Monday Night Raw
Date: June 10, 2024
Location: Huntington Center, Toledo, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

It’s the last Raw before Clash At The Castle and that means it is time to start finalizing the card. That should make for a packed show, with one of the most interesting matches being Bron Breakker vs. Ilja Dragunov. Throw in Drew McIntyre coming for the World Title and we should be in for a fun one. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Here is Drew McIntyre to get things going. McIntyre says he is five days away from winning the World Title and has no time for the CM Punk chants. At the same time, he knows that wherever he goes, the Judgment Day follows, so here is Judgment Day to interrupt. Damian Priest says McIntyre just made this personal because he doesn’t need Judgment Day to be champion.

Priest talks about how he’s coming to McIntyre’s turf on his own, but McIntyre doesn’t buy any of this. Therefore, Priest has an idea: McIntyre can face Finn Balor tonight and if McIntyre wins, the Judgment Day is barred from ringside on Saturday. McIntyre is in. Rather simple concept, but McIntyre getting his big title shot one on one is a good thing.

We recap Dominik Mysterio’s issues with Liv Morgan.

Dominik finds Morgan in the Judgment Day clubhouse. He’s not happy with this but she offers him her hotel room, saying a gorgeous man like him shouldn’t be calling his woman Mami. Instead, he deserves someone who calls him daddy. She’ll be waiting in her room.

Lyra Valkyria vs. Iyo Sky

The rest of Damage CTRL is here too. Valkyria charges at her in the corner but gets knocked down rather quickly. Back up and Valkyria strikes away, setting up the old rocking horse hold. Sky escapes and sends her to the floor for an Asai moonsault and we take an early break.

Back with Valkyria hitting a missile dropkick into a fisherman’s suplex for two. Valkyria gets two more off the same rollup she used to beat Sky last month but Sky sends her throat first into the ropes. A quick Nightwing connects but Kai breaks it up. Sky hits the running knees in the corner, only to have Valkyria block Over The Moonsault. Another Nightwing is loaded up but Sky grabs the hair and rolls her up for the pin at 10:28.

Rating: C+. Valkyria is rapidly becoming an established name on the show and she held her own against a bigger star here. The interference keeps Valkyria looking strong and Sky gets to return to prominence after losing a few weeks ago. Nice match here, with both of them making the future look pretty bright.

Post match the beatdown is on but Kayden Carter and Katana Chance run in for the save.

Dominik Mysterio isn’t sure what to do about Liv Morgan and explains it to Carlito and the Judgment Day. Carlito deems the room key as cool.

Sami Zayn runs into Miz, who is worried because he can’t find R-Truth. With Miz gone, Sami goes to talk to Maxxine Dupri and Akira Tozawa, reminding them that they don’t have to take this. Otis comes in and Sami says he’ll see him in the ring. Otis says he had it all at one point but then lost it all (even mentioning Mandy Rose and Tucker). Without Chad Gable, he’s nothing. Sami isn’t going with that because Otis has the talent, if only he could see it. The pop when Otis turns is going to be massive.

Damian Priest wants to know what is going on with Dominik Mysterio and the hotel room key, but someone has stolen it.

Ludwig Kaiser brags about his success, including beating Sheamus last week. Now he wants to be Mr. Money In The Bank.

LWO/Braun Strowman vs. Judgment Day/Carlito

Carlito is left alone as his partners bail to the floor, leaving Strowman to power him into the corner. Rey comes in to take over on McDonagh’s arm, with Lee adding a slingshot dropkick in the corner. The villains get back up and knock the LWO out to the floor as we take a break. Back with Rey still in trouble and Carlito hitting a less than aggressive clothesline to keep him down. A cheap shot brings Strowman in as everything breaks down for a bit.

Rey manages a twisting faceplant on McDonagh though and the big tag brings in Lee to pick up the pace. Everything breaks down and Dominik gets in a cheap shot but here is Liv Morgan (so much for the hotel) for a distraction. Dominik is knocked to the floor with Liv landing on him, only to have Zelina Vega go after Liv. Strowman isn’t having this and wrecks people on the floor, setting up the running powerslam to Carlito. Lee gets on Strowman’s shoulders for a splash and the pin at 13:55.

Rating: C+. There is something fun about Strowman wrecking people as he’s kind of perfect as the monster that you have to run from until he finally gets his hands on you. The LWO, and Lee in particular, getting a win is a good thing as the team feels like it could be around for a good while. Carlito taking another fall is a fine way to go, as Damian Priest yelling at him has been rather entertaining.

Video on Ilja Dragunov, who is ready for the new monsters on Raw, including Bron Breakker.

Ricochet comes in to give Dragunov a pep talk, but he’s ready to slay the dragon. Then he and Ricochet can run it back.

Iyo Sky is rather upset and shouts a lot about how things need to be better. Cole: “Well that happened.”

Here is Sami Zayn for a chat before his match. Zayn talks about how we are five days away from Clash At The Castle and he isn’t sure what is going on with Chad Gable. What matters is he will end all of this on Saturday because it’s time to go back to work. Cue Gable, with the Alpha Academy, to interrupt. Gable says the Academy is fine despite Zayn’s interference, and they’ll be even happier after he wins the title on Saturday. Zayn: “Are you out of your d*** mind?” The team isn’t looking happy but Gable says they’re a family no matter what. Gable is unleashing the good version of Otis on Zayn right now.

Sami Zayn vs. Otis

Non-title. Otis wastes no time in running Zayn over and hits a big splash. Chad Gable yells at Otis though, allowing Zayn to hit the Helluva Kick for the pin at 1:36.

Post match Gable has Otis wreck Zayn. Otis teases fighting back against Gable but can’t do it. The teases continue.

Miz finds R-Truth, who says they have a Tag Team Title match tonight…..against the APA! A fortune teller told him! Miz isn’t buying this, but Scarlett comes out of the office to say the AOP is looking forward to seeing them tonight. Uh-ohing ensues.

Video on Jey Uso.

Shayna Baszler/Zoey Stark vs. Isla Dawn/Alba Fyre

Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair are here to watch. Before the match, Dawn and Fyre promise to win the titles and show that they should have been in this spot a long time ago. Dawn starts fast by dropkicking Baszler’s bad knee to put her on the floor. A Backstabber/Swanton combination gets two on Stark with Baszler making the save. Baszler comes in to stomp on Fyre’s arm before grabbing the Kirifuda Clutch for the tap at 2:39. Well so much for Dawn and Fyre looking like threats.

Video on Bron Breakker.

Bron Breakker vs. Ilja Dragunov

Breakker punches him down to start but Dragunov scores with an enziguri. That just earns him a beating on the mat with some very Scott Steiner sounding trash talk. Dragunov knocks him into the corner for a boot to the face but Breakker hits a rather hard running shot as we take a break.

Back with Breakker holding him on the mat for some forearms to the head. Breakker hits a running knee but Dragunov is back with the Constantine Special. Dragunov rolls some German suplexes, which has McAfee impressed. The Death Valley Driver into thee corner rocks Breakker again and Coast To Coast gives Dragunov…nothing actually. Instead he goes up top for a backsplash and a near fall but Breakker runs him over again.

The spear is cut off with a jumping knee though and an H Bomb rocks Breakker again. They head outside with Breakker reversing a suplex to drop him ribs first onto the edge of the announcers’ table. Breakker posts him hard and they head back inside, where another spear sends Dragunov back to the floor. Another spear on the floor gets nine so Breakker hits a third spear for the pin at 16:00.

Rating: B. There are matches where you know you’re going to get a heck of a fight because of the people involved and that was the case here. These guys beat the fire out of each other until Breakker was just too much. It was a hard hitting, violent match and exactly what I wanted to see from them as Breakker continues to look like a major force.

Post match Breakker loads up another spear but Ricochet runs in for the save.

Judgment Day regroups before the main event.

Sheamus comes in to give Drew McIntyre a pep talk. Drew wants Sheamus there to celebrate after he wins the title. Money In The Bank is discussed too, though they seem to be on the same page.

Tag Team Titles: Awesome Truth vs. AOP

Awesome Truth is defending. Before the match, the Final Testament says it’s time to win the titles and promise that they will never turn their backs on Xavier Woods like Kofi Kingston did last week. Miz gets kicked down by Rezar to start and we take a break about thirty seconds in. Back with R-Truth coming in to fight back as New Day comes out to brawl with the Final Testament. R-Truth tries a belt shot to no effect, only to have Miz grab a rollup to retain at 5:35. Not enough shown to rate but it was about advancing New Day vs. Final Testament rather than the match.

Bron Breakker attacks Ilja Dragunov in the back but Ricochet makes the save. Breakker beats up Ricochet and throws him against a car. They go up the steps to the production truck and Breakker powerslams him through a windshield for a very nasty landing. That might be how they write Ricochet off because it was a heck of a crash.

Post break, Ricochet is taken away in an ambulance, with Samantha Irvin joining him.

Clash At The Castle rundown.

Finn Balor vs. Drew McIntyre

Pat McAfee fills in as ring announcer and if McIntyre wins, Judgment Day is barred from ringside on Saturday. McIntyre wastes no time in knocking him to the floor and chopping away against the barricade. Balor goes after McIntyre’s banged up arm and then stomps on the apron but McIntyre snaps off a belly to belly over the announcers’ table.

We take a break and come back with Balor tying up the arm while cranking on the neck. McIntyre fights up but gets armbarred again to cut that off. McIntyre powerbombs his way to freedom but the Claymore is cut off with a Sling Blade. The Coup de Grace is broken up and McIntyre hits a superplex. Cue Damian Priest for a distraction so Judgment Day can come in. That’s broken up but Balor hits a Sling Blade. Another Coup de Grace misses though and McIntyre hits the Claymore for the pin at 13:58.

Rating: B-. This was another match where there was pretty much knew it was going to be at last decent and that’s what we got here. The ending is the right call as they are setting up McIntyre to get his big win and I can go for that not involving Judgment Day shenanigans for once. At the same time, it furthers what feels like an eventual Priest split from the team, as he is coming off more and more like he doesn’t need them, which is a good thing.

McIntyre and Priest stare each other down to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This show had a nice mixture of action and story advancement, with a hard push towards Saturday. I’m much more into Priest vs. McIntyre than I was before, with the Intercontinental Title match feeling like a toss up. Other than the Women’s Tag Team Title match taking a hit with that rather short match, I was digging most of the things here. That includes Breakker being a monster, which feels like the role he was born to play. Good show here, and now they can hopefully top it in Scotland.

Results
Iyo Sky b. Lyra Valkyria – Crucifix
LWO/Braun Strowman b. Judgment Day/Carlito – Splash to Carlito
Sami Zayn b. Otis – Helluva Kick
Shayna Baszler/Zoey Stark b. Isla Dawn/Alba Fyre – Kirifuda Clutch to Fyre
Bron Breakker b. Ilja Dragunov – Spear
Awesome Truth b. AOP – Rollup to Akam
Drew McIntyre b. Finn Balor – Claymore

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 20, 2024
Location: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

It’s the last Raw before King And Queen Of The Ring, which means we need to set some things up for that show. This includes setting up the Raw finalists in both tournaments, plus maybe even setting up a World Title challenger for Damian Priest. Other than that, Sami Zayn gets Chad Gable again. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Earlier today, wrestlers arrived at a wrestling show.

Here is Sami Zayn to get things going. He has five days before he is ready to defend the Intercontinental Title in a triple threat match and people aren’t sure why he would want to do that. Chad Gable has made it personal with him, while Bronson Reed wants the title. It’s a match between the mind (Gable), body (Reed) and soul (Zayn), with Zayn betting on the soul every time.

Cue the Alpha Academy, with gable taking credit for coaching Zayn to the Intercontinental Title at Wrestlemania. Compare that to the three failures he has in the team, with Otis being the biggest disappointment on the planet. Zayn wants to know how long the team is going to put up with Gable, but Gable cuts him off. Gable promises to win the title on Saturday but Zayn says they’re both ready, so let’s have their match right now.

Chad Gable vs. Sami Zayn

Non-title and they go with the grappling to start. Gable bails out to the floor and we take an early break. Back with Gable hitting a suplex but missing a Swan Dive. The Blue Thunder Bomb doesn’t work for Zayn as Gable suplexes him down again. Dupri is given a chance to get in a cheap shot but can’t bring herself to do it.

Instead Gable hits a shoulder and uses a Dupri distraction to stomp away. Tozawa can’t bring himself to interfere either so Gable labels them as failures and ejects them. The distraction lets Zayn hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for two and we take a break (with another QR code on the way to the commercial).

Back with Gable rolling some German suplexes until Zayn reverses into a Michinoku Driver for two. The Helluva Kick is reversed into the ankle lock with Zayn making the rope and being sent outside for his efforts. Otis won’t interfere either so Gable slaps him in the face and grabs the title. That’s enough for Zayn to exploder Gable into the corner but NOW Otis will interfere. The cheap shot lets Gable grab rolling Chaos Theory for the pin at 16:05.

Rating: B. They had good action and the story at the end tied things together as one of the better feuds in WWE today gets to continue. We’ve been getting solid stuff from these two (and Reed) for weeks now and I’m wanting to see how the title match goes. Otis being all conflicted should extend things out until he and Gable finally have their big blowup. Nice work here all around.

Commentary talks about the QR codes.

Video on Iyo Sky, who is underwater for some reason. She promises to be Queen Of The Ring.

We run down the rest of the card.

The Alpha Academy’s interview is cut off as someone has attacked Cruz del Toro.

Bron Breakker vs. Kale Dixon

Breakker compares about not being in the tournament before hitting the spear and throwing Dixon outside. Another spear hits on the floor and the referee calls it at 1:57.

Post match Breakker hits another spear and then puts the steps on Dixon’s head. A chair to the steps crushes Dixon. There’s a joke in there about crushing kale for a salad that I’ll leave you to make for yourselves.

Post break Dixon is put in an ambulance. Adam Pearce yells at Breakker for what happened but Breakker blames him for not putting him in the King Of The Ring.

We look at last week’s Queen Of The Ring matches.

Becky Lynch gives Lyra Valkyria a pep talk.

Queen Of The Ring Semifinals: Iyo Sky vs. Lyra Valkyria

Valkyria takes her down by the arm to start and gets a quick two off la majistral. A quick crossbody gives Valkyria two more and we take a break. Back with Sky ducking an elbow and grabbing a double underhook backbreaker for two of her own. The cross arm choke doesn’t last long for Sky as she grabs some one counts instead.

Valkyria snaps off a release German suplex and kicks her in the head, setting up a rocking horse. That’s reversed into a crossface but Valkyria is out just as fast. Valkyria’s tornado DDT is blocked and Sky sends her outside, setting up an Asai moonsault to drop Valkyria as we take another break.

Back again with Valkyria hitting the tornado DDT, followed by a quick suplex for two. Sky puts her back down but Over The Moonsault is broken up. The break up is broken up as well though and Valkyria gets powerbombed. Over The Moonsault misses but Sky counters the Nightwing into a rollup….which is reversed into another rollup to give Valkyria the pin at 19:17.

Rating: B+. This was rather awesome as Valkyria gets another win to further establish herself on the main roster. That’s how you get someone over, and it wouldn’t stun me to see her win the whole tournament. Then again there is always the chance that she gets crushed by Nia Jax, along with various hopes and dreams.

Post match Valkyria is happy with her win.

R-Truth is teaching the New Catch Republic how to do the Hokey Pokey, but Miz is worried about facing Judgment Day tonight. It’s cool though, because Andre The Giant told R-Truth that they’ll be fine. Miz asks Andre to be there in spirit. R-Truth: “And they say I’m the crazy one.” He means Braun Strowman right?

Ilja Dragunov is frustrated after last week’s loss. Ricochet comes in and seems to want a rematch but Bron Breakker comes in to spear Ricochet in half.

Post break Ricochet is checked out by medics.

We look at Gunther and Jey Uso advancing to the King Of The Ring semifinals.

Earlier today, Gunther was in an empty arena and talked about how Jey Uso has gone from someone Gunther mocked to the hottest thing on Raw. Tonight, the seats will be filled with fans cheering for Uso and pouring out hope and illusion. The bad news is Gunther is in the business of taking hope away and bringing them back to reality. Then he’ll win the King Of The Ring.

Damian Priest gives Finn Balor and JD McDonagh a pep talk before turning to Carlito. Word is that Cruz del Toro will be out for a while after that attack, which is why Carlito is laying low here. Priest missed the sign that says this is the APA, so Carlito can’t hang here forever. The rest of the team leaves and Carlito asks if Priest saw the New York Knicks lose. Priest: “What’s wrong with you?”

Baron Corbin presented a title to a professional bowler for winning a tournament.

Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler are getting ready when Sonya Deville returns and has something to talk to them about.

Tag Team Titles: Awesome Truth vs. Judgment Day

Awesome Truth is defending and Dominik Mysterio is here with the challengers. Balor and Miz fight over a wristlock to start and it’s off to Truth for the dancing legdrop. McDonagh comes in and takes over on Miz, meaning Judgment Day gets to pose and we take a break. Back with Miz kicking McDonagh in the head, with McAfee worrying about Miz’s foot. The tag brings in Truth to take over on Balor, including the John Cena finishing sequence.

The STF goes on but McDonagh makes the save. Everything breaks down and the champs hit stereo Five Knuckle Shuffles. Cue Carlito for a distraction but R-Truth hits Little Jimmy on McDonagh. Carlito puts the foot on the rope so here is Braun Strowman to wreck various people. R-Truth grabs an AA for the pin on McDonagh at 9:25.

Rating: C+. While I don’t think Awesome Truth last long as champions, they’re working well enough at the moment. One day they’ll run into a big team who will take the titles but I’ll take them doing this kind of thing for the time being. If nothing else, Strowman as the American Andre fits him well enough, as he’s that kind of a monster when he needs to be.

Becky Lynch congratulates Lyra Valkyria on her win. Liv Morgan comes in to do the same, but doesn’t seem as sincere. Morgan throws in a slap for a bonus.

Bronson Reed tells Sami Zayn he’s going to use his body to win the Intercontinental title. Reed leaves and Otis comes in, with Zayn yelling at him for costing him the match. Otis apologizes, with Zayn saying he knows Otis is a good guy. Zayn has been where Otis is before, and as soon as Otis starts listening to the fans, things will get a lot better. The fans chant for Otis.

Here is Becky Lynch for a chat. Lynch talks about her history with Liv Morgan, who has never beaten her. Morgan is a different person now though and she thinks this is what will help her become champion. Cue Morgan to interrupt and ask how she could be the bad guy in all of this. She doesn’t care about anyone or anything but completing the Liv Morgan Revenge Tour.

Lynch laughs about Morgan finally finding a purpose, but Lynch says she has known her own purpose since she was 15 years old. She has accomplished all kinds of things, though her purpose is still the same: to leave this place better than she found it. What is next for Morgan after she gets her revenge? Morgan laughs that off and says Lynch has only ever cared about herself. After mocking the WHAT chants, Morgan mocks the fans, with Lynch talking about how she’ll do anything for all of them.

The challenge is on for right now and Morgan teases going to the ring but stops to mock Lynch for looking stupid. She’ll wait for the title match and tells Lynch to cry about it. Morgan is a lot of things, and one of those is really bad on the microphone. There isn’t much of a way around it: she’s just not good at talking.

Damian Priest isn’t pleased with the Judgment Day’s loss and walks off. Finn Balor agrees with him.

Xavier Woods is cleared to return to action. Kofi Kingston leaves to talk to Adam Pearce when Karrion Kross and Scarlett come in. Kross suggests Woods can still turn things around.

Katana Chance/Kayden Carter vs. Shayna Baszler/Zoey Stark vs. Maxxine Dupri/Ivy Nile vs. Damage CTRL

For a future Women’s Title shot. Nile and Sane start things off and everything breaks down seconds later. Carter and Chance clear the ring and hit a Keg Stand to the pile on the floor. We take a break and come back with Dupri getting to clean house until Carter gives her a Downward Spiral.

The After Party connects Carter isn’t legal so the delayed cover is broken up. A Tower Of Doom puts Baszler down and Chance gives Stark a super hurricanrana onto her. Dupri does her reverse Worm but gets taken down by Sane. The Insane Elbow connects on Dupri but Baszler and Stark cut Sane off. Stark tosses Dupri into Stark’s knee for the pin at 9:13.

Rating: C. There was so much going on here and while Sonya Deville possibly being the brains behind the new team, it’s hard to get behind the idea of Baszler as part of another tag team. She felt like she was going to be the next big villain and then just got stuck in this never ending string of teams. As for the rest of them, Damage CTRL was their usual acceptable selves and the other two teams are athletic but little more.

Ludwig Kaiser isn’t worried about Gunther looking ahead to the finals and mocks Sheamus again. Sheamus can come back so Kaiser can put him down. Kaiser leaves and Drew McIntyre comes in to say he’s here because the people want him. He’s coming for Damian Priest and the title.

Chad Gable is talking to the Creed Brothers when Otis comes in. Gable tells them to remember what they talked* about before Otis tells him he apologized to Sami Zayn. That works for Gable, who thinks Otis is softening him up for Saturday. Gable has all of Otis’ documents ready for the trip and he’ll see him on the plane. Otis doesn’t seem convinced.

King And Queen Of The Ring rundown.

Jey Uso is ready to go because there is no tomorrow (unless he wins that is). We get the tracking shot of him walking from the back to the arena as he starts the YEETing early.

King Of The Ring Semifinals: Gunther vs. Jey Uso

They fight over a lockup to start until Uso starts slugging away. Gunther gets knocked outside and taken down again but manages to send a charging Uso into the post back inside. They head back outside with Uso being sent into the timekeeper’s area as we take an early break.

Back with Gunther working on the (right) arm and shrugging off Uso’s comeback attempt. The arm is bent backwards but Uso catches him on top. Another armbar is countered into a super Samoan drop for the double knockdown. Uso hits a step up enziguri and a superkick gets two. Gunther goes back to the arm by grabbing a Fujiwara armbar but Uso slips out again.

Some suplexes have Uso down again and the top rope splash into the clothesline gets two. Gunther chops him down so Jey gets in a slap, which just annoys Gunther into more chopping. The referee gets knocked down by mistake so the spear into the Superfly Splash gets a delayed two. Gunther has had it and pulls Uso into a choke with the arm trapped and Uso is out at 17:37.

Rating: B+. This was just a step away from being a 17 minute squash as Uso was getting wrecked throughout. That’s exactly how this match should have been, as Gunther is a monster who can pick you apart, especially with an injury like Uso had here. Other than that, Uso got in a few hope spots but this was about Gunther, which worked as well as usual.

The show is off the air about five seconds after the match is over so they barely got it done.

Overall Rating: B. They were all over the place this week, with some rather good matches to go with some that were as mediocre as you could get. The talking in between the matches was about the same, with Gunther and Zayn’s promos being rather strong and the Lynch/Morgan stuff being dreadful. There was more good than bad, but the bad was definitely there and it showed…uh, badly.

Results
Chad Gable b. Sami Zayn – Rolling Chaos Theory
Bron Breakker b. Kale Dixon via referee stoppage
Lyra Valkyria b. Iyo Sky – Rollup
Awesome Truth b. Judgment Day – Attitude Adjustment to McDonagh
Shayna Baszler/Zoey Stark b. Katana Chance/Kayden Carter, Damage CTRL and Maxxine Dupri/Ivy Nile – Knee to Dupri’s face
Gunther b. Jey Uso – Arm trap choke

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 13, 2024
Location: Bon Secours Wellness Center, Greenville, South Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

The tournaments continue as we are less than two weeks away from King And Queen Of The Ring in Saudi Arabia. That should make for a big night as the matches are starting to get interesting. Other than that, we could use some more matches on the card, which is only starting to come together. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Here is Drew McIntyre to get things going. The fans chant for CM Punk but McIntyre talks about how Punk only makes the big town. The greatest trick that Punk ever pulled was looking like a drug addict despite never taking any drugs. Punk keeps messing with the fans but they keep taking him back. McIntyre is going to get his hands on him one day and he’ll beat Punk so bad that Punk will wish he had a torn tricep.

In other news Jey Uso lost another match so McIntyre will deal with him later. For now, McIntyre wants the World Heavyweight Championship and here is Damian Priest to interrupt. Priest says if McIntyre has something to say, say it to his face. McIntyre praises Priest for his success, but he doesn’t deserve to be champion. The title has made the man but now the title needs McIntyre to make it. Priest calls McIntyre delusional and accuses him of blaming everyone for his troubles.

The reality is Priest wanted to cash in on Seth Rollins and then they could have gone at it at Wrestlemania. But who stopped Priest from cashing in so many times? McIntyre! All he had to do was have his moment at Wrestlemania, take his wife by the hand, and then go about his business. Instead, he got beaten up by a guy with one arm. If McIntyre wants a title shot he can have one, but he better be ready to eat his words. That’s a match that needs to happen and this exchange was a good way to get us there. If nothing else, it’s weird seeing someone stand eye to eye with McIntyre.

We look back at last week’s first round of the Queen Of The Ring.

Earlier today, Shayna Baszler and Iyo Sky yelled at each other in the parking lot.

Queen Of The Ring Quarterfinals: Iyo Sky vs. Shayna Baszler

Damage CTRL and Zoey Stark are here too and Baszler gets in a cheap shot before the bell. We take a break and come back joined in progress with Sky missing a charge out to the floor. Commentary talks about these two fighting in Stardom and NXT but stop to notice the weird graphic popping up on screen again. Baszler sends her into the apron and wraps the arm around the structure underneath the ring skirt. Back in and Sky grabs a running hurricanrana before they go up top. Baszler’s leg gets tied in the corner so Sky sends her to the floor for the big springboard moonsault.

We take a break and come back with Sky snapping the leg over the middle rope, setting up some running knees to the back for two. A kick to the head sets up a very bridging rollup for two but Baszler pulls her into the Kirifuda Clutch. That’s reversed as well so Baszler hits a running knee to the head for two. Another knee is countered with a dragon screw legwhip and Over The Moonsault finishes for Sky at 10:38.

Rating: B-. I would have loved to see more of this one as they were starting to cook near the end. It’s no surprise that they have good chemistry together given their history as they’re both talented and know each other well. At the same time, it would be nice to see Baszler actually win something important on her own, though I’m not sure I can imagine it actually happening.

Post match Sky says something in Japanese.

Damian Priest comes into the Judgment Day’s clubhouse, with Carlito around again. Carlito thinks the team could use some help with all of their injuries. Priest is fine with him helping the boys, but not him. Carlito: “You don’t trust me?” Priest: “Nope.”

Chad Gable doesn’t like what the Alpha Academy has been doing lately but Otis has a chance to redeem himself against Sami Zayn. Akira Tozawa is facing Bronson Reed, but Gable DOES NOT want to see that dance. The men leave and Ivy Nile comes in to ask why Maxxine Dupri didn’t ask for help in training for the Queen Of The Ring (Perhaps that Dupri had only a few hours’ notice that she was competing?). Apparently Gable says no training outside of the Academy but Gable comes in to break it up. Gable advises Nile to stop talking to “Taylor Not So Swift, referring to Dupri.

We recap last week’s first round King Of The Ring matches.

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are fired up for Kingston’s match against Gunther, because Kingston can teach him a lesson.

Awesome Truth are in the back with Adam Pearce, who tells them that they won’t be defending the titles tonight. Kiana James comes in and says she’s here to adjudicate. R-Truth doesn’t know what that means but doesn’t think it’s PG.

King Of The Ring Quarterfinals: Kofi Kingston vs. Gunther

Lilian Garcia pops up in a cameo to introduce the match. Kingston jumps him before the bell and hammers away on the floor before going after Gunther’s knee in a smart move. The knee is rammed into various things and we get the bell with Gunther still down. Kingston comes off the top to send Gunther outside but a dive is cut off. Gunther drives him into various things, including the announcers’ table for a crash. The Boston crab on the table has Kingston in trouble as we take a break.

Back with Gunther stomping away as Cole says this is somehow only Kingston’s third King Of The Ring tournament. Kingston reverses a backbreaker into a rollup for two and Gunther is all the angrier as a result. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker hits Kingston but Gunther’s knee is banged up as well. The SOS is blocked so Kingston hits a high crossbody instead. That doesn’t work for Gunther either, as he grabs another Boston crab (minus the table).

Kingston slips out and knocks Gunther down so we can get a double breather. Gunther dropkicks him into the corner and hits a clothesline for two as some frustration is setting in. Kingston’s back is bent around the post but he slips out and hurricanranas Gunther into the post. Trouble In Paradise connects on the floor but they both beat the count back in. Another Trouble In Paradise misses back inside and Gunther powerbombs him into the Boston crab for the tap at 13:51.

Rating: B. These two have worked well together before and it’s nice to see Gunther adding something different with the submission wins. It makes him feel all the more dangerous and I’m curious to see who, if anyone, is going to be able to knock him off in the thing. At the same time, Kingston can still go in the ring and it’s kind of a shame that he doesn’t get some bigger singles matches, as he can more than hang in there. Rather nice match here, with Kingston holding his own against the monster.

We look at Liv Morgan challenging Becky Lynch for a Raw Women’s Title match last week. Lynch accepted, but then Lyra Valkyria had to save Lynch from Damage CTRL.

Valkyria says she has Lynch’s back anytime, with Lynch popping in to thank her. With Lynch gone, Morgan comes in to ask if Lynch has always been such a b****. Valkyria says ask her yourself, with Lynch returning to shove Morgan down. Lynch says she isn’t the one scared of a face to face fight.

Kofi Kingston is walking through the back when Karrion Kross pops in to say there’s always more time. Kross leaves and Xavier Woods shows up with some ice for Kingston, who isn’t sure what Kross wanted.

Bronson Reed vs. Akira Tozawa

Chad Gable is here with Tozawa, who slugs away to start to little avail. A spinning kick to the head works a bit better and a missile dropkick actually puts Reed down. Gable is VERY happy as Tozawa goes up again, only to flip into the Death Valley Driver. The Tsunami finishes for Reed at 1:14.

Ludwig Kaiser is NOT happy with Gunther being interrupted with annoying questions. Gunther leaves and Kaiser is asked about Gunther’s loss to Ilja Dragunov and the interference that cost Jey Uso his match against Gunther. Kaiser lists off Gunther’s accomplishments and says he has nothing to prove.

As for Sheamus, he was delusional for thinking he can beat Gunther. Sheamus has never beaten Gunther despite a legendary career and it is never going to happen. In reality, Sheamus should be right here thanking Kaiser for last week. That’s the most fired up I’ve ever heard Kaiser before as he was sounding like a preacher for a bit.

Adam Pearce has an announcement about the Raw Tag Team Titles when the New Catch Republic comes in to interrupt. Pearce gives them a welcome to the show but Pete Dunne grabs Tyler Bate’s arm and leaves. Pearce’s announcement is a four way for the #1 contendership to the Tag Team Titles. With that out of the way, Pearce is asked why Bron Breakker wasn’t in the King Of The Ring. Breakker doesn’t have that kind of experience yet but here is Breakker to say his opponents would have been the ones in the deep end. He would have smiled while he watched them drown. That’s a bit much.

McAfee barks a lot.

We look at more of the Queen Of The Ring.

Queen Of The Ring Quarterfinals: Zoey Stark vs. Lyra Valkyria

Valkyria grabs some armdrags into an armbar to start as commentary talks about the inspiration behind Valkyria’s name. A hurricanrana takes Stark to the floor, where she drops Valkyria with a clothesline as we take a break. Back with Stark hitting a springboard missile dropkick for two and grabbing the cravate. That’s broken up and Valkyria manages a quick jumping enziguri for the needed breather.

Stark hits her in the face and adds a spinning kick to the ribs for two of her own. Something misses off the top though and Valkyria is back with a running spinwheel kick. Stark suplexes her into the corner for two and frustration is starting to set in. The Z360 is loaded up but Valkyria blocks the knee, setting up Nightwing for the pin at 8:57.

Rating: C+. They were starting to hit a wall near the end there and thankfully they went home when they did. Valkyria is getting a heck of a run in this thing and while it might end against Iyo Sky next week, it’s nice to see her getting a chance. They’re doing a good job with making the tournaments interesting and Valkyria is a part of that.

Post match Valkyria says something in Gaelic, promising that we’ll learn what that means. She only travels as the crow flies, which is straight to the top.

More from last week’s King Of The Ring first round.

Jey Uso is ready to give Ilja Dragunov a Yeetdown, just like Gunther is getting one next week.

Sami Zayn vs. Otis

Non-title and Chad Gable is here with Otis. The beating is on fast and Zayn is dropped through straight power, only to have Gable cut off the Worm attempt. Otis rips the shirt off anyway and drops the elbow, drawing Gable to the apron. The Vader Bomb misses for Otis and the Helluva Kick gives Zayn the pin at 2:03.

Post match Zayn leaves so Gable berates Otis, earning him a suplex from the returning Zayn. Otis helps Gable up but Gable blames him for everything. Gable slaps Otis and leaves on his own before stopping to say let’s go, with Otis following.

Braun Strowman (in a snazzy hat) gives the Creed Brothers a pep talk before their four way match tonight. JD McDonagh comes in to give him an official Judgment Day warning, which is quickly shrugged off.

Becky Lynch vs. Dakota Kai

Non-title and the rest of Damage CTRL is here with Kai. Lynch starts fast and stomps away in the corner with Kai falling out to the floor. There’s the baseball slide to drop Kai again, with Lynch adding a clothesline from the apron. Kairi Sane offers a distraction though and Kai manages quick kick to the head. Kai’s running kick in the corner….is mistimed as Lynch comes out of the corner and gets dropped by a regular kick to the ribs instead.

The chinlock goes on but Lynch fights up and we get a double knockdown as we take a break. Back with Kai striking away until Lynch catches her over the middle rope. Kai’s running kick in the corner connects for two but Lynch is back up with some rollups. Lynch finally pulls her into the Disarm-Her but Damage CTRL runs in for the DQ at 10:00.

Rating: C. This was a weird one as they didn’t feel like they were on the same page more than once. At the same time, it was a bizarre choice for an ending, as you would think Lynch should be able to beat Damage CTRL’s designated jobber in Kai. Not their greatest match, and I’m not sure why they did what they were doing.

Post match the beatdown is on but Lyra Valkyria runs in for the save. Liv Morgan sneaks in to send Lynch shoulder first into the post.

Ilja Dragunov is ready to beat Jey Uso to move closer to being the Czar of the Ring. He’s different because he beat Gunther….who comes in for the staredown.

Creed Brothers vs. Judgment Day vs. New Catch Republic vs. Authors Of Pain

For a future Tag Team Title shot against Awesome Truth, who are at ringside. Bate grabs a headscissors on McDonagh to start and drags him into the corner, where it’s off to Dunne for the finger snapping. The Creeds tag themselves in to start on McDonagh but the Authors come in to wreck everyone. McDonagh gets thrown over the top and onto the pile and we take a break.

Back with Balor stomping on Brutus in the corner before Judgment Day knocks the Republic off the apron. Brutus manages to get over for the tag to Julius, who double suplexes Judgment Day down. Balor is back up with the Sling Blade, setting up the dropkick to send Julius into the corner. The Republic breaks up the Coup de Grace, allowing Julius to grab a top rope superplex for two on Balor.

The Authors come back in with the Super Collider to Judgment Day. Now it’s the Republic cleaning house again but Brutus hits the Brutus Ball onto the pile at ringside. Bate airplane spins Akam and the Birminghammer hits Balor, with McDonagh making the save. Cue Carlito with a Backstabber to Dunne though, allowing Balor to hit the Coup de Grace for the pin and the title shot at 10:42.

Rating: B-. Total insanity here for the most part and that made for an entertaining match, even if there were so many people out there that it was hard to keep track of everything. The Judgment Day getting the shot makes things interesting as they have issues with Awesome Truth. The Authors can continue to be monsters, the Creeds can continue searching for charisma and the Republic can hope everyone forgets their rather awful name.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Ricochet wishes Ilja Dragunov luck.

Damian Priest asks Dominik Mysterio if he and Rhea Ripley are good but the rest of the team and Carlito come in. Priest tells Carlito that was cool, but makes sure that Carlito can handle his business with Rey Mysterio. The crew doesn’t roll with cowards.

King Of The Ring Quarterfinals: Jey Uso vs. Ilja Dragunov

Dragunov backs him into the corner to start and then fires off the chops. A discus chop puts Uso down, leaving Dragunov to try and get CZAR OF THE RING over. Uso catches him going up with a heck of a right hand though and there’s the suicide dive to send Dragunov into the announcers’ table. Dragunov fights back and puts him onto the announcers’ table, only to miss an H Bomb from the barricade. A spear sends Dragunov over the table and we take a break.

Back with Uso hiptossing his way out of the abdominal stretch to leave them both down. Uso wins a slugout and drops Dragunov with a jumping enziguri, only to get kicked in the face for his troubles. Dragunov’s Constantine Special gets two and they both need a breather. Uso hits a heck of a jumping superkick but the spear is cut off with a running knee. A toss powerbomb into the H Bomb gives Dragunov two but the Torpedo Moscow is countered with the spear. The Superfly Splash gives Uso the pin at 12:50.

Rating: B-. The ending kind of came out of nowhere but it was a hard hitting, back and forth match until the end. As disappointing as it is to not get Dragunov vs. Gunther, they might be saving that kind of a showdown for a bigger stage. Uso was putting in the work here and look good in the win, though beating Dragunov clean so soon is quite the choice.

Gunther comes in for the staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was another wrestling focused show and that worked again, with the matches being rather high quality (save for that weird Kai vs. Lynch match). They’ve also set up two big showdowns for next week and now we should be in for a hot show heading into the pay per view. They aren’t reinventing the wheel around here but what they’re doing is going rather well as the streak of good shows continues.

Results
Iyo Sky b. Shayna Baszler – Over The Moonsault
Gunther b. Kofi Kingston – Boston crab
Bronson Reed b. Akira Tozawa – Tsunami
Lyra Valkyria b. Zoey Stark – Nightwing
Sami Zayn b. Otis – Helluva Kick
Becky Lynch b. Dakota Kai via DQ when Damage CTRL interfered
Judgment Day b. New Catch Republic, Authors Of Pain and Creed Brothers – Coup de Grace to Dunne
Jey Uso b. Ilja Dragunov – Superfly Splash

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Monday Night Raw
Date: May 6, 2024
Location: XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

It’s tournament time as we are starting the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments this week. With the finals less than three weeks away, there isn’t much time so they are likely going to cover quite a bit this week. Unfortunately Drew McIntyre has been pulled due to injury but we should have a replacement of some kind on hand. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a long Backlash recap.

Here is the Judgment Day for a chat. Damian Priest is proud to have retained the title and apologizes for what happened after the match. He shouldn’t have attacked his teammates because they are his family. As for now though, the Judgment Day is still the dominant faction in WWE and Finn Balor is going to be the next King Of The Ring. Drew McIntyre is out of action so Balor is getting a first round bye. Cue Adam Pearce to say not so fast as we have a replacement right now.

King Of The Ring First Round: Jey Uso vs. Finn Balor

Balor grabs an armbar to start but Uso fights up with some yeeting right hands. A headlock slows Uso down again but he sends Balor outside for a dive. Uso gets posted and sent over the announcers’ table though and we take a break. Back with Balor’s basement dropkick connecting for two and we hit the chinlock.

That lasts as long as your average chinlock as Uso fights up and hits a high crossbody. A superkick drops Balor again but it’s way too early for the Superfly Splash. Instead Uso hits the spear for two but here is Drew McIntyre for a distraction. The fans want CM Punk though they seem to settle for Uso hitting another spear for the pin at 13:34.

Rating: C+. The McIntyre interference didn’t really do anything but this is going to give the fans something to like to start the show while also continuing Judgment Day’s issues. Balor got to showcase himself a bit as well but Uso moving forward makes sense as he could very well be a dark horse (or better) to win the whole thing. Assuming McIntyre doesn’t kick his head off that is.

We look at Gunther vs. Sheamus from Clash At The Castle back in 2022.

Drew McIntyre yells at Adam Pearce and leaves (with another QR code popping up). CM Punk pulls into the parking lot just as McIntyre leaves and heads to the ring (fist bumping Chad Gable on the way) for a chat. Punk talks about being locked in WWE Headquarters over the weekend and then realized the show was so close by so here he is. Punk mocks the 5:46 McIntyre title reign and knows that McIntyre is scrolling through Twitter so what if the fans lets him know he’s here.

While we’re waiting, Punk tells us about how he was hurt in the Royal Rumble when McIntyre DDT’ed him. He was upset over missing Wrestlemania but now he’s waiting to get his dream back. Punk is a five tool player but McIntyre is just a tool. McIntyre picked a fight with the pettiest man on earth and Punk thinks it’s because McIntyre hates himself. Punk already broke McIntyre’s elbow and next time he’ll break his face and heart. The music plays and Punk threatens to show up in Glasgow, Scotland. This is another week that Punk stays in the fans’ minds while he recovers, with his return getting closer and closer.

Ricochet is ready for the King Of The Ring when Braun Strowman comes in. Strowman stood up to Judgment Day last week because he can’t stand bullies.

Queen Of The Ring First Round: Iyo Sky vs. Natalya

Damage CTRL is here with Sky. Natalya spins out of a wristlock to start before grabbing a quickly broken leglock. They head outside with Sky being sent face first onto the apron as commentary talks about not knowing what any of the French chants were about at Backlash. Back in and Sky’s springboard missile dropkick gets two and we take a break.

We come back with Natalya grabbing a Michinoku Driver for two, followed by a top rope superplex (dedicated to Owen Hart, whose birthday would have been tomorrow) for the same. Sky is right back with a crossface before they trade rollup for two each. Natalya’s sitout powerbomb gets two more but the Sharpshooter attempt is broken up. The running knees in the corner set up Over The Moonsault for the pin at 10:24.

Rating: B-. That’s Natalya in a nutshell: makes opponent look good, does her own good things, loses in the end. It’s a good role for her and they didn’t try to do anything further than that. At the same time, Sky gets a win and some of her momentum back after losing at Wrestlemania.

Post match Damage CTRL promises to win the Queen Of The Ring and they’re coming for the Women’s Tag Team Titles again.

Video on Ilja Dragunov.

Ilja Dragunov vs. Ricochet

Ricochet doesn’t even bring the Speed Title with him. They start fast with Ricochet hitting a knee to the face and we’re already in a break. Back with Ricochet hitting a springboard clothesline into a standing shooting star press for two. Dragunov is back up with a waistlock but Ricochet backflips out of a German suplex.

Instead he sends Dragunov outside, where a moonsault is countered into the German suplex to put Ricochet down. Back in and a missile dropkick gives Dragunov two but Ricochet snaps off a super hurricanrana to the floor. Multiple dives drop Dragunov again and we take another break.

We come back again with Dragunov hitting the Constantine Special (rebound clothesline) and dropping a top rope backsplash for another near fall. They trade kicks to the face until Ricochet hits a Death Valley Driver. Ricochet tries a springboard but gets knocked out of the air. The H Bomb (a hard right hand on the mat) looks to set up Torpedo Moscow (running headbutt) but Ricochet Recoils him down instead. Dragunov catches him on top with another superplex and the second H Bomb is enough for the pin at 16:35.

Rating: B. If this didn’t have the two breaks in there, it would have been even higher. This was getting into Dragunov’s bread and butter as he feels like he would rather die than lose and throws everything he has out there to win. It makes his matches feel like wars and that was showing up again here. Heck of a match here for Dragunov’s more official Raw debut.

Respect is shown post match.

Sheamus can’t stand the idea of King Gunther so tonight he’s going to give Gunther the beating he’s been deserving.

Video on the European tour.

Queen Of The Ring First Round: Ivy Nile vs. Zoey Stark

Nile goes right after her to start but Stark runs her over. A rather delayed vertical suplex puts Stark down but she manages to pull Nile throat first into the rope. Stark hits a springboard missile dropkick for two, with commentary saying it was like a sniper. They both go up top where Nile wins a quick slugout and hits a super bulldog for two of her own. Nile misses an enziguri so Stark hammers away, with commentary getting into a weird discussion about ground and pound. Stark drops her face first onto the buckle and hits Z360 for the pin at 5:20.

Rating: C. This started well but they hit a wall in the middle and it kind of dragged to the finish. The top rope bulldog was a unique spot and Nile was fighting here but something seemed a bit off. I could go for seeing Nile get more of a chance, though she is going to need more polish and experience first.

R-Truth brings in UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley because he thinks Awesome Truth should face the basketball team. Miz tries to explain things to Truth but Truth insists that a sport is a sport. Miz says he’ll get back to Adam Pearce about their next title defense (An exasperated Pearce: “Thank you.”). Awesome Truth leaves and Pearce needs a drink but gets to talk to Bron Breakker, who wants to know why he isn’t in the King Of The Ring. They’ll talk later.

We look at Gunther vs. Sheamus II.

Judgment Day consoles Finn Balor over his loss when Dominik Mysterio comes in with Carlito. Damian Priest doesn’t want Carlito here after what happened at Backlash last year but Carlito offers to trade back scratches. Priest tells him to get out.

Chad Gable vs. Bronson Reed

No Alpha Academy here with Gable, who chops away to start but gets Death Valley Drivered (that move is making a comeback around here) for his efforts. Gable manages to muscle him over with a German suplex for two so Reed goes up top. That’s fine with Gable, who kind of t-bone superplexes him down, only to have Sami Zayn run in and jump Gable for the DQ at 1:42.

Post match the beating is on but Reed cuts off the Helluva Kick and plants Zayn. Reed beats up Gable as well and stands tall. The camera follows Reed to the back, where Adam Pearce asks why Reed can’t control himself. Reed wants the Intercontinental Title and tells Pearce to do what he needs to do if he wants control.

Video on Lyra Valkyria. It’s smart to preview new stars like her as it helps when she’s being thrown into a pretty important match.

Gunther is ready to win King Of The Ring and doesn’t mind going through Sheamus to do it.

Here is Becky Lynch for a sitdown interview with Michael Cole. Becky loves these people but Cole brings up her appearance at the Kentucky Derby and her…interesting outfit choice. Cole: “What is that hat? Is it a hat?” Lynch got it on Etsy and the fans think it works. Cole moves on to the title, which Lynch will have to defend against a variety of the new stars brought over in the Draft.

Lynch is ready for people like Alba Fyre, Isla Dawn, Kiana James and in particular, Lyra Valkyria. As for Wrestlemania, yes she had strep throat but Rhea Ripley was the better woman that night. Then she won the title two weeks later in a battle royal…and here is Liv Morgan to interrupt.

Morgan is sick of Lynch not talking about her and brings up everything she’s done. Lynch cuts her off and says the title match is on at King And Queen Of The Ring (that show needs a better name) but Morgan. Morgan says she has a purpose now but here is Damage CTRL to interrupt. That’s enough for Morgan to bail so the fight is on but Lyra Valkyria runs in for the save.

Sami Zayn says it should be over with Chad Gable and Bronson Reed so he’ll fight them both at King And Queen Of The Ring. He’ll be at his best because he’s up against the wall.

Queen Of The Ring First Round: Lyra Valkyria vs. Dakota Kai

Valkyria takes her down with a headlock to start but let’s go split screen for a preview for Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes. The northern lights suplex gives Valkyria two but she gets pulled off the corner for a crash onto the buckle. We take a break and come back with Valkyria striking away, including a dropkick through the ropes. A suplex gives Valkyria two but Kai slips out of a fireman’s carry. The running kick to the face in the corner hits Valkyria for two more but she ducks another kick to the face. Nightwing (Samoan driver) finishes Kai at 8:50.

Rating: C+. The substitution is a good thing for Valkyria as she wasn’t likely to defeat someone at Asuka’s level in her debut. Beating Kai is certainly not a step too far though and this could help Valkyria up as one of the new stars around here. The division could always use fresh blood and Valkyria has all of the tools to move up the ladder in a hurry.

Kofi Kingston says this was supposed to be Xavier Woods’ tournament but Gunther put Woods on the shelf. Now Kingston is going to win the tournament instead and he’ll start with Rey Mysterio this weekend. He also gets in a Kendrick Lamar/Drake reference that I don’t understand.

King Of The Ring First Round: Gunther vs. Sheamus

Ludwig Kaiser is here with Gunther and Sheamus has already slimmed down a bit from his return a few weeks ago. They waste no time in chopping it out until Gunther kicks him out to the apron. Gunther tries his own ten forearms to the chest but has to block Sheamus from doing the same. Sheamus backdrops him to the floor and hits a dive off the apron as we take a break.

Back with Gunther dropping him again with a hard chop to the back, which even has Kaiser cringing. Gunther starts in on the neck by grabbing a cravate but Sheamus is up with the Irish Curse. One heck of a clothesline gives Gunther two, with White Noise giving Sheamus the same. Now Sheamus can hit the forearms to the chest but the Brogue Kick misses. Kaiser gets in a cheap shot to the knee but gets ejected (McAfee: “NEIN!”) as we take another break.

Back again with Gunther working on the bad knee until Sheamus kicks his way to freedom. Gunther goes right after the knee again but Sheamus manages a clothesline. The jumping knee gives Sheamus two of his own but the knee is banged up. The knee gives out on a powerbomb and Gunther hits a powerbomb into a half crab. Sheamus is in the ropes so Gunther goes up, only to be countered into a Celtic Cross for a delayed two. Some knees put Gunther down for a delayed two but the knee gives out again. Gunther grabs the half crab again and this time Sheamus has to tap at 21:00.

Rating: B+. This was the heavyweight slugfest that you would expect from these two, with those welts on Sheamus’ chest making me cringe more than once. The ending is something that makes perfect sense for Gunther, as he exploited an injury. Granted it’s an injury that was caused by Gunther’s stooge but that’s what a heel should be doing.

Overall Rating: B. They were focused this week with a good chunk of the show looking at the tournaments. It helps that the action ranged from awesome to just rather good with the main event being more than worth a look. Two matches got added to the pay per view card as well, making this an efficient show that never hit any really bad part. Pretty great show this week and that’s always nice to see.

Results
Jey Uso b. Finn Balor – Spear
Iyo Sky b. Natalya – Over The Moonsault
Ilja Dragunov b. Ricochet – H Bomb
Zoey Stark b. Ivy Nile – Z360
Chad Gable b. Bronson Reed via DQ when Sami Zayn interfered
Lyra Valkyria b. Dakota Kai – Nightwing
Gunther b. Sheamus – Half crab

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 29, 2024
Location: T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Missouri
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

It’s the second night of the Draft and the first night did not exactly leave them much to top. There were only so many interesting Draft picks as most of them saw people staying on the same show. This week could use some actual shake ups, or at least a nice run of NXT stars. Let’s get to it.

Here is the first night of the Draft if you need a recap.

Logan Paul arrives and is greeted by the Judgment Day and….NFL superstar Patrick Mahomes. Everyone likes each other, including Damian Priest and Logan Paul liking each others’ titles. Well that’s certainly a big time cameo.

Commentary hypes up the Draft.

Here is Becky Lynch for a chat. Lynch is proud to be the Women’s World Champion and ready to face a new #1 contender. Cue Liv Morgan to say she can do that, as she did what Lynch couldn’t at Wrestlemania, when she took out Rhea Ripley. This was always the endgame…and here is Nia Jax to interrupt because she needs to be on both shows. Jax finds her reception incredibly rude and should be champion right now.

Jax is going to the other show but she is taking one of them with her. Morgan knocks her off the apron and the match seems likely for later tonight. This was every Jax segment rolled into one. The problem with her comes down to nothing phases her. She’ll take a loss or whatever and then bounce back like nothing ever happened. If the losses don’t matter, why should I be upset when she loses?

Here is Stephanie McMahon for the first picks.

Monday Night Raw

1. Imperium
2. Damage CTRL

Smackdown

1. Jade Cargill
2. Kevin Owens

Of note: Imperium is announced as Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser, with no Giovanni Vinci included.

Xavier Woods vs. Gunther

Kofi Kingston and Ludwig Kaiser are here too. Gunther starts fast and chops away as they head outside. Woods gets dropped onto the apron and we take an early break. Back with Gunther slamming Woods down as we get what appears to be an Uncle Howdy distortion. Woods dares to fire off a chop and gets the soul chopped out of his body (McAfee: “NEW! DAY’S CHOPPED”).

A clothesline sets up more chops but Woods slips out of a powerbomb attempt. Woods is sat up top but knocks Gunther back for a missile dropkick and a near fall. Gunther knocks him into the ropes with Woods’ leg getting tied up (and the audio messing up again, which again appears to be intentional) as we take a break.

Back with Gunther working on the leg, including tying him up in the Tree of Woe to strike away. Gunther goes up and tries the splash but only hits raised knees. Woods can barely stand so his superkick is countered into a half crab. Kofi grabs the towel and teases throwing it in but Woods says he can do it. The towel is thrown into the crowd instead so Gunther turns it into an STF for the tap at 16:30.

Rating: B-. This was more or less a squash as Gunther picked Woods (the reigning King of the Ring on Gunther’s way to the tournament) apart and then made him give up in the end. It was a rather good story as Gunther beats someone with some credibility and looks like a monster doing it. Nice stuff here.

Jey Uso is ready for the pressure of being the #1 overall draft pick. As for Logan Paul being here, he wishes it was the Paul brother with a winning record.

A Kansas City Chiefs fans who survived a shooting at the Super Bowl parade is here in a nice moment.

Here are Logan Paul and IShowSpeed to announce the next picks, but first they introduce Patrick Mahomes at ringside.

Monday Night Raw

3. CM Punk
4. Braun Strowman

Smackdown

3. The Pride
4. Tiffany Stratton

With the picks over, Logan Paul comes to the ring to shout about how Damian Priest will beat Jey Uso, who can’t win anything on his own. Cue Uso, to threaten Paul with some yeeting. Paul says he has been yeeting since 2017 and here is the Judgment Day, with Uso getting beaten down. Patrick Mahomes gives Paul his Super Bowl rings but Paul hits JD McDonagh by mistake. Braun Strowman comes in for the save…and has to be held back from Mahomes in an odd bit.

R-Truth has made a deal with Chad Gable, which is for a title shot tonight in exchange for two things later. Miz comes in and says this is the Draft, with R-Truth thinking they might be drafted to the NFL. With R-Truth gone, Gable mocks Miz and gets jumped by Sami Zayn.

Booker T. is happy with Jade Cargill coming to Smackdown because that’s a game changer (what is changed by having her stay on the same show she was on before isn’t clear). He’s interested in CM Punk being drafted as well so here is Drew McIntyre to point out Booker didn’t like Punk back in the day. Booker has changed.

Intercontinental Title: Bronson Reed vs. Sami Zayn

Zayn is defending and gets chopped/headbutted up against the ropes to start. Reed is sent outside though and an Arabian moonsault drops him again. Back in and Reed knocks him down without much trouble as we take a break. We come back with Zayn getting pulled out of the air and release Rock Bottomed for two. Reed’s sitout powerbomb gets two but Zayn is back up with the Helluva Kick….and Chad Gable runs in for the DQ at 7:51.

Rating: C+. Zayn can do the underdog vs. monster match as well as anyone and that’s what he had going here, but you knew Gable was going to run in after the attack earlier in the night. That’s a fine way to go, though Gable needs to win the title already or this is all a big waste of time. Reed will likely be involved as well though, meaning we’re probably looking at another triple threat match

Post match Gable gets the ankle lock until Reed adds a Tsunami. Reed and Gable then get into it with Reed holding up the title.

We look at Kiana James being drafted from NXT to Raw.

Here are Ron Simmons and John Bradshaw Layfield for the next picks.

Monday Night Raw
5. LWO
6. Drew McIntyre

Smackdown
5. Legado del Fantasma
6. Shinsuke Nakamura

Of note: Carlito is still listed as part of the LWO.

Here is Drew McIntyre for a chat. He might be the only sane person around here because how is he a third round draft pick? Has the APA had everyone around here drinking since Friday? The fans chant for CM PUNK, who McIntyre called part of the establishment. Punk fractured McIntyre’s elbow at Wrestlemania…and here is Punk in a sky box. Punk says he’s here and McIntyre is livid.

Chad Gable is mad at the rest of the Alpha Academy for being hyped up despite not winning. They better go win him a championship.

Bron Breakker is interrupted by Sheamus, who says he’s a big fan. A livid Drew McIntyre storms by.

Candice LeRae vs. Maxxine Dupri

Indi Hartwell and Ivy Nile are here too. Dupri starts fast and kicks her down, setting up a reverse Caterpillar. The ankle lock goes on but Hartwell posts Nile for a distraction. LeRae gets out and grabs the Wicked Stepmother for the pin at 1:47.

We look at Carlito being revealed as Dragon Lee’s attacker and turning on the LWO as a result.

The LWO has unfinished business with Carlito but Dominik Mysterio interrupts. Rey Mysterio mocks his mustache.

Drew McIntyre storms the sky box to find CM Punk but only finds an autographed photo. Instead, here is Punk to the ring for a chat. Punk loves the people here so he won’t waste time, so he sits down and asks for 5:46 to talk about McIntyre. He has had McIntyre’s attention for quite some time, with McIntyre being like the ex-girlfriend that won’t go away.

Punk is happy McIntyre got injured and thought it might have happened when McIntyre was on Twitter because it’s all he is good at. The reality is Punk was drafted ahead of McIntyre because he is better at anything in wrestling. Losers pray for things to happen but winners make it happen themselves. When Punk is healthy, he’s going to ruin McIntyre’s life. Good, fired up promo from the angry Punk here.

Here are Alundra Blayze and Teddy Long for some more picks.

Monday Night Raw

7. Judgment Day
8. Ilja Dragunov (From NXT)

Smackdown

7. Naomi
8. Chelsea Green/Piper Niven

Of note: Rhea Ripley was not mentioned in Judgment Day.

Liv Morgan vs. Nia Jax

Jax powers her into the corner to start but Morgan kicks her way out of trouble. Some dropkicks have Jax in more trouble but she knocks Morgan away without much trouble. The Annihilator is broken up and Jax heads outside, where she powers Morgan down again. Tiffany Stratton comes in to watch from the front row as we take a break. Back with Morgan fighting out of a chinlock but getting planted with a Samoan drop for two. The Annihilator is loaded up but Morgan powerbombs her down for two instead. Cue Naomi to brawl with Stratton, allowing Morgan to hit a Codebreaker and Oblivion for the pin at 10:26.

Rating: C-. And then Nia Jax will act like nothing bad happened to her and talk down to all the fans because she’s the stuck up monster who acts better than everyone and then loses over and over while being one of the worst things in WWE but HAHAHA her cousin runs the company so GET OVER IT. Morgan was her usual self here: made a good enough comeback with the sloppy moments included. Naomi and Stratton being out there as a distraction helped a bit but this didn’t work, as most things with Jax don’t.

Booker T. is excited about some of the picks. Adam Pearce’s favorite pick: Chelsea Green to Smackdown! He’s almost dancing in happiness as he goes to make more picks. That was hilarious.

We look at Logan Paul accidentally hitting JD McDonagh with Patrick Mahomes’ Super Bowl rings.

Here are the Dudley Boyz for the next picks.

Monday Night Raw

9. New Day
10. Lyra Valkyria (From NXT)

Smackdown

9. Pretty Deadly
10. Candice LeRae/Indi Hartwell

Raw Tag Team Titles: Awesome Truth vs. Alpha Academy

Awesome Truth is defending and we’re joined in progress with Miz getting the tag and cleaning house. Otis runs him over and hits the Caterpillar but Tozawa’s top rope backsplash hits raised knees. The Truth Crushing Finale retains the titles at 1:50 shown.

Damian Priest isn’t surprised that Judgment Day fell to the fourth round. JD McDonagh reveals a HORRIBLE looking bruise from the rings shot.

Becky Lynch congratulates Liv Morgan on her win. With Morgan gone, Damage CTRL comes in to threaten Lynch a bit. They even touch the title.

Here are Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis for the final picks.

Monday Night Raw

11. Final Testament
12. Bronson Reed

Smackdown

11. DIY
12. Blair Davenport (From NXT)

Jey Uso/Ricochet/Andrade vs. Judgment Day

Balor headlocks Andrade to start and everything breaks down, with the villains being knocked to the floor, including Priest being knocked over the announcers’ table, as we take a break. Back with Priest cranking on Ricochet’s arms as McAfee talks about how Priest going over the table set off a life alert on Cole’s Apple Watch.

Balor adds a backbreaker with Priest dropping a leg for two but Ricochet Recoils his way out of trouble. The tag brings in Jey for some right hands (and yeets), setting up a high crossbody for two on Balor. Uso drops Priest and goes up but Priest grabs him by the throat. McDonagh makes the save attempt but accidentally lets Uso get away. That means a superkick to Priest, followed by a spear and Superfly Splash to pin Balor at 10:33.

Rating: C+. Good enough here as Uso gets some momentum for Backlash and McDonagh manages to screw up again. While I can’t imagine Priest loses the title so soon, at least they’re giving us a bit of intrigue. For now though, this didn’t exactly feel like a main event, but it did serve a purpose.

A quick Backlash rundown ends the show.

Overall Rating: C. This was a rather bleh show with nothing exactly standing out. The picks were slightly more interesting than Smackdown, which is quite the low bar to clear. The biggest problem of all is nothing felt overly important, as it was mainly about keeping wrestlers who were already around.

There were a few good moves (Valkyria and Dragunov coming up and Strowman being back, but overall it just felt like much ado about not much. Other than that, Backlash is feeling like nothing more than a house show and that is not making me overly interested in seeing it. Not much of a Raw this week, but maybe they pick up again next week with the new normal.

Results
Gunther b. Xavier Woods – STF
Sami Zayn b. Bronson Reed via DQ when Chad Gable interfered
Candice LeRae b. Maxxine Dupri – Wicked Stepmother
Liv Morgan b. Nia Jax – Oblivion
Awesome Truth b. Alpha Academy – Truth Crushing Finale to Tozawa
Jey Uso/Ricochet/Andrade b. Judgment Day – Superfly Splash to Balor

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 22, 2024
Location: Schottenstein Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

It’s the last Raw before the Draft and that means things are going to be shaken up again. We are also about two weeks away from Backlash and we have a big main event on the Raw side as Jey Uso will challenge Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship. On top of that, we need a new Women’s World Champion so it’s battle royal time. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Michael Cole and Pat McAfee are in the ring to start things off and announce that the battle royal will be the main event.

We look at Rhea Ripley vacating the Women’s Title last week to set up the battle royal.

Here is Jey Uso to get things going. He’s ready for Backlash but here is Damian Priest to cut him off. Priest says this whole YEET thing suits Uso and he brings up their history together. Last year, Uso gave him such a beating that Priest came up to him in the locker room and said he earned his respect. They went out drinking that night and Jey said they were next.

The reality is that Priest was next, and he is now. Uso is just the first person to be fed to Priest to make him look good. Priest goes to leave but Uso asks if that is all Priest sees him as. Uso praises him for winning the title but Priest is being fed to him because Uso is becoming the next World Champion. Cue JD McDonagh so Uso throws the superkick, which hits Priest. McDonagh begs forgiveness as Uso leaves.

Raw Tag Team Titles: DIY vs. Awesome Truth

Awesome Truth is defending. R-Truth armdrags Gargano into an armbar to start and it’s quickly off to Miz. Gargano kicks him away and brings in Ciampa, who is quickly caught in a Figure Four. With that broken up, Ciampa bails to the floor so Gargano dives onto R-Truth as we take a break.

Back with R-Truth hitting a sitout gordbuster and handing it back to Miz. Ciampa wastes no time in kneeing him out of the air, only for Miz to get in a shot of his own. The tag brings in R-Truth to pick up the pace, at least until Gargano superkicks him into a Pedigree for two. Meet In The Middle hits R-Truth but Miz pulls Gargano out at two, setting up the Truth Crushing Finale to retain at 10:06.

Rating: C. Awesome Truth isn’t exactly out there to have instant classics but they work well enough to get by. They needed to get their first win like this and it went well, as DIY are great choices for such opponents. At the same time, DIY needs to win something already, but I’m not sure I can imagine it happening anytime soon.

Post match Ciampa isn’t happy and won’t shake hands (Gargano did).

JD McDonagh begs Damian Priest for forgiveness when Dominik Mysterio comes in. He’s banged up and can’t team with McDonagh tonight, so he’s gotten Santos Escobar to do it instead. The rest of the team isn’t thrilled.

Here is Gunther, with Imperium, for a chat. Gunther talks about elevating the Intercontinental Title to never before seen heights and that left a big target on his back. That weight has been lifted off his back, so he thanks Sami Zayn for allowing him to become the hunter again.

We are in a new era and now he is entering the King Of The Ring tournament, which will allow him to decide which title to come after. Cue New Day to interrupt, with Xavier Woods saying that since he is the reigning King Of The Ring, Gunther is A USURPER! Woods is going to become a two time King Of The Ring but Gunther says he will elevate the crown by winning the tournament. New Day brings up Gunther losing the title and a tag match is made.

Imperium vs. New Day

Kaiser drives Kingston into the corner to start so it’s off to Vinci, who gets chopped into trouble. Everything breaks down and Imperium manages to clear the ring as we take a break. We come back with Woods getting the tag and firing off some clotheslines. A running crotch attack against the ropes/dropkick through the ropes hits Imperium but Vinci blasts Kingston with a clothesline for two. The Imperium Bomb is broken up and the UpUpDownDown finishes Vinci at 9:14.

Rating: C+. Nice match as usual between these teams, though hearing that it was going to happen again didn’t exactly get my interest. They’ve fought so many times that it is hard to get interested again. Odds are this is not going to sit well with Gunther, who has been tired of Imperium screwing up more than once. New Day getting a win helps them a bit, but they still need something new.

Post match Gunther is livid and leaves Imperium in the ring. Kaiser then jumps Vinci and leaves him laying. Security breaks it up but Kaiser hits a running dropkick to send him into the steps. Kaiser walks to the back, where Gunther is waiting for him in approval.

Andrade recaps his issues with the Judgment Day, saying he is no one’s servant. Now he is their biggest problem.

We look at the United Kingdom tour.

Here is Drew McIntyre to sit down (McIntyre: “Don’t shoot up my kilt you perv.”). He doesn’t get why people chant for CM Punk every time he’s out there when Punk doesn’t care for any of them. After saying if you say WHAT you French kiss your sister (Fans: “WHAT!” McIntyre: “You guys are sick.”), McIntyre talks about how Punk cost him everything at Wrestlemania. Now it’s on to the King of the Ring but here is Sheamus to interrupt.

Sheamus says McIntyre cost himself everything at Wrestlemania when his family was there supporting him. They have traveled the world together but a one armed Punk beat McIntyre up. Sheamus says McIntyre needs to get Punk’s name out of his head but McIntyre calls out Sheamus for gaining weight while he was gone. Sheamus: “I can lose the weight but you can’t lose stupid.” They argue over what people say about Sheamus’ weight but McIntyre promises to watch Sheamus’ back (in a bit of an ominous way). We’ve done this before, though McIntyre and Sheamus doing anything together is good to see.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sheamus

Or McIntyre vs. Sheamus according to Cole (which he does correct after a break). Nakamura strikes away to start and knocks him to the apron before choking in the corner. McIntyre leans over to McAfee and talks about how this company is succeeding due to the work of people like Sheamus.

A hard shot puts Nakamura down (McIntyre approves) and we hit the forearms to the chest. The rather banged up Nakamura is sent outside but he comes back with a kick to the head. Nakamura knees him in the back of the head and we take a break. Back with Sheamus hitting the Irish Curse and a top rope clothesline gets two.

Sheamus misses a charge into the corner and gets caught with the sliding German suplex, setting up Nakamura’s sliding German suplex. The chinlock doesn’t last long and Sheamus manages a super White Noise for two more. The Brogue Kick misses so Sheamus knees him down for another near fall. Nakamura slips out of the High Cross but walks into the Brogue Kick to give Sheamus the pin at 11:18.

Rating: B. This is the kind of match that Sheamus needed to really show that he’s back. The match was about taking two hard hitting stars and letting them beat the fire out of each other for awhile. Odds are we’ll be seeing something between Sheamus and McIntyre, so it’s nice to see Sheamus getting a nice boost on the way there.

McIntyre applauds Sheamus’ efforts.

We recap Sami Zayn defeating Chad Gable last week, resulting in Gable snapping on him in a rather violent way.

Zayn says he is angry and hurt but he’s biting his tongue. He’ll be listening for Gable’s explanation later tonight. Bronson Reed comes in to say he’s a bigger problem than Gable. Zayn says anytime, anyplace. Then Reed jumps him.

Here are Chad Gable and the Alpha Academy for a chat, but first we see a clip from the Pat McAfee Show, with Charles Barkley talking about how he didn’t like what Gable did to Sami Zayn. Gable says Zayn is having a rough week but what he did to Zayn was justified. Gable talks about last week’s main event and how big of a deal it was. That was important enough, but then Zayn put the title in front of his face.

That would set some people off, but Gable gave him his moment. Then Zayn celebrated with his wife despite knowing Gable was standing right there. Gable should have been at Wrestlemania in front of his family but he has been training a bunch of losers. He gets on Akira Tozawa for losing too often, Maxxine Dupri for being dumb and Otis for being a huge disappointment. From now on, it’s all about Gable, with everyone here helping him. Gable wants to hear them say it, with Otis reluctantly agreeing. That’s a perfectly acceptable explanation, but it seems like we are looking at a slow burn heel turn for Otis.

Dominik Mysterio, with his arm in a sling, comes up to Ricochet, who cuts him off and doesn’t want to hear Mysterio’s threats. Tonight he’ll take out JD McDonagh in a tag match and then do it again in their match for Speed. Ricochet leaves and Liv Morgan comes in for a staring from Mysterio.

Nia Jax promises to win the title tonight.

Ricochet/Andrade vs. JD McDonagh/Santos Escobar

Dominik Mysterio is here with McDonagh/Escobar. Ricochet knocks Escobar into the corner to start and hits a quick elbow for two. Back up and Ricochet cranks on the neck before snapping off an anklescissors. McDonagh comes in to elbow Ricochet in the face for two before dropping him with a hard belly to back suplex. The fans tell Dominik to shave his mustache and don’t like it when he trips Ricochet up, allowing Escobar to get in a cheap shot.

We take a break and come back with Ricochet fighting out of the corner. It’s back to Andrade for some dragon screw legwhips into the running knees in the corner to Escobar. Ricochet comes in with the springboard clothesline into the running shooting star press for two. Escobar and Ricochet collide for a double knockdown so it’s Andrade coming in for the two Amigos. McDonagh makes the save and all four head up. Andrade knocks McDonagh down and Escobar snaps off a super hurricanrana to send Ricochet….right onto McDonagh. Andrade grabs the Shadow to finish McDonagh at 11:54.

Rating: C. This had its moments with the athleticism and flips, but they weren’t exactly gelling in a lot of ways. Some of the stuff was looking a bit messy and at the same time, the match was kind of confusing as Ricochet and Andrade aren’t a regular team and Escobar is a replacement. Andrade’s push continues though, and he might be in line for something bigger if he stays on this path.

Post match Damian Priest runs in to take out Ricochet and Andrade. Priest says he doesn’t need McDonagh and Escobar but they need him.

Video on Zoey Stark.

Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell are asked about being all evil when they’re interrupted by a fight between Liv Morgan and Nia Jax. Becky Lynch comes in and steals the microphone. She goes towards the ring and runs into Maxxine Dupri, who gets a quick pep talk. Lynch goes back to walking and says she’ll be waiting for Rhea Ripley whenever she gets back.

Raw Women’s Title: Battle Royal

Becky Lynch, Indi Hartwell, Candice LeRae, Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax, Liv Morgan, Zoey Stark, Natalya, Kayden Carter, Katana Chance, Piper Niven, Chelsea Green, Ivy Nile, Maxxine Dupri

For the vacant title. Niven and Jax slug it out to start but can’t get very far. Lynch has to get back inside and Natalya is sent to the apron for an early elimination tease. We slow down a bit until Dupri dumps out LeRae for the first elimination. Dupri gets rid of Hartwell too and we take an early break.

Back with Carter and Chance getting to clean some house until Baszler and Stark get rid of both of them. Nia tosses Nile into the post for the elimination but Dupri fires off some kicks. Then Jax eliminates her as well, with the fans not being pleased. Niven gets low bridged to the apron and Lynch kicks her out. That’s not cool with Niven, who pulls Lynch outside (not eliminated) and crushes her against the steps.

Niven loads up the announcers’ table but stops to pull Jax outside (not eliminated). That’s fine with Jax, who chokeslams and Samoan drops Niven onto Lynch. As this is going on, Natalya eliminates Green but the referee misses it, allowing Green to get back in. We take another break and come back again with Lynch still mostly done on the floor. Green and Natalya brawl on the apron until Stark kicks Green out.

Natalya is knocked out as well, leaving us with Morgan, Jax, Stark, Baszler and the out of it Lynch. Jax punches Stark and Baszler out as Lynch is pulling herself back inside. Morgan kicks away at Jax and it’s a Codebreaker/neckbreaker combination to Jax to put all three of them down. Jax is back up with some Samoan drops and sends them both to the apron. A double Stunner slows Jax down but she suplexes both of them at the same time.

Jax goes up and gets knocked to the apron, where a Codebreaker and middle rope Fameasser get rid of her. We’re down to Lynch vs. Morgan, with Lynch knocking her to the apron. Morgan pulls her through the ropes to the same apron and they fight over a suplex. That doesn’t work so it’s a Manhandle Slam to give Lynch the win and the title at 21:47.

Rating: B-. This got a lot of time and they got us to the end with multiple viable options. Jax, Morgan and Lynch were the three most likely choices to win and they went with the best of those three. Lynch definitely feels like a safe pick and there is nothing wrong with that given the circumstances. Good main event here and it felt like a big moment, as it should have.

Lynch celebrates in the crowd (including hugging a lot of young girls in a nice moment) to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. There was enough good action here and the ending felt important. The interesting part to me here was that the show focused on King & Queen of the Ring and Backlash, but the Draft was barely ever mentioned. That makes a lot of sense as there is only so much you can do with previewing something as random as the Draft. The next two shows are going to be interesting, but this show was mainly about getting ready for the next few big events. There are quite a few of them coming up, so getting this kind of night in helped them a bit.

Results
Awesome Truth b. DIY – Truth Crushing Finale to Gargano
New Day b. Imperium – UpUpDownDown to Vinci
Sheamus b. Shinsuke Nakamura – Brogue Kick
Ricochet/Andrade b. JD McDonagh/Santos Escobar – Shadow to McDonagh
Becky Lynch won a battle royal last eliminating Liv Morgan

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 15, 2024
Location: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

We’re getting back to normal this week as Wrestlemania is now getting more firmly in the rear view mirror. Last week saw Jey Uso become the new #1 contender to Damian Priest so odds are we’ll be hearing more from them this time. The main event is a big one though as hometown boy Sami Zayn will be defending the Intercontinental Title against Chad Gable. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Earlier today, people who work here came to work.

Here is Rhea Ripley to get things going and her arm is in a sling. She looks very upset and gets right to the point: she’s out for a few months and has to vacate the Women’s World Title. Ripley blames the Liv Morgan Revenge Tour and promises to come back and have to be put in jail to avoid killing Morgan. Cue Morgan, with security having to hold them apart. Ripley beats up one of the guards.

Post break the Judgment Day gives Ripley a hug and tell her to come back and make Morgan regret it.

Sheamus vs. Ivar

Sheamus, complete with his old theme music, is in shorts now instead of his regular gear. Hitting Ivar doesn’t get very far so they go up top, with Sheamus muscling him up for a super White Noise. We take a break and come back with Sheamus hitting a powerslam, setting up the ten forearms. Ivar kicks Sheamus in the head and hits the top rope splash for two but Sheamus fights out of the corner. A running knee sets up the Brogue Kick to finish Ivar at 8:18.

Rating: C+. Sheamus is back at what he does best by hitting people really hard until the match is over. He’s the definition of a simple character and that is not a bad thing. That’s what he did here against someone who can slug right back with him. If nothing else, having the old theme back freshens things up a bit, which is long overdue.

Video on Chad Gable vs. Sami Zayn.

Here is HHH for a chat, with Pat McAfee making a Terry Ryzing reference. HHH talks about how hot the crowd is tonight before talking about how many changes happened at Wrestlemania. This included the Tag Team Titles changing hands so let’s bring out Awesome Truth. We get a long bit of praise for the champs before HHH (with Adam Pearce) unveils the new World Tag Team Titles.

R-Truth thinks HHH is a magician because those titles just appeared! He doesn’t trust magicians after Little Jimmy…..so he knows that’s really Tommaso Ciampa! Miz calms things down a bit and talks about being in Montreal, thinking the fans want Sami Zayn. Miz explains the idea to R-Truth in French….and that just works. HHH: “Can I just go please?” He swaps the titles, shakes their hands, and wishes Pearce luck before leaving. Pearce isn’t pleased but let’s get to the triple threat #1 contenders match.

I like the new titles (they’re gold, but for some reason they look like WWE themed pizzas) but this felt like a segment designed to have R-Truth out there doing his wacky stuff. That is still entertaining, though it came off a bit forced here. Either way, the new titles are definitely an improvement over the rather dated previous versions.

New Day vs. Creed Brothers vs. DIY

During New Day’s entrance (complete with Xavier Woods doing Buff Bagwell’s strut and pose), we get a weird graphic to interrupt the signal but it isn’t acknowledged. Brutus powers Woods and Ciampa around to start, setting up a double clothesline. We hear about Brutus ripping the handles off microwaves when he was in school as the Creeds’ stereo suplexes are broken up. The Creeds cut off DIY’s dives so New Day hit dives of their own as we take a break.

Back with Julius and Ciampa slugging it out, with Julius getting the better of things. Trouble In Paradise is blocked as everything breaks down again. Project Ciampa gets two on Kofi but the Fairy Tale Ending is broken up. Woods comes in with a tornado DDT and the Honor Roll before having to drop Brutus. The Creeds are back up to clean house, including a pair of double suplexes for a double near fall. Back up and the Brutus Ball is broken up, leaving Woods to hit a top rope elbow on Julius. That takes too long though and DIY hits Meet In The Middle on Woods for the pin at 10:32.

Rating: C+. That was certainly a triple threat tag match for a future title shot and I’m not sure what else they were expecting. There’s not much to see here outside of the normal, expected stuff. DIY getting the shot is fine as they have a connection to the champs and are just enough of a threat to possibly take the belts.

We look at Jey Uso becoming the #1 contender last week.

Drew McIntyre won’t say anything about it but seems livid.

Ivy Nile/Maxxine Dupri vs. Candice LeRae/Indi Hartwell

Nile takes Hartwell down to start and hands it off to Dupri for a high crossbody. A fisherman’s suplex gives Dupri two but she stops to yell at LeRae, allowing Hartwell to get in a clothesline. LeRae comes in to stomp away but Hartwell offers a distraction, with Dupri grabbing a DDT. Hartwell offers a distraction though and the referee doesn’t see the tag. That means Hartwell can come in with a big boot to give LeRae the pin at 3:36.

Rating: C-. This story has been going for a few weeks now and while it has been progressing, it isn’t very interesting. Hartwell and LeRae feel like the bottom rung of the division and trying to make them into more of a thing isn’t exactly working. Dupri still needs so much ring time to get better and having her in these short matches on Raw isn’t doing her much good.

Video on Damian Priest’s rise to the top of WWE.

Priest tells the Judgment Day to keep focused even if Rhea Ripley is hurt. Tonight, JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio need to deal with Andrade while Finn Balor needs to take out Jey Uso.

Earlier today, Chad Gable was training with the Creed Brothers in the ring. He’s trained Sami Zayn, but that means he knows Zayn’s weaknesses too.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Andrade

JD McDonagh is here with Mysterio. Andrade starts fast with the corner chops into a crossbody but Dominik is fine enough to reverse the third Amigo. McDonagh offers a distraction though and Dominik gets in a cheap shot as we take a break. Back with Andrade hitting the running knees in the corner, only to miss the moonsault. They head to the apron with Dominik hitting a Canadian (or “this country” according to McAfee) Destroyer for two, only for Andrade to come back with the Message for the pin at 8:40.

Rating: C. They lost me a good bit near the end, with a Canadian Destroyer on the apron being such a nothing part of the match. That really should be a bigger deal but the match was over about thirty seconds later. Other than that, Andrade just isn’t clicking for whatever reason. Maybe he needs someone to talk for him, but there’s a piece missing and it’s holding him back.

Post match McDonagh comes in for the beatdown on Andrade with Ricochet making the save.

We look at Tama Tonga joining the Bloodline and taking out Jimmy Uso.

Jey Uso isn’t sure what’s going on but he told Jimmy to come with him. Enough of that though, as he has Finn Balor tonight.

Piper Niven/Chelsea Green vs. Katana Chance/Kayden Carter

Niven runs both of them over to start so it’s off to Green. Carter has some better luck and works on the arm before putting Green in a fireman’s carry. Chance comes off the top, jumps off Green’s back and…is pulled out of the air by Niven. A fall away slam sends Chance flying and a basement crossbody crushes Carter to give Green the pin at 2:11.

We look back at the opening segment.

Liv Morgan says this is karma for Rhea Ripley injuring her and says this is just the beginning of her Revenge Tour. The ending will be her winning the Women’s World Title.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat. He’s glad to be on Raw despite being a Smackdown guy (don’t worry because he’s not going anywhere) but we can’t talk about Wrestlemania forever. We are on our way to Backlash where this title will be on the line, but he does want to thank Seth Rollins for being his shield at Wrestlemania. The Rock had something to say yesterday when he talked about the training he did, with Cody knowing that Rock has more in him. That brings him to the Bloodline, and here is someone who knows them very well.

Cue Jey Uso, with Cole being amazed at how much McAfee gets into the dance. Cody welcomes Jey and says he’d love to have Jey’s back like Jey had his. Jey appreciates the offer but wants to do this on his own, which Cody understands. Cody: “Until we yeet again.”

Nia Jax doesn’t care about Rhea Ripley and is ready to win the Women’s World Title.

Jey Uso vs. Finn Balor

Balor runs in from behind to jump Jey before the bell and we start fast. The loud chop in the corner has Jey wincing around the ring before Balor sends him to the apron. Some right hands knock Jey outside and we take an early break. Back with Jey hitting an enziguri to leave both of them down, followed by the dancing right hands. The Samoan drop gives Jey two but Balor rakes the eyes to take over again. The Sling Blade looks to set up the Coup de Grace but Jey rolls away, setting up the spear. Jey drops the Superfly Splash for the clean pin at 9:12.

Rating: B-. This was the “here’s a win for Jey to get him ready for the World Title match”. While Jey isn’t likely to win, he’s just close enough that you could buy a fluke win and that’s not a bad thing. Jey has been in enough big matches on his own that something could come of this, though the Bloodline is going to be looming. For now though, a win over Balor means a lot for him, especially when it’s completely clean.

Post match Damian Priest comes out for the staredown but here are Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh to run in for the beatdown on Jey. They head outside and Jey manages to whip two of them together and escape through the crowd. We follow Jey through the concourse (where he shoves a fan away for trying to get in front of him for a video).

Jey runs into Sami Zayn, who is looking up at the building. This is where he saw his first show, and now he’s headlining. We follow Zayn into the arena and he comes through the crowd with a Canadian flag wrapped around his shoulders. Jey leaving until Zayn came into the arena was one long tracking shot and my goodness that was great.

Chad Gable is coming to the ring but runs into Bronson Reed, who is waiting for the winner.

Intercontinental Title: Chad Gable vs. Sami Zayn

Zayn is defending and gets the hometown reception during the Big Match Intros. Gable easily wrestles him down to the mat to start but Zayn takes it to the floor. Zayn’s tease of a dive lets him bounce back into the middle as we take a break. Back with Zayn trying to run the corner but Gable drops him down, with Zayn favoring his knee. The top rope headbutt gives Gable two and Gable works on the knee.

That’s broken up and Zayn hits a middle rope elbow to the head as McAfee keeps trying to speak French. Zayn knocks him to the floor and hits an Arabian moonsault as we take another break. Back again with Gable hitting a super Angle Slam and they’re both down. Gable is up with some rolling German suplexes, only to have Zayn reverse into his own string of German suplexes.

They trade standing switches until Zayn puts him down again for another double breather. Gable charges into the corner but gets caught with the exploder, only to have the Helluva Kick countered into the ankle lock. Zayn tries to reverse into a Sharpshooter (of course) but the ankle gives out before he can pull it on. The ankle lock goes on again, only to have Zayn roll out. The Helluva Kick (limping version) retains the title at 17:24.

Rating: B. Good main event here with Zayn getting the clean win to help make up for some of his loss to Roman Reigns here last year. In theory this should wrap things up with Gable and move Zayn on to Bronson Reed, though it makes me wonder what is next for Gable. It’s a shame to see him drop back down after doing some rather good stuff in recent weeks, but that’s pretty normal for him around here.

Post match Zayn celebrates…and Gable jumps him from behind. Gable puts on an ankle lock in the corner and Zayn is in agony to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. They shifted back towards a much more normal Raw this week, though the Draft coming up in two weeks is going to change everything again. What mattered here was starting to set things up for Backlash and we have one match set with some more looking likely. You can’t keep up the Wrestlemania season energy all year but they did enough here to keep the show interesting, which is all you can do after such a big time ends. Nice enough show this week.

Results
Sheamus b. Ivar – Brogue Kick
DIY b. New Day and Creed Brothers – Meet In The Middle to Woods
Indi Hartwell/Candice LeRae b. Maxxine Dupri/Ivy Nile – Big boot to Dupri
Andrade b. Dominik Mysterio – Message
Piper Niven/Chelsea Green b. Katana Chance/Kayden Carter – Basement crossbody to Carter
Jey Uso b. Finn Balor – Superfly Splash
Sami Zayn b. Chad Gable – Helluva Kick

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Main Event
Date: April 10, 2024
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Blake Howard, Brian James

It’s the first show after Wrestlemania (first taped that is) and I was in the house for it so we’ll take another look. One would think that Main Event after Wrestlemania might be the place to put in someone new for a look but that doesn’t tend to be the case. The action can be good enough though so let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Kayden Carter/Katana Chance vs. Shayna Baszler/Zoey Stark

Baszler drives Carter into the corner to start so it’s off to Chance, who is taken into the wrong corner as well. Chance springboards her way to freedom and takes Stark down, allowing Carter to monkey flip her into Stark for two. Back up and Stark drops Chance onto Baszler’s raised knee (ouch) for two. Baszler starts in on the arm and hands it back to Stark, who gets kicked in the head. Carter rolls over and hits a low superkick on Stark, followed by the springboard spinning legdrop for two. Baszler isn’t having this and stomps on Carter’s arm, leaving Stark to hit the Z360 to finish Chance at 4:46.

Rating: C. The knees to the face were good but the fans weren’t exactly into this for some reason. Baszler and Stark continue to be a team who feel like they should be moving up the ladder but it just hasn’t happened. Then again there isn’t much of a ladder to go up in the women’s tag division, but it’s better than having Baszler doing nothing for so long again.

Video on Cody Rhodes’ path to being WWE Champion.

From Raw.

Cue Cody Rhodes to quite the hero’s welcome. Before HHH leaves, he congratulates Rhodes for ending one of the greatest title runs of all time at the greatest Wrestlemania of all time. On his first night as champion, Rhodes is responsible for a record gate of over 20,000 people. In addition, on his first night as champion, some people in the production office have made a little something for him. There’s no Titantron, so Rhodes has to watch a musical tribute to him on a portable monitor (with HHH making a joke about it).

After some tears are shed, HHH leaves and Cody asks what the fans want to talk about. First, he has Samantha Irvin announce him as the new champion one more time. Two years ago, Cody returned to WWE and announced his dreams, but now those dreams are reality. He and the fans are on top of the mountain and the previous man on top of that mountain has to be acknowledged as well.

That gives us a THANK YOU ROMAN chant before Cody shows us a clip of his daughter telling him to finish the story. Cody wanted his daughter to know that when her daddy goes to work, he’s going to work as champion. He was once undesirable, then he was undeniable, and now he is undisputed.

Cue the Rock and the fans know this is about to get serious. The fans won’t let him talk, with an UNDERTAKER (McAfee: “TOO SOON!”) chant, followed by SHUT THE F*** UP. Rock says he is a lot of things but “sucks” is not one of them. Rock finally gets some words in by saying he is here to deliver flowers to Cody Rhodes but there is another announcement to make: Philadelphia has set the record for the largest gathering of trailer part trash in history. Rock tells the fans they can keep going with their “SHUT THE F*** UP” chants (muted on TV, not in the arena, which is bizarre to hear in WWE).

Rock gets a bit more quiet and talks about their history, including how happy Mama Rhodes was last night. You know who else was smiling? Dusty Rhodes up in Heaven. Dusty was Rock’s hero and their dads ran the roads together. Maybe Rock’s daddy wasn’t happy with what Rock did to Cody….but he doesn’t care.

Rock talks about Cody’s belt and says the People’s Title he has is real too. But maybe….could he hold Cody’s title? He’s held every title, except for that one. Cody says Rock can hold his if Cody can hold Rock’s, so they switch off for a bit. Rock puts the title on his shoulder (fans: “THIS IS AWKWARD!”) and says it feels right before they switch back.

As Cody knows, the Rock has got to go away for a little while, but he loves wrestling and the two of them made it cool again. The fans sing the Goodbye Song but Rock says he’ll be back for Cody one day. While Cody might have beaten Roman Reigns, Rock beat Cody the night before.

Cody talks about Rock being the Boss, but he’s the champion. He’s the people’s champion and the Rock’s champion. Rock agrees and says he has something for Cody. He reaches into his pocket and hands it to Cody without us seeing it. Rock says don’t you ever break his heart again, if you smell what he’s cooking. Rock leaves and we still don’t know what he handed Cody.

And with that, we’re 45 minutes into the show. This was a weird segment as they went on for a long time but didn’t actually say much. It was basically “Wrestlemania was great, thank you fans, Cody is great, Cody talks about how he did it, Rock comes out, says he’s leaving, awkward exchange, Rock gives him something. That was about a fourth of the show and they more or less just teased Rock vs. Cody for later.

From Raw.

Here is most of Judgment Day to brag about the team’s success at Wrestlemania. Cue Rhea Ripley (the fans seem to like her) to brag about retaining her title. With Ripley’s topness confirmed, here is Damian Priest for the big celebration. Fans: “YOU DESERVE IT!” Priest: “You d*** right I do.” The team poses with their titles but R-Truth pops up behind them. He brought the Tag Team Titles back to the team and thinks it’s time to induct Miz.

Cue Miz, who doesn’t want to be in the Judgment Day. He knows R-Truth doesn’t want to be in the team either (Priest: “He’s not in the Judgment Day!” R-Truth: “I am in the Judgment Day!”) and introduces Awesome Truth as the new champs. Finn Balor wants a title shot right now but R-Truth says there are three of them. The challenge is thrown out for a six man, with R-Truth saying they can team with “the guy you can’t see”. Works for Judgment Day, who don’t come off as very bright here.

Judgment Day vs. Awesome Truth/???

Awesome Truth is jumped and sent to the floor as we take an early break. Back with the match (billed as a handicap match) joined in progress and McDonagh kicking away at Truth. The chinlock doesn’t last long as R-Truth is up to avoid a splash in the corner. Miz comes in and kicks away, including a double DDT to Mysterio and McDonagh. The Skull Crushing Finale is broken up and Miz scores with a clothesline to take over.

We take another break and come back with Miz kicking McDonagh away but Mysterio pulls R-Truth off the apron. And here’s John Cena, which somehow only Judgment Day and commentary didn’t figure out. Cena gets the tag almost immediately and house is cleaned, setting up triple Shuffles and triple AA’s for the triple pin on Judgment Day at 10:05.

Rating: C. Oh this was fine with the match being nothing of note until Cena came out there for one of the most obvious reveals in a long time. That being said, this is what Cena is perfect for these days: he can be put in there as a hot tag guy and pop the crowd with his usual stuff. It’s nothing but a cameo but on this kind of a show, he’s the exact right option and didn’t hurt anything whatsoever.

Sheamus is coming back.

Julius Creed vs. Ivar

Brutus Creed is here with Julius. Ivar runs him over without much trouble to start and then hits a boot to the head for a bonus. Julius fights up and gets in a running forearm to stagger Ivar before managing to knock him against the ropes. A fireman’s carry doesn’t work but Julius sends him outside for a slingshot dive. We take a break and come back with Ivar sitting on Julius’ chest out of the corner. Julius’ comeback doesn’t work as Ivar knees him in the ribs but Julius is able to catch him with a dropkick on top.

They head outside with Ivar nailing a big boot, setting up a rather scary flip dive off the apron. Back in and Ivar loads up the Doomsault, only to have Julius jump up top for the top rope superplex. Ivar is right back with a tiger driver for two and Ivar is stunned. With nothing else working, Ivar goes up top but Julius pulls him back down for a rather hard slam. Julius’ 450 misses, though of course he mostly sticks the landing. Ivar kicks him in the face and comes back with a super World’s Strongest Slam, setting up the Doomsault for the pin at 7:03.

Rating: B-. This is the kind of match that lets two people get to beat the fire out of each other with one big spot after another. Julius got to show off his insane athletics, but he still needs a lot of work in the personality department. Other than that, you have Ivar who can hit a spinning kick to the face and a Doomsault. What else can you ask for from him?

From Raw.

Here is Drew McIntyre for a chat before the main event and he is not happy. What happened last night was BS because his moment only lasted 5:46. The fans laugh but he says that’s five minutes longer than most of them last in bed. He respects Seth Rollins but then that bondage Undertaker messed everything up. McIntyre would whip Damian Priest but Priest would probably like it. The reality is that this is all CM Punk’s fault and the next time he sees Punk, it’s time for revenge. He’s going for Punk’s weakest part…which is his entire body. This was hilarious as McIntyre can be funny and angry at the same time.

Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso vs. Bronson Reed vs. Ricochet

For a future shot at Priest and the World Heavyweight Title. Everyone but Ricochet goes to the floor to start so he hits a big flip dive and we take a break. Back with a table in the corner and Reed dropping an elbow on Uso. Commentary says that this is one fall to a finish despite the introductions saying that this is under elimination rules, so things are already a bit confusing. Uso tries a spear on Reed, who sends him through the table as we take another break, 2:09 after coming back.

We come back again with Ricochet striking away at Reed until McIntyre sends him flying with a release belly to belly. We get the McIntyre vs. Reed showdown until McIntyre gets two off a Michinoku Driver. Uso and Ricochet start firing off the superkicks until Uso spears Reed for two. McIntyre and Uso go up top, with McIntyre doing his situp choke throw to send Uso flying.

Reed plants Ricochet for two but McIntyre breaks up the Tsunami. McIntyre and Reed brawl to the floor with the latter getting posted. Uso goes up but Ricochet kicks him down, allowing Ricochet to hit a 450 off the top through Reed through the table (though he BARELY made it). Back in and McIntyre Futureshocks Uso and loads up the Claymore, only to have CM Punk pop up for a distraction. Uso hits a superkick (mostly), a spear and the Superfly Splash to end McIntyre at 17:40.

Rating: B-. It was a fun match with multiple options to win, with Uso making the most sense. Priest needs a first challenger who can make him look good and that’s what Uso will be for him. At the same time, Punk costing McIntyre the win is exactly what should have happened and it worked well here. I’m not sure when that match is going to take place but they are setting it up as an amazing fight. For now though, Ricochet gets to do his flips and Uso gets the win he needs.

Overall Rating: C+. The opening match was nothing special but the rest of it was more than good enough. Julius vs. Ivar was the best thing from the show, if nothing else due to the fact that it felt fresh. Main Event isn’t meant to be a show of new stuff, but for a recap of a victory lap, it could have been worse.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Wrestlemania XXXIX Night Two
Date: April 2, 2023
Location: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves
Attendance: 67,553
America The Beautiful: Jimmie Allen

After a rather long intermission, we’re ready to wrap up the show and this night has a lot to live up to. The first night was outstanding and now we have the real main event, as Roman Reigns defends the WWE Universal Title against Cody Rhodes. In addition, Gunther defends the Intercontinental Title against Sheamus and Drew McIntyre and we have a Cell match as a bonus. Let’s get to it.

Jimmie Allen sings America The Beautiful.

Kevin Hart gives us the cold open again, this time talking about how the sequel has to be bigger and better. Points for not just redoing the same video from the night before and keeping up with the theme.

Miz and Snoop Dogg welcome us to the show with a quick recap and preview. Snoop is ready to get us going.

Brock Lesnar vs. Omos

The story here is that Lesnar can’t overpower Omos (with MVP). Seriously that’s about it. Lesnar can’t double leg him to start and gets tossed around. Running shoulders don’t do much for Lesnar so Omos hits a headbutt and grabs a slam. Omos throws him around again and hits some forearms to the back. We hit the bearhug, followed by another slam, and another bearhug to keep Lesnar in trouble. Lesnar fights out and is quickly chokeslammed for a near fall. Back up and Lesnar rolls some German suplexes but his back gives out on the F5 attempt. Then Lesnar hits the F5 for the pin at 4:56.

Rating: C-. Well they definitely did the right thing in keeping this short, as the whole thing was about Lesnar doing his power moves but not doing them all that well because Omos is that big. It’s a very basic story and while Omos got in some impressive stuff, it felt more like a way to get Lesnar on the show more than anything else (which granted that’s more or less what it was). Not a great match but the fans liked the big throws so points for that.

Liv Morgan/Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya/Shotzi vs. Chelsea Green/Sonya Deville vs. Ronda Rousey/Shayna Baszler

It’s the women’s match of the showcase tag match from last night. Baszler and Rousey (the bullies) didn’t have to qualify here and were just thrown into the match. Morgan Backstabbers Sonya to start and a one kneed Codebreaker makes it even worse. Natalya comes in for the sling shot belly to back drop. The basement dropkick puts Morgan down again but she hurricanranas her way to freedom.

Rodriguez comes in and gets to throw Natalya around, leaving Natalya to hand it off to Green. A missile dropkick has no effect so Sonya comes back in, allowing Green to grab some hair. Shotzi comes in so Baszler throws her outside, where Rousey is waiting on her. That leaves Baszler to get caught in a triplebomb, meaning Rousey has to get on the apron…but the three on one is broken up by Green and Sonya.

Shotzi dives onto people in the ring and on the floor, but Green stops to tell us to get our cameras ready. Rather than face Rodriguez, Green dives onto a bunch of people at ringside. With no one else left inside, Rodriguez powerbombs Morgan onto the pile for the big crash. Back in and Rodriguez fall away slams Shotzi, setting up the corkscrew Vader Bomb. Sonya comes in for the save though and some double teaming puts Rodriguez on the floor.

Green and Sonya celebrate until Natalya and Shotzi are back in for an assisted double Sliced Bread. A Hart Attack gets two on Sonya with Green making the save. There’s the double Sharpshooter to Sonya and Green until Morgan dives off the top for the save. Morgan takes Shotzi down but Rousey and Baszler (now with one boot and limping) come back in to break it up. Rousey armbars Shotzi for the win at 8:22.

Rating: C+. I don’t know if Baszler’s injury put she and Rousey on the floor for so long but they were almost not around whatsoever for a good chunk of the match. The match was pretty similar to its male counterpart but two of these teams felt thrown together and it hurt a lot. Rousey and Baszler winning should set them up as the monsters of the division and they would win the Tag Team Titles in about a month and a half…after Rodriguez and Morgan won them first. As usual, those things are a mess.

We look at Bobby Lashley winning the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on Smackdown.

Lashley comes out and shows off the trophy.

Xavier Woods and UpUpDownDown preview the Intercontinental Title match.

We recap Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Gunther for the latter’s Intercontinental Title. Gunther is a monster champion and his fellow Europeans want to hit him really hard and win the title. Sheamus and McIntyre are friends but both want the title, meaning they’re willing to fight each other. This falls into the “do we need to draw you a picture here” category. It also falls into the “we saw this video (or something really similar to it) last night” category.

Intercontinental Title: Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Gunther

Gunther is defending and Titus O’Neil is on commentary. Sheamus and McIntyre waste no time in knocking the champ to the floor before starting to lay into each other. Sheamus hits a clothesline and takes McIntyre into the corner for some uppercuts. McIntyre is sent to the apron for the forearms but Gunther is back up with chops for both of them. Gunther sends McIntyre into the post for a crash out to the floor, followed by a big boot to Sheamus’ face.

The Boston crab has Sheamus in more trouble until McIntyre comes in to break it up. McIntyre and Gunther chop it out (and they’re loud chops too) but Sheamus is back in with the uppercuts all around. With Gunther getting back up, Sheamus ties him in the ropes for the forearms to the chest, mixed in with chops from McIntyre. That leaves Gunther down so Sheamus ties McIntyre up in the ropes for almost thirty forearms to the chest.

Gunther is back in to break up the Celtic Cross though and a German suplex drops Sheamus again. The big clothesline gives Gunther two but McIntyre is back up to suplex Sheamus into Sheamus in the corner. There’s a Futureshock to Gunther but the Claymore misses. Gunther powerbombs McIntyre down and goes up but Sheamus is right there with a super White Noise. The Celtic Cross sets up the Cloverleaf so Gunther makes the rope, which means nothing because it’s No DQ.

Sheamus lets go and puts the hold back on anyway, only to have McIntyre come in for the break. That doesn’t go well either as Sheamus knees both of them down but McIntyre cuts off the Brogue Kick. McIntyre headbutts him out to the floor and busts out the big flip dive, leaving everyone down on the floor. Cole to O’Neil: “You never did that!” O’Neil: “AND I NEVER WILL!”

Back in and Sheamus Brogue Kicks McIntyre for two, followed by the Claymore to give McIntyre two of his own. Sheamus drops McIntyre again and covers but Gunther dives in with a top rope splash. Gunther’s powerbomb to Sheamus onto McIntyre leaves them both down, followed by another powerbomb to pin McIntyre and retain at 16:35.

Rating: A. It’s rare that I’ll watch a match back on its own but I’ve seen this one more than a few times now as it’s that kind of brutal. These guys beat the fire out of each other and that is exactly how it was advertised. They didn’t stop and for once it felt like three people having a match. There were stretches where it was two in and one out, but it was a brutal and hard hitting enough match to make up for it. Excellent stuff here, as you probably should have expected.

WWE did charity work this week.

We recap Asuka vs. Bianca Belair for the latter’s Raw Women’s Title. Belair won the title last year at Wrestlemania and has become a huge star during her reign. Then Asuka showed up as an evil clown and Belair is all scared, at least somewhat due to Asuka spraying her with the mist over and over. It’s a simple story but it didn’t exactly work and this never felt like a big feud.

Raw Women’s Title: Bianca Belair vs. Asuka

Asuka is challenging and comes out with a team of masked Asukas, while Belair counters with an all girl kids dance troupe. Eh point to the champ. Belair kicks her down at the bell and hits a dropkick into the corner, setting up the right hands. That’s broken up and Asuka kicks her down, setting up the big missed kick to the head. Asuka puts her on top but Belair flips over her and hits a spinebuster for a fast two.

Something close to a triangle choke has Belair in trouble before Asuka switches to the Asuka Lock. It’s not on quite full though and Belair rolls outside, where she PLANTS Asuka with a sitout powerbomb. Back in and Belair misses a charge into the post, allowing Asuka to pull her into a heel hook. Belair powers out but Asuka grabs an ankle lock, which is rolled away for the break. Asuka is right back up with a missile dropkick for two and things slow down a bit.

They go to the apron where Asuka hits a hard dropkick into the post. Belair sends her into the post to even things up a bit, setting up a deadlift superplex to bring them back inside. Asuka’s kick to the face gets two but a Codebreaker is blocked. A running Blockbuster into a handspring moonsault gives Belair two and frustration is setting in. They go to the corner with Asuka slipping out of a fireman’s carry and hitting a Codebreaker for two of her own. Back up and the mist misses but Asuka slips out of the KOD. The cross armbreaker doesn’t quite work for Asuka though and Belair powers up for the

Rating: B-. This was good but it never hit that next level, save for maybe the final sequence. The story just wasn’t that compelling coming in and it didn’t really feel like a major showdown. Belair retaining the title over a top level challenge is good though as beating Asuka is still an impressive feat.

We look at Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens beating the Usos for the Tag Team Titles in Night One’s main event.

Here are Miz and Snoop Dogg to announce tonight’s attendance of 81,395, giving us a two day total of 161,892. That’s great, but Miz isn’t happy with Snoop for putting him into an impromptu match last night. Dogg: “So you want to do it again?” Of course not, because Miz doesn’t like being humiliated in his town. Snoop says this is the people’s city and introduces….Shane McMahon, because SHANE MUST BE A THING. Shane thanks the fans and sounds like he can barely breathe after his entrance. Time for a match

Shane McMahon vs. Miz

Shane punches him in the corner and yeah they’re as bad as before. Then he drops down, leapfrogs over Miz and….tears his quad on the landing less than thirty seconds in. That brings Snoop in to hit Miz in the face and apparently we have a replacement. Snoop knocks him down again and drops a People’s Elbow for the pin at 2:11. This seems to have been completely impromptu with either the referee telling Snoop to get in there or Snoop coming up with the idea on his own. Either way, major points to Snoop who had no idea what he was doing and gave the fans a very fun moment out of nowhere.

We recap Edge vs. the Demon Finn Balor inside the Cell. Balor threw Edge out of the Judgment Day the night he joined, setting off a feud between the two of them. This led to Judgment Day attacking both Edge and his wife Beth Phoenix, meaning it’s time for the big, violent fight.

The Cell is lowered and we get a voiceover (from Russell Crowe of all people, as part of a movie tie-in) talking about how evil it is as well.

Edge vs. Finn Balor

Inside the Cell and this is Brood Edge (and yes, his Titantron literally says BROOD EDGE), who comes out of the Brood ring of fire with a shiny mask that makes him look like the Terminator while wearing wings, against the Demon. They waste no time in getting the weapons, with Edge grabbing a red chair and Balor grabbing a purple kendo stick (because not only do you need weapons in the Cell, but you need COLOR COORDINATED weapons).

Balor gets the better of things and knocks him to the floor, only to get hammered back inside. Edge knocks him off the apron and grabs a bunch of kendo sticks (two purple, one red), some of which he uses to pin Balor into the corner of the Cell. A dropkick off the apron hits Balor to make it worse, meaning it’s time to set up the table. Balor uses the delay to get out and sends Edge hard into the steps. They get back inside where Edge hits a quick Impaler but the spear is countered with a Sling Blade.

They go outside with Balor being dropkicked through a table, only to come back in with an Unprettier. The Edge-O-Matic gets two more and it’s time to grab a ladder. Edge throws said ladder at Balor’s face and Balor is busted open BAD, meaning we pause for the medic to come inside to check on him (this led to a hilarious reaction from Mick Foley, because apparently YOU CAN PAUSE A CELL MATCH DUE TO AN INJURY).

Edge uses the delay to get a bunch of weapons ready but Balor is back up with 1916. The spear only hits ladder and Balor hits another Slind Blade. Coup de Grace connects for two and Balor climbs the ladder, only to get countered into a super Edgecution for a slightly delayed two.

That takes too long again and Balor is back up with his own weapons shots, including a bunch of chair shots to Edge. Balor climbs up but instead climbs the cage and gets onto the camera platform. This adds a full nine inched above the top rope but the Coup De Grace only hits table. Edge’s spear gets two so he unloads with chair shots to the back. The Conchairto finishes Balor at 18:10.

Rating: B-. This was the modern Cell match and that is not a good thing for the most part. The bell rang and they went straight for the weapons, which didn’t exactly make the Cell itself feel important. It was a violent and hard hitting match but other than one or two spots, I’m not sure how much the Cell was needed. Either use the Cell or don’t, because this was a street fight with the cage blocking the camera view.

We look at the Wrestlemania trailers.

Backlash is coming to Puerto Rico. You should too!

We look at the Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.

Here is the class in the stadium:

Stacy Keibler (who has not aged a day)
Andy Kaufman (represented by his family)
Great Muta (that’s a nice addition)
Tim White (Warrior Award, and his brother looks identical to him)
Rey Mysterio (that’s about as perfect of a choice for an active headliner as you could pick)

Mysterio shakes the other inductees’ hands (bowing to Muta).

We look at Set Rollins’ entrance from last night. Feel free to get on with the show at any time.

We recap Roman Reigns defending the WWE Universal Title against Cody Rhodes. The big idea here is Rhodes wants to finish his story, meaning winning the title in his dad’s honor while also completing his long rise to the top of WWE. Reigns has been champion for two and a half years and isn’t going away that fast, so it’s time for the big showdown. It feels like a main event and Cody is almost the last man standing to fight Reigns.

Smackdown World Title: Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns

Reigns is defending and has Paul Heyman/Solo Sikoa with him. Rhodes gets his big entrance and goes over to say hi to his family, including giving his weightlifting belt to an unmasked Negative One (the son of the late Brody Lee, who makes occasional AEW appearances). Reigns gets a special entrance of his own, with a team of pianists playing the start of his entrance live. We get an ACKNOWLEDGE ME from Reigns before the bell finally rings.

Rhodes hammerlocks him over to the ropes to start and Reigns isn’t impressed. A headlock takeover and a right hand has Reigns a bit more annoyed so he bails out to the floor. Heyman’s advice is that Reigns isn’t here for Rhodes because Rhodes is here for him. Heyman: “NOW SMASH HIM!” Back in and Reigns elbows him in the face, meaning it’s time to raise up a finger. Rhodes manages a dropkick (Reigns is stunned again) for two, with commentary saying that cover wasn’t about getting a pin but rather sending a message to Reigns. What that message is isn’t clear but I’d guess “Eat At Joe’s”.

The Disaster Kick is pulled out of the air though and Reigns hits a powerbomb for two. Some suplexes have Rhodes in more trouble but he’s back up to send Reigns out to the floor. That goes badly for him as well as Reigns drops him face first onto the apron. A hard slam puts Rhodes down onto the ramp but Rhodes gets in one of his own. Rhodes sends him back inside but Sikoa gets in a chair shot to the ribs, allowing Reigns to come back with the apron boot.

The cravate slows Rhodes down back inside until he fights up, only to have Sikoa interfere again. This time it lets Reigns hit a hard clothesline before whipping Rhodes into the corner to stay on his bad ribs. They go back outside with Reigns loading up the announcers’ table but getting backdropped through the other one for the big hope spot. Back in and Rhodes hits the drop down uppercut into the snap powerslam.

There’s the Cody Cutter for a big near fall so Reigns rolls outside, meaning it’s a suicide dive to hit him again. They try to get back in but Sikoa gets in a weightlifting belt shot….which the referee hears for an ejection. The distraction lets Rhodes hit Cross Rhodes for two (with Heyman looking on in fear for a nice visual). Reigns is back with some shots to the head and a release Rock Bottom gets two.

The Superman Punch is countered into a Pedigree (Heyman even reaches through the ropes this time) for two and it’s time to start the comeback. Said comeback is cut off with a Superman Punch to knock Rhodes out of the air for two more. The spear is countered into a sunset flip for two and Rhodes whips out a Figure Four for a change of pace. Reigns turns it over (while slapping the mat on the way there), with Rhodes getting over to the ropes for the break.

A big spear connects for two and now Reigns is stunned for a change. With nothing else working, Reigns hits him in the face over and over before grabbing the guillotine choke. Rhodes can’t spinebuster his way to freedom but he can slip his head out and hammer away at Reigns for a change. The referee gets bumped though and a double knockdown gives us quite the breather. Cody is back up for the Cross Rhodes but the Usos run in to break it up. The 1D drops Rhodes but here are Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to take out the Usos.

A Stunner into the Helluva Kick leave Reigns down and the other four brawl out into the crowd. Rhodes gets the big dramatic near fall (and thank goodness that wasn’t the pin as Rhodes winning thanks to Owens and Zayn wouldn’t have worked) and they’re both down again. Back up and the slug it out with both of them being staggered off the shots. The Superman Punch is countered with the Flip Flop And Fly into the Bionic Elbow. Rhodes hits back to back Cross Rhodes….but Sikoa comes in with the Samoan Spike. The spear retains the title at 34:36.

Rating: B+. A year removed from this and my goodness I’m still amazed at the guts it took to not pull the trigger here. This was Cody’s chance to win the whole thing and they kept it on Reigns, which is quite the way to go. They beat the fire out of each other and it had the big match feel, but not pulling the trigger here still feels way off. Heck of a main event, but man they had the fans ready for the moment and just didn’t do it.

Replays and a highlight package wrap us up.

Overall Rating: B. There were some weak parts here and there but the good stuff is more than enough to carry this. Much like Night One, you can’t fault the atmosphere and the look/feel of the show, which made for a heck of a showcase for everyone involved. The main event was very good (ending aside perhaps) and the Intercontinental Title match was great, mixed in with some other strong stuff along the way. I liked this one a lot and the slightly shorter running time helped, but it’s just a few ticks below Night One’s instant classic status.

Overall Overall Rating: A-. Wrestlemania has a complicated history but this was going along with the big, epic show feel and it worked to near perfection. It’s one of the best Wrestlemanias ever and what matters is the show feeling as big as possible. Granted it helped that there was some great action, though that ending is one of those things that is going to stick in a lot of fans’ memories for a very long time. I loved the show overall, and my goodness WWE knows how to make these things work so well.

Ratings Comparison

Brock Lesnar vs. Omos

Original: C+
Redo: C-

Women’s Tag Team Showcase

Original: C
Redo: C+

Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus vs. Gunther

Original: A-
Redo: A

Asuka vs. Bianca Belair

Original: B
Redo: B-

Shane McMahon vs. Miz

Original: N/A
Redo: N/A

Edge vs. Finn Balor

Original: B
Redo: B-

Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes

Original: B+
Redo: B+

Overall Rating

Original: B+
Redo: B

Overall Overall Rating:

Original: A
Redo: A-

At least most of them are in in the ballpark. Either way, excellent show.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Wrestlemania XXXVIII Night One
Date: April 2, 2022Beaut
Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Attendance: 77,899
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Michael Cole, Pat McAfee
America the Beautiful: Brantley Gilbert

I’m sure nothing has changed in the last year and that should make things all the more interesting. While I was in the stadium for this show, there are only certain parts of it that stand out as the two night structure leaves some things merging together. The show worked originally and now it is time to see how well it holds up. Let’s get to it.

I was in the stadium for this show, sitting in the next to highest section with the ring to my right.

Brantley Gilbert singes America The Beautiful.

Mark Wahlberg is in the opening video, talking about how this is the show where dreams are made. It’s the night of the big fight and nothing is better, because it’s STUPENDOUS. Yes that really is the best tag line they could find. This is designed to make Wrestlemania feel like the biggest show around and…yeah, well done.

Here are the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. They don’t add anything, but there is the local flavor and the obvious appeal so it makes sense.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Usos vs. Shinsuke Nakamura/Rick Boogs

The Usos are defending and dang I miss Pat McAfee dancing on the announcers’ desk. Nakamura and Boogs earned the shot after Boogs beat Jey by faking a leg injury in a clever move. Nakamura kicks Jey down to start and hits the running knee to the ribs for one. Jey comes in off a blind tag though and it’s a top rope forearm to the chest/backbreaker combination to drop Nakamura.

Some strikes don’t get Nakamura out of trouble as Jey enziguris him down for two. The chinlock doesn’t last long as Nakamura fights up and brings in Boogs to clean house. Boogs muscles Jey up into a delayed vertical suplex for two. Jey gets caught in a fireman’s carry and Jimmy dives on top so Boogs holds them both up….until his knee buckles.

It’s off to Nakamura as Boogs goes outside holding his knee, which now has a torn quadriceps and patella tenon injury and would keep him out for nine months. Nakamura hits the sliding German suplex on Jey, who superkicks him down. Jimmy adds the Superfly Splash for two, followed by the 1D to retain at 6:54.

Rating: C. The injury makes this one hard to grade as it derailed everything they had going on. Boogs was great at getting the hot tag and cleaning house but that only goes so far when your leg more or less exploded. The rest of the match was good enough, but the injury is what is remembered here, as it changed everything they were doing. This already feels like a lifetime ago as Boogs was out and Nakamura has vanished again. That’s on top of the Usos evolving into the monster team with individual personalities they would become soon.

We recap Happy Corbin vs. Drew McIntyre. Corbin’s life fell apart last year in a hilarious story but then he gambled his way up to success and happiness. Then he and his associate Madcap Moss attacked Drew McIntyre to write him off TV due to an injury. McIntyre came back and beat up Moss and now it’s time to do the same to Corbin, who stole McIntyre’s sword to make it personal (don’t worry as McIntyre got it back). It wasn’t any more interesting the first time around.

Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin

Madcap Moss is here with Corbin. McIntyre starts fast and they slug it out until a clothesline puts Corbin down. They go outside with Corbin being sent into the barricade, only to come back and send McIntyre into the post. A whip into the corner drops McIntyre again and a suplex lets Corbin yell some more.

Corbin hits a running shot to the face so Moss gets on the apron to cheer, allowing McIntyre to grab a spinebuster. There’s a neckbreaker to drop Corbin again but the Futureshock is blocked. Deep Six gives Corbin two more but Moss has to bail Corbin out of the threat of the Claymore.

That’s fine with McIntyre, who hits the big running flip dive over the top to the floor. Back in and the Glasgow Kiss sets up the missed Claymore, allowing Corbin to grab End of Days for two (the first ever kickout, because Corbin’s finisher needed to be protected for years). McIntyre has had it and hits the Futureshock into the Claymore for the pin at 8:38.

Rating: C-. This feud wasn’t interesting when it was taking place in real time and it wasn’t any better watching it back. Corbin just doesn’t feel like he is on the same level as McIntyre and there is no way around it. That left McIntyre in little more than an extended workout, which wasn’t an interesting watch. McIntyre needed to get out of this feud as soon as possible because it wasn’t working.

Post match McIntyre grabs the sword and threatens Moss before cutting the top and middle ropes apart.

We recap the Mysterios vs. Logan Paul/Miz. Dominik Mysterio beat Miz, who wasn’t happy about things. That made him bring in Paul for a partner, setting up the tag match.

Miz/Logan Paul vs. Mysterios

Miz and Paul have matching gear, though Miz’s doesn’t come with the world’s most expensive Pokemon card ever to be purchased in a private sale (That thing again?) around his neck. Rey and Miz start things off, with a Paul distraction letting Miz take him into the corner. It’s off to Paul to hammer on the ribs in the corner before Miz comes back in. A hurricanrana gets Rey out of trouble and it’s off to Dominik (who appears to be in gear inspired by Eddie Guerrero from When Worlds Collide), who drops Rey onto Miz.

The Mysterios clear the ring and Dominik hits a springboard twisting dive to drop Miz again. Paul gets in a cheap shot though and grabs a powerslam to plant Dominik. The villains fire off the YES Kicks to Dominik as the pace slows down. A Blockbuster gives Paul two on Dominik, who manages to knock down the rather cocky Miz. The diving tag brings in Rey to take over on Miz, including the top rope seated senton and a kick to the head for two. A moonsault press gets the same as Paul has to make a save this time.

Miz is ready for the 619 so Rey tornado DDTs him instead. Three Amigos are broken up though and Paul hits his own version (to some rather strong heat). The frog splash (with Eddie dance) gets two on Rey as Dominik has to make another save. Dominik dives onto Miz on the floor and it’s a double 619 back inside. Back to back frog splashes hit Paul….but Miz grabs a quick Skull Crushing Finale to finish Rey at 11:15.

Rating: B-. This is almost all about Paul, as the Mysterios and Miz were doing their usual things. Paul came off like a total natural who just gets it when it comes to wrestling. The fact that he is an exceptional athlete makes it even better. This was one of the best celebrity matches you’ll ever see and Paul backed up everything he had been saying for the entire build to the match.

Post match Miz and Paul pose….and Miz turns on Paul to take him out. This was designed to make Paul a good guy, which is quite the path to take.

And now, Stephanie McMahon joins us to thank the fans for being here. She also brings out Gable Steveson to….wave! Yeah this has happened a few times for Steveson without him actually having a match. I’m sure he’ll be fine.

We recap Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Title. Lynch returned and beat Belair at Summerslam in less than a minute to win the (Smackdown Women’s, but it doesn’t exactly matter) title. Belair needs to prove herself again and now she is getting her chance in the big scheduled match (rather than the impromptu title change at Summerslam). There was also a weird thing involving hair cuts and it really didn’t add much. This has been a really well built feud and feels like a major, Wrestlemania worthy showdown.

Raw Women’s Title: Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch

Becky is defending and gets a huge entrance, with a Marvel Cinematic Universe style highlight package before her entrance. She even rides out in a Cadillac Escalade for a bonus. Belair on the other hand comes out to the full Texas State University marching band for a Wrestlemania worthy entrance. Belair’s gear looks awesome too, with the red and black theme and a pair of lips as the top.

They stare each other down until Becky hits her with a right hand and the Manhandle Slam (how she won at Summerslam) for two. Becky goes for some very rapid fire covers and the kickouts have her even more annoyed. A small package frustrates Becky even more but she’s fine enough to reverse a suplex into a DDT (that looked good) for two more. A moonsault (a rare move for Becky) misses though and Belair is right back with her own Disarm-Her.

They fight over rollups for two each until Becky kicks her in the ribs. Becky gets serious by using the hair to pull her to the floor and Belair is shoved hard into the steps. Back in and Belair is sent flying with a suplex as things slow way down. The Fameasser in the ropes gets two on Belair and it’s already time for Becky to get frustrated. The chinlock goes on before Becky tries an armbar, only to get powered up so they can crash out to the floor.

Belair muscles her up for a suplex (with a hard landing) and they go back inside to slug it out. A backbreaker gives Belair two but her powerbomb is countered into a rollup for two. Belair grabs a release Glam Slam, setting up the handspring moonsault for another near fall. Becky catches her on top but Belair manages to reverse into a fireman’s carry drop HARD onto the top rope for a heck of a crash. Belair’s middle rope 450 gets two but Becky knocks her down.

A Molly Go Round is left a bit short though, with Becky’s foot slamming into Belair’s face for two (followed by the referee checking Belair for….well probably quite a few things). Belair is back with a spinebuster but the handspring moonsault hits knees. Belair tries another Glam Slam but gets reversed into a cradle. That’s reversed into another cradle, which is kicked off to send Belair into the corner.

Back up and Belair KOD’s her out to the floor (might work better in the Royal Rumble but it looked good here too). Becky goes for the hair and Manhandle Slams her onto the steps for a nasty crash. That’s good for a nine count and Becky is LIVID. A super Manhandle Slam is loaded up but Belair flips out and hits the KOD for the pin and the title at 19:03.

Rating: A-. I loved it live, I loved it later that night at the hotel and I loved it a year later. This was a BATTLE that felt like a major showdown between two women who wanted to destroy each other and prove that they were the best. It completes Belair’s redemption and seeing Becky FINALLY get pinned made it feel like an even bigger moment. Awesome showdown here and one of the best women’s matches WWE has ever had.

Post match Becky collapses to the floor and looks up as Belair poses with the title on top for an incredible visual (it looks good on TV but it was even better in person).

We recap Seth Rollins vs. a mystery opponent. Rollins was given the annual ridiculous treatment of “how is this former multiple time World Champion and one of the biggest stars we have going to have a Wrestlemania match?”. After losing over and over in attempts to get on the card, Vince McMahon said he can go to Wrestlemania (Vince: “All you had to do was ask.”) but it will be against an opponent of Vince’s choosing. I see no way in which this can go badly.

Seth Rollins vs. ???

Rollins is sung to the ring by a choir and then has to wait for a good while. Some pyro finally goes off and the lights go dark before……”Wrestling has more than one royal family”! Cody Rhodes is back (complete with riser entrance and the Kingdom theme), leaving Rollins smiling and then glaring. This was INCREDIBLE live and a genuine Wrestlemania moment where you could feel the energy and the excitement (which I still pop up on YouTube every so often). Cody had been rumored as the opponent and it made for an outstanding moment. You can see how much it means to Cody and this is some great stuff.

Sidenote before we get to the match: who is the royal family that Rhodes is referring to in the opening? I get that he means the Rhodes family, but is he talking about the McMahons? Is there another family that would count at that level? I’m not sure who else it could be and it would make sense for Rhodes to have that mindset once he left WWE (not so much once he came back, but it’s part of the Cody presentation).

Anyway, the fans are VERY happy to see Cody back, even as he shakes the referee’s hand. Feeling out process to start with Rhodes grabbing a headlock and then turning a cartwheel to get inside Rollins’ head a bit. Rollins is sent into the corner and now the CODY chants seem to be getting to him.

Back up and Rollins tries a suplex but crashes over the top rope, leaving both of them down on the floor. They head back inside with Rhodes working on an armbar into a short armscissors. With that broken up, Rhodes goes up to but gets dropkicked out of the air, meaning Rollins can start in on the ribs. A gutbuster gets one and Rollins grabs a bearhug, which always looks weird from someone who isn’t huge.

Cody fights out and knocks him outside, which of course means the suicide dive to send Rollins over the barricade (for a huge bump). Back in and a moonsault press (which doesn’t quite connect properly) gives Cody two more and they both need a breather. Rollins rolls outside and this time pulls Cody down for a barricade bomb (ouch, as always). A springboard knee to the head and the basement superkick into the Falcon arrow (nice sequence) gives Rollins two more and they’re both down again.

The Stomp is countered into the Cross Rhodes for a very close two and Cody goes up top. That takes too long though and Rollins crotches him down, setting up the reverse superplex, which is rolled into the reverse suplex for another two. Rollins’ Pedigree is blocked but so is Cody’s, leaving Cody to settle for a tiger bomb instead.

The Cody Cutter gets two but Rollins snaps off a Pedigree for the same. Some hard shots to the face and another to the back of the head put Cody down. That doesn’t seem to matter though as Rollins takes too long to follow up, allowing Cody to snap off back to back Cross Rhodes. That’s not enough for a cover though as it’s a Flip Flop and Fly into the Bionic Elbow. One more Cross Rhodes finishes Rollins at 21:31.

Rating: B+. This was another great match and it felt like it belonged on Wrestlemania. Rhodes had to prove that he could hang with this kind of talent and beating a multiple time World Champion in Rollins is a great choice. Rhodes fought through the rib injury and hung with Rollins every step of the way before finishing him off. They had a heck of a match here and it would kick off an even better feud for the first half of the year.

Cody celebrates for a long time, including his signature kissing of the mat.

We look back at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. I’m still getting used to it being in the ring, but I think I like it better. It still feels wrong to hear the name Mark Calaway on WWE TV though. Undertaker wrapped up his speech by saying “never say never”. At his Q&A session with fans that weekend, he said Vince asked what exactly that meant. Undertaker: “Vince, no. We’re not going there.”

This year’s class is presented:

Steiner Brothers (WAY overdue)
Shad Gaspard (perfect Warrior Award winner)
Queen Sharmell (sure why not)
Vader (again, way overdue)
Undertaker (eh he’s ok)

Undertaker gets the big entrance and comes out to pose, which seems like an excuse for one more Wrestlemania entrance and….well sure, as it’s still one of the coolest things ever in wrestling. Not so cool: the CGI Undertaker, which feels so out of place for something like this. Just let his entrance speak for himself.

We look back at Rick Boogs’ knee injury and see him carried out of the stadium. He officially has a torn quadriceps and a patella injury.

Tonight’s attendance: 77,899.

We recap Charlotte vs. Ronda Rousey for Charlotte’s Smackdown Women’s Title. Charlotte is the most successful woman in WWE history. Rousey returned at the Royal Rumble and won the title shot, setting up what is described as a huge showdown after a collision course. Charlotte has also beating Rousey up multiple times on the way here, which should set up a big revenge beating. Charlotte having a title match at Wrestlemania is rather played out at this point. Then again Rousey hasn’t exactly been inspiring since her return so it’s almost a wash.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Ronda Rousey

Charlotte is defending. Rousey powers her straight into the corner to start but Charlotte gets in a cheap shot behind the referee to take over. It’s too early for the ankle lock but Charlotte can’t get the Figure Four either. Rousey knees her in the head and grabs a choke with her legs over the rope. Since that can’t last long, Charlotte knees her down and hits a backbreaker on the apron to take over.

A hard posting sets up a right hand/elbow for two on Rousey back inside. Rousey can strike as well and hits a knee to the face, only to get sent face first into the buckle. Charlotte misses a knee though and Rousey snaps off a tornado DDT. With Rousey getting fired up, Charlotte spears her down for two and they both need a second. The moonsault kind of connects to give Charlotte two but Rousey is right back with a suplex.

Charlotte is fine enough to tie her in the Tree of Woe, where she grabs a Boston Crab of all things. You don’t do that to Rousey, who pulls her way up and…gets forearmed right back down. Rousey gets back up and hits a super judo throw for two as frustration is setting in (much like those chops, which have the top of Rousey’s chest VERY banged up). Piper’s Pit connects but it’s too early for the armbar.

Instead Charlotte kicks her in the face as Rousey gets cut off again (and again and again). A slam (kind of a snap hiptoss) gives Rousey two and now the ankle lock can go on. Charlotte reverses that (I’m stunned) into an ankle lock but gets sent into the buckle for the break. The armbar is countered into a powerbomb for two but Rousey is right back with the ankle lock, including a kneebar. Charlotte kicks that off for another break, only to have the Figure Four countered into an armbar.

That’s reversed into the Figure Eight, which is countered as Rousey turns it over. They fight to the apron where Rousey flips her down to the floor, only to charge into a fall away slam into the barricade. Back in and they glare at each other until Rousey snaps off a Piper’s Pit for two, as Charlotte gets a foot on the rope. Rousey yells at the referee enough that Charlotte can grab Natural Selection for two, leaving frustration to set in. Charlotte gets kicked into the referee so there is no one to see Charlotte tap to the armbar. Rousey goes to check on the referee, allowing Charlotte to boot her in the face to retain at 18:24.

Rating: B. It was a rather good and hard hitting match, but is anyone surprised that Charlotte is the first one to pin Rousey in a singles match? This match featured Charlotte taking Rousey out and cutting her off time after time, which isn’t the biggest stretch, but it certainly was deflating. Rousey got in some visible falls, but egads it was hard to take Charlotte winning AGAIN, as Rousey’s momentum (whatever there was of it) is cut off at the knees.

Night Two rundown.

Video on Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar, tomorrow night’s main event.

Wrestlemania XXXIX is in Los Angeles.

We recap Steve Austin being the guest on the Kevin Owens Show. Owens has been insulting Texas for months and he finally invited Austin onto the show. Austin cut a rather fired up promo about how he wrestled his last match nineteen years ago but Owens has lit a fire in him that has been out for a long time. Violence has been all but guaranteed, though no match was officially announced.

Here is Kevin Owens (with yet another awesome KO Mania shirt, this time based on the Ultimate Challenge at Wrestlemania VI) for the Kevin Owens Show (because the glass ceiling can in fact be shattered through hard work). Owens talks about how much he hates Texas but some people have suggested that he apologize. That is in fact what he does….for saying the absolute truth about Texas.

Now the people here much be waiting for him to bring out his guest, but we’re going to wait on that for a bit. Owens doesn’t want to hear about Austin being mad, because he will beat Austin up and drop him with a Stunner. As Owens is ready to insult Texas some more, cue glass shatter and MY GOODNESS the reaction to Austin is on another planet. Austin walks back and forth but then goes through the entrance to get his ATV (ok fair enough).

After a few laps, Austin gets in the ring and wrecks the set, leaving only the two chairs (and Owens). Hold on though as Austin has to get the off the charts hero’s welcome….until Owens tells him to take a seat (giving us a great Austin glare into the camera). They finally sit down and Austin isn’t happy with just wanting to have a conversation. Therefore, Austin insults Owens’ hair so Owens rips on Texas some more. Austin: “You’re about to have 75,000 people calling you an a******.”

Owens has to admit that he has been lying, because he didn’t call Austin out here for a talk. Even though Owens has a bad back, he is here to challenge Austin to a match. Sure it has been 19 years and Austin’s neck, knees and back were shot back then. Actually let’s make it a no holds barred match, which has Austin looking around a bit. There is some great stuff from Austin here, as you can see him thinking about it really hard.

Austin doesn’t say anything so Owens tells him that if he knows he can’t beat him, get his beer and go back to his ranch. That just makes the AUSTIN chants all the louder and he looks around quite a bit. Austin says he wrestled his first match in Dallas, Texas….and he could have his last match right here in Dallas, Texas (the fans like that). As he asks for the H*** YEAH, you can see Austin’s hand shaking….and he wants a referee. I’m not even an Austin fan and I was losing it at the idea that I was actually going to see this live, which is the kind of feeling that you do not get that often in wrestling (or anything for that matter).

Steve Austin vs. Kevin Owens

No Holds Barred. They stare each other down to start and Austin wins the slugout and stomps the mudhole (with a brief look to the crowd) in the corner. Austin sends him hard into the corner but let’s stop for some beer. Another mudhole is stomped and Austin sends him over the top to the floor. More beer drinking ensues (and yes it is Austin’s beer) and Austin turns him inside out with a clothesline (you know Owens is going to bump as much as he can here).

Owens manages a posting and right hands but takes too long setting up a table against the barricade. Austin whips him through it instead and NOW you can see the old eyes coming out. They fight into the crowd and Owens suplexes him on the concrete (I never would have bet on Austin taking that big of a bump).

Now it’s Owens being a bit fired up himself and they head back to ringside, where Owens is slammed onto the announcers’ table. More beer is consumed as Austin gets to hammer away on the table (Graves: “If Popeye had his spinach, Austin has his Steveweisers!”). Owens gets in a shot of his own and goes over to the ATV, which he can’t start. That takes too long as Austin is there to hammer away….and they go riding up the ramp.

Austin suplexes him on the stage (Owens’ sell is great) and then takes him to the other side of the stage for a second suplex. We pause for Austin to soak all of his in (yeah fair) before Austin throws him down the ramp. They get inside with Owens hitting a quick Stunner for two before grabbing a chair. The chair hits the top rope and bounces back into Owens’ face, setting up the Stunner to give Austin the pin at 13:58.

Rating: B. Special. That is the word that you could feel throughout this entire thing and my goodness it holds up on another viewing. Whether you are a fan of his or not, there is no way to deny how big of a star Austin was or what he meant to wrestling. Seeing Austin come back after NINETEEN YEARS and have an actual match rather than some two minute segment disguised as a match was amazing. Austin deserves this kind of treatment and I can’t even imagine what this meant to a lifelong fan like Owens. I would absolutely love to see his face when he was told that he would be in this spot, as it would have been incredible.

Oh yeah the match itself. This was a hard hitting fight that felt like a callback to the Attitude Era. That was the only thing they could do, as there was no way to have Austin wrestle a normal match. They beat each other up for the better part of fifteen minutes here and it was a heck of a fight, with Austin looking like an older version of his normal self. This was pretty amazing and my goodness it actually gave me chills.

Post match Austin drinks a lot of beer and throws one to his brother in the crowd. Owens gets another Stunner and is taken out by some Texas police (complete with hats). Austin says it’s great to be back in Dallas and hits the catchphrase. Byron Saxton is called into the ring and gets Stunnered (you can see/hear the utter joy from Corey Graves in a great moment). Austin’s brother gets in the ring for some beer and the big celebration ends the show. After it was over, Austin took some laps in the ATV before leaving for good to end the night.

Overall Rating: A-. This show started off slowly but after the second match, everything took off and it was one awesome match after another. What mattered the most though was it felt like a Wrestlemania, with some great moments like Belair winning the title, Rhodes’ return and the Austin stuff to cap it all off. All in all, this was one of the better Wrestlemanias in a good while and it kept me interested all night. Well done, as WWE continues to know how to make the big shows work.

Ratings Comparison

Usos vs. Shinsuke Nakamura/Rick Boogs

Original: C
Redo: C

Drew McIntyre vs. Baron Corbin

Original: C
Redo: C-

Miz/Logan Paul vs. Mysterios

Original: C
Redo: B-

Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair

Original: B+
Redo: A-

Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes

Original: B+
Redo: B+

Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte

Original: B-
Redo: B

Steve Austin vs. Kevin Owens

Original: B
Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: B+
Redo: A-

It was a very good show to start and it actually improved a year later. Nice job.

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