WWE Raw 5 Takeaways: Sasha Banks, Asuka provide exciting preview

Sasha Banks and Asuka close the show wonderfully

Tag matches produced by contract signings are rarely worth writing home about, but the mixed tag match on this week’s WWE Raw between Drew McIntyre and Asuka and Sasha Banks and Dolph Ziggler was well-done.

The best parts of the match were unsurprisingly when Asuka and Sasha were in the ring. They traded so many great counters and teased their future match at Extreme Rules without giving too much away. The quickness, ring IQ, and technical prowess were all on display, and they did a great job of working around the limited heat their tag partners had.

Of course, the finish of the match was the best part, with Sasha clearly studying her film by using the Asuka Lock against her opponent to pick up a key leverage pin. And don’t you love how much Sasha relishes her victories as a heel?

Ricochet gets some shine in loss

Bobby Lashley and Ricochet had an impromptu match on WWE Raw after Lashley’s interference helped MVP beat United States Champion Apollo Crews. Lashley won, of course, and it initially looked like another squash victory for The Dominator.

But Ricochet had an amazing comeback, putting in plenty of damage on Lashley after initially absorbing a whole lot of punishment of his own. He nearly had the match won at one point, but MVP repaid the favor to Lashley by interfering just before Ricochet could hit his finish.

Vince McMahon has undercut Ricochet a lot, but with a documentary coming up for The One and Only, maybe the former North American Champion will finally get some respect after that inexcusable squash loss to Brock Lesnar in Saudi Arabia. We can only hope and cheer Ricochet on.