WWE Fumbles Damian Priest vs. Gunther, Why Liv Morgan Must Lose Title, More Raw Takes

WWE Fumbles Damian Priest vs. Gunther, Why Liv Morgan Must Lose Title, More Raw Takes0 of 4

Damian Priest has earned another shot at the World Heavyweight Championship against Gunther.Credit: WWE.com.

Coming off as a hot Crown Jewel event, the November 4 edition of WWE Raw stayed in the Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where two new No. 1 contenders were confirmed.

Damian Priest won a competitive Fatal 4-Way to earn a shot at Gunther and the World Heavyweight Championship, though Seth Rollins may have won if not for Bronson Reed’s interference.

Iyo Sky defeated the best women on Raw in a Battle Royal to determine the next challenger for Liv Morgan and the Women’s World Championship.

Morgan also laid claim to more gold and looked to turn women’s tag team champions Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill against each other. She was unsuccessful…for now.

This show set a clear path toward Survivor Series: WarGames on November 30 as well as big world title matches in the future.

Wrong Time For Damian Priest to Challange Gunther Again1 of 4

Damian Priest needed another shot at Gunther after a great battle at SummerSlam ended with interference from Finn Bálor, but this is the wrong time for that rematch.

The Punishment has not looked like a dominant performer in recent months, particularly after losing to Dominik Mysterio just last week.

Meanwhile, Gunther suffered his second pinfall loss of the year, this time to Cody Rhodes at Crown Jewel and will be looking to quickly rebound.

Priest walks into this match as an obvious sacrificial lamb instead of a former champion aspiring to reclaim the gold that was stolen from him.

WWE has a much more interesting story teased with CM Punk returning to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series.

The Ring General could have put on a great match with The Best in the World on the same night Priest fully put The Judgment Day behind him.

Both would look more dangerous building toward a rematch at the Royal Rumble with plenty of time to build a fresh angle.

WWE Makes Huge Mistake Mixing Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill Into World Title Scene2 of 4

Crown Jewel was a massive moment for the women’s tag team division. Four teams stepped up and showed out in a match that made clear how much potential the roster has.

However, Raw did not continue that trajectory, instead focusing on Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez’s aspirations to take the Women’s Tag Team Championship.

With Morgan already women’s world champion, this feud will either lead to putting even more gold on her or shifting the tag team champions’ focus to the world title.

This is never a good route to take in building a division as it limits the scope of the storytelling for all the women involved.

If Morgan holds all the gold, she will be taking away spotlight from others who could hold those titles.

If The Storm and The EST of WWE start challenging for the world title, it will leave potential challengers to the tag belts waiting in the wings for them to return.

WWE needs to lean more into the women’s tag team division, not less.

Iyo Sky Must Dethrone Liv Morgan3 of 4

One possible solution to keeping the championships divided on Raw would be for Iyo Sky to pick up a major upset.

At the moment, The Genius of the Sky and Kairi Sane have put a clear focus on the Women’s Tag Team Championships.

However, Sky could pivot to solo action alongside The Pirate Princess by taking the gold off Morgan.

As the new women’s Crown Jewel champion, Morgan holds a distinction that cannot be taken away from her. She will remain atop the company while potentially going after the tag titles with Raquel Rodriguez soon.

Sky can take the Women’s World Championship in a different direction and improve the in-ring quality of title defenses for the foreseeable future.

As good a job as the current world champion has done to get herself over, her in-ring work has not lived up to the world title moniker.

The Genius of the Sky is one of the best in-ring workers in WWE today, certainly standing above most of her peers in the Raw women’s division.

Matches with Lyra Valkyria, Bianca Belair, Rodriguez and Rhea Ripley are just the tip of the iceberg on what Sky could do in a second world title reign.

How WWE Can Book Seth Rollins vs. Bronson Reed Feud Better4 of 4

The end of Raw confirmed Seth Rollins vs. Bronson Reed is far from a one-off match at Crown Jewel.

This is great news for Mr. Nice Guy, who needs a definitive win to take the next step up the card on Monday nights.

However, the next few weeks building to a rematch at Survivor Series cannot just be physical altercations. The angle will get stale and will mirror Reed’s rivalry with Braun Strowman too much.

This is a chance to test the Australian’s ability on the microphone. Rollins and Reed need to sell this feud verbally to show it is more than a midcard angle to keep The Visionary busy.

If Reed can stand out on the mic as much as he has in the ring, he will solidify his claim as a future main event act with or without a win against Rollins.