Raw recap & reactions (July 1, 2024): The Wyatts are family

“False prophets belittling their family for their own gain.”

That line stood out from this week’s VHS confidential Wyatt Sicks segment. It explained the group’s motivation and their values. Bo told…himself…that family is the most important thing and that this group is now a family. More importantly, they bonded as family after getting tossed aside.

That makes it more obvious why they’re targeting Chad Gable, and why Chad’s words to Otis and Jey Uso ring hollow. The Wyatts would never target Otis because he didn’t discard his family. Jey didn’t either, as he fought to keep his family but eventually left because he was the victim.

I don’t know how long that motivation holds weight considering it’s general enough that they can target so many people for their deeds over decades, including Seth Rollins. One can poke holes why they target some but not others.

That’s for later though. At this moment, it makes sense given what happened to them and what Chad is doing to the Alpha Academy. Chad’s words and pleas possibly got through to Otis, but it’s good they’re keeping that open to interpretation and not giving a definitive answer yet.

The Wyatt’s just got more interesting and spiced up this thing between Chad and his former family too.

B-Sides

Shakey Dog

I don’t know where this story with New Day and Final Testament is going. I’m still into it simply because I’m confused, if only because I can’t quite understand Karrion Kross’ mind games or what they’re going for with the different twists and turns. Take what happened this week as exhibit A.

Xavier Woods wrestled Karrion in a grudge match for beating down Xavier the last time Raw came to us live. I liked starting the match with Karrion extending his hand and Xavier slapping it away then throwing hands. I’m all about starting matches with aggression in this context. It also helps play into Karrion’s mind games. In fact, he repeatedly asked Xavier to “shake his hand now” when things looked dire for the New Day member. That was a nice touch that showed Karrion’s more than a little crazy.

The two engaged in a very physical match that didn’t go long, but packed a lot of heavy hits. The ending surprised me though, if only because I didn’t expect an Xavier win. He defeated Karrion with a rollup once the big man got a little too big for his britches and gloated too much. Then this happened:

Is the plan to isolate Xavier and give him solo success while Kofi stands by? Maybe. And then I envision an arrogant Karrion saying he did this for Xavier, much like Rikishi said he ran over Stone Cold for The Rock back in the day.

And one more thing. Corey Graves said Karrion’s “Shawn Michaels or Marty Jannetty” question to Xavier was a “thinly veiled” reference to Shawn’s career and Marty’s. Bruv, on what planet is that thinly veiled? There’s no veil there at all; it’s an obvious reference.

360 What Goes Around

Dakota Kai came into this Money in the Bank qualifier match with simple marching orders: win. IYO SKY wants Damage CTRL back on top and every victory, especially the big ones, counts for a lot in her book. And if the Ws don’t stack, then she’s making changes.

That put even more at stake when she faced Zoey Stark and Ivy Nile this week. Understanding that, I watched the match from her perspective. While she certainly had her moments, the bigger ones went to Ivy, who German Suplexed two women at once, and Zoey, who packed her usual aggression. But her struggles brought out Kari Sane, who lent no help when Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre stopped her in her neat little tracks. All the commotion and chaos led to Zoey getting the win, pinning Dakota in the process.

Damage CTRL is on everyone’s hit list right now, which is an interesting position for them. And that development potentially has huge implications on IYO’s success, or lack thereof, in the ladder match for the briefcase. Even though the Women’s tag champs don’t do much for me, I like them as just more people out for Damage CTRL’s blood.

Bash money

This Money in the Bank qualifier was all about Ilja Dragunov. I knew he wasn’t winning, so it made sense to showcase him in a match with two of WWE’s biggest guns. He made his claim early when Sheamus and Drew McIntyre took their attention off the Czar and he made Sheamus pay. That got everyone’s attention, and Ilja kept all eyes on him as the match continued.

The first two acts were mostly Ilja on offense or countering someone else’s. He rarely let Drew and Sheamus go one-on-one, made sure he stayed on top of either man when he had an advantage, and put both down with his signature moves. In fact, one might argue the only reason he didn’t win is because Drew rolled out of the ring after Ilja connected with a Torpedo Moscow.

Sheamus knocked Ilja out of the ring for a proper showdown with Drew. They threw bombs at each other, with Drew getting the final blow and punching his ticket to Money in the Bank.

Very dope main event that put Ilja in the spotlight. He looked great in defeat because he looked like he belongs. Ilj’a biggest strength is that everything looks real; he doesn’t do anything at half speed. After everything with Ricochet and Bron went sideways, this was a good spot for him.

Singles

• Tons of Judgment Day drama this week. We found out Rhea isn’t happy, Finn thinks Damian Priest is the problem, and Dirty Dom is still filthy. Their story is the most interesting part of Money in the Bank for me, as it connects to so many other facets.
• On that note, Liv Morgan retained her championship after defeating Zelina Vega, partially thanks to Dom trying to “help” Zelina but failing miserably.
• Rey Mysterio defeated Dom thanks to Liv trying to “help” but also failing miserably. Maybe these two really are made for each other?
• Seth sowed even more dissent in the Judgment Day when he said Finn’s jealous that Damian won a championship that Finn couldn’t. Based on the minor tension between Finn and Damian, this bears watching at Money in the Bank.
• Sami Zayn and Bron Breakker gave us a fantastic segment:

Raw delivers like an 80 lb. baby again. This show gave us more story and talking segments than matches, but everything felt important and contributed to the whole. Great show that flew by and whetted my appetite for Money in the Bank.

What say you, Cagesiders? Is Finn right about Damian or is it jealousy?

Sound off!