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Welcome to this week's edition of the best and worst of RAW. It was the penultimate episode before Backlash and the final episode before the WWE Draft begins this Friday.
As a result, there was a "draft watch" happening over which superstars had momentum. However, the headlines have been dominated by the fact that Triple H announced the creation of a new lineage of the World Heavyweight Championship.
Much of that will unfold in the coming months leading up to the Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia, so we won't get too much into that for now.
However, what we will focus on is what happened this week, so let's jump right into the ups and downs of the April 24 episode of RAW:
#3. Best: The push of Bronson Reed on RAW
Austin Theory came out on RAW this week, and although Bobby Lashley cut a bad promo, Bronson Reed swooped in, leading to a massive brawl. Eventually, the 34-year-old rising star stood tall, and we must admit that WWE has handled him well ever since Elimination Chamber this year, but even more so post-WrestleMania 39.
We wouldn't be surprised to see WWE go all out on Bronson Reed, meaning he will likely become the United States Champion in less than two weeks in San Juan, Puerto Rico, at Backlash.
#2. Worst: The main event finish
The main event saw Damian Priest take on Rey Mysterio. Bad Bunny's return was advertised, to begin with, and he appeared a little over ten minutes before the show ended.
The match's finish was unfortunate as it happened to be a DQ. Sure, it set up an excellent return for Bad Bunny and an epic segment where he used a Kendo stick to get one over The Judgment Day member. He told his old friend and partner that he was no longer the host of Backlash but would be competing against Damian Priest in a Street Fight.
While that part was great, the DQ finish involving 15-time Champion Rey Mysterio was disappointing and overlooked.
#2. Best: Cody Rhodes vs. Finn Balor
Cody Rhodes has been good in the feud against Brock Lesnar. He has had to do the heavy lifting himself, even if last week's coward line didn't resonate. As a whole, he has been handled well post-WrestleMania. The fact that he is expected to headline Backlash 2023 should indicate that WWE still views him as the top babyface of RAW.
This week, he was confronted by The Judgment Day's Finn Balor. He defeated him yet again. It was a great match, and did an excellent job of hyping up Cody vs. Brock. Finn Balor didn't look bad in defeat, either.
#1. Worst: Damage CTRL's downfall
We're not sure how this Damage CTRL story is supposed to play out. We get that WWE is teasing dissent and the dissolution, but even the way that is being handled is utterly confusing.
IYO SKY wanted to cash in her RAW Women's Championship shot against Bianca Belair, but instead, we got a six-woman tag team match where Belair, Liv Morgan, and Raquel Rodriguez defeated the Damage CTRL trio - with Bayley being pinned.
The issue is that Damage CTRL has a highly unfavorable win-loss record that gives them zero credibility. Unless WWE goes all-out and plans to surprise fans by having SKY beat Belair (which we somehow don't see happening), the entire way this story is handled is bad.
#1. Best: Kevin Owens calling out Sami Zayn and some storyline progression
We must admit that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn have cooled down fairly quickly since their win at WrestleMania 39. It would never be as hot, but we are happy with how the story was handled this week.
Sami Zayn had conversations with both Jey and Jimmy Uso on RAW this week, and Kevin Owens called him out on it by asking him why he still cares. He pointed out that it's well-known that Roman Reigns is manipulating The Usos and using them for his benefit.
He told Sami Zayn that at this point, if the Usos didn't realize it, then they fully deserved what was coming to them. We like sensible babyfaces - a rare occurrence in WWE.
Matt Riddle's hilarious addition to the segment and the tease of Randy Orton's return was the cherry on the cake in what we felt was a strong episode of RAW.
