Heydorn's Raw Receipt 7/7/25
The good, bad, and ugly from this week's episode of WWE Raw.
-WWE trotted out such an odd promo segment to start this week’s episode of Raw. First of all, the reaction that the Seth Rollins faction received was a full on babyface reaction and the talent did nothing to try and temper the cheers or admiration they got as they walked to the ring. If I was a babyface scheduled to work with them, I’d be furious. They were in business for themselves and hurt the psychology of all their storylines because of how they presented.
Microphone disconnect
-What’s with the random Bron Breakker promo and the Bronson Reed soliloquy? Yes, you don’t want those two to feel only like henchmen for Rollins, but the promos felt disconnected from Seth and seemed like they only existed to get those guys some time on the microphone.
-The Rollins faction is still trying to find their way. They don’t have a name and Rollins didn’t look all that happy when Breakker took the microphone from him. Cracks in the armor already?
-Now wait a damn second. Dominik Mysterio thought his cake was from Finn Balor and JD McDonagh when it said “From AJ” on the cake in big letters? What the hell are we doing?
-The Kabuki Warriors reuniting works. First, Evolution 2 needed another hook and Kairi Sane and Asuka teaming together is a fun one. I don’t think this team — like any team — has much of a ceiling, but for what the show needs right now, it’s a smart move.
Bella is back
-Nikki Bella is confirmed for the battle royal at WWE Evolution 2 this weekend. That’s a pretty steep drop from a hyped singles match with Liv Morgan, but the Morgan injury really messed plans up for that event. Look for Bella to win this and have a big singles match return moment at Clash at the Castle.
-So, the best thing about the El Grande Americano gimmick was that nobody in WWE outside of the heels involved were trying to get fans to believe Americano was anyone other than Chad Gable. Then this week happened and you have Corey Graves acting like the biggest dope in the world trying to make the case that it wasn’t and hasn’t been Gable all along. That’s a quick way to take a storyline from the point of slight interest to shockingly bad.
Sorry Sami
-Remember that babyface entrance for the Seth Rollins faction to start the show? Well, that looks much worse when you book a segment to get heat on Bron Breakker and the audience ends up cheering “one more time” as he Spears the beloved Sami Zayn into oblivion. The segment failed. It was about heat and Breakker didn’t get any. Sami Zayn got booed? You’re doing something wrong when babyface Sami Zayn gets booed. WWE, Triple H, Seth Rollins, Paul Heyman, and everyone else involved in this need to get on the same page regarding what the goal is.
-The New Day were mourning the loss of their tag titles this week? I can buy that. It was silly, yes, but it’s exactly something the obnoxious New Day would do.
-I’m looking forward to watching Lyra Valkyria vs. Bayley vs. Becky Lynch on Sunday night at Evolution 2 because it should be a tremendously strong in-ring match. That said, the build has been painful. Nobody comes across as likable and their argument in the ring this week didn’t help to that end.
The Goldberg less is more formula
-There wasn’t much to the final Goldberg and Gunther hype segment this week, but it sure was effective. Since the beginning of his career, less has always been more for Goldberg. Same thing this week. Fans got to see Goldberg, they got a little tease of the Spear, and then Gunther snatched it away. Simple. Goldberg got a very strong reaction and while the match is likely to be a stinker, Saturday Night’s Main Event is a smart place to do this match.
-Seth Rollins vs. Penta in the main event was a lot of fun. Rollins gave Penta quite a bit of offense and Penta delivered on his end as the babyface. WWE likes Penta. He’s regularly used is a prominent talent on shows each week, so it makes you wonder what his ceiling is. IC champion? World champion? Somewhere in between.
Figure it out, Seth
-As for Seth Rollins, look, his entire schtick right now would be better if he’d have some character integrity. Be a heel or don’t. Because he jumps back and forth across that line, everything he touches gets watered down.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments!
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