I've enjoyed RAW for what feels like an unprecedented three weeks in a row.

Something about the show has been better; perhaps it's the combination of a livelier midcard and an exciting main event scene. I also appreciate the simplistic yet effective narrative construct of good guys versus bad guys. On the bad guy side of things is Seth Rollins, Paul Heyman, Gunther, Bron Breakker, Logan Paul, Chad Gable, and others not worth mentioning. On the good guy side of things is Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, CM Punk, Penta, Pat McAfee, Sheamus, and others not worth mentioning. With firm moral alignments established, both heels and baby faces believing in their version of "right", the stories tell themselves.

I particularly enjoyed seeing two of my favorite wrestlers, CM Punk and Sami Zayn, at the end of this week's Monday Night Raw making the save for Jey Uso.

This necessitates a six-man tag match in the main event of next week's RAW. I appreciate WWE when they approach narrative with a less is more aesthetic. Just allow the characters to be themselves, articulating their clashing visions of WWE. Right now, from a moral standpoint, the strongest babyface is Sami Zayn.

His refusal to be manipulated and threatened by Seth Rollins was stirring, the act of a man willing to take a bullet because selling out his sense of right and wrong would be unbearable. When and if Jey drops the title to Seth, I'd like to see Sami next in line for a title shot. Sami wins the championship, holds it all the way to next year's WrestleMania. Kevin Owens heels up, returns and wins at The Royal Rumble, setting up the main event of a generation; Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn. A kid can dream, can't he?

I'm excited for Backlash. It will be fun to review another premium live event. I'm not exactly excited for John Cena vs Randy Orton, but I am curious. Will it be any good? Can these guys sustain my interest for fifteen minutes even though I've seen them wrestle more times than I care to remember, and even though Cena is still figuring out his heel persona. They're both pros so I think they can do it, but they can't both work a methodical style - they'll just negate each other if they do that. One has to be a positive charge and the other negative.

In recent weeks I've come to better understand and enjoy Lyra Valkyria. Becky Lynch has been a great opponent for Lyra, and I hope she retains on Saturday.

In other life-related wrestling news my AEW hoody elicited two unexpected interactions. I was waiting outside the vet for an Uber when a truck drove by and the driver chanted, "AE-DUB, AE-DUB, AE-DUB". I quickly raised my hand in the too sweet gesture but he didn't see it, leaving me weirdly disappointed. It's rare to get these reactions in the wild but I live for them. It's an occasionally lonely existence being a person who never outgrew professional wrestling. So when you get a response, and a positive one at that, it's a little thrill.

The second exchange happened in CVS. The clerk, ringing me up, asked, "What's the difference between the Continental Championship and the International Championship?"

Because I haven't been watching AEW regularly the past few months and wasn't aware of the existence of the Continental Championship, I just said, "I don't know". I didn't want to reveal I didn't know the Continental Championship existed.

We then discussed how the company was wasting Kenny and Okada, the company's quality midcard, Hangman Adam Page, and MJF. It was a fun, quick conversation that I wish I recorded for the podcast.

In other news I've been reading Fight Forever: The Ballad of Kevin and Sammy by JJ McGee (you might know them as @mithgifs on social media). I love the book - JJ brings matches to life in a way I never could. It's an academic study of one career, shared by two of today's greatest wrestlers, but unlike other academic texts it's actually fun to read. I'm a slow reader so it's going to be another couple months before I'm able to properly interview JJ about the book, but I'm really looking forward to it.

And aside from that I'm still plugging away with the podcast, committed to producing a new episode every week rain or shine. I think I might do a match commentary for the night one WrestleMania main event between Seth, Roman, and Punk. And then I'd like to take a detour into the past and do a commentary for Mick Foley vs Edge in their hardcore Mania classic.

Thank you for reading and listening. I appreciate it a lot. See you on the pod for a review of Backlash!

Tim Kail's Wrestling Journal, 5/8/25