Seth “Freakin” Rollins Interrupts CM Punk, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez VS Damage CTRL
Monday Night Raw kicked off this week with CM Punk in the ring as he talked about what happened inside WarGames before he said he knows what’s next for him, and that’s finding his path to WrestleMania! This is when Seth “Freakin” Rollins arrived to say he regrets not taking out Punk sooner, but The Best in the World said he has no interest in fighting Seth because he doesn’t have a Championship anymore! This angered Rollins who started a brawl with his fierce enemy before Jey Uso and Sami Zayn arrived to break things up! Seth then through a verbal shot at Jey for going back to Roman Reigns before Rollins went after Sami for teaming up with both CM Punk and Roman Reigns! There were then a couple of really good lines from both men about hitting Roman in the back with a steel chair before Sami Uso challenged The Visionary to a match to “let off some steam!” This was so good by all, particularly the bit between Sami and Seth!
Grade: B+
The Judgment Day were hanging out in their Clubhouse when Finn Balor said the line “When we listen to Finn, we Win!” Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez then followed this by heading out to the ring to take on Damage CTRL in the opening match of the night! This was alright, I rate Damage Control highly, but my biggest takeaway from this was how Raquel Rodriguez was booked! See, I feel like WWE haven’t done nearly a good enough job of making Raquel come across like a true monster, but she dominated Kairi Sane here to pick up the win with a Tejana Bomb! After the match, Rhea Ripley tried to make the save, but she took got taken out by Rodriguez!
Grade: C+
Women’s Intercontinental Championship Tournament (Round 1): Dakota Kai VS Shayna Baszler VS Katana Chance, The New Day’s 10-Year Anniversary Celebration
Finn Balor interrupted Gunther’s backstage interview to demand a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship! The Ring General said he didn’t owe Finn anything, but given Dominik Mysterio was the one to beat Damian Priest a month back, he’d happily face him tonight! It was then time for the first match in the Women’s Intercontinental Championship Tournament as Dakota Kai, Shayna Baszler, and Katana Chance all looked to advance! I enjoyed this match, I thought all 3 women did well here, and simply adding stakes to a match makes it so much more interesting! It was great to see Shayna Baszler doing something for once, Katana Chance is underrated, and Dakota Kai should honestly win this whole thing! At least for now, that is still on as after Chance delivered a 450 Splash to Baszler, Kai picked up the win with a nice Fireman’s Carry Kick!
Grade: B-
It was then Celebration time as Adam Pearce welcomed out The New Day to celebrate their 10-year Anniversary as a Team! There was plenty of New Day memorabilia surrounding both the entrance ramp and the ring itself, and Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston talked about how thankful they are for all of the crowd support throughout this crazy ride! However, it looked like The New Day were about to go their separate ways before Big E’s music hit and the former WWE Champion made his first appearance on Raw for nearly 3 years! E said that he hates seeing Kofi and Woods fight like this which is why he’s coming back to be his Manager until he gets cleared again! However, in an absolutely shocking turn of events, both Kingston and Woods said Big E left them, abandoned them, and started caring more about his Girlfriend than he did then! This was all wild, and they completely tore into Big E, eventually telling him to get out of their ring! The segment then ended with E walking down the ring dejected as the crowd booed The New Day! I did not see any of this coming, and I’m so glad! I’ve been wanting Xavier Woods to turn Heel for a while now, but for both of them to do it, by turning their backs on Big E, well that’s just wonderful!
Grade: A
Gunther VS Dominik Mysterio, Pete Dunne VS R-Truth
Karrion Kross cut a great promo about how going after Scarlett last week will be the end of The Wyatt Sick6 before Gunther took on Dominik Mysterio! This was a bit of a house show match, a low blow from Dom actually gave him a shot at winning, hitting two 619’s and a Frog Splash, but The Ring General obviously kicked out before he won with a Powerbomb! However, after the match, Finn Balor arrived and delivered not 1, not 2, but 3 Coup de Grace’s to the World Heavyweight Champion to make his point clear that he wants the World Heavyweight Championship! Interesting!
Grade: C+
Pete Dunne got annoyed at Cathy Kelley backstage for nearly calling him Butch before cameras rushed to find Jey Uso laid out on the floor! It was then time for Pete Dunne to go one-on-one with R-Truth, but this honestly wasn’t really a match at all as Pete got annoyed at the crowd for calling him Butch, and this just allowed Truth to win a roll-up! Wade Barrett made me laugh here, but other than that, this was completely pointless!
Grade: C
Sami Zayn VS Seth “Freakin” Rollins
After an exchange between Bron Breakker and Ludwig Kaiser, Finn Balor getting his wish of a World Heavyweight Championship shot, and Sami Zayn asking if Jey Uso was alright, it was Main Event time as Sami Zayn took on Seth “Freakin” Rollins! These are two of the best in-ring workers in the world, but this was very much all about the story. See, Sami believed that Seth was the one who attacked Jey Uso which is why he went to strike him with a steel chair! However, Rollins convinced him that it wasn’t him, but this just allowed The Visionary to steal a roll-up victory! After Rollins walked off, Zayn was floored by none other than a Drew McIntyre Claymore, and this was yet another surprise that I didn’t see coming!
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