Damian Priest Interrupts Gunther, Damage CTRL VS Pure Fusion Collective
Monday Night Raw kicked off this week with Gunther as the World Heavyweight Champion wanted to talk about Damian Priest before Damian Priest arrived himself! Priest threw lots of shots at Gunther, saying he’s worried and unconfident in his abilities to beat The Punisher, and that if he tried to take a shot at him right now, he (Damian) would drop The Ring General right where he stands! This is when Ludwig Kaiser came out to say he’d had enough of hearing Priest disrespecting his leader, but Gunther then cut Kaiser off which led to a Priest sending Ludwig to the outside as Gunther left! This was a really well-delivered promo by Damian Priest, and I look forward to this match at Survivor Series!
Grade: B-
After Kofi Kingston challenged Pete Dunne to a match after how Dunne spoke to R-Truth, it was time for the first match of the night as Damage CTRL clashed with Pure Fusion Collective! Firstly, this contest saw the return of Dakota Kai which is a massive plus, and I thought it was alright for what it was. All six women are talented in-ring competitors, but it’s clear to see that the crowd doesn’t care about PFC (unfortunately)! In the end, it was Damage Control who picked up the win as Iyo Sky pinned Shanya Baszler following Over the Moonsault!
Grade: C+
Kofi Kingston VS Pete Dunne, Bronson Reed Calls Out Seth “Freakin” Rollins, Damian Priest VS Ludwig Kaiser
Sami Zayn and Jimmy Uso were not getting along backstage as both men said they would go and look for a 5th member for War Games before Kofi Kingston headed to the ring to take on Pete Dunne! The in-ring action was fine, but as always with The New Day at the moment, it was all about the story. See, after the referee got caught up with Kofi, Xavier Woods dropped Pete Dunne on the outside which Kingston saw and was not at all happy about! Things then got worse for The New Day as all of this led to Pete Dunne taking advantage to win with the Bitter End before Kingston and Woods continued to argue on the outside!
Grade: C+
There was more arguing going on in The Judgment Day’s Clubhouse as Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio took shots at each other over their ability to win the World Heavyweight Championship before Finn got Dom and Carlito to get a match with The War Raiders next week! Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill then cut a promo about why they’re the reigning WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions before Bronson Reed was in the ring to do one simple thing; call out Seth “Freakin” Rollins! Seth answered the call and the two started a brawl straight away, with none of the security guards doing a very good job of trying to break them up! In the end, both men were separated, and in terms of a segment, this was totally fine.
Grade: C+
Seth “Freakin” Rollins demanded another match with Bronson Reed which Adam Pearce accepted before Sami Zayn asked Seth Rollins if he would be the O.G. Bloodline’s 5th member at War Games! Obviously, Seth thought this was completely ridiculous, and he seemed very disgusted by Sami even being involved with Roman Reigns again! Damian Priest was then out next as he was ready to go one-on-one with Ludwig Kaiser! This was a pretty easy match for Damian, he dominated Ludwig for the most part, but that makes total sense given how these two are usually booked! Despite Kaiser’s best efforts, it was Priest who picked up the win via South of Heaven before Gunther came onto the ramp to have a look at his next challenger!
Grade: C+
Bron Breakker was chatting to Cathy Kelley about his failed to attempt to become the new Speed Champion before Sheamus came over and challenged Bron to a match for the Intercontinental Championship! Breakker was happy to accept Sheamus’ challenge before Jimmy Uso walked over and said he wanted to have a little chat with the IC Champ! The Miz then appeared as he told The Final Testament that The Wyatt Sick6 had let him go and that he needs to take a leave of absence, but Karrion Kross wasn’t buying any of this so AOP dragged Miz to the ring before The Wyatt Sick 6 did appear, only to be completely destroyed by The Final Testament and The Miz in what was a very well-laid plan by the Heels! However, as Kross walked up the entrance ramp, Uncle Howdy’s laugh seemed to startle The Harbinger of Doom which is an interesting direction to go!
Grade: B- (for The Miz-Kross Bit)
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill VS Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez
After a brilliant interaction in the Parking Lot between Seth “Freakin” Rollins and Solo Sikoa (which saw Seth say he’d never, ever team up with Solo), it was Main Event time as Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill put their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships on the line against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez! I’d say this match was okay, but it wasn’t Main Event worthy, and honestly, it wasn’t helped by a clear lack of time! The whole last few minutes felt very rushed, and there was an awful lot going on too! See, Nia Jax and Tiffany Stratton arrived to try and take out Bianca and Jade, but despite Liv being the Women’s World Champion and Raquel being a bit of a beast, they couldn’t take advantage of the numbers game as Belair just pinned Morgan with a K.O.D! After the match, Nia Jax attempted to take out the Babyfaces, but she was thwarted by both Iyo Sky and Naomi, and this is clearly the direction WWE is going for their Women’s War Games Match this year!
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