The good, the bad, and the downright ugly from Inglewood

Pull up a chair and keep your eyes on the screen because last night’s Raw at the Intuit Dome was the kind of fever dream that makes you reconsider why you stopped watching in the mid-2000s. We finally got the big buildup to SummerSlam, and look, the show was a total mess that I couldn’t help but watch until the credits rolled. You want hot takes? I've got a cabinet full of them.

Let’s start with the stuff that actually worked. The opening segment between Rollins and the Bloodline felt like a classic Attitude Era fever pitch, and yes, Seth Rollins just crossed every line on Raw. Watching him stir the pot in LA was the right move. The crowd was eating out of the palm of his hand, and for once, the script didn't feel like it was written by a committee of people who haven't stepped foot in a gym since 1998.

Why we actually liked it

First off, the mid-card talent is finally getting a pulse. Watching Chad Gable display technical mastery during that triple-threat match was refreshing. He took a brutal German suplex into a pinning combination at the 14 minute mark that had the entire arena off their feet. He actually looks like a credible threat for the first time in an eternity.

Second, the pacing kept the show moving faster than a getaway car. We bypassed the usual twenty-minute promo segments that go nowhere. Instead, we got action, a few solid setups for SummerSlam, and enough heat to make the upcoming PLE feel like a genuinely big deal again. It was lean, mean, and aggressive programming.

Third, let’s give it up for the visual presentation at the new venue. The lighting, the crowd energy, and the way the cameras captured the sheer audacity of the segments made the show feel big-time. It’s hard to make a weekly show feel like a spectacle when we see these guys fifty-two times a year, but for one night, WWE made the Intuit Dome feel like the center of the known universe.

The absolute trainwrecks

Now, let’s talk about the parts that made me want to throw my beer at the wall. The booking of the tag division continues to be a hilarious dumpster fire. We watched a random tag team get slapped together just to fill time, and it ended with a lackluster squash match that drained every ounce of momentum out of the second hour.

Maybe we should stop pretending that every mid-carder needs to be involved in a soap opera. The backstage vignette involving the catering table was a total waste of bandwidth. When Raw in LA caused an absolute meltdown, a lot of it was rightfully aimed at these fillers that don't advance any story, elevate any character, or even provide a decent laugh.

Finally, there is the finish to the main event. Look, I’m all for heat, but doing a double count-out to set up a grudge match at SummerSlam is the oldest trick in the book. It’s lazy writing. You have the best roster of talent in twenty years, yet you still fall back on the same finish that we saw during the Monday Night Wars. We deserve more creativity than a stalemate on a go-home show.

The verdict on the road to SummerSlam

At the end of the day, the show did exactly what it was supposed to do: it kept us arguing. If the goal was to get us hyped for the next PLE, they cleared that bar with room to spare. But let’s be real, it wasn't a perfect masterpiece. It was a chaotic, loud, and often frustrating product that shows just enough promise to sucker us back in next week.

I’m betting that SummerSlam is going to be a bloodbath. If they can clean up the booking on the undercard and stop relying on the easy, tired finishes, they might actually have a classic on their hands. For now, we take the good with the bad, keep the insults flying on the forums, and wait to see if WWE actually puts their money where their mouth is in the ring.