Titus O’Neil Cuts Bizarre Promo On July 18, 2022

WWE Raw advertised the return of Logan Paul, who is “calling for The Miz” after Miz betrayed him at WrestleMania 38. Raw also advertised a face-to-face showdown between Carmella and Bianca Belair.

Raw opened with a bizarre promo from Titus O’Neil, who was introduced as WWE’s Global Ambassador. O’Neil put over WWE for its charitable efforts and refusal to discuss “divisive” issues such as race, politics and religion. The timing of such a “rah-rah” pro-WWE promo is certainly curious amid WWE’s ongoing investigation of Vince McMahon’s alleged sexual misconduct as well as rumors of the product going to a TV 14 rating.

“I get a chance to represent WWE all over the world, and something I feel we need now more than ever, all over the world is good will,” Titus begun.

“And there is no question that each and every one of us do everything we can to put smiles on all your faces both inside and outside of the ring. Whether it’s helping those less fortunate, or supporting our servicemen and women all over the globe.”

“We also support causes that help promote family, health and community. All these things that help bring people together to do good. That’s what we get a chance to do, go all over the world and spread goodness, or good will. That’s why you’ll never hear us talk about politics or religion or any other subject matter that’s divisive.”

“Because regardless of your race, your economic status or your nationality, this is a place that we deserve to have a safe haven. This is a place that WWE wants to simply make sure that we all have a good time!”

Last week’s broadcast of WWE Raw garnered 1.735 million viewers.

WWE Raw Ratings

• July 11, 2022 | 1.735 million
• July 4, 2022 | 1.563 million
• June 27, 2022 | 1.951 million
• June 20, 2022 | 1.986 million
• June 13, 2022 | 1.695 million

• WWE Raw Venue: Amalie Arena (Tampa, Fla.)
• WWE Raw Tickets Distributed: 8,153
• WWE Raw Tickets Available: 307

WWE Raw Results| July 18, 2022

WWE Global Ambassador Titus O’Neil Opens Raw

Titus O’Neil opened up WWE Raw with a rah rah promo where he praised WWE for its charitable efforts in addition to never bringing up race, religion, politics or any divisive subject. It was clearly an attempt at good P.R. for WWE amid the mounting allegations against Vince McMahon.

This promo felt like the Shawn Michaels’ famed D-Generation X “special report” promo, but if Michaels was being serious. Perhaps it was good P.R., perhaps it was WWE’s response to the TV-14 rumors. Either way, it was a peculiar way to kick off WWE Raw.

Bianca Belair def. Carmella

Becky Lynch once again received a babyface reaction. That’s until, of course, Belair came off as the unanimous babyface during this promo exchange with a great—though, at times campy—promo.

This program soaked up two segments and two commercial breaks.

Becky Lynch continues to be hot and cold on commentary, vacillating between moments of bliss and befuddlement.

Corey Graves had to impressively divide his bias for both Carmella and Becky Lynch.

Becky Lynch received a lot of heat for disrespectfully dropping the SmackDown Championship in front of Belair.

WWE did everything it could to tease that Bianca Belair will be beating Becky Lynch in 26 seconds at SummerSlam.

Kevin Owens Returns with Riddle

Riddle rolled out a new theme this week that was similar enough to his old theme to bo unrecognized.

This K.O. Show felt like an episode of the the “Joe Rogan Experience” where Rogan brings on Tom Papa so that Joe can do most of the talking.

Riddle had a brilliant response to Kevin Owens’ sales pitch as he deadpanned: “you’re like the biggest liar I know, bro.”

Fans took exception to Kevin Owens calling Randy Orton “the biggest snake in WWE,” even though Orton’s nickname is “The Viper.”

Seth Rollins is due for a big pay-per-view win, but I have mixed feelings about it coming against a rising star like Riddle.

Damian Priest def. Rey Mysterio

Damian Priest threw to a clip from a month ago when the Judgment Day turned on them. This, combined with these recent vignettes, tell me Edge’s return could be as imminently as SummerSlam. Speaking of which, this week’s vignette featured references to famed Edge rivals Randy Orton and John Cena.

The hook of this segment was that Priest guaranteed Dominik Mysterio would join the Judgment Day tonight.

The finish was very impressive as Priest beasted his way through a hurricanrana counter to set up a Razor’s Edge.

Dominik Mysterio joined the Judgment Day through gritted teeth to prevent Rey Mysterio from getting beat down. The Judgment Day shunned him anyway and laid him out. Yikes. At this point, the only thing saving this Dominik Mysterio character is to join the Judgment Day.

Seth Rollins def. Ezekiel

This match went to break with a great-looking diving knee off the top rope by Seth Rollins. Rollins has great chemistry with everybody, but him and Ezekiel seem to have better chemistry than most. Even when they struggled with a transition, they almost immediately returned to the same page.

The crowd showed signs of fatigue during this otherwise solid match.

Street Profits def. MVP and Omos by DQ

Angelo Dawkins vs. Omos was basically two-on-one match as Montez did everything he could to interfere from the outside. But when MVP tripped Dawkins, he got disqualified. Fans were furious.

MVP wrestled an entire match, and even did spots, in a $4,000 custom-made suit.

During a furious rally, Montez Ford hit the Frog Splash on Omos. Omos kicked out at one.

This match ended in disqualification, and fans were even more furious than they were before.

AJ Styles def. Theory by Disqualification

Theory brilliantly, if not briefly, spun “what” chants into actual heat as he addressed them and told fans to shut their mouths. Of course, fans returned to “what”—ing Theory for the remainder of his promo. To his credit, Theory continued to egg them on, almost encouraging them to say “what.” As Vince McMahon’s pet project, perhaps he’s exempt from having to ignore them.

Theory continues to develop on the mic, but this promo was at least twice as long as it should have been.

WWE continues its classic Money in the Bank booking by beating the MITB winner left and right since he’s “protected” by having the briefcase.

Dolph Ziggler once again cost Theory a match, but given how much Theory has lost, beating a returning Dolph Ziggler hardly seems like enough.

WWE aired a really good video package, for Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch, that they should have saved for SummerSlam.

Asuka and Alexa Bliss def. Nikki A.S.H. and Doudrop

Poor Akira Tozawa lost the WWE 24/7 Championship before they could even finish the announcement.

The WWE 24/7 Championship went from Dana Brooke, to Tozawa, to Nikki A.S.H., to Alexa Bliss, to Doudrop, to Tamina Snuka back to Dana Brooke. Still, they finished the match by having Asuka pin Nikki A.S.H.

Logan Paul Returns on MizTV

Logan Paul was booed, as expected. If WWE’s idea of endearing him to a crowd was to take a sip of a sports drink and then spike it, they were terribly mistaken.

This Miz wasted little time putting over Logan Paul in what was supposed to be a heel promo against him. Fortunately for Paul, he was able to lead this crowd into a loud “tiny balls” chant. Miz even revealed a “tiny balls” t-shirt.

This was a good back-and-forth but between two charismatic stars in mismatched roles.

Staying true to his gimmick, Ciampa attacked Logan Paul from behind to end the show.