Monday Night Raw
Date: March 25, 2024
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

We are less than two weeks away from Wrestlemania and that means things are mostly together for the show. In this case though we have a special attraction as Chicago’s own CM Punk is here for a special appearance. Other than that, we might even get something else added to Wrestlemania. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Cody Rhodes going face to face with Roman Reigns but both of them had backup, leading to a standoff to end the show.

Here is Cody Rhodes to get things going. Rhodes talks about how we are in that weird place before Wrestlemania and that means all the talk is done. After a quick hello to Pat McAfee and Michael Cole, Rhodes talks about his meting with Reigns on Smackdown. The thing is, when Rhodes makes a promise, he tends to keep it. The other night a fan asked him to be the best man at his wedding so he’s going to do it, and pay for the bachelor party. He’s going to a five year old’s birthday and he’s sending the Wrestling Club to Wrestlemania (both nights).

Rhodes is here because the champ isn’t and he is going to Wrestlemania because he won the Royal Rumble twice in a row. After last year, he knows he can’t do it alone and asks the fans if they will ride with him. If Rhodes is going to point at the sign, he wants everyone to do it with him…and here is the Rock (unadvertised) to interrupt.

The fans are rather impressed and we get a rather long staredown. The CM PUNK chants start up and Rock puts his hands behind his back. He leans in and whispers something to Rhodes before getting out of the ring and heading up the aisle. Cody seems very confused and we take a break. Rock didn’t say a word that we could hear. That’s an interesting way to go and there is a very good chance we’ll get more on this later, either tonight or on Smackdown.

Post break Rock is asked what he said to Rhodes. Rock says go ask him.

Judgment Day is tired of Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh not carrying their weight but Damian Priest has a plan to get an advantage at Wrestlemania.

Ricochet vs. JD McDonagh

Dominik Mysterio is here with McDonagh. Ricochet wastes no time in kicking him outside, setting up the early dive as we take a break. Back with McDonagh sending him hard into the corner and grabbing a waistlock. The standing moonsault misses though and Ricochet hits an elbow for the double knockdown. Ricochet is back up with the springboard clothesline and a standing shooting star gets two. McDonagh manages a Spanish Fly for two of his own and he takes Ricochet up top, only to get super poisonranaed back down.

The Recoil connects but Dominik puts a foot on the rope. Ricochet’s springboard 450 hits raised knees though and we take a break. Back with McDonagh getting two off a sitout powerbomb and tries the Devlin Slide, which is reversed into a Canadian Destroyer (McAfee LOSES IT over that). Dominik offers another distraction and gets ejected, leaving Ricochet to hit the shooting star press on a standing McDonagh (dang) for the pin at 14:20.

Rating: B-. The Ricochet reheating continues and that is not the worst thing. There is always a place for someone who can fly as well as he can and it was a great showcase. At the same time, Judgment Day is having some trouble and it is not likely going to go well for McDonagh and Mysterio. For now though, nice match, with Ricochet doing some insane stuff, including that finish.

Here is CM Punk and yeah the fans seem to remember him. Punk talks about how glad he is to be here and to answer some questions, yes he is going to be at Wrestlemania. No his elbow isn’t great yet but his mouth works. He wishes Wrestlemania was here in Chicago (“Hint hint.”) and wonders about some roles he could have at Wrestlemania. Punk talks to Pat McAfee and says he isn’t a daily listener (Punk: “I listen to the Experience and the Drive Thru.”) but Roman Reigns was a guest on McAfee’s show.

Punk knows he’ll see Reigns one day, along with Seth Rollins (who wears high heels and is now taller than Punk) and the Rock, who hasn’t said a word to him since he’s been back. Then there is Drew McIntyre, who Punk wants out here like a man. Cue McIntyre (Punk demands his song be turned off) and Punk wants him in the ring. McIntyre calls this divine intervention and brings up the “INJURE CM PUNK” line on his shirt.

Punk says he’s never had to put another man’s name on a shirt to sell it. That makes McIntyre take the shirt off, revealing the CM Punk grave shirt instead. McIntyre: “For someone who is all about straightedge and doesn’t drink or do drugs, you spend a lot of time in rehab.” McIntyre says he went into the Elimination Chamber and got hurt but thinking about Punk inspired him to win. Punk says come in here and say that to his good ear. He even lays down so McIntyre can get in but McIntyre sits down on the announcers’ table (McIntyre: “Don’t shoot up my kilt you perv.”) and says he was the chosen one.

Punk wants to know who chose him, though McIntyre moves on and offers him the spot as guest commentator when he wins the World Heavyweight Championship. Cue Seth Rollins to interrupt and he immediately has the staredown with Punk. Rollins says this is his show, but Punk says this is his city. We get a quick poll about Punk being on commentary at Wrestlemania but the fans want him to be a referee.

Rollins points at the bad arm and says that’s Punk’s counting arm. Punk drops to the mat and counts three with his good (left) arm, though he doesn’t think he could be fair with these two “dips****.” McIntyre: “PG brother.” Rollins: “You want to know what I think Punk?” Punk: “Nope.” Rollins finds that appropriate because he doesn’t think anything of Punk, which is funny because he doesn’t need Punk to have a moment at Wrestlemania.

The way things are going for Punk, this is the closest he’s coming to being a World Champion again, so Rollins needs Punk to stay out of his way. Punk is in for commentary, because he’s the only thing that could make these two interesting. He goes to leave but McIntyre says cut the music because Punk doesn’t get the last word since he’s not even in the match. McIntyre rants about Punk but gets kicked by Rollins, setting up the Stomp to wrap it up.

This was OUTSTANDING stuff as you had McIntyre and Punk throwing one bomb after another at each other and being really entertaining. Then Rollins came in and while it fit, it really illustrated how much of a third wheel he feels like in this story. While that’s better than being the fourth wheel in the Cody vs. Rock/Reigns story, he is pretty much only here because Punk can’t wrestle. Thankfully this was more serious Rollins, but he was in over his head with these two.

The best thing about this is it felt like the three of them were given minimal instructions on what to say and just filled in the gaps themselves. That often makes for the best segments, as you had people who know how to talk doing so very well and making me want to see whatever they do next. Punk is about two months into rehab as well and his feuds with both are still hot, so they’ve already survived a lot of the gap of Punk being on the shelf. Heck of a segment here.

Shinsuke Nakamura is ready for Jey Uso.

Ivy Nile vs. Candice LeRae

Maxxine Dupri and Indi Hartwell are at ringside. Nile starts fast and hammers away but Candice is back up to send her outside. Hold on though as Candice is holding her knee, seemingly for Hartwell to cheat…but she doesn’t. Instead Nile charges back in and gets rolled up (with feet on the ropes) to give Candice the pin at 1:54.

New Day and DIY argue over how dumb their names are. Awesome Truth comes in to say the match will be awesome, though R-Truth thinks this is New Day vs. DX. Oh and he thinks Pat McAfee is JBL.

New Day vs. DIY

Awesome Truth is on commentary. Kofi and Ciampa go to the mat to start but Gargano is in with a clothesline. R-Truth is happy to see Shawn Michaels in there (just go with it) as Gargano is taken into the corner for the Unicorn Stampede. Gargano is sent outside and we take a break. Back with Ciampa hitting running corner clotheslines, setting up some running kicks to Kofi in the corner. Gargano hits a suicide dive but cue Judgment Day for the DQ at 6:26. Not enough shown to rate but they were just warming up anyway.

Post match the beatdown is on with Truth going nuts on commentary, even as Miz gets in and is taken out. Judgment Day surrounds Truth (who insists we go to a break) and beats him down as well, leaving the champs to stand tall.

Cody Rhodes won’t repeat what Rock said but will say it was a promise Rock can’t keep.

Gunther isn’t worried about what Sami Zayn said last week because they were empty words. We are in Chicago tonight and the people here don’t believe Sami can beat him. Sami can’t beat Bronson Reed tonight either.

Andrade vs. Givanni Vinci

Vinci wastes no time in sending him into the ropes but Andrade chills in the ropes. Andrade knocks him outside for the moonsault, followed by the double moonsault for two back inside. A running boot staggers Vinci but he runs Andrade over as we take a break. We come back with Andrade grabbing some dragon screw legwhips and the running knees in the corner get two. Vinci hits a heck of a clothesline but Andrade elbows him in the head. A lifting double underhook swinging suplex (The Message) finishes for Andrade at 7:10.

Rating: C+. They didn’t have much time to go anywhere here and the break didn’t make it any better. As is always the case, there is little that can be done when a match barely breaks seven minutes and about half of that is spent in commercial. Andrade still needs something to do, but winning matches is always a good start.

Here is Rhea Ripley, with Dominik Mysterio, for a chat. She wants more attention and feels that Becky Lynch is fighting everyone else and not paying attention to her. Ripley could have gotten Lynch’s attention by attacking her during a match but instead Ripley is being respectful. We’re so close to Wrestlemania and Lynch should be paying more attention, so here is Lynch to interrupt.

Lynch talks about how she is here when Ripley is fresh rather than waiting for her to finish a twenty minute match. She couldn’t do that, mainly because Ripley never wrestles on Raw anyway. Ripley doesn’t need to wrestle before the biggest match of her career because all she has to do is post a video online and these freaks will eat it up. Lynch says they have different interpretations of what it means to be a champion.

To Lynch, it’s all about working hard to be the best and the long game is about skill, merit and survival. It’s about being able to fight back when the chips are down and you’re not the chosen one anymore. At Wrestlemania, she is going to give Ripley a new experience. Ripley gets that Lynch is a survivor who has been through everything, but Lynch is really a cockroach: hard to kill but not impossible.

Ripley wants Lynch to survive just enough though, so she can sit on her couch with her daughter and call Ripley Mami. Lynch calls that Ripley’s one pass to mention her daughter and goes into a rather serious rant about how she regrets her father not getting to meet her daughter. It might be a joke to Ripley but it is not a joke to her. There is no going back and at Wrestlemania, neither of them will ever be the same again.

We get the staredown but Ripley backs off. Dominik gets between then so Lynch drops him, meaning the fight with Ripley is on. Ripley kicks her down and sends Lynch into the post and goes to check on Dominik. Lynch dives off the steps onto both of them until Dominik tries to break it up. That goes as well as can be expected until referees get in there to hold them apart.

This was the segment that the match needed as Ripley has been getting so over with the fans as of late that they needed something to even the odds a bit. Having Ripley out there with Dominik is always going to make the fans think less of her, but bringing up Lynch’s daughter was the clincher. The key here was they are turning Lynch back into The Man, and that version of her is a threat to Ripley. While Ripley is the bigger deal right now, a fired up Lynch is one of the scariest things in WWE and that could make for a heck of a showdown.

Chad Gable comes up to Sami Zayn and tries to apologize for last week but Sami doesn’t need to hear it. No one believes he can beat Gunther so tonight he’ll go beat Bronson Reed. Gable says don’t worry about Gunther tonight because Reed will take him out. Sami needs to focus, which Sami says is right. He appreciates what Gable said and they shake hands.

Sami Zayn vs. Bronson Reed

Reed runs him over with a shoulder to start but Sami sends his charge out to the floor. The big flip dive takes Reed down again but a high crossbody is pulled out of the air back inside. Reed runs him over again and hits a heck of a chop in the corner to send Sami outside. The running shoulder off the apron hits Sami again and we take a break.

Back with Sami fighting out of a chinlock and managing to knock Reed down for a change. Cue Gunther for a distraction though, which makes Sami think he can Blue Thunder Bomb Reed. For some reason Sami tries a slam, earning that crushing from Reed. Sami manages a tornado DDT but stops to look at Gunther, meaning the Helluva Kick misses. The Tsunami finishes for Reed at 9:31.

Rating: C. This was more storytelling than wrestling and that is not a bad thing. What matters here is Gunther getting into Sami’s head before their title match at Wrestlemania, where Sami will hopefully be able to remain focused and get everything together. I’m not sure if he’s going to win the title, but they’re telling a nice story on the way there.

Jey Uso is fired up (shocking I know) about facing Shinsuke Nakamura. The Bloodline pops in and Jimmy Uso says “no yeet”.

Chad Gable comes up to Sami Zayn in the back, where Sami is ranting about how Gunther is in his head. Gable says Sami needs a different approach to Wrestlemania and if Sami wants to do that, they can talk.

We look back at the Rock/Cody Rhodes segment.

Seth Rollins comes up to Jey Uso, saying something doesn’t feel right. He has Jey’s back tonight.

Jey Uso vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Jey knocks him to the floor to start but the suicide dive is cut off by a boot to the head. Back in and Jey is sent into the post, setting up some running knees to put Jey on the floor as we take a break. We come back with Jey slugging away and hitting an enziguri but getting caught with the sliding German suplex. Nakamura shrugs off a superkick and hits a running knee…and we have the Bloodline. Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso run in to cut them off but here is Drew McIntyre to jump Rollins. Everyone else brawls off and a superkick into the spear finishes for Uso at 7:34.

Rating: C+. The match itself was little more than a backdrop for everything taking place at ringside and in this case that’s ok. Jey gets another win on the way to Wrestlemania while Nakamura….geez remember when he was main eventing a pay per view about six months ago? You would think there might be some more value for him than this, though I’m not sure what that would be.

We cut to the back where Rhodes is brawling with the Bloodline when the Rock comes in to jump him. Rock hits him with a trashcan to the head and empties a toolbox onto him before they go outside into the rain. Rock kicks him around and shouts at Rhodes to get up because Rock is the Final Boss. He shouts at the people to look at his hero and yells at Mama Rhodes before throwing Cody into the side of his own bus.

Rock talks to the camera and says it didn’t have to be like this. All of this is happening because of Rhodes, who is busted open as Rock sends him into the bus door again. Rock pulls off a weight belt with MAMA RHODES written on it and rubs the blood onto it, saying Cody is going to learn about hard times at Wrestlemania. He tells Mama Rhodes to look at her son one more time to end the show.

There’s a reason the Rock is the kind of legend that he has become. You can take away the Hollywood stuff and the catchphrases and all those other things. Underneath it all, the Rock knows how to be a wrestler and a wrestling personality. This was an old school beatdown that is going to make Rhodes fight back and FINALLY slay the beast that is Roman Reigns before very possibly getting his hands on the Rock one on one later this year. It’s a case of the night being the darkest before the dawn, with the dawn seeming likely for Philadelphia. Awesome segment here, with Rock turning serious when he needs to.

Overall Rating: A-. Yes, I’m aware that none of the matches came close to that high of a rating and I would hope that you get that the in-ring part of this show was the least important aspect. This show was ALL about making the big matches at Wrestlemania feel like must see events and that worked in spades. I want to see McIntyre vs. Rollins, Cody vs. the Bloodline and Ripley vs. Lynch a heck of a lot more than I did coming into this week. That was the point of this Raw and WWE turned the volume way up the whole night through. Excellent show this week as the wrestling was the stuff in between the important parts.

Results
Ricochet b. JD McDonagh – Shooting star press
Candice LeRae b. Ivy Nile – Rollup with feet on the ropes
New Day vs. DIY went to a no contest when Judgment Day interfered
Andrade b. Giovanni Vinci – The Message
Bronson Reed b. Sami Zayn – Tsunami
Jey Uso b. Shinsuke Nakamura – Spear

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Monday Night Raw
Date: March 18, 2024
Location: PNC Center, Raleigh, North Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

We are less than three weeks away from Wrestlemania and that means things are mostly set in stone. However, we still need some teams for the big ladder match as well as possibly one or two more matches. Odds are we’ll get something more from Cody Rhodes/Seth Rollins vs. the Bloodline as well so let’s get to it.

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

Here is Jey Uso to get things going and he wastes no time in calling out Jimmy. Much like his brother, Jimmy (with Solo Sikoa) wastes no time in coming to the ring as well. Jey says he knows they have bad blood but he misses his brother. He misses being with his brother and asks him to come back but Jimmy says it was Jey’s idea to leave the Bloodline.

It was Jey going off on his own to be a success and he even won a Tag Team Title without his brother! The biggest moment in Jey’s career is because of Jimmy, but Jey disagrees. The biggest moment of his career will be at Wrestlemania when he knocks the yeet out of Jimmy. That’s enough to bring Sikoa in for the beatdown but Cody Rhodes runs in for the save. That probably sets up the main event but Jey vs. Jimmy needed some attention of its own.

Video on Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax.

Adam Pearce calls someone (presumably Nick Aldis) to yell about the Bloodline being here but Paul Heyman interrupts. The Bloodline’s actions weren’t authorized by Roman Reigns or the Rock but Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa are gone for the night. Heyman has official business here tonight though and it will catch everyone off guard.

Wrestlemania Tag Team Titles Qualifying Match: DIY vs. Creed Brothers

Dang I had almost forgotten the Creeds were around. The winners go straight to Wrestlemania, unlike Smackdown which is a mini tournament. Julius wrestles Ciampa down to start and then does it again without much trouble. A fireman’s carry takeover puts Ciampa on the mat again and it’s off to Brutus to work on the arm. Back up and Gargano comes in off a blind tag though and DIY sends them outside for the stereo dives. DIY applauds themselves and we take a break, coming back with Brutus getting the tag to clean house.

Brutus rolls Ciampa up and northern lights suplexes Gargano at the same time for a double near fall. Despite being down on his knees, Julius picks up Ciampa for a suplex, going from mat to knees in a crazy athletic display. The standing moonsault gives Julius two, leaving Brutus to knock Ciampa outside. Brutus sends him over the announcers’ table and we take another break.

Back again with Ciampa hitting much needed reverse DDT, allowing the hot tag back to Gargano. Everything breaks down, leaving Ciampa to hit a super White Noise for two on Julius. They slug it out until Julius barrels through him and puts on the ankle lock. Gargano tries to make the save and gets powerbombed for his efforts.

Brutus comes in to make it stereo ankle locks but they’re reversed into a Sicilian Stretch and the Gargano Escape. Those are both broken up and the Creeds throw them into each other, setting up back to back moonsaults for two on Ciampa. The Brutus Ball misses though and Gargano superkicks Julius into a rollup to give Ciampa the pin at 17:37.

Rating: B. These guys got a lot of time and it’s rather nice to see DIY getting a chance on the big stage. Odds are they don’t win the titles but it’s better than never being on Wrestlemania at all. At the same time, the Creeds feel like they have fallen into a hole. They were in a big time title match and then just vanished for a bit. I’m sure they’ll be back, but dang they fell down a good ways.

Andrade meets Judgment Day, who might be interested in bringing Andrade aboard. They’ll be watching him next week though. Andrade leaves and Damian Priest comes in to get on JD McDonagh for his losses. Dominik Mysterio has this though.

Katana Chance/Kayden Carter vs. Indi Hartwell/Candice LeRae

Hartwell takes over on Carter to start and takes her into the corner, only to have LeRae miss the step up backsplash. It’s off to Chance to pick up the pace but she bangs up her knee while flipping out of a suplex. The referee checks on her but LeRae decks Carter and grabs a half crab on Chance for the tap at 2:02.

We look at the Rock Concert from Smackdown.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat. In less than three weeks, he will be face to face with Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania again. Last week on Smackdown, the Rock referred to himself as a heel, which might be an insider term but we all know what it means. People like Ric Flair was a heel but the Rock is just an a******. Rock said he came back here to save WWE but look at this house without him here. Rock is little more than a whiny b**** who brought up Cody’s mom. That makes it fair so let’s talk about Rock’s mom.

She is a wonderful lady who helped him chop Kevin Owens in a dark match once night. Rock thought Cody’s mom was going to cry when he beat Cody with a weightlifting belt, but Rock doesn’t know Cody’s mom. Cody doesn’t know what is going to happen at Wrestlemania, but what does Dwayne know? Is Rock going to bring the Great one or is it going to be “Little D*** Syndrome”?

Rock calls himself the Final Boss and credit to Brian Gerwitz for coming up with that, but he thinks Rock is just Roman Reigns’ side chick. Cue Paul Heyman to interrupt, saying they have a lot in common. A few weeks ago he tried to bring out some cops to take care of Cody and it didn’t work so Heyman apologizes to everyone involved. Cody wanted to talk about heels and while that might be true of Heyman, Reigns is a Tribal Chief of his words.

They will be going face to face this Friday on Smackdown and the only member of the Bloodline with them will be Heyman himself. If Cody shows up, Reigns will be there, alone. Cody: “Deal.” Heyman says that’s fine, if Cody shows up alone too. Cody: “Deal.” This was Cody getting to make things personal with Rock as well and that should get us some great lines both ways.

Nia Jax promises to break Becky Lynch’s face again and take her place at Wrestlemania.

Jey Uso tells Cody Rhodes he has his back on Smackdown but Cody says he has this. Everything is cool.

Ricochet vs. Dominik Mysterio

JD McDonagh is here with Dominik. Ricochet starts fast but McDonagh offers a quick distraction, allowing Dominik to kick him out to the floor. We take a break and come back with Dominik trying Three Amigos but Ricochet reverses the third to take over. That lets McAfee make a puma reference (Ricochet was formerly known as Prince Puma in Lucha Underground) and Ricochet kicks Dominik in the face. The 450 misses so Ricochet drops McDonagh and grabs the Recoil for the pin at 7:22.

Rating: C+. That’s one heck of a big win for Ricochet as he not only beat Dominik but took out McDonagh on the way there. I wouldn’t have bet on seeing him pull off something like that but maybe it’s time to try something else with Ricochet for a bit. There’s no reason to believe it will last but I’ll take even a little hope.

Post match Ricochet fights off McDonagh again.

Sami Zayn thanks Chad Gable for the match last week but Gable still isn’t happy. It means more to him, but Zayn says he has people he’s trying to make happy too. Gable gets straight to the point: Zayn can’t beat Gunther.

Adam Pearce is in the ring and brings out Gunther and Sami Zayn for the contract signing for Wrestlemania. Gunther cuts Pearce off and asks why Zayn isn’t dressed better for something involving a match of this magnitude. Zayn doesn’t like how Gunther is taking him so lightly, but that has been the case more than once in his career. People didn’t believe he would make it to WWE or main event Wrestlemania but last year he ended the longest Tag Team Title reign of all time. Now he can do the same thing to the Intercontinental Title.

Zayn signs and Gunther tells him to keep dreaming before signing as well. Gunther goes to leave but Zayn says wait. Zayn gets in his face and tells Gunther that he believes. Gunther is now looking into the eyes of the man who is taking him down at Wrestlemania. This was setting up Zayn vs. his Goliath, which is as easy of a story as you can have.

R-Truth is in the back with Miz and DIY, with Miz telling R-Truth to be that serious. Indus Sher comes in and R-Truth is worried for whomever has to fight them. Miz sighs and says he’ll tell R-Truth.

Wrestlemania Tag Team Titles Qualifying Match: Awesome Truth vs. Indus Sher

Sanga scares R-Truth away for the early tag to Miz, who gets elbowed in the face for his efforts. Veer comes in for the big jumping elbow and we hit the nerve hold. Miz fights up and it’s back to R-Truth for the John Cena finishing sequence. The STF has Veer in trouble until Sanga breaks it up. Everything breaks down and the Skull Crushing Finale hits Veer but Sanga makes the save. Miz takes out Jinder Mahal at ringside and Sanga elbows R-Truth….right onto Veer for the pin at 3:09.

Rating: C. The comedy with R-Truth being scared was a nice way to go as there was little reason to get into the match otherwise. Awesome Truth have been dealing with Judgment Day for a long time now and it would be nearly insane to not have them involved in the match at Wrestlemania. Indus Sher continues to be little more than the latest foreign monsters and I can’t see it going much further than it has gone here.

Sami Zayn asks Chad Gable why he thinks Zayn can’t beat Gunther. Gable says Zayn is always crawling through the window like an underdog and Gunther won’t let him do that.

Here is Drew McIntyre for a chat…but Seth Rollins interrupts him on the way to the ring. McIntyre doesn’t like being cut off but Rollins says one thing McIntyre recently said was correct. The first step on the road to recovery his name is Seth Rollins and he is a spotlight junkie. McIntyre says everything is a joke to Rollins but….we pause for WHAT chants, which McIntyre says means the fans are glad he took out Punk.

McIntyre goes on a rant about Punk but Rollins tells him to shut up. He was telling the truth when he said he was a spotlight junkie and it gets better and better every single time he’s here. The fans sing for him and that is what Rollins has been wanting. At Wrestlemania, he’ll beat Roman Reigns and the Rock on night one and Drew McIntyre on night two. McIntyre talks about how they’ve both been doing this for twenty years and Rollins has the wrestlers’ title. Why can’t that be why they get the biggest spotlight?

All McIntyre cares about is Rollins making it to the ring at Wrestlemania one way or another. McIntyre is not going to get the moment he deserves but rather the moment he has earned. Rollins talks about how McIntyre won in front of no one but he couldn’t do it again when the people were there. At Wrestlemania, the lights will be on again and McIntyre will find out that he’s not that good. They’re saying the right things but this isn’t quite clicking yet.

Becky Lynch promises to be the last woman standing against Nia Jax.

Wrestlemania Tag Team Titles Qualifying Match: New Day vs. Alpha Academy

Otis runs Woods over to start and we hit the stomach gyrations. Tozawa comes in for a kick to the face, followed by a middle rope hurricanrana to Kingston. New Day is sent outside and Tozawa hits a dive as we take a break. Back with double tags bringing in Otis and Kofi with the former cleaning house.

A World’s Strongest Slam plants a diving Kofi and there’s the Caterpillar for two. Woods comes back in for a tornado DDT for two on Tozawa but Otis makes a save. Tozawa’s top rope backsplash gets two on Woods with Kofi making the save this time. Back up and Woods hits a sitout powerbomb to plant Tozawa, setting up the Limit Breaker for the pin at 9:29.

Rating: C+. The Academy got in a lot more offense than I was expecting here and it made the match more interesting. You almost need to have New Day in a big time match like the ladder match at Wrestlemania, but the team isn’t exactly on fire right now. They’re getting stale again and need something to do, which probably isn’t going to happen until a few weeks after Wrestlemania at the earliest.

Liv Morgan wishes Becky Lynch luck against Nia Jax.

Cody Rhodes, with Pharaoh, runs into Seth Rollins. Yes, Cody is going to Smackdown on his own.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax

Last Woman Standing and Jax starts fast by knocking her out to the floor. Lynch fights back and we take a break just over a minute in. Back with a bunch of weapons being thrown into the ring, with Jax hitting a Samoan drop onto a pile of chairs. Lynch is back up and knocks Jax down, only to get chaired out of the air.

ax hits a bunch of chair shots and drops the leg for a near ten. Choking with a chair doesn’t work for Jax as Lynch fights out with a kendo stick for the escape. The apron legdrop misses for Jax and Lynch hits a DDT onto the steps for nine. Jax gets up as Lynch grabs a table and we take a break.

Back with Lynch getting off a table and using a fire extinguisher to get Jax off a ladder. They get back inside where Jax hits a Samoan drop through a table in the corner. That and the Annihilator get nine so they head to the apron. Lynch grabs a Manhandle Slam through a table at ringside but Jax beats the count again. With nothing else working, Lynch goes up and hits a Fameasser to send Jax through the announcers’ table for the win at 18:32.

Rating: B-. They beat each other up for a good while but it wasn’t exactly an entertaining spectacle. Lynch is ready for one of the bigger matches of her career and Jax is the villain she had to get rid of before she can completely focus on Wrestlemania. That made this match more of a formality than anything else, but as long as Jax is gone from the story, I’ll take it.

Rhea Ripley comes out for the big staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. As usual with the last few shows on the way to Wrestlemania, this was mainly about firming things up for the big show. There were some things added to the card with three teams qualifying for the ladder match, but most of the show was built around the talking segments. Those went about as well as could be asked and Wrestlemania is really starting to feel like it’s just around the corner. That’s what Raw needs to accomplish and it’s beginning to happen.

Results
DIY b. Creed Brothers – Rollup to Julius
Indi Hartwell/Candice LeRae b. Katana Chance/Kayden Carter – Half crab to Chance
Ricochet b. Dominik Mysterio – Recoil
Awesome Truth b. Indus Sher – Skull Crushing Finale to Veer
New Day b. Alpha Academy – Limit Breaker to Tozawa
Becky Lynch b. Nia Jax – Fameasser through the announcers’ table

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

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Monday Night Raw
Date: March 11, 2024
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Pat McAfee, Michael Cole

We are less than a month away from Wrestlemania and after last week, we officially have a main event for night one. Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins will face the Rock and Roman Reigns with a bunch of stipulations but we need to figure out some more things. That includes finding Gunther’s Wrestlemania challenger and that means it’s time for a gauntlet match. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a quick recap of the Wrestlemania tag match being made.

Here is Drew McIntyre for a chat. McIntyre talks about how Seth Rollins is a junkie who had to decide to wrestle twice at Wrestlemania because that is what he does. After a shot at CM Punk (and a CM PUNK chant), McIntyre talks about the bigger picture, which is the Rock. Wrestling has evolve over the years and here we are with a chance to work with the biggest star in the world.

Cue Rollins to interrupt, saying we can get to Wrestlemania with one more Claymore, so he even takes off his glasses so McIntyre can have a clean shot. -McIntyre laughs at Rollins telling him to get over the Bloodline and tells Rollins to use his own advice. Rollins talks about how McIntyre complains about everything, which is making him sound like that guy from Chicago with all of the tattoos.

Rollins is ready to go right now but McIntyre bails instead. That’s not good enough for Rollins, who says of everything he has going on at Wrestlemania, including his injuries, McIntyre is the lowest on his list. That’s almost enough for McIntyre to get in but he leaves, looking rather frustrated, instead. This feud needs some more attention with Rollins mainly being focused on the tag match.

Chad Gable is ready for the gauntlet match because he needs his chance to get at Gunther again.

Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan

This is fallout over Morgan interrupting Lynch vs. Nia Jax last week. Liv grabs a headlock to start but gets sent out to the apron. They switch places in a hurry though and Liv hits a suicide dive to send us to a break. Back with Liv running Lynch over with a shoulder and nipping up to show off a bit.

Lynch fights back and goes up, only to dive into a Codebreaker. They’re both down for a bit before Lynch is back up, where Liv catches her with a springboard Codebreaker. The fight heads to the apron where Liv busts out a sunset powerbomb to the floor for two, giving us the frustrated kickout face. Back up and Lynch hits a quick Manhandle Slam as we take another break.

We come back again with Liv getting in a Rings of Saturn, which is reversed to set up a cross armbreaker from Lynch. They trade rollups for two until Liv hits a quick Oblivion, sending Lynch outside. Liv sends her back inside and hits a knee in the corner, only to dive into the Manhandle Slam to give Lynch the pin at 15:29.

Rating: B. Good stuff here with Lynch getting to have a long match over a big enough name opponent in Liv. The Wrestlemania match with Rhea Ripley is going to be a showdown and it makes sense to give Lynch some warmups on the way there. This was one of the better Liv matches to date and it’s nice to see her coming along in the ring, which was on display here.

Post match Lynch shows respect, but here is Rhea Ripley to interrupt. After some yelling from Liv, Ripley asks if this was worth it for Lynch. She’s willing to fight anywhere, anytime, but it’s just so Lynch can prove she’s still the best. Deep down though, Lynch knows that Ripley is better.

Lynch better come in to Wrestlemania at 100% or she’s walking out a disappointment. Lynch talks about putting a bit of doubt into things, but what matters is when people believe in her. When the people are with her she’s good, but when they’re against her, she’s great. See you at Wrestlemania. Good stuff from both here as this just feels huge.

Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce announce a six pack ladder match for the Tag Team Titles at Wrestlemania. Teams to be announced. Yay ladders.

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

Maxxine kicks Hartwell in the head as commentary makes references to fans criticizing Maxxine lately. With Hartwell down, the Worm is loaded up but LeRae gets in Maxxine’s face and shouts about how this is why people are booing her and no one cares. She even wishes Maxxine’s dead brother was here to see this (geez). The distraction is enough for Hartwell to hit a big boot for the pin. That’s an interesting way to go with the Maxxine stuff and I think I like it.

Judgment Day complains to the General Managers about the ladder match and it seems that R-Truth and Miz are behind it. It turns out that they’re off on media, but R-Truth comes in, not realizing it was Monday. He gets Damian Priest tonight.

We look back at Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins accepting the Bloodline’s challenge for Wrestlemania.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat with Michael Cole. Rhodes brings up getting to slap the Rock on Smackdown and says it feels good to slap your boss. The Rock used to be a wrestler so he shouldn’t be upset about the whole thing. Cole brings up the stipulations for the Wrestlemania tag match and wonders why Rollins is so gung ho to do this. How can Rhodes trust him?

Rhodes talks about how people can change, because it wasn’t that long ago when Cole was in a Plexiglas case in a Syracuse singlet (it was 13 years ago). We look back to October, when Cole asked if Rhodes winning would be his story. Back to now, Rhodes says the story isn’t about the title anymore, but rather about himself and the fans.

Rhodes talks about various fans and relatives who are here for him, including his mother, who is the only parent he has left. He can’t hand the title to Dusty Rhodes but he can hand it to her. Rhodes says the story isn’t about him and brings up Roman Reigns calling it the third inning last year. Now we’re coming to the end, because at Wrestlemania, he’s finishing the story. More good stuff here, as Rhodes knows how to bring people along with him in these emotional speeches.

Ricochet is ready to get the Intercontinental Title at Wrestlemania after winning the gauntlet match tonight.

JD McDonagh is ready to win the gauntlet match because he’s one win away.

Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan shake hands in the back when Nia Jax comes in to wreck both of them. Can we please just have Lynch beat her already and get her out of this story?

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Kabuki Warriors vs. Shayna Baszler/Zoey Stark

The Warriors, with the rest of Damage CTRL, are defending. Stark flips away from Asuka to start and gets dropkicked into the corner for her efforts. Baszler comes in and gets tripped down, only to come back with a quickly broken armbar. The champs are taken to the floor and Stark hits a big dive as we take a break.

Back with Stark coming back in to clean house, including a running splash to Sane in the corner. Sane ties her in the Tree of Woe though and it’s a top rope double stomp for two. Asuka comes back in to knock Baszler down, setting up a running Blockbuster. A pair of running strikes hit Baszler for two but Stark makes the same. Baszler knees Sane for two with Asuka making the save this time. The Kirifuda Clutch has Sane in trouble but Dakota Kai offers a distraction, meaning it’s the assisted Insane Elbow to pin Baszler at 10:22.

Rating: B-. Good stuff here again, with Baszler and Stark being game. At the same time here though, the division doesn’t have much in the way of challengers these days and that has been a problem for the titles for a long time now. Maybe they’ll have someone new by Wrestlemania, but it wouldn’t stun me to see the titles left with just sitting at ringside during Bayley vs. Iyo Sky.

Andrade comes in to see the Judgment Day, with Rhea Ripley saying she’d like to talk some business with him when Dominik Mysterio gets back. Works for Andrade, but Damian Priest wants to worry about the ladder match.

Shinsuke Nakamura is ready for the gauntlet match.

Bronson Reed is ready for the gauntlet match.

Damian Priest vs. R-Truth

Priest decks R-Truth to start and hammers him up against the ropes while yelling about how this is all R-Truth’s fault. Cue DIY for a distraction though, allowing Priest to send things outside. Priest misses a charge into the post and R-Truth nails a clothesline off the apron as we take a break.

Back with Priest hitting a lifting Downward Spiral for two but R-Truth crotches him on top. It’s time to initiate the John Cena finishing sequence, including the shuffle. The AA gets two and the STF goes on but cue Judgment Day to brawl with DIY. R-Truth hits a dive (well most of one at least) but walks into a clothesline, setting up the South of Heaven to give Priest the pin at 8:03.

Rating: C. I’m not sure why we’re doing the ladder match instead of R-Truth/Miz getting the shot, which seemed to be the way they were going. R-Truth did well on his own here, but there was little reason to believe that he could beat Priest on his own. We got a nice enough match out of it, with Priest hopefully getting a little something out of the win.

Post match Judgment Day gets in another beatdown.

Becky Lynch challenges Nia Jax to a Last Woman Standing match next week.

Here is Jey Uso for a chat about Jimmy Uso. Jey came here for a fresh start but Jimmy and the Bloodline won’t let him go. The challenge is thrown out for Wrestlemania and he wants Jimmy to accept so the beating can be on.

Video on Gunther’s Intercontinental Title reign.

Gunther talks about how much he has elevated the Intercontinental Title. Now he wants to face the best at Wrestlemania but it takes a lot to be in his position. Some laughing wishes of good luck to the winner ensue.

Muhammad Ali is going to the WWE Hall Of Fame.

Gauntlet Match

Ricochet is in at #1 (of six) and JD McDonagh is in at #2. They go to the mat to start before Ricochet backdrops him out to the floor. Back in and McDonagh knocks him out of the air and they go outside again where the beating continues. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gives McDonagh two back inside and he gets in some boot choking on the ropes. The standing moonsault connects for two but Ricochet fights back.

Ricochet’s Lionsault hits knees though and a brainbuster gives McDonagh two. Ricochet is back with a poisonrana but charges into a Spanish Fly to leave them both down. We take a break and come back with the two of them slugging it out on the apron until Ricochet hits a Death Valley Driver onto said apron. They get back in with Ricochet shoving McDonagh off the top and hitting a good looking shooting star press for the pin at 11:53.

Bronson Reed is in at #3 and Ricochet immediately hits him with a suicide dive. A dropkick puts Reed down and there’s another flip dive to drop Reed again. Reed is right back with an Oklahoma Stampede for two of his own before a wheelbarrow slam plants Ricochet. A backsplash sets up the Tsunami to get rid of Ricochet at 14:14 overall.

Sami Zayn is in at #4 and they go straight to the floor, where Zayn quickly plants him. We take a break and come back with Reed hitting a swinging suplex for two but missing a backsplash. Reed pulls him out of the air though and hits a release Rock Bottom for two. They go up top with Reed loading up a super Samoan drop, only to have Zayn reverse into a sunset bomb for the pin at 20:58.

Shinsuke Nakamura is in at #5 but hang on though as Reed hits a Tsunami on Zayn before getting in. Zayn manages to grab a rollup for a quick two but Nakamura knocks him outside and onto the announcers’ table as we take another break. Back again with McAfee telestrating the Tsunami to Zayn before we back back live to Zayn hitting the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Nakamura kicks him in the head and then again in the back of the head but misses a middle rope knee. That’s enough for Zayn to hit a quick Helluva Kick for the pin at 28:35.

Chad Gable is in at #6, giving us our final two. They point/look at the sign before Gable grabs a German suplex. Gable starts going after the ankle to take over but they fall out to the floor. An attempted ankle lock is kicked away though and Gable crashes into the steps as we take another break.

Back again with Gable hitting a release t-bone superplex for two, meaning exasperation is setting in. The fans are doing the Bray Wyatt Fireflies as Gable goes up and hits the moonsault, only for Zayn to reverse into a small package for two. They slug it out until Gable slips out of a Blue Thunder Bomb and grabs the ankle lock. Gable shouts that he needs this more than Zayn, who makes it over to the ropes for the break.

Zayn suplexes him into the corner but the ankle gives out on the Helluva Kick attempt. Gable goes right back to the ankle lock but can’t get the tap, instead switching to a German suplex. Another moonsault misses though and now the Helluva Kick connects for a rather delayed near fall, with Gable reversing into a rollup for two of his own. Gable slugs away and muscles him up for a bridging German suplex into another near fall. The ankle lock goes on again, only to have Zayn reverse into a cradle for the pin at 41:25.

Rating: B-. They were in a tricky spot here as there were only two viable options to win the whole thing. Nakamura, Reed, McDonagh and Ricochet were mainly just there as fillers but thankfully they were all gone by the end. Gable put on a heck of a showcase for himself here and I was kind of wanting to see him win. Zayn is the right choice though and it wouldn’t stun me to see him beat Gunther. It also wouldn’t stun me to see Gunther retain, which makes for a rather interesting title match.

Post match Gable is livid but respect is shown. Gunther comes out for the staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This show was focused in on Wrestlemania, with a title match being confirmed, another title match being announced and a challenge being issued for a third. That’s on top of the already established matches, which got some nice focus this week. Good show here, with the focus being on the build towards Wrestlemania, which is what needs to be the case with less than a month to go.

Results
Becky Lynch b. Liv Morgan – Manhandle Slam
Candice LeRae/Indi Hartwell b. Maxxine Dupri/Ivy Nile – Big boot to Dupri
Kabuki Warriors b. Shayna Baszler/Zoey Stark – Assisted Insane Elbow to Baszler
Damian Priest b. R-Truth – South Of Heaven
Sami Zayn won a gauntlet match last eliminating Chad Gable

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: March 4, 2024
Location: Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

We are just over a month away from Wrestlemania and the big story coming out of Smackdown saw the Bloodline challenging Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes for night one of Wrestlemania. For reasons unclear, the decision is to be made on Smackdown rather than here, but I’m sure we’ll have some fireworks anyway. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Cody Rhodes challenging the Rock to face him, with Rock coming back by challenging him to the Wrestlemania tag match. Also of note: Roman Reigns requested Rock acknowledge him, which he did, seemingly to a bit of Reigns’ relief.

Here is Rhodes to talk about facing Roman Reigns, but first there is the distraction in the form of the Rock. Cody recaps Rock talking about him over and over last week, including mocking Cody’s dog (this did not please him). Rock had talked to Cody before and tried to convince him that the fans wanted to see Rock vs. Reigns, but the fans said they wanted something else.

Those were the people the Rock referred to as crybabies but then Rock moved on to a certain challenge. That challenged involved Seth Rollins, so here he is. Cody talks about how Rollins has been challenged for Wrestlemania as well but he already has to deal with Drew McIntyre, so Cody gets if he’s busy. Rollins talks about how he and Roman Reigns came in here over eleven years ago and they wanted absolute power. Now we are one win away from Reigns having exactly what he wants.

Rollins isn’t interested in any of that and doesn’t like what the Rock has been saying. Rock threatened to get rid of the World Heavyweight Championship and claims to have made wrestling cool again. The reality is that Rock hasn’t been cool in twenty years, but you know what is cool?

This morning Rollins was 100% medically cleared, so he’ll be at Smackdown to face the Bloodline. He has Cody’s back, so does Cody have his? Cody does, and says he won’t whine for twenty one minutes in a promo (as he’s been in the ring for 15+). They’ll be at Smackdown with an answer. Is there a reason to not give them the answer now?

Dominik Mysterio vs. Gunther

Non-title and JD McDonagh is here with Dominik. We start with Michael Cole bringing up Sting’s retirement and wishing him well (McAfee sounded like he was praising Sting’s match at AEW Revolution but Cole cut that off IMMEDIATELY) as Dominik tries to chop with Gunther for some reason. Gunther easily takes over but one of his chops hits the post. Dominik goes after the hand but Gunther chops away part of his soul as we take a break.

Back with Dominik getting chopped again, with Gunther opening up the shirt to make even more contact. Dominik manages to knock Gunther outside though and hits a dive, meaning it’s time to load up the 619. That just lets Gunther BLAST him with a clothesline, but he pulls Dominik up at two. The powerbomb is countered into a sunset flip for two and the 619 connects. Gunther avoids the frog splash though and hits a heck of a dropkick into the corner. The powerbomb into the Boston crab finishes Dominik at 9:16.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t so much good as much as it was entertaining to see Dominik getting wrecked over and over. Gunther can throw some crazy hard chops and he was having fun beating on Dominik here. It wasn’t exactly meant to be a competitive match and that wasn’t quite what it was, but dang it was fun.

Damage CTRL arrives but Adam Pearce cuts them off. They’re here to scout, but Shinsuke Nakamura interrupts. With Damage CTRL gone, Nakamura wants to talk about the Intercontinental Title. They can do that in Pearce’s office, as he’ll have an announcement about the title later tonight.

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

Earlier today, Carter and Chance said they wanted to get back into the title hunt because it’s Wrestlemania season. Damage CTRL is at ringside, as in sitting on the announcers’ table, as Baszler blocks Carter’s armdrag to start and stomps on the arm. Stark drapes Carter over the top rope for a running knee from Baszler as we take a break. Back with Carter and Chance hitting a double super Spanish Fly on Stark. Carter superkicks Stark to set up the After Party (and a nasty one at that) for two with Baszler making the save. Stark rolls Carter up for the pin at 6:44.

Rating: C. I still can’t get into this division as it isn’t interesting and these challengers just keep going with nothing really working. Stark and Baszler are no better than anyone else but now they are likely next in line for a shot. The Kabuki Warriors are pretty much the only worthwhile thing in the division but I guess we have to act like this works for another Wrestlemania season.

Post match Dakota Kai gets in the ring to say Baszler and Stark can have a title shot next week (assuming the Warriors retain at NXT Roadblock tomorrow night). Baszler is pleased.

The rest of Judgment Day check on Dominik Mysterio, with Gunther being told he’s going to make things right with Gunther. Andrade pops in to check on Dominik.

Video on Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax.

Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax

Becky strikes away to start but gets driven into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs. The springboard kick to the face doesn’t do much to Nia, who is right back with a release slam. Jax’s big elbow gets two but Becky fights up, with the missile dropkick sending Jax outside. The forearm off the apron is countered into a Samoan drop on the floor and we take a break.

Back with Lynch’s superplex being broken up and Jax dropping a middle rope legdrop for two. Jax loads up the right hand that broken Lynch’s nose years ago but Lynch snaps off a headscissors. Jax plants her down again and loads up the Annihilator but only hits mat. Lynch gets the Disarm-Her so Jax rolls out to the floor…where Liv Morgan jumps her for the DQ at 10:16.

Rating: C+. This was getting better near the end but hopefully this is all that happens with Jax vs. Lynch. With Lynch being ready to go on to Wrestlemania in just over a month, she needs to move away from Jax so she can get on to Rhea Ripley. Morgan vs. Jax is at least something different, though hopefully it gets them away from the Lynch and the title picture.

Post break Jax is sent running to the back.

Ricochet wants in on the Intercontinental Title situation but Adam Pearce says trust him. Ricochet heads out but here is Judgment Day to say JD McDonagh wants in on the title scene. McDonagh is ready and we go to break while he’s still talking.

Post break Becky Lynch yells at Liv Morgan and a match is made for next week. Rhea Ripley comes in to laugh at Lynch.

Video on Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso.

Adam Pearce announces a gauntlet match for the Wrestlemania title shot against Gunther. Next week it’s Sami Zayn vs. Ricochet vs. Chad Gable vs. Bronson Reed vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. JD McDonagh.

Andrade vs. Apollo Crews

This is Crews’ first match on Raw in a bit. Feeling out process to start until Crews hits a dropkick. Crews puts him on top and hits a top rope superplex, only for Andrade to reverse into Three Amigos. The spinning back elbow sets up the running knees in the corner. La Sombra (the hammerlock DDT) finishes Crews at 3:20.

Rating: C. This was quick and to the point with Andrade picking up the win in his return to Raw. That’s a good way to go as Andrade seems to be someone who could be a big deal if he is given the chance (and stays happy). This was at least a good first step and what matters now is keeping the momentum going.

Sami Zayn knew he would get a path towards Wrestlemania and now this is the only path there. Ivar and Valhalla interrupt and a match is made for later.

In Memory of Butcher Vachon.

Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae want a Tag Team Title shot. Natalya and Tegan Nox think it’s time that they get more serious. Candice likes the idea for herself and Hartwell, but Ivy Nile and Maxxine Dupri come in to say it’ll be ok. LeRae isn’t impressed but Hartwell says she’ll deal with this. This division could not feel less important is they tried.

Judgment Day vs. Imperium

Non-title and Balor hammers Kaiser into the corner to start. Priest comes in to hammer on Vinci, who escapes a suplex. It’s back to Kaiser, who gets kicked in the face and punched in the corner, with Priest hurting his own hand. Kaiser decks Balor, which is enough to bring him in for an abdominal stretch. Balor gets sent into the post though and we take a break.

Back with Balor hitting a Nightmare On Helm Street but a High Low cuts him off for two. Vinci’s clothesline takes Balor down again and Kaiser seems happy to kick the crowd favorite in the face. Balor manages a Pele kick and it’s Priest coming in to clean house. The Broken Arrow gets two on Kaiser but he escapes the Razor’s Edge. Balor comes back in for the Sling Blade but Kaiser grabs a Death Valley Driver. Another Sling Blade drops Vinci and the Coup de Grace gets two with Kaiser making the save. Priest comes back in for a hard clothesline and the South Of Heaven for the pin at 14:08.

Rating: B-. This was more of a showcase for Priest than anything else and he did rather well with it. Priest still feels like someone who could turn into a big star despite his age and wins like this help boost him up every little bit. It might not be a classic, but seeing the Judgment Day as the good guys is oddly fun.

Paul Heyman is going into the Hall Of Fame.

Drew McIntyre calls Seth Rollins a spotlight junkie and points out how Rollins is always involved with the big comebacks. The World Heavyweight Title deserves better than Rollins and Jey Uso.

Rhea Ripley comes up to Damage CTRL and says stay out of her territory.

Sami Zayn vs. Ivar

Valhalla is here too and Cole loses his mind over the stupid antlers. She even gives him the antlers and McAfee can’t contain himself. Ivar shoves him down a few times to start but Zayn is back up with a toss to the floor. The tornado DDT is blocked back inside though and Zayn is sent outside.

We take a break and come back with Zayn reversing a belly to back superplex into a crossbody for two. Now the tornado DDT connects but Ivar kicks him in the face for two of his own. Ivar puts him up top but it’s a sunset bomb to bring him back down for two. The exploder connects but Ivar hits a seated senton to cut off the Helluva Kick. Ivar’s Doomsault misses though and now the Helluva Kick can finish for Zayn at 10:14.

Rating: C+. Perfectly fine match here as Zayn fights back against a monster and wins in the end with his finishing move. That’s as basic yet effective of a way to use Ivar as there is and it worked well here. Not a classic or anything, but it keeps Zayn’s momentum going towards a possible Wrestlemania title match.

Post match Bronson Reed runs in to take out Zayn and crushes him with the Tsunami.

Gunther is ready for any of the stacked field, because they all want the prestigious title. Chad Gable comes in to say this one just means more.

Jey Uso knows Drew McIntyre wants an apology, so here’s an apology for the beating he’s about to get.

R-Truth, DIY and Xavier Woods are playing WWE2K24 when Miz comes in. Miz has an idea of dealing with the Judgment Day: take their Tag Team Titles.

McAfee telestrates Cole’s antlers.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Jey Uso vs. Drew McIntyre

Jey starts fast with an enziguri to send him outside but McIntyre gets in a toss over the announcers’ table. We take a break and come back with McIntyre kicking him out of the corner for two before hammering away with right hands. McIntyre hammers away in the corner but gets caught with a sitout powerbomb for two. That doesn’t work for McIntyre, who knocks him to the floor and suplexes Uso on the floor as we take another break.

Back again with Uso sending McIntyre into the corner and hitting a boot to the face. Uso strikes away and gets two off a Samoan drop. There’s the running Umaga Attack to send McIntyre outside and Uso follows with the big dive. Cue Solo Sikoa for a distraction though and McIntyre hits the Futureshock for two. Cue Cody Rhodes to take out Sikoa and Uso hits a spar. Now it’s Jimmy Uso for a distraction and McIntyre hits the Claymore for the pin at 16:47.

Rating: B-. Another solid match here as McIntyre continues to build towards the title match at Wrestlemania and Jey continues to seemingly get ready for the match with Jimmy. The idea of Jey finally snapping and wanting to fight Jimmy is going to be a tough way to go but at last they’re starting something here.

Post match Seth Rollins comes out to chase off Jimmy Uso but gets Claymored. McIntyre yells at him to stop being selfish to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show did its job in trying to set things up for later as the build towards Wrestlemania continues. The big thing here is that you can see most of the card from a month out and there isn’t really anything major that needs to be started. I’m sure we’ll get some more matches announced soon and some smaller things will have to be covered, but for now WWE is moving steadily along towards Wrestlemania. That’s a lot better than their patented rushing so things are improving.

Results
Gunther b. Dominik Mysterio – Boston crab
Shayna Baszler/Zoey Stark b. Katana Chance/Kayden Carter – Rollup to Carter
Nia Jax b. Becky Lynch via DQ when Liv Morgan interfered
Andrade b. Apollo Crews – La Sombra
Judgment Day b. Imperium – South Of Heaven to Kaiser
Sami Zayn b. Ivar – Helluva Kick
Drew McIntyre b. Jey Uso – 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: December 25, 2023
Hosts: Jackie Redmond, Peter Rosenberg

Since it’s Christmas night, we have the Best Of 2023, which could cover all kinds of things. There have been some rather good things taking place this year and that means we should have a nice set of options. There’s a good chance that we’ll be getting stuff from both main roster shows and pay per views so let’s get to it.

Note that I’ll be posting the full versions of matches rather than the clipped versions that air on the broadcast.

The Miz welcomes us to the show and says he was supposed to host the Oscars but was too busy hosting Wrestlemania instead. We run down some of the best matches of the year in what is probably a preview of what we’re seeing tonight.

We go to the studio with Jackie and Peter, who run down the special guests we’ll be hearing from tonight. For now though, our first match.

From Night Of Champions.

World Heavyweight Championship: AJ Styles vs. Seth Rollins

For the inaugural title and they’re starting big here. They take their time to start with Styles sending him to the apron but it’s too early for the Phenomenal Forearm. Styles rolls out of a headlock but Rollins is right back with a kick to the head to take over. Back up and Styles drives him into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs. The chinlock doesn’t last long and Rollins is back with a Downward Spiral into the middle turnbuckle.

Styles is right back with a suplex into the corner and the Phenomenal Blitz. The middle rope moonsault into a reverse DDT plants Rollins again but he’s right back up with a buckle bomb. The frog splash gives Rollins two but the Pedigree is reversed into an enziguri. With nothing else working, Styles loads up the super Styles Clash but Rollins slips out to avoid quite a bit of pain.

Instead, Rollins puts him on top for a reverse superplex into a reverse sitout suplex for two. The Phoenix splash misses and they fight to the apron, where Styles hits a brainbuster to knock Rollins silly. Back in and Styles tries the Phenomenal Forearm (instead of covering) but Rollins breaks it up and sends him back to the floor. The suicide dive hits Styles but Rollins comes up favoring his knee.

Back in again and Styles grabs the Calf Crusher but Rollins grabs a choke for the escape. Styles kicks away until he has to duck the Pele. Rollins’ Pedigree is countered into one from Styles for two as Styles is bleeding a bit from the head. The Phenomenal Forearm is superkicked out of the air but the knee gives out on the Stomp attempt. The knee is fine enough to hit a Pedigree, followed by the Stomp to give Rollins the pin and the title at 20:37.

Rating: B. This was a different kind of match as there was no personal issue and they were just out there fighting for the title. It worked well as the two are both incredibly talented and know how to work the main event style match. The knee injury was a nice way to go and gave the match some drama, but it was hard to imagine Styles having a real chance here. Rather awesome opener though and Rollins is the best choice possible for the first champion.

Rollins joins us to talk about what it means to be the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion and to give opportunities to so many people. CM Punk is brought up, with Rollins talking about the lack of respect between them and it would be almost impossible for Punk to gain his respect. We move on to Drew McIntyre, who makes a lot of good points, but it’s the way McIntyre is explaining them. If McIntyre wants the title, he has to beat him, so may the best man win.

The Alpha Academy shills WWE Shop.

We talk about Jade Cargill signing with WWE. Oh yeah that was a thing.

From Wrestlemania XXXIX Night One.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Rhea Ripley

Ripley is challenging. They hit shoulders to start with Charlotte going down, allowing Rhea to tell her to suck it. Back in and they slug it out, with Ripley knocking her into the corner. Ripley bodyscissors her, followed by a German suplex to cut off the comeback. Charlotte gets in a shot and goes after the knee, as is her custom, but Ripley isn’t having that. Riptide is blocked and they trade big boots to leave them both down.

They slug it out until Charlotte snaps off a fall away slam and goes up top. That takes too long though and Ripley catches her with a release German superplex for two, leaving Ripley stunned. Charlotte goes to the knee again and Natural Selection gets two. They go outside with Charlotte missing a charge into the steps, allowing Ripley to hit a belly to back faceplant for two.

Charlotte rolls some German suplexes but Ripley gets one of her own (with Charlotte almost landing on her head). Charlotte is fine enough to hit a big boot and Ripley is sent outside, where the moonsault connects. The Figure Four is blocked and Charlotte almost runs into the referee, leaving Ripley to hit Riptide for…two (yeah you knew Charlotte would get to kick out of that at least once).

The stunned Ripley gets small packaged for two and the Prism Trap goes on instead. Charlotte makes the ropes and the referee is almost bumped, meaning a spear can give Charlotte two. They slug it out until Charlotte hits another big boot into the Figure Four but Ripley is right next to the ropes. Ripley goes to the apron and they both go up, with Charlotte being dropped face first onto the post. Charlotte is out and the super Riptide gives Ripley the pin and the title at 23:32.

Rating: B+. This started slowly but once they got into the big falls they had me wondering where it was going. While it would have been hard to imagine Ripley losing, there is always that chance with Charlotte in there. What matters is Ripley gets the win that matters and becomes the new star. Charlotte needs to go away from Ripley for a bit (it feels like she hasn’t been on Raw in a long time) and let her be the big deal. For now they, I’ll take Ripley getting the title that she has earned and getting it by pinning Charlotte at Wrestlemania.

Ripley talks about how dominant a year Judgment Day had and promises to eradicate Ivy Nile.

We take a quick look at Logan Paul beating Ricochet at Summerslam.

From Backlash.

Damian Priest vs. Bad Bunny

Street fight and Bunny is the hometown boy to a major reaction. Bunny brings the kendo stick but whips out a shopping cart full of weapons. Priest powers him into the corner to start but gets slapped in the face, with Bunny hitting a Michinoku Driver for two. Bunny grabs the kendo sticks but Priest knocks him down and breaks one of them. Back up and Bunny hammers away in the corner, only to get taken down again.

South Of Heaven connects but Priest pulls him up at two. It’s time to bring in an ax handle (single this time) but instead Priest loads up the springboard dive…which is cut off by a chair being thrown into his face. Bunny hits a big dive and drops him with a bunch of trashcan lid shots, giving us a Flair Flop on the floor. Back in and another Michinoku Driver gives Bunny two more but it’s time to head back outside.

Priest gets the better of things this time and smashes the Puerto Rico kendo stick across Bunny’s back. They head into the crowd and over to the tech area, where a Falcon Arrow sends Bunny crashing HARD through some tables. Adam Pearce comes out to say this needs to stop but Priest carries Bunny back to ringside. Priest misses a kick to the post and can barely stand, so Bunny blasts said leg with a kendo stick.

Bunny hits something like a Stunner to the leg out of the corner and the leg is wrapped around the post. A chain is wrapped around the leg to send it into the post again (with Priest begging him not to do it). Priest begs off from a chair shot and gets in a kick of his own, only to get hit low for his efforts. Cue Judgment Day to go after Bunny, with Rey Mysterio making the save.

With Rey beaten down, Carlito makes the save to an explosion, including the Backstabber and apple spit. Judgment Day gets back up but here is Savio Vega, who brings out the LWO to keep up the fight. With everyone else gone, Priest’s leg gives out on a kick to the head attempt, allowing Bunny to grab a Figure Four. Priest gets out so it’s a Sliced Bread for two (with Bunny almost landing on his head). A Canadian Destroyer finishes Priest at 25:05.

Rating: A. Yeah this was a total blast and played to the live crowd as well as anything else was going to. Bunny is as over as free beer in a frat house around here and they brought in the legends/current stars to make it feel that much bigger. It was fun and Bunny put in an all time celebrity performance, but Priest deserves all kinds of credit for holding it all together. Great stuff here, but egads how is anything supposed to follow this?

New Day joins us to give their take on everything this year, ranging from big meaty men, the women’s division, people who kick you in the head, the tag division and the Alpha Academy.

From the September 4 Raw.

Intercontinental Title: Chad Gable vs. Gunther

Gunther is defending and after the Big Match Intros, a headlock takeover puts Gable down. Back up and Gable dropkicks him to the floor as we take a break. We come back with Gable cranking on the leg over the ropes. The leg is fine enough for a big boot and the hand is fine enough for a chop but Gable is right back up. Gable unloads in the corner but Gunther kicks him out to the floor as we take another break.

Back again with Gable reversing a powerbomb into a hurricanrana to the floor. Gunther kicks him down and goes up, only to have Gable run the corner for a superplex. The ankle lock is broken up but Gable suplexes his way out of a sleeper. Rolling Chaos Theory gets two and the grapevined ankle lock goes on. That’s broken up as well and Gunther gets the sleeper. With that broken up, Gunther hits a sleeper suplex into the powerbomb into the hard clothesline to retain at 16:03.

Rating: B. They were rolling by the end and made the most out of a rough situation. Gunther has gone over a year as champion and will break the record for longest reign ever later this week. There is no reason to take the title off of him here, so Gable was tasked with making the most out of a rough situation. It was a heck of a fight here near the end, but this was the only way it should have gone.

Paul Heyman joins us to talk about Roman Reigns’ dominance over the year. We look at some of Reigns’ victims, along with those who came up against the Bloodline. As a bonus, 2024 is a leap year, so we get one extra day to acknowledge Reigns!

Cody Rhodes joins us and talks about how much he and his family loves Christmas. He talks about how his dad wasn’t around much on Christmas because it was a huge show day, but now it’s the day after Christmas so he’s ready to be in Madison Square Garden tomorrow. As for Shinsuke Nakamura, Cody is ready to settle things no matter how long it takes. As for Brock Lesnar, Rhodes never wants to go back to Suplex City, but he does have a soft spot or the post-Fastlane press conference. The fact that he and Jey Uso were a bit tipsy might have something to do with it.

From Summerslam.

Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar

Cody jumps him before the bell but gets caught with a quick suplex. A neck snap across the top staggers Brock and a pair of Disaster Kicks make it worse. Cody tries it again though and this time gets rammed into the corner for his efforts. Brock is knocked to the floor for a hard suicide dive though and Cody has an opening. Back in and Brock hits a trio of suplexes to send Cody down and it’s time to bounce a bit.

Another German suplex sets up another suplex and Cody falls out to the floor. Brock knocks him off the apron and tells Cody to save himself but Cody beats the count again. That means an overhead belly to belly and Brock clotheslines him outside again. An F5 on the floor gets nine and Brock is mad. Another F5 through the announcers’ table gets nine and now Lesnar looks more confused than angry.

More suplexes wake Cody up for some reason and he heads outside, where some postings slow Brock down and a steps shot (DQ anyone?) makes it worse. The Disaster Kick and Cody Cutter drop Lesnar back inside and a double springboard Cody Cutter gets two. Lesnar pulls him into the Kimura but Cody makes the rope. Back up and Lesnar is sent into an exposed buckle, setting up Cody’s Kimura. That’s broken up so Cody hits three Cross Rhodes for the pin at 17:32.

Rating: B. They were trying for an epic match here and it just didn’t get that far. Cody surviving and surviving was a rather Lesnar style story and it worked well enough, but I still can’t buy Lesnar losing to the Cross Rhodes, which just isn’t a very good finisher. This was the way the feud had to end though as Cody gets a huge win to defeat Lesnar for good and should be on his way back to the title picture sooner than later.

Post match Lesnar actually shows respect and even high fives some fans as he walks away.

We look at Becky Lynch winning the NXT Women’s Title.

Lynch talks about how she does the buying and shopping for Christmas but Seth Rollins does all of the putting together. She went back to NXT to show what he has become and to help others get a chance they hadn’t had yet. Becky is ready for Nia Jax in a match five years in the making. As for this year though, she was a team with Lita and got to feud with Trish Stratus, which is where we’re going next.

From Payback.

Trish Stratus vs. Becky Lynch

In a cage with pinfall, submission or escape to win and NXT Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton is here watching again. Becky starts fast with the Bexploders but gets elbowed in the face for her efforts. Trish sends her into the cage and grabs a spinebuster to cut off a comeback attempt. The double fishhook keeps Becky in trouble (Trish: “CHEESE!”) but Becky manages to ram her into the cage a few times.

It’s too early for the Disarm-Her so Becky is sent into the cage two more times. Trish Matrixes her way out of a clothesline, only to have Becky drop a double legdrop onto the stomach in a clever counter. Some rapid fire rams into the cage have Trish in more trouble and Becky goes up top for the Fameasser in the ropes for two. Trish is back up and hammers away in the corner but Becky slips out and hits a powerbomb for two more.

Back up and Becky is sent into the cage again, setting up a Widow’s Peak (including the Victoria hair pulling) for two. Becky misses something off the top and gets caught with Stratusfaction for another near fall. They go up top with Trish hitting a super bulldog for two, allowing her to stare at the camera and show off a NASTY welt on her forehead. Both of them head up top with Trish knocking her down, only to have Becky climb back up for a top rope superplex and a huge crash for two more. Becky goes up as Trish goes for the door so Becky climbs down for the save.

Cue Zoey Stark to grab Trish’s arms but Becky pulls her back in….where Stark slams the door on her face. Not that it matters as the Manhandle Slam gets two, as Stark comes in for the save. Becky is back up and slams the door shut to fight both of them at once. A Manhandle Slam to Stark and a super Manhandle Slam to Trish are enough for the pin at 20:02.

Rating: B+. It was a heck of a fight and what matters is that it felt like the big blow of to the feud. That’s what it needed to be, as this feud has gone on long enough and it’s time for both of them to move on. As usual, Becky looks like a warrior who overcame the odds because very few can hang with her when she is at the top of her game. The Stark interference was a bit much but if that’s the only downside to the match, they did rather well.

Chelsea Green interrupts Adam Pearce over not being on the show so far. He has a highlight package about her though, which as you might expect, is her getting destroyed and humiliated in various ways. Green storms out and R-Truth comes in to say that was better than It’s A Wonderful Life.

Jey Uso talks about how things are a bit different this year because he doesn’t have the family around for the holidays. He got tired of fighting the Bloodline and went to Raw, where Sami Zayn made the transition that much easier. As for 2024, he just wants to be himself.

We look at Judgment Day’s 2023.

From Survivor Series.

Men’s WarGames

Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, Randy Orton
Damian Priest, Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh, Drew McIntyre

There’s no Orton to start as they’re milking the heck out of this. Balor and Rollins start fast with Rollins diving right at him to get it going. Balor is sent into the cage a few times but slips out of the Buckle Bomb and hits a clothesline. Rollins is sent into the cage as well but comes right back with a Sling Blade. A running knee to the face puts Balor down as McDonagh comes in to give the villains control.

Kendo sticks are brought in as well and the double beating has Rollins down. McDonagh moonsaults from one ring to another to drop Rollins again and more kendo sticks make it worse. Uso evens things up and hammers away with right hands and kicks to the head. McDonagh manages a running Spanish Fly to Uso but he and Rollins are back up with stereo superkicks. The four of them split off as the clock runs down….and Priest tells McIntyre that he’s going in instead.

Priest comes in and is quickly double teamed but the numbers game gets him out of trouble. Some baton shots have the good guys in trouble, setting up Priest’s flip dive off the top. The beating continues until Zayn comes in, though only after slamming the door on Balor’s head. A table is brought in to clean house, including a Blue Thunder Bomb to Balor. McDonagh catches Zayn going up but gets knocked back down, leaving Zayn to pull out a pipe.

With things slowing down, McIntyre comes in to wreck a variety of people until Uso cuts him off with some right hands. A 1D cuts McIntyre down and it’s Rhodes in to even things up again. Rhodes pulls out a bullrope but Rollins wants to know if Orton is going to be here. Mysterio is in to complete the Judgment Day and loads up Three Amigos on Rhodes. The rest of the other team surrounds Mysterio though and the big beatdown is on fast.

The rest of Judgment Day gets up, with McIntyre and Priest hitting stereo moonsaults. Priest Razor’s Edges Rollins through a table as the clock expires….and here is Rhea Ripley with the Money in the Bank briefcase but heeeeeeeeere’s Randy, meaning WarGames is officially on.

House is quickly cleaned and we get the staredown with McIntyre as the fans are impressed. Orton and company start cleaning house, including the quintuple hanging DDTs. Hold on though as Jey and Orton have a staredown (remember the Bloodline put Orton out in the first place) but Jey takes a shot aimed at Orton. Back up and Judgment Day is beaten down, with McDonagh trying to run. That’s cut off and McDonagh is thrown down into the RKO. Cross Rhodes finishes Priest off at 34:21.

Rating: B+. This was a better match than the first, if nothing else due to the match not feeling like it was trying to stretch out time. The Orton return was the big moment, even if he didn’t exactly do much. There was a better story here and it was a heck of a fight, which is how WarGames is supposed to feel. Best match on the show here, which is a good sign given that it was by far the most important.

The winners pose…..and CM PUNK RETURNS! Punk comes to the entrance and hits IT’S CLOBBERIN TIME before hugging some fans to end the show. Well that’s quite the shock.

We look at the reactions to Punk returning and his appearances on Raw, saying he is home.

The hosts wrap us up.

Overall Rating: B. These shows are always weird to grade as they almost can’t have anything bad by default. It covered a lot of the major points of the Raw side of things for the year and that is kind o hard to do in three hours. For a Christmas night special though, this went rather well and that’s all I could have asked for given the circumstances.

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: December 11, 2023
Location: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett

The big question this week is where CM Punk is going to sign, though that might not exactly be a huge surprise given how things have been going lately. Then again, Punk showed up at both Smackdown and NXT Deadline in the last few days so maybe things are a bit more complicated than they seem. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at Drew McIntyre beating an injured Sami Zayn and then attacking him after the match. Later in the night, McIntyre attacked Jey Uso after Uso lost to Seth Rollins

Opening sequence.

Here is Jey Uso for a chat before his match with Drew McIntyre. Jey is happy to have YEET back and hopes Sami Zayn gets well soon. Last week, McIntyre showed that he was two faced so here is McIntyre to interrupt. McIntyre wants Nick Aldis to sign CM Punk to Smackdown because Punk will destroy the locker room. As for Zayn, McIntyre owes him an apology, which is something Uso doesn’t know how to give. Imagine if someone hurt your family. Wouldn’t you want revenge on them? Uso hasn’t given McIntyre one, so it’s time to fight.

Jey Uso vs. Drew McIntyre

Uso slugs away and the YEET chants are strong with this one. McIntyre gets knocked to the floor and we take a very early break. Back with Uso favoring his knee and getting knocked down in the corner. McIntyre runs him over again for a trip to the floor, only to miss the Claymore. Uso takes him out with a dive and we take another break.

Back again with Uso sitting on top and hammering away, only for McIntyre to sit up and belly to belly superplex him down. A top rope ax handle misses or McIntyre though and Uso gets two off the Samoan drop. The Claymore attempt is cut off with a superkick but the Superfly Splash hits raised knees.

McIntyre Futureshocks him for two but takes too long loading up another Claymore, allowing Uso to hit a spear for two of his own. A turnbuckle pad is ripped off and the referee goes to fix it, allowing McIntyre to poke Uso in the eye. Now the Claymore can finish for McIntyre at 17:10.

Rating: B-. Good, hard hitting opener here as Uso continues to get close to one of those big wins but comes up short again. McIntyre’s thirst for revenge continues and as usual, there is nothing that is actually going to satisfy him other than winning everything. That is a good way to go and we should be in for a nice run from evil McIntyre going forward.

We look at CM Punk’s trip to Smackdown, where he called out a bunch of people, including Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.

Shinsuke Nakamura says Cody Rhodes will never reach his dream and says Rhodes doesn’t respect him. Tonight, Nakamura will show that he is the real nightmare, which is what Rhodes wanted.

Judgment Day isn’t happy with what has been going on but they’re ready for the Creed Brothers. Rhea Ripley says talking about being the leader is easier than being the leader, which doesn’t sit well with Damian Priest. Tonight, Ripley is wrecking Maxxine Dupri.

The Creeds and Alpha Academy give Maxxine Dupri a pep talk when R-Truth comes in. He has Christmas lights to decorate Judgment Day’s clubhouse and wishes everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

Rhea Ripley vs. Maxxine Dupri

Non-title and Ivy Nile is here with Dupri. After we hear some Twitter advice for Dupri, Ripley starts with some clotheslines. Dupri runs away a bit but gets caught with Riptide. Instead of covering, Ripley yells at her a lot before finishing with the Prism Trap at 2:08.

Post match Nile has to save Dupri, with Ripley not seeming very worried.

Video on Katana Chance and Kayden Carter, who want the Women’s Tag Team Titles.

Adam Pearce goes into CM Punk’s locker room.

Post break, Pearce brings out Punk for a chat. Punk talks about how happy these people make him but he has a decision to make. This town and this building hasn’t always been nice to him. He debuted in this building with Mickie James on his arm, which is when he got sent to OVW. That’s where he learned to love a lot of things and then he came back here….where Randy Orton kicked him in the head and was stripped of the World Heavyweight Championship.

Then he came here ten years ago and walked out, which hurt people who wanted to see him that night. Now, he has received offers from Nick Aldis and Shawn Michaels, but his mind was made up when he saw this show was in Cleveland. Ten years ago, he walked away in this town and he’s walking back in right here. Punk signs the contract….and here is Seth Rollins to interrupt.

They go face to face and Rollins grabs a mic to welcome Punk to Monday Night Rollins. He’s glad Punk is here, but Punk better not call this place his home. Punk walked out on this company and has spent ten years trying to tear it down. Rollins: “I hate you.” However, if Punk is going to be around, Rollins wants him on Raw.

This is Punk’s last chance so either Punk will self destruct like he always does, or if by some miracle there is some gas left in his tank, Rollins will show him what it means to be the best in the world. Punk: “Are you done?” Punk is here to make things difficult and he is officially entering the Royal Rumble. Once he wins, maybe he’s coming after Rollins. There’s the big step into what is all but guaranteed to be a major title match and they’re off to a good start.

Ivar and Bronson Reed are ready for each other.

Bronson Reed vs. Ivar

Valhalla is here with Ivar. Reed goes right after him to start and sends Ivar hard into the corner. Ivar elbows his way out of trouble and a collision sends them both out to the floor. Another collision on the floor gives us a double knockdown and we take a break. Back with Ivar hitting a spinebuster for two but missing a charge into the corner. Ivar knocks him to the floor for a big flip dive and Reed is down for a change. Back in and the moonsault is broken up, allowing Reed to hit a superplex for the pin at 9:53.

Rating: B-. There is something very fun about a hoss fight and that is what we had here, with a pair of monsters beating the fire out of each other. Reed winning is the right call as he has a brighter future, but Ivar has been right there as a heck of an opponent the whole time. Good stuff here, and points for not ending with a finisher for a surprise.

CM Punk meets Judgment Day, with Damian Priest threatening to use the Money In The Bank briefcase on Punk if he wins the World Heavyweight Championship.

Here is Judgment Day, minus Rhea Ripley, for a chat. Damian Priest, sounding rather angry, doesn’t want to have to remind everyone who they are. Finn Balor says all rise, with Priest putting everyone in the locker room on notice. The fans won’t let Dominik Mysterio talk, but here is R-Truth to interrupt.

Truth doesn’t know why the clubhouse is locked and thinks he hasn’t been invited to their holiday party. It’s ok though because he has some great ideas for the team. First up: kick out JD McDonagh! Second: Priest needs to stop calling himself the boss because Ripley doesn’t like it. Priest knows everyone here likes Truth…except Priest himself. The beatdown is on until the Creeds run in for a save to clear the ring.

CM Punk meets Drew McIntyre, who wants to finish the story. With McIntyre gone, Adam Pearce says McIntyre is getting the title shot against Seth Rollins on New Year’s Day. Some wrestlers come up to meet/greet Punk. Pearce wants to talk to the three of them (Kofi Kingston, Ricochet and Chad Gable) about the Intercontinental Title.

Kayden Carter/Katana Chance vs. Indi Hartwell/Candice LeRae

Chelsea Green and Piper Niven are on commentary. Hartwell runs Carter over to start but an assisted headscissors lets Chance take Hartwell down for a change. Everything breaks down and Hartwell spinebusters Chance, who is back with a basement superkick. The After Party finishes for Chance at 2:24.

DIY has a mystery partner to face Imperium, with Gunther coming in to say he doesn’t believe it.

Here is Becky Lynch for a chat about Nia Jax. They have never fought, but we see a clip of Jax breaking Lynch’s nose back in 2018, resulting in the still awesome shot of the bloody Becky posing in the crowd after beating up Ronda Rousey. Becky says it’s petty to bring it up now but she’s a petty person. They have gone on different paths, with Becky going on to main event Wrestlemania and Nia going on to double ACL surgery because Nia is so unlikable that her body won’t stand up for her.

Cue Nia to interrupt and say she is ready to fight. That punch in 2018 was a lucky punch, so imagine what would happen if she was aiming. Nia says Becky should owe her for her entire career, but Becky says it’s about what that night represented. Becky wants to prove that she is more than that but Nia says Becky really needs to prove that her career wasn’t a mistake. Becky is ready to fight so of course Nia walks away, saying Becky needs it more than she does. Nia? Still really bad.

Cody Rhodes understands that he and CM Punk have the same idea but they realize it can’t work at the same time. As for Shinsuke Nakamura, Rhodes knows that he had a heck of a career in Japan, but this is Cleveland. Heck, STARDUST debuted in this building! Rhodes is ready for tonight.

DIY/??? vs. Imperium

The mystery partner is….the Miz. Gargano and Vinci start but let’s go with Gunther instead. Gargano goes to tag Miz but Gunther drops him with a right hand to keep Gargano inside. Vinci comes in and gets clotheslined by Ciampa, only to have Gunther nail a big boot as we take a break.

Back with Vinci coming in for a running crossbody to Ciampa, who is so banged up he rolls to the Imperium corner. Ciampa is fine enough to roll over for the tag to Gargano and house is cleaned. The slingshot spear gets two on Kaiser as everything breaks down. We get the Miz vs. Gunther showdown with Miz getting the better of things and hitting a high crossbody.

Gunther cuts off the YES Kicks and grabs the Boston crab with Ciampa making the save. Gargano and Miz hit stereo tornado DDTs and Miz gets the Figure Four on Gunther. Gargano gets the Gargano Escape on Kaiser at the same time but Gunther, while still in the hold, tags Vinci, who makes the save. The Skull Crushing Finale finishes Vinci at 10:42.

Rating: C+. Miz vs. Gunther II is coming and while I know it might not be the most popular decision, I’m curious about how it could go. At the same time, there is also that group of three wrestlers who were in discussions about the title, which makes me think a big multi-person title match could be coming. That’s about as good of a way as possible to get the title off of Gunther, but for now, we had a nice six man tag to keep a pair of feuds going a bit past their expiration dates.

We look back at CM Punk signing with Raw and having his showdown with Seth Rollins.

Gunther yells at Imperium when Miz comes up, asking for another Intercontinental Title match. Gunther grants it, but this is Miz’s FINAL title shot while Gunther holds the title. Deal.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Cody Rhodes

Feeling out process to start with Nakamura working on a wristlock. That’s broken up and Rhodes knocks him into the corner for some right hands. Nakamura dumps him out to the floor though and we take a break. Back with Nakamura stomping away in the corner before we hit the chinlock.

That’s broken up so Nakamura grabs the cross armbreaker, sending Rhodes over to the ropes. Kinshasa is broken up and Rhodes grabs a half crab, with Nakamura quickly getting away. Rhodes nails a suicide dive to send us to another break and we come back with a double clothesline/knockdown.

They get up and slug it out until Nakamura pulls him into a choke. Rhodes slips out again and scores with the Disaster Kick for two. The Cody Cutter connects and Cross Rhodes is loaded up, only to have Nakamura slip out and spray Rhodes in the face with the mist for the DQ at 17:42.

Rating: B-. This got a lot of time but the ending should set up a rematch. I’m not big on a first match getting this much time and setting up a rematch but they do need something to fill in the next month and a half before the Rumble. For now, Rhodes has something to do and that is a good sign for him before he gets back into the World Title picture.

Post match the beatdown is on until the Creeds run in for the save. Referees check on Rhodes, allowing Nakamura to get in one more cheap shot to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. After a week or two where it felt like they were just burning time until we got to something more important, this show set some things up for the future while advancing stories and giving us some good action at the same time. It was a solid use of three hours and the Punk vs. Rollins feud should be a heck of a match when we finally get there. For now though, they gave us good wrestling and enough stories being built to make this a worthwhile night.

Results
Drew McIntyre b. Jey Uso – Claymore
Rhea Ripley b. Maxxine Dupri – Prism Trap
Bronson Reed b. Ivar – Superplex
Kayden Carter/Katana Chance b. Indi Hartwell/Candice LeRae – After Party to Hartwell
Miz/DIY b. Imperium – Skull Crushing Finale to Vinci
Cody Rhodes b. Shinsuke Nakamura via DQ when Nakamura used red mist

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

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Survivor Series 2021
Date: November 21, 2021
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Attendance: 15,120
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Jimmy Smith, Byron Saxton, Pat McAfee

Since it’s Survivor Series and there are no other possible options for the show in the history of ever, it’s time for a Battle Of Brand Supremacy with wrestlers who have been on the roster for about a month. That means a battle of World Champions Roman Reigns and Big E., plus Survivor Series tag matches and….a Rock 25th Anniversary battle royal? Let’s get to it.

For the sake of simplicity, all matches involving champions are non-title.

Kickoff Show: Damian Priest (Raw) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Smackdown)

US Champion vs. Intercontinental Champion and Rick Boogs handles Nakamura’s entrance, much to Pat McAfee’s (now dancing on the announcers’ table) delight. Priest works on the arm to start but a Boogs guitar solo cuts that off, allowing Nakamura to grab a headlock. Nakamura takes him into the corner for Good Vibrations, with Boogs playing something that is in no way Good Vibrations.

Back up and Priest knocks him down and grabs a chinlock, meaning Boogs plays some more for a distraction. Some strikes to the head rock Priest and the sliding German suplex makes it worse (with McAfee jumping up to celebrate). Priest fights up and hits a running elbow in the corner, followed by a hard clothesline for two.

South Of Heaven is broken up though and Nakamura kicks him in the head again. Kinshasa is countered into South Of Heaven for two but the Reckoning is blocked. Priest counters an armbar into a triangle choke but Boogs guitars Nakamura to freedom AGAIN. Finally Priest goes outside and breaks the guitar (McAfee: “YOU SON OF A B****!”), with one of the pieces nailing Nakamura for the DQ at 9:24.

Rating: C. I was having fun with the back and forth as they had some chemistry together, but at the same time, there is only so much you can get with the constant Boogs interference. I do like that they didn’t have a champion get pinned here and instead went with Priest snapping to finish things up. Not a great match, but a fast paced one to start things off.

Smackdown – 1
Raw – 0

The opening video talks about how this is two sides battling….and we see a clip from Rock’s Netflix movie Red Notice. The voiceover talks about how many things the movie and show have in common before moving into the nonsense about this being the ONE NIGHT where Raw and Smackdown go head to head. Clips from the movie mock teamwork, which is what this show is all about. After more clips and more generic opening video statements about how important the show is, we’re ready to go.

We recap Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte. They were old friends but then both wanted to be the best, with Lynch getting there in a big way. Then Lynch left on maternity leave and Charlotte bragged about how great she (as in Charlotte) is so now that Lynch is back, it’s time to fight.

Before we got there though, there was also the VERY awkward moment where Charlotte was supposed to hand over the Raw Women’s Title and dropped it instead, leading to ALL KINDS of problems/discussion. Oh and Charlotte’s REALLY annoying “UH-OH” promo. This does at least have a personal story rather than just doing the Raw vs. Smackdown deal.

Charlotte (Smackdown) vs. Becky Lynch (Raw)

For a bonus, they’re both dressed as characters from Wandavision, with Charlotte as the villain and Becky as the hero. Becky hits her in the face to start and the brawl is on early. Charlotte goes for the leg but has to escape a Disarm-Her attempt. Back up and Charlotte hits a spear but Becky hits a heck of a spinning kick to the face. They head outside for a hard posting to Charlotte but it’s too early for the Manhandle Slam.

Charlotte gets her down and rams Becky’s face into the mat over and over. Becky is sent outside so Charlotte loads up the moonsault, which is shoved HARD into the barricade for a great looking crash instead. Charlotte sends her into the barricade and they both get back in at the same time for the big staredown. Becky avoids a shot to the knee in the corner but an armbar is countered into a powerbomb for two.

Some stomps in the corner have Charlotte in trouble and the fans aren’t thrilled with Becky. A fall away slam sends Becky into the corner for a crash, followed by the Andrade double moonsault for two. Charlotte snaps her throat first across the top but Becky knocks her into the ropes. The Fameasser onto the ropes gives Becky two and Charlotte misses the big boot, only to ram her head into Becky’s for two instead. The second big boot gets two instead so Becky is right back with a Christian layout reverse DDT.

Back up and the Manhandle Slam gives Becky two more, setting up a cross between a Figure Four and a heel hook. Charlotte turns it over for the break anyway and they’re both down for a bit. I’m not sure why Becky is down but it does make things a bit more dramatic. Yet another big boot knocks Becky outside and the moonsault…well it comes close to her at least, with the replay not making it any better.

Back in and Charlotte grabs her own Disarm-Her but Becky slips out. They fight into the corner where Charlotte grabs a rollup with ropes for two, as the referee sees the cheating. Becky reverses into a rollup of her own and doesn’t get caught grabbing the ropes for the pin at 18:13.

Rating: B+. These two work well and they treated it as a huge match, especially at the start where they both came out swinging. The ending was more of a way to save Charlotte than to give us a definitive winner, but after Charlotte has gone over so many times, doing a tainted job to the biggest female star ever isn’t asking too much. Great opener, with all kinds of energy and the big fight feel.

Raw – 1
Smackdown – 1

Classic Rock Moment: Debuting at Survivor Series 1996.

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men

Raw: Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Austin Theory, Bobby Lashley
Smackdown: Drew McIntyre, Jeff Hardy, King Woods, Happy Corbin, Sheamus

Survivor Series match and MVP/Madcap Moss are the respective sixths. Lashley has his spot after taking it from Dominik Mysterio and also caused Rey Mysterio to lose his spot to Theory. On the other side, Sami Zayn lost to Hardy, costing himself a spot on the team. You know, in case you needed a recap on the five people per show being thrown together. Rollins, the self proclaimed Raw captain, lets Owens start, so Owens bails to the floor and leaves for the countout less than a minute in.

After Owens takes a bow, McIntyre jumps Rollins on the floor as Theory comes in to face Woods. Theory gets his arm cranked on and it’s McIntyre coming in to launch him into the corner. Sheamus and McIntyre take turns chopping at Theory (McAfee is rather giddy) and Corbin gets in on it with a pretty good right hand. Theory manages to punch his way to freedom though and the tag brings in Rollins, who is knocked right back into the Smackdown corner.

It’s Hardy coming in to start on the arm and a quick splash gets one. Rollins is able to grab Sheamus by the arm though and Balor comes in to work on that arm for a change. Again though, that doesn’t last long as Sheamus drags him right back over for the tag to Corbin. We continue to e parade of arm cranking between people who don’t really dislike each other, making this match feel all the less interesting. Deep Six gets two on Balor with Lashley making the save, meaning everything breaks down.

With almost everyone else being knocked down, Balor kicks Corbin in the head and drops the Coup de Grace for the elimination. Hardy comes in to face Balor and the fans are rather pleased. It’s Hardy taking over with the basement dropkick but Balor’s own dropkick gets his own two. Lashley comes in for a running shoulder in the corner to Hardy, which has McAfee worried on commentary.

Hardy fights out of Balor’s chinlock and hits Whisper in the Wind, leaving Lashley and McIntyre to fight on the floor. Lashley posts him (McAfee: “DREW ARE YOU OK???”), leaving Theory to cover Hardy for two as the fans are interested in….something. It’s back to Woods to clean house, including a discus forearm to Theory. Lashley crotches Woods on top though and the Hurt Lock is good for the elimination to make it 4-3 Raw.

Everything breaks down again and Balor’s slingshot dive is pulled out of the air by Sheamus. We get the big Lashley vs. McIntyre showdown with Lashley backing up for some reason. McIntyre jumps him instead but Lashley powers him into the corner. That earns him a clothesline out to the floor with McIntyre following to post Lashley for a change. They fight over the barricade and that’s a double countout to get rid of the big guys.

The fans are NOT happy, even as Lashley jumps McIntyre after the eliminations. A Claymore drops Lashley though and a Glasgow Kiss drops a laughing Rollins before both guys leave. We’re down to Sheamus/Hardy vs. Rollins/Theory/Balor with Sheamus charging into a boot in the corner. That’s enough for Rollins to dive over for the hot tag to Balor, who is quickly powerslammed for two.

Balor is back up with a Sling Blade but the Coup de Grace misses, setting up the Brogue Kick to give Sheamus the pin. Theory is right in for a heck of a dropkick and it’s Rollins coming back in for a chinlock. After a pretty good while, Sheamus powers up and brings Hardy in to clean house.

Everything breaks down with Sheamus playing Matt Hardy for a springboard splash to the other two in the corner. That’s enough for Sheamus and Hardy to hit stereo ten forearms to the chest, followed by White Noise to Rollins. Everything breaks down again and Rollins pulls Hardy off the apron, leaving Theory to roll Sheamus up for the elimination. That leaves us with Hardy vs. Rollins/Theory…but Sheamus decks Theory before he leaves….and then does it to Hardy too.

Rollins is fine enough to get the tag and hit a frog splash for two on Hardy as we settle in to the beating. Theory takes Hardy up top but gets knocked down, setting up the Swanton for the pin. Rollins isn’t happy and glares at Hardy, who grabs a rollup for two. A hard forearm to the back of the head gets two on Hardy but the Twist of Fate drops Rollins. The Swanton hits raised knees though and the Stomp gives Rollins the final pin at 29:55.

Rating: B. It was a fun, hard hitting match, but the Raw vs. Smackdown lineups continue to feel so worthless. They might as well do a Lethal Lottery format and you would get the same result. The good thing is that the talent is here and can make a match like this work, but the format desperately needs to change to make it more interesting.

Raw – 2
Smackdown – 1

WWE did some charity stuff in Harlem.

Vince McMahon arrived earlier and got a big reception from a bunch of the wrestlers. Then he pulled out a gold egg, because cross promotion.

Classic Rock Moment: recreating the Montreal Screwjob a year later at Survivor Series 1998.

Roman Reigns comes in to see Vince McMahon, who shows him the egg. That’s Cleopatra’s egg, which was given to him by the Rock. Apparently it’s worth $100 million dollars, which Reigns says is as much as his next contract. And that’s it.

The Rock 25th Anniversary Battle Royal

Shanky, Commander Azeez, T-Bar, Robert Roode, Angel, Humberto, Shelton Benjamin, Sami Zayn, R-Truth, Cedric Alexander, Montez Ford, Jinder Mahal, Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, Otis, Mansoor, Drew Gulak, Erik, Chad Gable, Ivar, Apollo Crews, Omos, AJ Styles, Ricochet, Angelo Dawkins

The Street Profits come to the ring with a bunch of Pizza Hut. Nothing wrong with a sponsorship. Cole and Graves get pizza but Saxton is denied, as he should be. Styles bails to the floor and stands on the announcers’ table as everyone else fights for the smart move of the night. Gulak and Benjamin are out to start with Humberto following them. Truth heads outside to get some pizza, which he offers to Omos and Otis.

The latter takes it before throwing Truth out and going after Omos. Otis doesn’t last long and Gable armbars Cesaro over the rope. That’s broken up and Cesaro knocks Gable out and T-Bar is dropkicked to the floor by Ricochet. The fans want pizza but have to settle for Alexander and Garza being tossed out. There goes Erik and Ivar at the hands of Shanky, because the potential is in Shanky instead of the Viking Raiders. Omos gets rid of Shanky with ease and Roode catapults Mansoor out.

Roode and Ziggler go after Omos and the giant gets rid of Roode, leaving Styles to Phenomenal Forearm Ziggler for the elimination. Zayn tries to rally the remaining Smackdown names but yells at Ricochet, leaving Ford and Dawkins to toss him out. Omos gets rid of Azeez, who pulls Styles out despite Omos’ protests. Crews is out next and we’re down to Omos, Dawkins, Ford, Cesaro and Ricochet. Cesaro rallies the troops to go after Omos, earning himself an elimination. There go Dawkins and Ford, leaving us with Ricochet vs. Omos. That doesn’t last long either as Omos tosses him out for the win at 10:38.

Rating: C. This was ALL about Omos, who threw out about half of the field and dominated throughout. It worked for Andre and even if Omos isn’t quite there, it was a nice performance. Omos is someone who works well in this kind of a spot, even if this had absolutely NOTHING to do with the Rock.

Raw – 3
Smackdown – 1

Post match Styles goes for the pizza but Ford kicks him in the head and throws it into the crowd.

Classic Rock Moment: winning the 2000 Royal Rumble, even if Big Show really won.

We look at the pre-show match.

RKBro (Raw) vs. Usos (Smackdown)

Riddle starts fast with an armbar attempt on Jimmy but gets stacked up for two and the break. A headbutt just makes Riddle mad and he grabs a spinning gutwrench suplex to send Jey flying. Orton comes in and we hear about his hear in Ohio Valley Wrestling for a bit of a rarity. The threat of an RKO sends Jimmy bailing to the floor so it’s off to Jey, who stomps Orton down in the corner.

That just earns Jey a punch to the nose (simple, yet effective) and a trip to the floor, allowing Riddle to hit the springboard Floating Bro. A drop onto the barricade cuts Riddle off though and it’s back to Jimmy for the suicide dive. We slow things down a bit with Jey hammering away in the corner until Riddle manages a kick to the head. That’s way too soon for a hot tag to Orton though and Jimmy is back in with a chinlock.

Riddle fights up and manages a Bro To Sleep (which doesn’t make anything close to full contact), allowing Orton to come back in to clean house. Snap powerslams drop the Usos and Jey gets belly to back dropped onto the announcers’ table. Not to be outdone, Jimmy gets the same as McAfee is losing it even more than usual. Back in and the hanging DDT hits Jey but he’s fine enough to block the RKO.

Riddle is up again and kicks Jey in the head before nailing Jimmy with a running forearm. Jey manages to kick Riddle down for two and the pop up Samoan drop gets two. There’s a superkick to Riddle and a double superkick to Orton. The double superkick from either side gets two on Riddle, who kicks out and stays rigid for a weird moment. Riddle’s enziguri gets him out of trouble though and Orton gets a blind tag. Jimmy doesn’t notice though and his Superfly Splash is pulled into the RKO to give Orton the pin at 14:48.

Rating: B. Two of the best teams in WWE have a good match when they are given about fifteen minutes on a big stage. Sometimes these things write themselves and that was the case here, as Orton even managed to get in the cool RKO that he hits in these important matches. Another solid match on the show in what shouldn’t be a surprise at all. Now just do it again for the titles.

Raw – 4
Smackdown – 1

Classic Rock Moment: vs. John Cena at Wrestlemania XXVIII. I’d say that counts, though it’s still hard to believe Cena lost.

Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce wait for Vince McMahon in his office. Vince comes back…and the egg is gone. The middle management goons are sent to find out who did it, saying if they don’t find out tonight, Vince will find out himself on Raw.

Video on Xia Li, the Protector, in comic book form. Yeah this was too cool to work and it never went anywhere.

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women

Raw: Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, Carmella, Queen Zelina
Smackdown: Sasha Banks, Shayna Baszler, Shotzi, Toni Storm, Natalya

Zelina is still a queen and Ripley is half of the Women’s Tag Team Titles with Nikki Ash, which mean a grand total of nothing (Zelina and Carmella would win them the next night on Raw). Toni Storm (as announced in a completely necessary tweet earlier in the day) starts with Carmella, who drops Storm with a right hand. Hold on though as Carmella hands it off to Zelina before heading outside to put on her protective mask. It takes forever to put the mask on so Carmella has Zelina do it, allowing Storm to grab a rollup for the pin.

Belair and Banks come in for a Wrestlemania rematch but Shotzi tags herself in. A quick backsplash gets two on Belair but she’s right back up to knock Shotzi silly. Belair’s jumping splash gets two so Morgan comes in for a middle rope….uh, something, and a near fall. Natalya comes in for two off a snap suplex and a pinfall reversal sequence gets some near falls each. The step over basement dropkick gives Natalya two more but it’s off to Ripley to freshen things up.

Natalya doesn’t seem to mind and brings Baszler in for a double suplex. The jumping stomp to Baszler’s arm is blocked though and the slugout is on. Ripley has to fight out of an armbar as well as the Kirifuda Clutch, allowing her to stomp on Baszler’s head. Shotzi saves Baszler from the Riptide though and everything breaks down. Ripley breaks out of another choke and it’s a double tag to give us Belair vs. Banks.

Belair tries the power but gets pulled straight into the Bank Statement. That’s broken up so Banks sends her face first into the middle buckle, setting up a tornado DDT for two on Belair. Back up and Zelina tags herself in so Belair launches her at Banks for two more. No one will tag Banks so she has to block Zelina’s Code Red. Banks tags herself in and flips Zelina over into a cutter for the pin. Morgan comes in for a pinfall reversal sequence of her own until Oblivion connects to get rid of Storm.

Baszler comes in to choke Morgan and even kicks Ripley off the apron to prevent a tag (that’s smart). It’s off to Shotzi for a weird looking splash, followed by Banks’ frog splash to eliminate Morgan. Ripley comes in and muscles Banks up for a delayed suplex and a near fall. A missile dropkick sends Banks flying into the corner but Shotzi comes in off a blind tag. Shotzi offers a distraction so Baszler can come in with a knee to the face to pin Ripley, leaving Belair vs. Natalya, Shotzi, Banks and Baszler.

Belair comes in and suplexes Natalya for two before firing off the shoulders in the corner. Baszler’s distraction lets Natalya hit a powerbomb out of the corner for two and it’s off to Banks. Shotzi gets into it with Banks and pulls her to the floor where Banks gets counted out to make it 3-1.

Natalya comes in and Sharpshooters Belair, who rolls Natalya into Baszler for the break. A rollup finishes Natalya to make it 2-1, with Baszler coming in next. The Kirifuda Clutch is countered into a release Glam Slam to get rid of Baszler and it’s Shotzi vs. Belair. Shotzi grabs a choke in the corner and a faceplant drops Belair again. The running hip attack in the ropes gets two on Belair, who sends Shotzi into the corner and hits the KOD for the pin/win at 23:46.

Rating: C-. Well that was ridiculous. The last five minutes of this was Belair doing her best Super Cena impression, as she ran through three people on her own (four if you count getting rid of Banks). The match wasn’t anything special otherwise, as the Belair vs. Banks segment was the only thing worth seeing. This felt long until the ending, when it became one head shaking moment after another. Storm was trying and got a bit of a run, but this was all about making Belair look strong and to say they went overboard would be an understatement.

Raw – 5
Smackdown – 1

Classic Rock Moment: The Rock is at the first Smackdown on FOX and rips on Baron Corbin/hangs out with Becky Lynch.

Paul Heyman knows nothing about the missing egg but thinks those people from BROOKLYN might have had something to do with it. That’s not what he is being asked about though: what about Brock Lesnar’s suspension being lifted soon? Uh, Heyman doesn’t want to talk about that either.

Video on Bobby Lashley.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Big E. Last month, Big E. cashed in Money In The Bank to become the new Raw World Champion. The New Day celebrated because they’re a brotherhood, but Reigns said they were no Bloodline. Reigns broke Woods’ King Of The Ring crown and now it’s time for a clash between World Champions.

Big E. (Raw) vs. Roman Reigns (Smackdown)

Paul Heyman is here too as we hear about their time together in FCW. They fight over a lockup to start with neither getting anywhere, meaning it’s off to another staredown. Big E. shoves him a bit and Reigns bails to the floor, where Heyman lists off some Anoa’i family members at the table. Back in and Reigns hits the jumping clothesline for two before stomping away rather hard.

An elbow drops Reigns and Big E. gets to talk a bit of trash to set up the missed apron splash. Big E. comes up favoring his knee and you know Reigns is happy with that. Back in and the chinlock goes on for a bit until Big E. powers up for the break. You don’t do that to Reigns, who boots Big E. down for two more. Big E. is sent outside again as Reigns is getting frustrated and growling at the crowd. A reversed whip into the steps puts Reigns in trouble for a change and some belly to bellies make it worse back inside.

The Warrior Splash connects but Big E. charges into a Samoan drop for two. Reigns fires off the corner clotheslines until Big E. Rock Bottoms him out of said corner for two of his own. The Stretch Muffler has Reigns in trouble so he powers up into a sitout powerbomb to rock Big E. again. A Rock Bottom gets two more as they’re sticking with the big shots here. Two Superman Punches only keep Big E. down for a few seconds so Reigns hits a third…but Big E. is back up before the spear can even launch.

Reigns is sent to the apron for the spear out to the floor but comes right back in with his own spear (minus through the ropes) for a rather near fall. They take their time getting up, with Reigns talking about how Big E. doesn’t deserve to be here. The guillotine is broken up but Big E. tries another spear through the ropes and gets caught in the choke. Reigns gets it on again back inside, only to muscle Reigns up into the Big Ending for two.

They head outside again, with Big E. fired up this time as he sends Reigns face first into the announcers’ table. A posting and ram into the barricade have Reigns in more trouble but he’s fine enough to send Big E. knees first into the steps. A Superman Punch off the steps lets Reigns kick the knee out and hit a spear for the pin at 21:56.

Rating: B. It took some time to get going and could have had a few minutes cut out, but this was a heck of a fight. The problem here though was there was no reason to believe Reigns would lose. Big E. is great, but winning the title via Money in the Bank makes him feel a step beneath Reigns, in addition to the fact that Reigns already feels like a bigger star than anyone else at the moment. Big E. was trying here, but you know Reigns getting pinned is going to be a huge moment, not something in a stand alone show like this one.

Raw – 5
Smackdown – 2

Overall Rating: B-. This show is going to depend on how you look at it. While the wrestling was mostly good, with the main event and men’s Survivor Series match carrying it, the biggest problem is NOTHING HAPPENED. Raw dominated the head to head competition and there was nothing on here that I felt like I needed to see. Reigns is still the unstoppable force and whoever got the red shirts this year had a strong night. What else is there to say about the wrestling with non-existent stakes?

Then you have everything else and it was just sad. The Rock obsession was cool and made sense, but without him actually having anything to do with the show the impact kind of falls apart. I know he’s busy, but if he isn’t going to be there, maybe don’t focus on him so much. The egg stuff was stupid, though I can’t fault WWE for trying to make money and it was relatively short.

Overall, as has been the case for a long time, there was enough good to pretty good action to make the show a decent watch, but there is absolutely nothing from a storyline perspective. The Battle For Brand Supremacy stuff worked for a few years but now WWE has given up on it meaning anything, so why should I care about what they’re doing? Good enough show, but totally unimportant.

Ratings Comparison

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Damian Priest

Original: C+
Redo: C

Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte

Original: B+
Redo: B+

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men

Original: B-
Redo: B

Battle Royal

Original: C
Redo: C

Usos vs. RKBro

Original: C+
Redo: B

Smackdown Women vs. Raw Women

Original: C-
Redo: C-

Big E. vs. Roman Reigns

Original: B
Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: B-
Redo: B-

Oh yeah this is about as similar as it gets.

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: November 6, 2023
Location: Mohegan Sun Arena, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett

We are done with Crown Jewel and that means we have less than three weeks to go before Survivor Series. There were only so many major changes at Crown Jewel, but the biggest on the Raw side might be Sami Zayn stealing Damian Priest’s Money In The Bank briefcase before the cash-in could take place. Priest won’t be happy with that and we might have some fallout to deal with tonight. Let’s get to it.

Here is Crown Jewel if you need a recap.

Crown Jewel recap.

Opening sequence.

Here is Seth Rollins to get things going. Rollins is very glad to still be the World Heavyweight Champion and he has some people to thank. First of all, he thanks Drew McIntyre for a great match and making him a bit better than he was before. McIntyre said that he was not in league with the Judgment Day and that was proven on Saturday. Other than that, Sami Zayn helped him cut off a cash-in attempt so if Sami is listening, get on out here.

Cue Sami, minus the briefcase, which Adam Pearce made him return. Rollins thinks he owes Sami something but Sami cuts him off, saying he was there to help prevent Judgment Day from becoming the Bloodline 2.0 because they hold all but one title around here (Gunther anyone?).

He will fight to prevent Judgment Day from taking over but Rollins says the reality is he runs Raw. Rollins appreciates that but he has gotten Sami a little thank you: a title shot anytime he wants. Sami says he wants to beat a champion at 100% but Rollins knows Sami isn’t at 100% either. Rollins tells him to just say when so let’s do it tonight. They shake hands and Rollins is in.

Judgment Day is NOT pleased.

New Day vs. Judgment Day

Non-title. Kofi jumps over Balor to start and sicks the landing on a monkey flip to up the early frustration levels. Everything breaks down and some stereo running flip dives take out Judgment Day in a big crash. Back in and Woods’ honor Roll gets two on Priest as we take a break. We come back with Woods hitting a missile dropkick and the double tag bringing in Kingston and Priest to pick up the pace. Everything breaks down and a superplex into a top rope elbow gets two on Balor with Priest making the save. Balor Sling Blades Woods and the South Of Heaven into the Coup de Grace finishes Woods at 9:10.

Rating: C+. I’m not sure why you would burn through a match like this on Raw as it could easily be a major pay per view title match. Like them or not, New Day is one of the most successful tag teams in WWE history and can still hang with anyone around here. That could have been a big match and probably will be again at some point, but this is a weird way to use the first match.

Earlier, Drew McIntyre arrived and left.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Akira Tozawa

Nakamura strikes away to start but goes up and gets super hurricanranaed back down. The top rope backsplash hits knees but Tozawa snaps off another hurricanrana. Then Kinshasa cuts Tozawa in half for the pin at 2:31.

Post match Otis gets in Nakamura’s face, sending Nakamura bailing.

Video on Natalya.

Adam Pearce hypes up tonight’s four way Intercontinental Title #1 contenders match between the Miz, Bronson Reed, Ivar and Ricochet.

Seth Rollins assures Adam Pearce that he is ready for Sami Zayn tonight.

Miz vs. Bronson Reed vs. Ivar vs. Ricochet

The winner gets an Intercontinental Title shot at Survivor Series. Miz and Ricochet dropkick the monsters to start until Ricochet flips away and dropkicks Miz to the floor. Ivar is back up with a spinning kick to Ricochet but Miz is back in to break it up. Ricochet is draped over the ropes as Reed uses it as a springboard, which is enough to launch Ricochet into a hurricanrana to send Ivar back outside. The monsters crush the other two on the floor and then slam into each other as we take a break.

Back with Reed crushing Ivar in the back and going up, only to have Miz and Ricochet powerbomb both of them down. Miz is back in with a springboard crossbody and spinning DDT to plant Reed for two. Ricochet drops Miz for two but it’s Ivar coming back in with a splash for the save. The monsters drop Ricochet and Miz again before going up (gulp). Ivar’s moonsault hits Ricochet but Miz avoids Reed’s Tsunami, allowing Ivar and Miz to get the double pin at 13:43.

Rating: B-. They didn’t hide the fact that Miz was the likely winner here and that is ok. There is something funny about Miz being able to turn it up like he did here, as he was moving and working harder than usual. While I can’t imagine Miz taking the title from Gunther, he is a fresh challenger with a history of winning matches no one would expect him to win before.

Apparently Ricochet kicked out in time so only Miz wins and gets the title shot. Ivar drops Miz and gives him the moonsault anyway.

The Alpha Academy give Akira Tozawa a pep talk before his NXT Heritage Cup shot tomorrow. They’ll even be there live! Maxxine Dupri comes in and she’s ready to become #1 contender as well.

We look back at the Creed Brothers’ debut last week.

The Creeds and Ivy Nile officially signed with Raw earlier today when DIY came in to set up their match tonight.

Creed Brothers vs. DIY

Julius wrestles Ciampa down to start but Gargano comes in off a blind tag to double team Julius and take over. The Creeds are sent outside where they cut off stereo dives. DIY slips out of the counters but get dropped again as we take a break. Back with Ciampa cleaning house, setting up running kicks to the head in the corner.

Brutus Samoan drops Gargano so Julius can hit a standing shooting star, followed by Brutus’ standing moonsault for two. Gargano fights his way out of trouble and brings Ciampa back in to pick up the pace. Brutus breaks up Meet In The Middle though and cue Ludvig Kaiser to deck Gargano, allowing the Brutus Ball to connect for the pin at 9:39.

Rating: B. It might not have been quite as good as last week’s match against Alpha Academy but the Creeds seem to have proven themselves in two matches. DIY being kept somewhat protected is a good thing as well and now I’m curious to see where they go. While Judgment Day is tied up with the main event scene, if the Creeds run through another team or two, there won’t be anything left for them but going after the titles.

We look at Sami Zayn getting a title shot against Roman Reigns at Elimination Chamber in Montreal earlier this year. Jey Uso cost him the match and Zayn wasn’t happy.

Jey comes in to see Sami and apologizes for what happened at Elimination Chamber. Sami says that was then and this is now so Jey gives him a pep talk. As for Jey, he and Cody Rhodes have a Tag Team Title shot next week.

Becky Lynch is ready to fight anyone at Survivor Series after she wins the #1 contenders battle royal tonight. Nia Jax comes in to say no one is throwing her out tonight, which will make her as happy as she has been since she broke Lynch’s face. Lynch laughs that off and says that after that, she went on to headline Wrestlemania while Jax got fired.

Chelsea Green, Piper Niven, Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark seem ready to win the battle royal.

Battle Royal

Nia Jax, Becky Lynch, Piper Niven, Chelsea Green, Shayna Baszler, Becky Lynch, Kayden Carter, Katana Chance, Natalya, Indi Hartwell, Nikki Cross, Zoey Stark, Ivy Nile, Tegan Nox, Raquel Rodriguez, Maxxine Dupri

Hold on though as Xia Li comes in to jump Lynch during her entrance, meaning Li isn’t going to be allowed to compete. After a break, Becky is out as well due to having no memory of what happened. Cross stands in the middle of the ring again as the bell rings, meaning she is tossed pretty quickly. Everyone else fights on the floor as Cross keeps blankly staring. Nox and Maxxine get together and dump Niven but the distraction lets Nia get rid of Maxxine.

Carter and Chance start double teaming Nia but can’t get her out so they switch to Rodriguez instead. That’s broken up as well so Carter, Nile and Chance all go to the apron, with Nile getting rid of both of them. We take a break and come back with Rodriguez and Natalya being sent to the apron but Green can’t get in a double noggin knocker. Instead Green and Natalya switch places, leaving Green to slap both of them. Rodriguez puts Green out and Natalya does the same to Hartwell. Nile dropkicks Natalya out as her nice debut continues. Jax is back in to run a bunch of people over and Nox is out.

Everyone gets together and goes after Jax for the big elimination (and a ROAR from the crowd). We’re down to Stark, Nile, Baszler and Rodriguez…but Jax pulls Nile out to blow off some steam. Baszler and Stark get rid of Rodriguez, leaving them to fight on the apron. The Kirifuda Clutch goes on but Baszler lets go before Stark can flip her to the floor. That leaves Stark to hit a DDT and knock Baszler out for the win at 15:57.

Rating: C. This went long but the relief when Jax was eliminated helped quite a bit. Stark getting a singles match is a fresh way to go and I could go for seeing what she can do in the spot. Other than that, Nile had a very nice debut and seems to be someone WWE wants to push. They could have cut the time down a bit here but what matters the most is getting Ripley a challenger and that was well covered.

Rhea Ripley is ready to face Zoey Stark at Survivor Series but Stark comes in to say she had Rhea beaten at Crown Jewel. Ripley hasn’t forgotten about her and says that while Zoey couldn’t beat one person, Ripley beat four at once.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

We look at John Cena getting beaten by Solo Sikoa and teasing retirement after.

Raw World Title: Sami Zayn vs. Seth Rollins

Zayn is challenging. Feeling out process to start before they go with the grappling. Zayn teases a shot to Rollins’ bad back but just taps it instead to play some mind games. Rollins is sent outside but avoids the dive, leaving them to go toe to toe. We take a break and come back with Rolling chopping away until Zayn hits a middle rope elbow for two.

Rollins fights up again and knocks him outside for a suicide dive. Back in and Rollins fires away with some running forearms in the corner, followed by a Swanton into a Lionsault for two. They head to the apron where Zayn can’t hit a Blue Thunder Bomb, but he can hit a backdrop to send Rollins crashing to the floor.

We take another break and come back again with the Stomp being countered into a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Zayn suplexes him into the corner but the Helluva Kick is countered into a Pedigree for two more. The Stomp is countered into a Liontamer of all things, followed by a regular Boston crab. That’s reversed as well and Rollins small packages him to retain at 20:20.

Rating: B. This was a rather good V main event and they even got in a few teases of a title change. Zayn coming after the title is certainly interesting and seeing him going on a long road to FINALLY winning a World Title could make for a heck of a story. Rollins moving forward to whomever is next is a good way to go, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see the two of them involved in WarGames, likely against Judgment Day.

Post match Judgment Day runs in to jump Zayn from behind and Rollins takes a beating of his own. Jey Uso runs in for the save but gets beaten down as well until Cody Rhodes makes the save. Referees and Adam Pearce come in to break it up, with Pearce saying they can play games if they want. IN WARGAMES! The brawl is on again and Rhodes jumps onto the pile to put Judgment Day down to end the show. They didn’t have much time to set up Survivor Series but this is the match that has been all but ready for months now anyway.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a heck of a show with one good match after another. They covered a bunch of stuff for Survivor Series, with two title matches plus WarGames being set. Raw has to do a lot of things to keep interest going for three hours but they pulled it off here. Pretty awesome show this week and if they can keep up that momentum going into Survivor Series, we could be in for an outstanding show.

Results
Judgment Day b. New Day – Coup de Grace to Woods
Shinsuke Nakamura b. Akira Tozawa – Kinshasa
Miz b. Bronson Reed, Ivar and Ricochet – Rollup to Reed
Creed Brothers b. DIY – Brutus Ball to Gargano
Zoey Stark won a battle royal last eliminating Shayna Baszler
Seth Rollins b. Sami Zayn – Small package

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: October 30, 2023
Location: Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, South Carolina
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Michael Cole

We’re less than five days away from Crown Jewel and that means it is time for the final push towards the show. There is always the chance that we’ll get some more matches set as well and that could make for some interesting changes. Other than that, I’m sure Judgment Day will be doing something as usual. Let’s get to it.

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

Here are Rhea Ripley, JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio for a chat. Ripley is ready to see the men win but other than that, she wants Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins to make the right decision. One of them can walk out of Crown Jewel as World Champion and they need to make up their minds. As for Rhea herself, she is ready to be against the odds at Crown Jewel….but here is Sami Zayn to interrupt.

Zayn is sick of Ripley talking and hearing about how Judgment Day runs Monday Night Raw. He has dealt with people obsessed with power like them for his entire career and his name is rebellion. He’ll fight them no matter the odds, so Ripley suggests he face Damian Priest tonight. The fight is teased but cue Ricochet (scheduled to face Dominik) to even things up a bit.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Ricochet

Non-title with Rhea Ripley and JD McDonagh at ringside. We’re joined in progress with Dominik sending him to the apron and twisting his leg around. Back in and Dominik stomps him down in the corner before posing on the ropes for a bit. Ricochet uses the delay to kick him in the head and hit a belly to back suplex. The running shooting star press gets two and we take a break.

Back with Dominik hitting Three Amigos but Ricochet fights up. The springboard high crossbody hits Dominik and the Lionsault gives Ricochet two. Dominik knocks him down but misses the frog splash, allowing Ricochet to hit a superkick. Ripley offers a distraction though and a McDonagh distraction lets Dominik grab a rollup while holding the tights for the pin at 11:25.

Rating: B-. Good stuff here as Ricochet can get things going when he is given the chance. At the same time, Dominik is capable of hanging in the ring. They played up the idea that Dominik needs a lot of help and that is the entire point of what he is doing. Nice match and a bit better than I was expecting.

Post match Ricochet beats up the men but Ripley saves him from the shooting star press.

Video on DIY, who reunites tonight.

Video on Raquel Rodriguez.

Alpha Academy vs. Creed Brothers

The Creeds, with Ivy Nile (to oppose Maxxine Dupri and Akira Tozawa, are from NXT and this is a result of an Academy open challenge. We get a Creeds video before Gable wrestles Julius down without much effort. Gable gets him to the mat but Julius, from the mat, lifts him up into a delayed vertical suplex, which he hands off to Brutus to drop him down. Otis comes in and runs the Creeds over, setting up a double clothesline from Gable. Stereo suplexes have the Creeds in trouble and we take a break.

Back with Brutus hitting something like a Samoan drop for two and the tag brings Julius back in. That’s fine with Otis, who runs them over and hits a heck of a clothesline on Julius. The Caterpillar gets two on Julius as everything breaks down. Julius and Gable crash out to the floor and Otis hits a World’s Strongest Slam on Brutus.

Julius comes off the top with a 450 for the save and Gable moonsaults onto all three for the break. Dupri offers a distraction but Nile pulls her down. Tozawa tries to break it up and gets suplexed for his efforts. Back in and Otis misses a charge and the Brutus Ball (Doomsday Device with Brutus hitting a flying body block) is good for the pin at 10:56.

Rating: B+. This was an AWESOME tag match and if the Creeds aren’t on the main roster full time by the end of the year (at the latest) I’ll be stunned. They’re by far the best team in NXT and feel like some kind of second generation Steiner Brothers with some other goodness sprinkled in. The Academy more than backed up their half as well and this was one of the better matches Raw has had in a good while.

We look at Judgment Day taking out Cody Rhodes last week, only to have Rhodes run out for the save later in the night.

New Day (as the New Judgment Day) come in to the Judgment Day’s locker room to go trick or treating (Kofi Kingston’s candy bucket is a mini Money In The Bank briefcase, complete with contract). They’re promptly sent out (Finn Balor takes Xavier Woods’ candy), though Woods does stop to flirt with Rhea Ripley. With New Day gone, Damian Priest isn’t happy with not being out there earlier in the night. Priest teases cashing in at Crown Jewel and they decide to make tonight about themselves. Of note: Priest seemed cool with JD McDonagh being there with them.

Video on Nia Jax.

Here is the Miz for MizTV. Miz goes to introduce Gunther as his guest….but gets Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci instead. Kaiser goes on a rant about how Miz is everything wrong with WWE and nothing more than a clown. Miz says he’s been a lot of things but never a sidekick, which makes Vinci the third wheel. Vinci: “Weren’t you your wife’s sidekick on Total Divas?” Miz: “HE TALKS! He said something! Give him a round of applause ladies and gentlemen!”

Miz points out that it was Miz and Mrs. and Vinci wishes he could be shouted at by someone as hot as Maryse. Vinci is told to not talk until Gunther or Kaiser tells him to but here is Gunther to interrupt. Gunther says he isn’t Miz’s guest, but rather that he’s here to ask why this is a talk show in 2023. This ring is sacred to him and everything Miz does in it, plus Miz himself, is beneath him.

Miz says he’s heard that before and calls the invisible John Cena that he interviewed a few weeks ago more entertaining than Gunther. That makes Gunther laugh, as he says it’s why Miz is a talk show host while Gunther is the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time. Miz gets serious and talks about his resume, including his two WWE Titles. He was very serious when he made the Intercontinental Title the most prestigious in all of WWE (the fans agree) and he’d be glad to do it again. Fans: “TAKE IT BACK!”

Gunther offers to make a memorable moment and Imperium starts wrecking the set. Miz is told he’ll do nothing about it as always but he clears out the goons….and gets taken down by Gunther’s chop. Miz tries to fight back again but gets cleared out to wrap it up. Odds are that’s a Crown Jewel match and something of a Miz face turn, which has gone so well before.

Post break Miz rants to Adam Pearce and wants a title shot at Gunther. Pearce can’t do that, because Bronson Reed wants a shot of his own. A #1 contenders match seems likely.

DIY vs. Imperium

DIY comes out as Miz leaves. Vinci is taken into the corner to start and it’s off to Ciampa. That’s a bit better for Vinci, who knocks him up against the ropes and hits a clothesline. Kaiser comes in and gets taken own by Gargano, giving us the DIY double self clap. Vinci drops Gargano onto the apron though and Kaiser hits a basement dropkick to put him on the floor as we take a break.

Back with Gargano still in trouble and Vinci hitting a backbreaker for two. Gargano DDTs his way out of trouble though and it’s Ciampa coming back in to clean house. A reverse DDT gives Ciampa two but the Fairy Tale Ending is broken up. Everything breaks down and Gargano kicks Vinci in the head, leaving Ciampa to roll Kaiser up for two. A discus lariat puts Ciampa back down but Gargano kicks Kaiser out of the air. Vinci misses a moonsault press and gets kneed in the face, setting up Meet In The Middle (running knee/basement superkick combination) for the pin at 10:50.

Rating: B-. This was the match they had set up for the last few weeks and then it went just fine. DIY is a team that can be added into the tag team scene without much trouble and that is what we got here. I’m not sure what the issue is for Imperium, but this doesn’t bode well for Vinci’s future. Either way, good match and DIY gets off to a nice start.

Shinsuke Nakamura is still looking for his next opponent and wants someone to step forward.

Video on Candice LeRae (or according to Cole, Candice Michelle, who hasn’t wrestled for WWE in almost 15 years).

Video on Xia Li.

Candice LeRae vs. Xia Li

Indi Hartwell is here with LeRae as Cole apologizes for the name slip. LeRae starts fast and kicks her down in the corner to start, setting up a running backsplash for an early two. Li ties her up in the ring skirt for a knee to the head, followed by a spinwheel kick back inside. That’s enough to knock Candice silly and we pause for a second before the referee calls it off at 2:03. That definitely felt like a way to get Li over as a dangerous striker more than anything else.

Candice gets checked on but seems fine enough to leave on her own.

Jey Uso comes up to wish Sami Zayn luck tonight. The interviewer comes in to talk to Jey, who thinks he and Cody Rhodes want the Tag Team Titles back. Then maybe Rhea Ripley will think about him differently.

Video on Shayna Baszler.

Candice LeRae gets checked out by medics.

Video on Drew McIntyre talking about the pinnacle of his career taking place when no one was around. Of course he’s angry and we even get a look back at the Chosen One days. He took his second chance and then came back to win everything, including the Royal Rumble….and then the pandemic happened. McIntyre won the WWE Title in the empty Performance Center and he did what he was supposed to do.

Then the people came back but his moment had passed. He was going to win the title back at Clash At The Castle but Solo Sikoa interfered and the Bloodline cost him everything. Now it’s his time to get it back, because Seth Rollins may be willing to break his back to keep the title, but McIntyre is willing to break Rollins’ back to get it. No more broken dreams. Heck of a video here as we see McIntyre’s side of the story, but he still comes off as whiny, which seems to be exactly the point.

Video on Zoey Stark.

Here is Seth Rollins for a chat before his match. Rollins is ready to take out JD McDonagh tonight and then he can go on to face Drew McIntyre at Crown Jewel. He brings up McIntyre’s issues and tells him to cry a river. Everyone was suffering in 2020 and there were people who had it a lot worse than McIntyre.

People didn’t know if they were going to work or eat again, or see their relatives again. So be grateful for what you had, because Rollins has a lot of people who want to take the title from him. If McIntyre can beat him and take the title, Rollins will be the first person who shakes the new champ’s hand. Rollins is no longer the Messiah or the Architect…but here is McDonagh to jump him from behind.

Seth Rollins vs. JD McDonagh

Non-title and McDonagh charges into a boot to the face to start. They head outside with Rollins chopping him around and cutting him off from going over the barricade. Back in and Rollins hits a backdrop but McDonagh knocks him into the corner. Rollins gets choked on the rope but he sends McDonagh crashing out to the floor. The suicide dive sends McDonagh crashing over the announcers’ table and we take a break.

Back with McDonagh being sent face first into the middle buckle but Rollins grabs a Sling Blade. The Stomp misses though and the Pedigree is countered, allowing McDonagh to hit a hard headbutt. McDonagh grabs a standing Spanish Fly for two and frustration sets in. Rollins is up with a buckle bomb but a frog splash hits raised knees. Cue Damian Priest with a referee to stand at ringside, which has Rollins looking rather serious. A top rope belly to back superplex hits McDonagh and the Pedigree into the Stomp gives Rollins the pin at 13:58.

Rating: B-. I’m not sure how much the result of this match was ever in doubt and that’s not a bad thing. Rollins needed a warmup for Crown Jewel and they tied in McDonagh’s issues with Priest at the same time. McDonagh continues to be in a weird place and that is likely to continue for a bit, but at least he had a pretty good match here.

Post match Rollins gets in Priest’s face but nothing happens.

Ricochet isn’t happy with Dominik Mysterio so Adam Pearce offers him a chance to get an Intercontinental Title shot. That works for Ricochet, so here are Chelsea Green and Piper Niven, as the Hart Foundation, to complain about their match tonight. With them gone, Ivar and Valhalla come in, with Valhalla wanting to get Ivar an Intercontinental Title shot. They’ll be in his office, and Pearce needs another drink.

Becky Lynch is upset by her NXT Women’s Title loss but she is glad it was to someone as good as Lyra Valkyria. She defended her title more times in 42 days than Rhea Ripley has all years and the title needs her. Xia Li comes in and wants to fight, but again says on her time. Lynch points out that she’s said that before.

Chelsea Green vs. Natalya

Trick or Street Fight, with Green as Bret Hart (and Niven as Jim Neidhart) while Natalya is a leather clad bunny. Green gives a fan her sunglasses but takes them back like a villain should. Green starts fast with a pumpkin pie to the face and it’s time to throw in some candy. Some trashcan lid shots keep Natalya down but she avoids a legdrop through a table.

Green gets sent into the bobbing for apples bowl but Natalya has to deal with Niven. The double Sharpshooter is broken up without much trouble so Green goes for a pumpkin. One of them has the still completely stoic Nikki Cross’ head underneath but Green sends Natalya into the steps anyway. The candy corn is poured out (Cole: “They once used tacks, now they use candy corn! This is hardcore!”) but Natalya powerbombs her onto the corn. The Sharpshooter goes on so Niven offers a distraction….and gets pied in the face. The distraction lets Green hit the Unpretty-Her for the pin at 5:32.

Rating: C. This was the kind of fun match that these things tend to be, as Green gets to showcase some of her incredible talents. She knows how to play the mean woman very well and she did so again here, with the cosplay making it all the better. This was fun and it’s ice to see one of the Women’s Tag Team Champions getting a win.

Video on Carmelo Hayes vs. Ilja Dragunov for the latter’s NXT Title tomorrow on Halloween Havoc.

Video on Rhea Ripley.

Crown Jewel rundown.

Damian Priest vs. Sami Zayn

They start fast with Priest getting the better of things as commentary talks about who Judgment Day’s leader really is. Priest kicks at the chest but Zayn gets in a few shots of his own. Those are broken up rather quickly though and Priest plants him on the apron as we take a break.

Back with Zayn fighting back but cue Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio for a distraction. Priest grabs the Reckoning (pretty much Cross Rhodes) but Zayn is able to slip out of the Razor’s Edge. Balor offers another distraction so Dominik can deck Zayn. Cue Jey Uso to go after Judgment Day, including a superkick to Priest for the DQ at 8:58.

Rating: C+. The ending was almost a little strange but I guess WWE doesn’t want Zayn taking another pin after last week’s loss to Drew McIntyre. At the same time, the stage continues to be set for WarGames in some form as the ragtag group of good guys getting to face Judgment Day could work very well. Not a great main event here, but they did at least give some time to the biggest story on Raw.

Post match the beatdown is on until Cody Rhodes (moving better but still with a slight limp) comes out for the save. Rhodes and Priest fight on the floor as Zayn and Uso clear the ring. Back to back Cross Rhodes plant McDonagh on the announcers’ table, leaving Rhodes to yell about how Priest is always walking behind someone else. Rhodes promises to take him out, with Cole wondering if it’s going to a “Saudi Arabian Nightmare” at Crown Jewel.

Overall Rating: B. This show took a bit of a different path towards building up Crown Jewel and it worked well. I liked having the five quick videos for the Women’s Title match rather than some big talking/brawling segment and the McIntyre video explained a lot of his deal. There was more than enough good wrestling with that Creeds vs. Academy match stealing the show. Pretty strong show here, but Crown Jewel is what matters most.

Results
Dominik Mysterio b. Ricochet – Rollup with a handful of tights
Creed Brothers b. Alpha Academy – Brutus Ball to Otis
DIY b. Imperium – Meet In The Middle to Vinci
Xia Li b. Candice LeRae via referee stoppage
Seth Rollins b. JD McDonagh – Stomp
Chelsea Green b. Natalya – Unpretty-Her
Damian Priest b. Sami Zayn via DQ when Jey Uso interfered

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: October 16, 2023
Location: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Wade Barrett

It’s the season premiere, which comes off of last week’s season finale, as the idea of seasons in wrestling is still weird. One of the big attractions this week is Judgment Day getting their rematch for the Tag Team Titles against Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso, which could be a heck of a showdown. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here is Sami Zayn to get things going. After welcoming us to the season premiere, Sami says it feels a little weird to be out here by himself. His brother and partner has been moved to Smackdown and he is obviously very sad that their partnership has ended this way. He is excited for Owens though because he knows Owens will do huge things on Smackdown. He’s excited for himself too, because now he gets to stand on his own two feet.

It’s time to prove that he is a World Heavyweight Champion level superstar, which the fans seem to find accurate. There is an elephant in the room though and that is due to the arrival of Jey Uso. It took Owens and Zayn years to get to the highest point but then they had to deal with Judgment Day. Now they’re getting a Tag Team Title shot tonight, but Zayn wants to thank the fans for getting him here.

Cue Judgment Day to interrupt, with Damian Priest bragging about who they’ve gotten rid of around here. Rhea Ripley cuts him off and talks about how they would recruit lost wrestlers and give them directions. In Zayn’s case though, they want to get rid of him permanently. The team surrounds him but Jey Uso runs in with a pair of chairs to even things up a lot. Finn Balor calls the team off and Sami leaves, not looking completely pleased with Jey.

We look at Shinsuke Nakamura and Ricochet getting in a fight last week, with Nakamura possibly costing him an Intercontinental Title shot.

Nakamura gives us another subtitled video about how he is going to smash Ricochet like a fly.

Jey Uso catches up with Sami Zayn in the back and asks if they’re cool. Sami says he needs a minute to think because even though Jey made the save, all he was thinking was that it should have been Kevin Owens making the save. Owens isn’t here and it’s because of Jey, even though Zayn wants him to be happy. Jey has the momentum and the titles and Sami has nothing and it’s because Jey is here. Jey says Sami has him and walks off. Sami shoves a ladder over and catches up to Jey, apologizing for what he said. He offers a handshake but Jey hugs him instead.

Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Falls Count Anywhere and Ricochet kicks him to the floor before the bell. They get inside with Nakamura kicking him in the head, setting up the reverse exploder for two. The Recoil gives Ricochet the same and a triangle dropkick puts Nakamura on the floor. That sets up a big twisting flip dive to drop Nakamura for two and they fight up to the stage.

That means a trip to the gorilla position, where Ricochet flips over Nakamura and hits a knee to the face for two. They come back to the stage, where Nakamura gets his knees up to block a standing moonsault. We take a break and come back with Ricochet climbing a balcony (where he half hugs a fan) and then shooting stars onto Nakamura and a bunch of security.

They head back to ringside and it’s time for a table….and nunchucks. Ricochet shrugs that off (because nunchucks) and kicks him down inside, setting up a springboard 450 for two. Nakamura cuts him off on top though and sends him crashing through the table at ringside. Kinshasa finishes Ricochet at 13:43.

Rating: B. This was what it needed to be, as it was a display of violence between two guys who have a reason to be mad at each other. Nakamura gets a nice win to put him back on track, though I could have gone with Ricochet winning to establish him as a bit of a bigger star. Still though, rather hard hitting match though and that’s what it needed to be.

Piper Niven and Chelsea Green interrupt a group of women who are standing around not doing much. Green says she and Nox are best friends, though Nox points out that Niven ordered them to be a team. Green doesn’t want to hear it but Nox threatens her away. Niven seems to threaten Nox on the way.

Video on Imperium.

Piper Niven vs. Natalya

Chelsea Green is here with Niven. Natalya tries an early rollup before going with a basement dropkick for two more. Niven manages a ram into the buckle though and Natalya crashes out to the floor as we take a break. Back with Niven missing a backsplash and getting…not hit with a basement dropkick, which thankfully Niven doesn’t sell. Niven’s basement crossbody misses as well and Natalya hits the discus lariat for two. That’s enough for Niven, who runs Natalya over and hits the basement crossbody for the pin at 6:27. Not enough shown to rate but Natalya worked well trying to fight the monster.

Post match Green comes in for the beatdown but Tegan Nox runs in for the save.

Damian Priest and Finn Balor want to take out Drew McIntyre but Dominik Mysterio doesn’t seem to like the idea. Rhea Ripley comes up after a phone call, saying she was handling Judgment Day business, as usual. She has Shayna Baszler on her own tonight too.

Here is Seth Rollins for a chat. Rollins recaps last week with the Crown Jewel title match against Drew McIntyre being set up, plus McIntyre saving him from a Money In The Bank cash-in. Cue McIntyre, with Rollins asking if McIntyre has been getting himself a little help. We see a clip of McIntyre and Rhea Ripley talking in the background last week.

McIntyre says first of all, he isn’t a thirsty creep like Jey Uso and Ripley came up to him. Second of all, what they were talking about is none of Rollins’ business and he should be worried about McIntyre taking his title. Rollins says no one is doing that to him but McIntyre needs to worry about stepping up in the big moment. McIntyre talks about the Bloodline costing him but Rollins tells him to GET OVER IT.

We hear about McIntyre stepping up during the pandemic when WWE needed it. Then he had his chance again in front of 50,000 people but the Bloodline cost him the title. Rollins says he understands what McIntyre is going though as he spent four years trying to get back to the top of the mountain. McIntyre is pointing fingers and making excuses and it won’t get him anywhere. When Rollins beats him at Crown Jewel, it will be the best thing to happen to him, because McIntyre will have no one to blame but himself. This was a good exchange and got more to the core of McIntyre’s issues, with Rollins calling him out for his whining.

Video on Bronson Reed.

Johnny Gargano vs. Ludwig Kaiser

Giovanni Vinci is here too but Tommaso Ciampa is injured after last week’s Imperium attack. Gargano starts fast but Kaiser kicks the knee out to take over. Kaiser knocks him down again and we take an early break. Back with Gargano fighting out of a chinlock and hitting the rolling kick to the head.

A springboard swinging Downward Spiral gives Gargano two and the Cheeky Nandos Kick connects. The sunset bomb gives Gargano two more and Willow’s Bell rocks Kaiser again. One Final Beat connects but Kaiser pokes Gargano in the eye. Gargano goes after Vinci but the distraction lets Kaiser kick him in the face. A twisting DDT finishes Gargano at 9:51.

Rating: C+. They’re playing up the idea that Gargano needs help to fight Imperium and losing to the numbers game isn’t the worst way to go. DIY vs. Imperium can be a big showdown when they get the chance, though I’m really not sure about having Gargano lose in his first match back. He doesn’t have the strongest reputation in the world on the main roster and this isn’t going to help things, cheating or not.

Indi Hartwell asks Becky Lynch for an NXT Women’s Title shot. Becky is cool with that and says she’ll go get it set up. As Becky leaves, she runs into Rhea Ripley for a staredown. Ripley smiles and walks away, with Becky saying something about being Becky Two Belts.

Drew McIntyre comes up to Sami Zayn and isn’t happy with him instantly forgiving Jey Uso earlier. That’s the right hand man of the Bloodline and Zayn just easily forgave him. Zayn doesn’t like that and we get a match set up between the two of them for next week.

Rhea Ripley vs. Shayna Baszler

Non-title. Before the match, Ripley says that no matter what, this is her division and Mami will always be on top. Baszler takes her to the mat with a quickly broken ankle lock but Ripley gets up and unloads in the corner. With that not working, Baszler takes her down by the arm and starts stomping. Ripley is back up with a spinning back elbow for a breather.

They go into the slugout with Baszler snapping off a German suplex. Baszler hits a knee to the face for two but Ripley knocks her back again. A missile dropkick of all things drops Baszler and Ripley loads up Riptide. That’s countered into a cross armbreaker (that was cool) but Ripley powerbombs her way out of trouble. Cue Nia Jax but Raquel Rodriguez and Zoey Stark pop up to take her down. Stark comes in and decks Ripley for the DQ at 5:35.

Rating: C+. This was good while it lasted but then the last minute plus was focusing on everything at ringside. Jax showing up took a lot of the fun out of this one and it didn’t get any better. As usual, Baszler is treated like someone who happens to be there as well and that gets annoying in a hurry.

Post match Ripley calls Jax in for the fight and Stark/Ripley beat Jax down, only for Stark to break up a slam and clear the ring. They’ve got something here

Becky Lynch gets a match with Indi Hartwell next week, per Shawn Michaels’ approval. Xia Li comes in to say she wants a shot too. Becky says say the word, but Li says on her time. Then why did she come in? Anyway here is Jade Cargill, with Becky telling her to get in line. Becky leaves and Cargill calls her funny.

Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso are ready for the main event.

Intercontinental Title: Bronson Reed vs. Gunther

Gunther, with Imperium, is defending. Reed powers out of the corner to start and staggers Gunther with a shoulder. That’s fine with Gunther, who boots him in the face twice in a row. Reed comes back out with a knockdown of his own, setting up a splash in the corner. They head outside with Gunther powering him into the apron, setting up the sleeper back inside. That’s broken up and Reed drops him on the apron, setting up the running shoulder to drop Gunther as we take a break.

Back with Reed winning a slugout, setting up a nasty Death Valley Driver for two. Gunther’s big clothesline gets two so he goes up top, only to get superplexed down for the huge crash. The Tsunami misses though and Gunther clotheslines him down. The top rope splash only gives Gunther two and he can’t believe the kickout. With nothing else working, Gunther hits the powerbomb to retain the title at 12:39.

Rating: B. I’ve said this before but there is something about building up a match between two monsters who are going to hit each other really hard. That’s exactly what you go there as it was a question of which one was going to manage to survive, which is how Gunther felt in the end. Reed didn’t feel like a major threat to win the title, but my goodness it was a heck of a fight on the way there.

Miz complains about being put on the third hour of the show and thinks Nick Aldis should take over Raw. Nia Jax comes in and says she’s still taking everyone’s best shot and looking pretty. No one has taken her best shot because she does the squashing around here. Miz isn’t pleased but we’re out of time for him.

Rhea Ripley comes in to see Adam Pearce and tells him to get the women’s division in line. Pearce is tired of threats so it’s a five way match for the title at Crown Jewel. Ripley isn’t happy and says she’ll eradicate them all. With Ripley gone, Jinder Mahal and Indus Sher come in to say they want to talk.

The Alpha Academy, with Akira Tozawa, is doing Pilates, when New Day comes in. Gyrations occur and a match is made for next week.

Here’s what’s coming next week, including Logan Paul.

We look at the opening of Kofi Kingston’s children’s library and digital center in Ghana to help with education. That’s awesome.

Gunther is proud of Ludwig Kaiser for his win tonight. Giovanni Vinci on the other hand, didn’t accomplish his goal. Gunther saw Johnny Gargano walking around tonight, so next week, he wants Gargano stretchered out. It’s Kaiser’s responsibility.

Tag Team Titles: Judgment Day vs. Cody Rhodes/Jey Uso

Rhodes and Uso are defending. We’re joined in progress with Cody working on Balor’s arm and handing it off to Uso to do the same. Uso gets low bridged to the floor and it’s a backbreaker/elbow combination for two back inside. A quick escape allows the tag back to Cody, who hits a pair of powerslams. Cue Dominik Mysterio for a distraction but Uso superkicks Balor to break up 1916.

Cody hits Cross Rhodes on Priest but Dominik puts the foot on the ropes. Balor hits a dropkick on the floor and we take a break. Back with Cody snapping off the leg hands but Priest kicks him in the head. Cody manages to get over to Jey for the tag and the pace picks up. The Cody 1D hits Balor for two but Priest hits a chokeslam to put Cody onto the apron. Dominik shoves Uso off the top so Balor can roll him up for two.

Cue Sami Zayn to jump Dominik so Cody throws Priest over the barricade. Balor breaks up the tag though and it’s a double clothesline to put Uso and Balor down. Priest is back with a low blow to Cody and the toss Razor’s Edge puts Cody through the announcers’ table. Jey dives onto Priest but gets caught by Balor’s Sling Blade. Balor hits the shotgun dropkick but misses the Coup de Grace. Uso spears Balor and gives Priest another one before loading up the Superfly Splash. Cue Jimmy Uso to superkick Jey, allowing Balor to hit the Coup de Grace and win the titles back at 14:00.

Rating: B-. It wasn’t quite as good as the Fastlane match but they got things rolling by the end. There is definitely chemistry between these teams and it was a big time feel with the title change. I’m not sure what this is going to mean for Jimmy vs. Jey going forward, but it would not surprise me to see them getting a showdown at Crown Jewel. For now though, the title change is big enough.

Judgment Day poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This show felt like a big deal and it was nice to see a bunch of stories advanced with an important moment at the end. There was nothing bad (save for maybe the ending to Ripley vs. Baszler) on the show and the matches were good to pretty good on the low end. I had a fun time with this show and it was one of the better Raw’s in awhile. WWE is starting to heat up again and that’s great timing as the important season is around the corner.

Results
Shinsuke Nakamura b. Ricochet – Kinshasa
Piper Niven b. Natalya – Basement crossbody
Ludwig Kaiser b. Johnny Gargano – Twisting DDT
Rhea Ripley b. Shayna Baszler via DQ when Zoey Stark interfered
Gunther b. Bronson Reed – Powerbomb
Judgment Day b. Cody Rhodes/Jey Uso – Coup de Grace to Uso

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