WWE RAW erupts with new feuds and Bloodline's growing dominance
Last week's WWE RAW after WrestleMania had a few surprises with Ethan Page and Sol Ruca debuting. This week's show dropped the ball a bit. Becky Lynch and IYO SKY had a great match, but it was predictably ended by interference from Asuka. Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker traded verbal jabs, while El Grande Americano battled Rey Mysterio. Liv Morgan passively accused Roxanne Perez of still having loyalty to Finn Balor. The Laredo native teamed with Raquel Rodriguez to get a victory over Lyra Valkyria and Bayley. Certain things worked, but WWE still made the next four mistakes on RAW. #4. WWE's oversaturation of the Bloodline continues It was a possibility with Roman Reigns winning the World Heavyweight Title, but WWE has oversaturated both RAW and SmackDown with the Bloodline after WrestleMania. One show is enough, but to do it on both brands is overkill. Fatu challenging Reigns should keep him on RAW for the time being. He probably won't beat The Tribal Chief, so he can go back to SmackDown. Solo Sikoa and the MFTs were all over SmackDown last week because the Usos, Roman's messenger boys, went there to tell Fatu to back off. RAW opened with a pre-taped segment. Reigns and Fatu closed the show in the ring. LA Knight got a quick minute backstage, while Gunther was gone again this week. It's great if you love the family, but it's not for the rest of the fans and roster. #3. Disappointing booking of IYO SKY continues IYO SKY was an afterthought on the Road to WrestleMania, with her main focus being fodder for Rhea Ripley's opponents. She fell victim to Jade Cargill to help Mami's program. Her main usage in Las Vegas was to stop Michin and B-Fab from interfering. In her last three contests, she's 1-2. That one victory is in tag team action with Ripley against the Kabuki Warriors. Her two losses are to Cargill and to Lynch on RAW. Even The Man pointed out that it seemed Ripley indirectly dictates how things go for SKY. Having The Genius of the Sky lose to Lynch in a good match, no matter how it happens, continues to paint her as little more than a sidekick. #2. WWE's failure to read the room after last week's releases WWE released over 25 stars last week ahead of SmackDown. Some could have decided against signing new deals, while others were likely let go for other reasons. Whatever reason is given, it doesn't justify working layoffs into a segment on the very next WWE show. Joe Hendry's songs are usually funny. At any other time, this would have landed fine, and he's used the firing angle before in songs. Even though many fans dislike Logan Paul, his song using a line about how he should be fired is a bad decision. It shows a lack of self-awareness from officials and how 25 or more people lost their jobs last week. Some fans may not have cared because of their feelings toward each performer. It still shows poor planning and carelessness, with several performers let go after WrestleMania. #1. Burying Solo Sikoa again Solo Sikoa has been mostly buried when dealing with Roman Reigns and the Original Bloodline. He started the MFTs, and they had some success on their own. Sikoa beat Jacob Fatu for the United States Championship, but it was always with outside interference. The Samoan Werewolf literally buried Solo and the MFTs last week in the main event of SmackDown. He beat Sikoa one-on-one and then destroyed the remaining members. Roman Reigns is a fan favorite, but his face promos always seem heelish. Fatu recounted how it took him 12 years to get to WWE. Roman didn't have the same grind he did because he was handpicked. Reigns does what top faces do - laugh off logical reasoning from opponents. He also buried Solo yet again, whereas Fatu credited him with bringing him to WWE. Reigns had to get in that he "signed off" on it, which is more of a heelish thing. If that wasn't bad enough, he buried the lineage of the World Heavyweight title, saying "they" created it in spite of him. Before WrestleMania, he said, "We get things back to normal" when he wins the title. He's part of the machine, whereas Sikoa and Fatu have had to work against it for most of their careers. He also called Fatu wanting a shot 'nepotism', which is funny because the Bloodline was built on it. WWE wants fans to root for Reigns, but his burying of other stars, instead of building them up, isn't a good look for a supposed hero.
