Gunther Starts the Show, Ludwig Kaiser VS Sheamus
The Monday Night Raw after Summerslam kicked off with Ludwig Kaiser in the ring as he welcomed out the brand-new World Heavyweight Champion, Gunther! Gunther said there’s no one near his level and if you thought what he did with the Intercontinental Championship was impressive, just wait until you see The Ring General’s latest Title reign! Surprisingly, it was Randy Orton who made his presence known to challenge Gunther to a rematch after their controversial ending back at King of the Ring. Gunther admitted that the ending to their match still bugs him and that he gladly accepts a Part 2 at Bash in Berlin, but The King General made it clear that nothing catches him “Out of Nowhere”! This was a surprising start to the show, it already sets up the Main Event of Bash in Berlin, and I thought Gunther looked great here. Whilst I’m not super into seeing Gunther-Orton again, it is a strong way to start The Ring General’s reign as World Heavyweight Champion!
Grade: B-
Sheamus cut a quick promo backstage about taking on anyone before the first match of the night saw The Celtic Warrior clash with Ludwig Kaiser. This match massively benefited from being Commercial Free, and I thought it was really good. Both guys are hard-hitting performers whilst Kaiser is also a technical wizard so they were just let free to do whatever they wanted. It’s important that WWE pushes Ludwig Kaiser hard in the next few months because he is good enough to be in a higher position, but it wasn’t to be for him here as despite a distraction from Pete Dunne, Sheamus was still able to hit a Knee followed by the Brogue Kick to score the W!
Grade: B
Damian Priest Calls Out Finn Balor, Lyra Valkyria VS Shayna Baszler, CM Punk Speaks, The Authors of Pain VS The New Day
Damian Priest stormed down to the ring as he got straight to business by calling out Finn Balor. Priest made it clear that he won’t let Finn get away with what he’s done before Balor appeared on the titantron to say that this was all Damian’s fault. See, The Judgment Day aren’t supposed to have leaders, but Priest took that position when he became the World Heavyweight Champion! The Prince then confirmed he’s not the only one coming for The Archer of Infamy as the rest of The “Brand-new” Judgment Day appeared on the screen! This was such a good segment, both Balor and Priest cut great promos here, and I’m super pumped for this feud!
Grade: B
After Adam Pearce annoyed Bronson Reed, Bronson made it clear to the Raw General Manager that he was going to start making his “Own Opportunities”! Lyra Valkyria was then out next as she was ready to take on none other than Shayna Baszler. This was a decent little match between two former NXT Women’s Champions, and the crowd were also invested too which is a good thing! Either woman could’ve gotten the victory here, but it was Lyra who looked set to following a Nightwing, only for Sonya Deville and Zoey Start to cause the DQ! Damage CTRL then ran down to take out Deville’s Crew and stand tall!
Grade: C+
The Final Testament’s Karrion Kross cut a great promo hinting at the end of The New Day before Ivy Nile was talking with Maxxine Dupri, only for Chad Gable to arrive and once again trash-talk his former Pupil! CM Punk was the next man to come down to the ring as Punk talked about how despite losing on Saturday, he’s pleased because Summerslam was just the start of his journey to WrestleMania 41! CM Punk then called out Drew McIntyre for a Round 2 which was interrupted by a very serious Seth “Freakin” Rollins who just wanted to start a fight with The Second City Saint. However, before that could start, Drew McIntyre appeared in the crowd and started taunting Punk which is when CM jumped out of the ring and chased after McIntyre. And then, in a very surprising moment, Seth Rollins turned around and got floored by Bronson Reed before Reed went on to hit not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not even 5, but 6 TSUNAMI’s! This was awesome, and it’s a genius move from Bronson Reed to go after one of the biggest stars in the company. If Seth now has a month off, this will work even more effectively!
Grade: A- (Overall)
Adam Pearce confirmed backstage that Seth “Freakin” Rollins had been taken to a Local Hospital before Pearce told CM Punk that he kicked Drew McIntyre out of the building! The New Day were then back on TV (as a unit) as it was time for Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods to clash with The Authors of Pain. This match was totally fine, nothing too much to say about it, but the finish was very interesting! See, AOP looked in control of things after some interference from Karrion Kross, but a wild Odyssey Jones appeared and took out The Final Testament which allowed The New Day to score the win before Kofi celebrated with Odyssey post-match! I did not see this coming, but it’s the most intrigued I’ve been to do with The New Day in a long old time!
Grade: B-
A-Town Down Under VS The Awesome Truth, JD McDonagh VS Damian Priest, Iyo Sky VS Sonya Deville
JD McDonagh cut a great promo on Damian Priest and about how Priest never wanted him to join “the cool kid's group”! Odyssey Jones and Kofi Kingston were then vibing backstage whilst Xavier Woods seemed confused before it was time for A-Town Down Under to clash with The Awesome Truth. This was a pretty standard Tag Team match, but Austin Theory and Grayson Waller are so good that they can make anything a bit better. The interesting thing about this match was The Miz was rolling, but R-Truth stuck his nose where it didn’t belong, and it ultimately led to Theory pinning Truth after delivering A-Town Down! I’m assuming this will be the start of Miz and Truth’s split!
Grade: C+
Damian Priest cut a great promo of his own about JD McDonagh before Bron Breakker said that whilst he may now be the Intercontinental Champion, he is very much still the hunter! Damian Priest was then on his way to the ring as he was looking to take his anger out on JD McDonagh! This was a fun match, both men landed stiff strikes, and the one headbutt from JD followed by a Moonsault was absolutely superb! You could also tell that Damian was adding extra to every punch to really get his angry across, and things only got worse when Finn Balor arrived to cause the DQ! Priest was able to fight back against McDonagh and Carlito before he got his hands on Finn, only for Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio to jump The Archer of Infamy. Rhea Ripley’s music then hit as Rhea caught Liv, but Morgan was eventually able to escape as Ripley headbutted JD McDonagh before Damian Priest planted him with a massive South of Heaven! All of this was superbly done, the crowd were going insane, and this Terror Twins-Judgment Day feud has the makings to be special!
Grade: A-
The Deville’s Crew (that’s what I’m calling them) decided to viciously attack Dakota Kai backstage, but this ultimately just meant that Sonya Deville had to go one-on-one with Iyo Sky instead. Not much happened in this match, the crowd definitely didn’t care, but there was an awesome bit where Iyo and Kairi Sane both hit their respective finishers to the outside (and from the same corner). In the end, it was Sky who picked up the win following Over the Moonsault, and this was definitely an interesting choice (not Iyo winning, but Sonya losing).
Grade: C+ (Just for that one Moment)
American Made VS The Wyatt Sick6
After Sami Zayn told Jey Uso he’d gotten himself a rematch with Bron Breakker for next week, it was Main Event time as The Wyatt Sick6 made their highly-anticipated in-ring debut against the newly named “American Made”! This was simply just a lot of fun, I personally enjoy watching Joe Gacy wrestle so that improved the experience for me, but the whole look and the aura surrounding The Wyatt Sick6 is awesome! Of course, on the opposite side of the ring, you have a wonderful Tag Team in The Creed Brothers being guided by one of the Best in the World in Chad Gable! Master Gable even delivered a suplex onto Erick Rowan which tells you everything you need to know about how great Gable is! However, in-ring greatness didn’t end up mattering much as Chad got destroyed by Rowan, Gacy, and Lumis at the end as Dexter hit an assisted Frog Splash to score the win! The show then went off the air with The Wyatt Sick6 in the ring and the lights down! What a great way to end what was one of the best TV episodes I’ve seen in a long time!
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