Jey Uso Arrives on Raw, Drew McIntyre and Matt Riddle VS The Viking Raiders: Tornado Tag Team Match
Monday Night Raw started with a brand-new intro which was cool before Raw’s newest superstar “Main Event” Jey Uso arrived and the crowd absolutely loved it. Jey talked about how it was really hard for him to show up to work every week to fight with his family before Sami Zayn arrived and told Jey that not many people are particularly pleased that the former Right Hand Man is now on Monday Night Raw. However, Sami isn’t one of those people as he offered a handshake, something Uso turned down. However, Jey then said “That wasn’t very UCEY of me” before the two hugged which was a nice moment. As Jey walked down the aisle, Drew McIntyre’s music hit, and Drew was not happy to see “Main Event” Jey Uso. The same can also be said for Matt Riddle, and it was Sami Zayn who had to play peacekeeper. I liked this opening segment, Jey Uso is cool, and his “new” music is amazing! I also really like that Drew McIntyre, Matt Riddle, and others in the Raw locker room aren’t fans of Jey because they really shouldn’t be after what’s gone down the past 3 years.
Grade: B-
Shinsuke Nakamura had a cool video promo where he spoke in Japanese. Shin said he broke Seth “Freakin” Rollins at Payback and he’s also not done with the World Heavyweight Champion(ship). Ricochet was then trying to talk to Adam Pearce before Seth “Freakin” Rollins walked past. Pearce wasn’t impressed with Seth showing up and whilst Ricochet respects Rollins for showing heart, he doesn’t need to carry Raw on his own. The World Heavyweight Champion wasn’t having any of this though. It was then time for the first match of the night as Drew McIntyre and Matt Riddle took on The Viking Raiders in a Tornado Tag Team Match. This was a decent match, I don’t have much to say about it besides the finish if I’m being honest. The finish saw Kofi Kingston run down to the ring for no reason and instead of helping MattIntyre, Kofi accidentally hit Riddle with the Trouble in Paradise before The Raiders sent The Original Bro crashing through a table with “Ragnarok” to get the victory. Kingston running down made absolutely no sense, but it’s quite cool to see Erik and Ivar pick up their second successive victory.
Grade: C+
Seth “Freakin” Rollins Promo, Ricochet VS Shinsuke Nakamura, The Judgment Day Promo, Shayna Baszler VS Zoey Stark
We saw a montage of previous Intercontinental Champions before the World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin” Rollins made his way down to the ring. Seth Rollins said being pushed out of the arena at Payback in a wheelchair by his Wife didn’t sit right with him so he called out Shinsuke Nakamura and challenged him to a match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Shinsuke answered the call but then rejected Rollins’ offer before Seth ran down the aisle and the two started to brawl. Officials, and Ricochet, broke it up which led into a match between The One and Only and The King of Strong Style. This match was solid as both guys tried to put on a good show. Ricochet also sold some of Shin’s moves really well, but I have to say, the finish was a bit lacklustre. As the two battled around ringside, Nakamura decided to hit The Highlight of the Night with a Steel Chair, causing a disqualification. Shinsuke then went to hurt Ricochet even more, but Seth Rollins ran down to make the save before Nakamura threw Rollins into the ring steps. I really don’t get why WWE couldn’t have just given Shin a win here, it’s not like Ricochet can’t afford to lose.
Grade: C
Zoey Stark talked about why she attacked Trish Stratus in a backstage interview before Shayna Baszler came over. The two agreed to have a match to see who the “Baddest Women in WWE really is.” The Judgment Day’s music then hit as the most dominant faction to WWE made their way down to the ring. Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley, the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Finn Balor and Senor Money in the Bank Damian Priest, and the NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio all revelled in their accomplishments, but Rhea was still not happy over the fact that more people seem to be focused on Jey Uso than them. JD McDonagh then arrived to gift Damian Priest his very own Money in the Bank Briefcase which looked great. Sami Zayn then arrived and challenged “Dirty” Dom to match, but McDonagh accepted the challenge instead. This was a solid segment that was made better by the fact that Priest has his own Purple MITB Briefcase. That tells me that WWE really views The Archer of Infamy as a star.
Grade: B-
We got another montage showing off more Intercontinental Champions before the current IC Champion Gunther said he’ll beat Chad Gable tonight and prove why he’s better than all of them. Raquel Rodriguez was then talking to Adam Pearce before Chelsea Green walked in and started trash-talking Raquel thinking she’d left. However, Rodriguez hadn’t and Pearce seemed more than happy to make that a match for later in the show. Shayna Baszler then stormed down to the ring as it was time for her to go one-on-one with Zoey Stark. This was another solid match that didn’t have anything in it that I could complain about. My only concern was neither woman could really afford to lose this match, but that made the ending even better as when Shayna Baszler locked in the Kirifuda Clutch on Stark, it took about 40 seconds (at least) for Stark to pass out which made her look like an absolute badass. Shayna and Zoey also showed each other respect after the match, and all in all, this worked in making both women look stronger than before the contest.
Grade: B-
Chelsea Green VS Raquel Rodriguez, Miz TV, Sami Zayn VS JD McDonagh
The Judgment Day were talking backstage and Finn Balor made a strong case as to why JD McDonagh should be in The Judgment Day. Damian Priest still was unsure about this whilst Rhea Ripley said to wait and see how he does against Sami Zayn tonight. Rhea’s rival Raquel Rodriguez then made her way down to the ring as she looked to “squash” Chelsea Green. In fairness, Raquel did just that as she dominated one-half of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions before she hit the Tejana Bomb to get the victory in a match that can’t have gone more than 3 minutes (it was probably even less than 2). Raquel then said she’s going to face Rhea Ripley in a rematch for the Women’s World Championship next week with Dominik Mysterio banned from ringside. Let’s see how long that lasts.
Grade: C
We got yet another montage showing us a bunch of Intercontinental Champions before Chad Gable cut a great promo about how and why he’s the man to defeat Gunther. Drew McIntyre was then storming around in the back looking for Kofi Kingston before he eventually found him and was not at all convinced that Kofi hitting Matt Riddle with Trouble in Paradise was an accident. Drew then said he’s also got his eyes on Jey Uso and once he inevitably slips up, he’ll go after the man who brought him to Raw, Cody Rhodes! I really like everything regarding Jey Uso right now and Drew saying he’d go after Cody is awesome. It was then time for Miz TV as The Miz welcomed out his guest, John Cena. However, it wasn’t Cena and Miz played a whole comedy segment where he “interviewed” John Cena, a person nobody else could see. Miz even laid out Cena with a Skull Crushing Finale before he said that his feud with LA Knight is nowhere near done. I didn’t find this funny at all if I’m being honest. Add in the fact that WWE are continuing the feud between Knight and The Miz for no reason and this was pretty poor.
Grade: D
Jey Uso walked past Akira Tozawa backstage before Adam Pearce came up to him and told him that due to Jey coming to Raw, a superstar would go over to SmackDown at some point as part of a trade. Pearce also said that this could also anger certain people on Raw and all of this is very interesting. I fully expect it to be Cody Rhodes. Tommaso Ciampa also walked by and told Pearce that he wanted to talk which is also interesting. Sami Zayn then looked to get some revenge after what happened at Payback by taking on JD McDonagh in singles action. This was a pretty decent match, but I wouldn’t say it was as good as their first contest that took place about a month or so ago. What was very interesting to me is Dominik Mysterio was the person who came to the aid of JD McDonagh, and his distraction allowed McDonagh to roll-up Sami for the 3 count to pick up a massive victory on Raw. Sami then went to beat up Dominik, but JD saved him before Zayn left The Irish Ace lying after a Helluva Kick. Judgment Day McDonagh winning this match was a great choice, as was him saving “Dirty” Dom.
Grade: B-
After the 4th montage of the night for Intercontinental Champions over the years (not one included Dolph Ziggler which seemed harsh), Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh walked up to the rest of The Judgment Day and Senor Money in the Bank Damian Priest actually seemed impressed by JD’s victory over Sami Zayn. Dominik then left to go over and talk to none other than “Main Event” Jey Uso. The NXT North American Champion then cut a superb promo about how he gets what Jey’s going through because he has a terrible family too! “Dirty” Dom also said that there’s always a spot in The Judgment Day if he wants it. Once again, this was really good stuff from both Jey and Dominik.
Intercontinental Championship: Gunther VS Chad Gable
The Main Event of this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw was a big one as Gunther looked to cement himself as the longest longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time by retaining his title against Chad Gable. Neither Imperium nor Alpha Academy were at ringside which was a great move as it allowed us to watch a match between two of the very best in the world. The first two-thirds thirds of this match was fine, but it was hurt by stupid ad breaks. However, the final part of this match was great and it started with Chad Gable kicking out of Gunther’s Powerbomb. Unfortunately for me, I knew there was at least 6 minutes left of the show so I didn’t fully by the finish. Anyway, Chad then came back at Gunther with a series of strikes before he perfectly delivered the Chaos Theory to The Ring General, but the dominant Champion was able to just get his shoulders off the mat. And then, in a quite scary moment, Gunther delivered his own Suplex to Master Gable which saw the leader of the Alpha Academy drop right onto his head. Gunther then hit Gable with a second Powerbomb before he nearly took his head clean off with a Lariat and that was enough for The Ring General to retain his gold. Whilst the ad breaks did hold this match back a bit, it was still a lot of fun and the last part of the match was great. Whilst it’s a shame that Chad Gable wasn’t able to have his moment, it makes sense that Gunther breaks the record for the longest Intercontinental Championship reign of all time as he’s earned that right.
