Best & Worst of WWE RAW: Seth Rollins & Cody Rhodes' incredible promo, the return of Roman Reigns, and more

Last night's RAW from Raleigh, North Carolina, was a very strong episode, and it featured a hot opening, one of the best segments of the year, some solid in-ring action, and the return of Roman Reigns, which advanced the renewed Bloodline Saga.

In this article, we shall discuss the best and worst from this week's episode of the flagship show, Monday Night RAW.

Best: Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes' sensational war of words

In what was most certainly one of the very best promo segments of the year, Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes, ahead of their champion vs champion match at Crown Jewel, really tore into each other as they recounted their history and discussed the future in what was an emotionally-charged present last night.

Rhodes wants to stay friends and save Rollins from what he has become, while Rollins wants no part of it and has gone so far as to say he and Rhodes were never friends to begin with. What they said, how they said it; all of it was outstanding.

Indeed, the more things change, the more they stay the same, for their dynamic, more compelling than ever, as highlighted by Rollins last night, is no longer one of two guys trying to get on top, but rather, two guys now being at the very top. And yet, along that journey, a lot seems very similar to how things were back in 2022.

It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins are the two best full-time wrestlers in the world right now, so it does make a lot of sense for them to be WWE Champion and World Heavyweight Champion, respectively, while also building to a champion vs champion match at Crown Jewel. Their unparalleled history and chemistry, however, make this one of the biggest matches of the year.

Worst: Silly mistakes on RAW

There wasn't much wrong with last night's RAW, but one of them was the fact that Roman Reigns returned to attack The BronSons in a situation that should have caused a DQ. The match was a "Tornado Tag Team Match," not a "No Disqualification" Match. WWE could have very easily avoided this grotesque error in logic and consistency by simply billing the match as being "No DQ."

Meanwhile, for some reason, Cody Rhodes' pyro did not work on last night's RAW. That, quite frankly, is unacceptable. Well, you kind of have to pick on the smallest and most mundane of things when the show really was that good.

Best: The return of Roman Reigns and The Bloodline Saga

Last night on RAW, Roman Reigns returned to help The Usos defeat Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed in the main event. However, what happened after the match was perhaps one of the most interesting developments in recent months on RAW: Roman Reigns doubling down on his advice to Uso from weeks ago, despite Uso clearly not being in the right headspace.

Reigns, once again, took Jey close to himself and told him that RAW belongs to him, and that he is absolutely right in being selfish, as he has been over the past few weeks. Rather than reprimanding Uso, and has reinforced the characteristics his former Right Hand Man has exhibited over the past few weeks. It makes sense, though: Jey is becoming all the more similar to The Tribal Chief.

Jimmy obviously isn't happy with this, and he clearly wasn't happy with what Reigns was feeding to Jey towards the end of RAW. Meanwhile, Jey has been talking down to Jimmy a lot over the past few weeks, including last night. However, Jimmy, much like fans, does not understand what it is like to be on top. That is something only Roman and Jey do.

That's what's so interesting: layered characters, nuanced storytelling, and stuff that makes sense and is so very human. Jey Uso once used to be one of the realest characters on WWE TV. Somewhere along the way, he became a cartoon because of how much fans loved him. That is what took him to the top. To get back there, however, in and outside of kayfabe, he must now take a very different road.

Best: Overall storyline and character development in the undercard

Last night's RAW began in the hottest of ways with one of the most compelling soap-opera-like stories finally resulting in an inevitable match being made official: Kairi Sane and Asuka vs Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky at Crown Jewel. After weeks of tensions, Asuka completed her heel turn, attacking Iyo with the poison mist after the latter attempted to aid Ripley, being blindsided by The Kabuki Warriors.

This is the kind of storytelling that is unique to wrestling, not in terms of THAT it is done, but HOW fans react to it. The reception has been overwhelmingly positive for something that would be considered quite formulaic and kitschy on regular drama TV. Because fans connect with their favorite wrestlers in a way that is unparalleled across other forms of storytelling.

Meanwhile, The Judgment Day conflict is slowly advancing too, with Dominik Mysterio regularly winning key matches on his own, or at least, without help from his faction. The means may not always be honorable, but they are most certainly entertaining, and Mysterio has lied, cheated, and stolen his way into not just becoming the Intercontinental Champion, but staying IC Champion for over five months now, while also having won the AAA Mega Championship at Worlds Collide recently.

His timing whilst executing these antics is also so incredible, reminding one of Eddie Guerrero himself. Meanwhile, being the Intercontinental Champion, his victories are reminiscent of The Miz's heyday to an extent, too. Last night, he managed to accomplish the same against former United States Champion, Rusev.

Worst: Women's Champions not being featured prominently

Stephanie Vaquer and Becky Lynch are two of the best wrestlers in the world. While it is understandable that Lynch, having already been very prominently featured over the summer, is taking a bit of a backseat until AJ Lee returns to kickstart a feud for the Women's Intercontinental Championship, there is no reason why Vaquer shouldn't be more prominently featured on RAW.

Her English has improved a ton, and she has a natural charisma that is intrinsic, something you can't instill. Even if WWE is not yet ready to give her long in-ring promos, and that means a lot more backstage segments, now that Stephanie Vaquer is champion, having her go out and pick up some wins would be a good idea. WWE needs to let her wrestle on RAW regularly.