WWE Raw: Feb. 1 Hit/Miss – Finally, a good episode of Raw

I haven’t been shy about criticizing Raw over the past few weeks, but I’ve also given them credit when deserved. The Feb. 1 episode of Raw is the rarest of Monday nights for WWE: a decent-to-good show where nothing felt too out of place. Even grading on a scale, the first show after the Royal Rumble event was about as good as you could hope for if you’re WWE.

That’s why this week, WWE Raw receives only a Hit from me and no Miss.

With WWE, it’s difficult to watch a show and NOT conjure up a Miss, but honestly, I would just be nitpicking if I chose a Miss from the show. Yes, I understand, WWE should be held to a higher standard, but booking seven hours of TV across three shows, not including any PPVs or lesser-viewed shows like Main Event and 205 Live, is an immense task. I should cut them a little slack…but just a little.

With that, let’s move to the Hit for Feb. 1.

HIT: every match and segment served a definitive purpose, anchored by Edge

Edge might not be WWE or Universal Champion, but considering how many segments he appeared in and him being the focal point of each segment, he might as well be the uncrowned champ.

“The Rated R Superstar” shined in each segment on the mic. My immediate reaction to his words directed at Drew McIntyre was that they sounded too accurate and too logical for WWE. The difference is Edge made me believe in his words.

That’s one thing about Edge: he’s always been a good promo, but his experience acting on multiple TV shows has really helped him fine-tune his skills. He knows exactly when to raise his voice/emotion/anger or, on the opposite end, when to lower everything.

His match with Randy Orton was laborious because it was supposed to be laborious, and his acting also shined here (and who knows, maybe he really was winded?). While the commentators continually reminded us of how exhausted Edge must be after spending nearly an hour bell-to-bell (as Edge said in an earlier promo) in the men’s Rumble match, Edge also sold his exhaustion in multiple ways: gasping for air, crawling to the ropes, stumbling around unbalanced, etc.

I think it would behoove WWE wrestlers to study Edge and pick his brain while he’s around, such as a debuting Damian Priest who received a show of respect from Edge later in the evening.

Beyond Edge, the rest of the show was actually fairly enjoyable to watch.

While Naomi & Lana aren’t a recent team, they have tagged before. I can nitpick about their inclusion in the match, but it’s fine. It also helps that they weren’t just fodder and actually won, though I have issue with how bad Asuka has come off the past few weeks. However, at least we have another women’s tag team contender and presumably the removal of Asuka & Charlotte Flair from the tag team division.

The Hurt Business also had a fine night. While Lashley technically lost, he retained his United States Championship against Riddle. Further, he completely decimated Riddle to the point they did an optically bad concussion angle. Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin also retained their Championships and the tension within the group was still there, but much more muted.

Even Retribution’s angle was fine since it continued this long-simmering feud between them and The New Day, but specifically Mustafa Ali (who is FIRE on Twitter) and Kofi Kingston. As he keeps reminding people, Xavier Woods is now 2-2 against Retribution and wants Reckoning next week to determine the winner.

To avoid running through the entire show, let me last touch on the end-of-show happenings in the main event. I already discussed Edge, so I’ll quickly focus on Alexa Bliss and Randy Orton.

Bliss’ match with Nikki Cross earlier in the night brought more of her mid-match transformations, but since they’re running with it, so be it. Her Sister Abigail DDT variant, which is a better facsimile of [Redacted’s] is wicked and sweet. Her characterization has been great.

Her mid-match transformations explain how she’s able to suddenly appear behind Orton during his match (besides, you know, sneaking up on him) and also explains the blood(?) that spurted from her mouth. She’s supernatural, right? However, what the blood signifies I have no idea. All I know is it caused Orton to lose his match.

That’s the other good part of the show: it left us with questions not based on idiotic booking, but based on simple and effective storytelling. That might be the biggest Hit of them all for WWE.

I wasn’t sure I would ever sit here and type a Hit/Miss for Raw that didn’t involve a Miss, yet here we are. Am I wrong? What are your thoughts? Lastly, does this leave you hopeful for the rest of WrestleMania season?