufacturing a distraction that cost AOP the match.
Dragging him into the ring, the whole team would descend upon R-Truth, who had no help from The New Day as Xavier Woods kept Kofi Kingston from interfering. And then the lights went out andThe Wyatt Sicks confirmed The Final Testament as their new targets. The emergence of The Wyatt Sicks is beginning to feel a little one-note but Philadelphia went crazy as they cleaned house before Uncle Howdy appeared to attempt to attack The Miz, but it was the 71-year-old Paul Ellering who would receive the mandible claw as the scene cut to black.
American Made
Gable’s Stable Are Yet To Find Their Feet
Among the WWE’s fanbase who appreciate pure wrestling, the union of Chad Gable, The Creed Brothers, and Ivy Nile has been cause for great excitement. In truth,American Made is yet to make much of an impact on the WWE landscape, and this week saw yet more disappointment. The Creed Brothers were defeated by Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee to lose out on a shot at the tag team titles on next week’s show.
There is a realistic chance that a team called American Made is being held back at a time of political discourse in the lead-up to a US election. In an online environment built for throwing stones and being dunked on, it’s not worth WWE being misinterpreted for creative reasons. If it’s not something of that nature, it’s hard to see whyAmerican Made has yet to make any notable impact on WWE. Hopefully that changes in the not-too-distant future.
