5 Ups & 5 Downs For WWE Raw (6 Oct - Results & Review)

2. Deteriorating Relationships

For the past several weeks, CM Punk has been on a side quest of sorts, assisting his wife, AJ Lee, in her returns to WWE and her first match in a decade.

While the move pulled him away from the World Heavyweight Championship, it did keep him in the title’s orbit with the mixed tag involving Seth Rollins. Still, Punk had been nowhere to be seen the last couple of weeks.

Monday, Punk explained that because he had no role for the upcoming Crown Jewel (with Rollins facing Cody Rhodes for the Crown Jewel Championship), he held to respecting Cody and steering clear. With the match imminent, Punk clarified that he hadn’t lost focus and wanted Rollins – and the world title – immediately after Saturday’s PLE.

Cue LA Knight, who suggested that Punk had abdicated his spot in line to chase the World Heavyweight Championship while being a good husband to Lee. He noted that Rollins had pinned Punk twice this summer. That’s when things got chippy between the two, with Punk getting a dig in about Knight never winning a world title.

Cue Jey Uso, who laid his claim to the World Heavyweight Championship because he had never been afforded an automatic rematch. Knight ran down Jey, saying he wasn’t Roman Reigns (which was a good thing, from his perspective), which led to Uso superkicking him. Jimmy, who had walked down during this, tried to play peacemaker between Jey and Punk but he ended up superkicking the Second City Saint.

As soft heel activity and dialogue-heavy segments go, this was fine, even if it looks like they’re just setting up a four-way title match for after Crown Jewel. Alternatively, WWE could book a triple threat for the title shot. Either way, predictable isn’t always bad. Knight held things together, and Jey’s (and now Jimmy’s) descent toward becoming heels continues to be well told.