7 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (10 Feb - Results & Review)
Downs…
3. Good Recovery, But…
Wrestlers are going to have miscommunications and blown spots in matches - it’s just a fact of life when you are trying to perform an intricate, cooperative sequence in front of a live audience - but holy hell, the opening minutes of Logan Paul versus Rey Mysterio were rough.
They started out with Rey attacking Paul before Logan went for a Buckshot Lariat and missed. Paul did get a leg trip and then froze for a few seconds before running the ropes… and both men ducked low for a leapfrog. They tried to continue on and both men ducked for a leapfrog again. Rey had to grab a hold to reset before they repeated the spot (which only called attention to what they messed up) and continued on.
The rest of the match wasn’t bad, sprinkled with some eyepopping offense, such as Logan’s moonsault fallaway slam, or Rey’s usual array of aerial attacks. But the match fell apart in the first two minutes and really was a series of decent-to-good spots mixed in with punches and knees to Mysterio’s midsection.
Logan Paul is attempting to become a television wrestler, competing full-time rather than being the PLE specialist who has weeks to rehearse spots and entire matches. It’s going to be challenging, and he’s going to stumble. We shouldn’t condemn him for that, but occasionally you have to call attention to those stumbles – it makes the eventual triumphs stand out even more.