Cody Rhodes Starts the Show, Gunther VS Dominik Mysterio
Monday Night Raw kicked off this week with Cody Rhodes as The American Nightmare had some things to say. Cody talked about how at first he was convinced by The Rock that the crowd wanted Roman-Rock at WrestleMania, but he then went on to learn that in fact, the crowd actually wants Reigns-Rhodes 2. Cody also “acknowledged” The Rock and Roman Reigns’ challenge from Friday Night SmackDown before he asked Seth “Freakin” Rollins to come down to the ring. Rhodes told Seth he doesn’t need to fight The Bloodline if he doesn’t want to, but the World Heavyweight Champion insisted that this is something he needs to do before it the segment ended with Rollins and Rhodes confirming they’ll be at SmackDown this Friday. This was a pretty good segment as both Cody Rhodes and Seth “Freakin” Rollins (in particular) cut great promos.
Grade: B
We then went straight into the first match of the night as the Intercontinental Champion Gunther took on “The Judgment Day’s” Dominik Mysterio. I really enjoyed this match as besides a few bits of Mysterio offense, this was basically just Gunther beating up Dominik for 5 minutes. Some of the chops The Ring General delivered were particularly brutal, and despite multiple attempted interferences from JD McDonagh, the Intercontinental Champion was victorious as he made “Dirty” Dom tap out to the Boston Crab. This is well worth a watch if you want or need a laugh!
Grade: B
Katana Chance and Kayden Carter VS Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark, Becky Lynch VS Nia Jax, Andrade VS Apollo Crews
Damage CTRL arrived at the building to the annoyance of Adam Pearce. Shinsuke Nakamura then appeared to not only make it clear to Pearce that he wants a shot at the Intercontinental Championship, but also so we got a pretty cool shot where 4 Japanese Superstars were all in the frame! Damage Control were then at ringside for the following contest as Katana Chance and Kayden Carter took on Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark. I thought this was decently fun, The KC’s are a great Tag Team whilst Shayna and Zoey are both very good at what they do. It was obvious who was going to win here, but that’s how it goes sometimes, and after Baszler and Stark got the win, Dakota Kai made it clear that they can have a match with The Kabuki Warriors for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships next week (as long as Asuka and Kairi Sane retain at NXT Roadblock tonight).
Grade: C+
Dominik Mysterio made it clear to The Judgment Day that Andrade could end up being an asset to them before we went straight into a match between Becky Lynch and Nia Jax. This was decent as Nia Jax looked pretty good, but Becky Lynch looked a bit off. For whatever reason, Becky missed a couple of her moves which hurt the contest, and in the end, it finished as a DQ anyway as Liv Morgan showed up to take out Jax and prove to Lynch why it’s not nice to get involved in other people’s business. If Nia get involved in the Morgan-Lynch match next week, I won’t be impressed.
Grade: C+
Ricochet was just back on Raw demanding an Intercontinental Championship match which is honestly quite stupid before The Judgment Day walked in as JD McDonagh pitched why he should get the chance to fight Gunther at WrestleMania. I’d much rather see JD than Ricochet again! Anyway, Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan then got into an argument backstage as Rhea Ripley just laughed before Adam Pearce announced a Gauntlet Match between Bronson Reed, Chad Gable, JD McDonagh, Ricochet, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Sami Zayn and the winner of that match would get Gunther for the IC Title at Mania 40. I really hope either Chad or Bronson win. It was then time for Andrade to make his returning singles debut as he took on Apollo Crews (what)! Apollo amazingly got an entrance and some moves in, but this was all just about Andrade and why he’s so good. After the Double Knees, Andrade dropped Crews with the Hammerlock DDT to get the 3 count and I found it funny that no one brought up the fact that Apollo Crews beat Andrade for the United States Championship back in 2020!
Grade: C+
The Judgment Day VS Imperium, Ivar VS Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn told Jackie Redmond that his path to WrestleMania is now clear before Ivar walked in as he wasn’t at all impressed that he’s been left out of next week’s Gauntlet Match. I’ll be honest, I totally agree with him! Candice LeRae then seemed to be annoyed with Indi Hartwell before Natalya got on the nerves of both me and Tegan Nox. Maxxine Dupri then tried to offer some advice to Candice, but LeRae wasn’t having any of it. A Heel Poison Pixie is something I would love to see! Anyway, we then got a Tag Team match between The Judgment Day and Imperium, and in terms of action, this was probably the match of the night. Finn Balor and Damian Priest work so well together and they showed it yet again here against a brilliant Tag Team in Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci. What I liked about this is the crowd cheered Balor and Priest as the Babyfaces which is rare these days, and yeah, after a strong competitive bout, the Tag Team Champions were the ones who walked out victorious as Senor Money in the Bank pinned Vinci with South of Heaven.
Grade: B
Drew McIntyre said he’ll punish Seth “Freakin” Rollins for getting involved with The Bloodline before we got a cool stare-down between the Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley and the WWE Women’s Champion Iyo Sky. It was then time for the penultimate match of the night as Sami Zayn went one-on-one with Ivar. Before the match started, Valhalla put her antlers on Michael Cole’s head which through Cole off completely and did detract from this match a little bit, especially as it wasn’t that funny. However, the action between Sami and Ivar was still solid enough, and after the Viking missed when attempting a Doomsault, Zayn floored Ivar with the Helluva Kick to get the W. After the match, Bronson Reed arrived and whipped out Sami with the Tsunami.
Grade: C+
Drew McIntyre VS Jey Uso
After Gunther and Chad Gable interacted backstage and R-Truth, The Miz, DIY, and Xavier Woods were seen playing WWE 2K24, it was Main Event time as Drew McIntyre took on “Main Event” Jey Uso. This was good, it was hard-hitting at times, and the story that was told was pretty good. Towards the end of the contest, Solo Sikoa arrived, but he was quickly dealt with by Cody Rhodes. This distracted Drew and allowed Jey to deliver 3 Superkicks and a Spear, but he wasn’t able to get the victory as he was distracted himself by his twin brother Jimmy Uso, and this ultimately allowed McIntyre to hit the Claymore Kick to get the victory. After the match, Jimmy tried to attack his twin with a steel chair, but Seth “Freakin” Rollins arrived to chase him off before Rollins turned around and got floored by a Claymore from Drew McIntyre. The show then went off the air with McIntyre standing tall, making it clear to Rollins that this is what will happen if he doesn’t leave The Bloodline alone. Drew rules at the moment (as does Seth to be fair)!
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