WWE Monday Night Raw Review: 11/12

Drew McIntyre VS Jey Uso

Monday Night Raw kicked off this week with Jey Uso confirming that “YEET is Back” before Drew McIntyre came out to throw shade at both Jey Uso and CM Punk. We then got into the first match of the night which was contested by Uso and McIntyre and I thought it was pretty decent stuff. Like I said a few weeks ago when these two last had a match, they’re great in-ring workers and the best thing about them is they both feel like top stars (which is the biggest compliment you can give/receive in Professional Wrestling). One thing I really liked about this match is I actually thought Drew had won when he dropped Jey with the Future Shock DDT, and even though he didn’t, it’s still a really good sign. In the end, the referee went to sort out the exposed turnbuckle which allowed McIntyre to wrack the eyes of “Main Event” Jey Uso before The Scottish Psychopath nailed his rival with the Claymore Kick to get the victory. Good stuff and I’m very glad to see McIntyre keep up his winning run.

Grade: B-

Rhea Ripley VS Maxxine Dupri, CM Punk Makes His Decision, Bronson Reed VS Ivar

Shinsuke Nakamura cut another great promo on Cody Rhodes before we saw a heated argument between the Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley and “Senor Money in the Bank” Damian Priest. Finn Balor also wasn’t very happy with either Dominik Mysterio or JD McDonagh. Ivy Nile then told Maxxine Dupri that she had her back tonight as it was time for Maxxine Dupri to face the biggest challenge of her WWE career so far as she had a match with Rhea Ripley. Honestly, this didn’t really do much for either woman as Rhea absolutely destroyed Maxxine before she made LA Knight’s sister tap out with her nasty-looking Submission manoeuvre. The segment did end with Ripley coming face-to-face with Ivy Nile which is at least something, but all of this felt a bit pointless overall.

Grade: C-

After an advert break, Adam Pearce was in the ring as it was time to find out which brand CM Punk would be signing for. Punk came out to a great reaction and he put over the offers from both Nick Aldis and Shawn Michaels before he said that Adam Pearce’s offer was by far the best one. CM Punk then signed the contract to officially become a “Raw Exclusive” Superstar before he was interrupted by none other than Seth “Freakin” Rollins. After a little stare-down, Seth told CM that he should never call this place home as he abandoned it before Rollins proclaimed the WWE as his home. Rollins then called Punk a fraud before he said he was glad that Punk had signed for Raw because it means that one day, The World Heavyweight Champion can expose Punk for who he truly is. CM Punk then grabbed a microphone to confirm that he is entering the 2024 Men’s Royal Rumble, and when he wins it, he may well be coming for The Visionary. This ruled, like genuinely ruled. Whilst the bit where Punk signed for Raw was fine, Seth “Freakin” Rollins’ promo was awesome and the main reason for that is not only did I believe everything he said, this felt like it was coming from Seth Rollins the person, not the character. In one segment, I’ve been convinced that Rollins-Punk will be by far the biggest match at WrestleMania 40.

Grade: A

Bronson Reed and Ivar cut their own video promos on one another before it was time for the two big men to go one-on-one. This match was simply two guys beating each other up mixed in with some fun high-flying spots. There was no technical wrestling involved, nor submissions, but that’s never a bad thing. In the end, it was Bronson Reed who came out victorious courtesy of a massive superplex off the top rope.

Grade: C+

The Judgment Day Promo, Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell VS Katana Chance and Kayden Carter, Becky Lynch Calls out Nia Jax, Imperium VS DIY and ?

CM Punk found The Judgment Day backstage and Damian Priest told Punk that he hopes he finishes his story so that he can cash in on him. There are so many different individuals involved in the World Heavyweight Championship picture and it makes Raw all the better for it. The Judgment Day then came down to the ring to talk about The Creed Brothers before they were interrupted by R-Truth. Truth said that they should kick JD McDonagh out of the group which made Finn Balor and the rest of the WWE audience laugh. However, Damian Priest wasn’t laughing as Senor Money in the Bank dropped Truth with a massive clothesline before The Creed Brothers ran down to make the save. There wasn’t much to this, but I smiled so it was worth something.

Grade: C+

We then cut backstage to see a face-to-face confrontation between Drew McIntyre and CM Punk where Drew proclaimed that he also has a story to finish. That’s the third time that someone’s said this on this show (Shinsuke Nakamura was the first). Adam Pearce then confirmed that McIntyre will be getting a shot at Seth “Freakin” Rollins and the World Heavyweight Championship at the “Day 1” edition of Monday Night Raw before the Raw General Manager wanted to speak to Chad Gable, Ricochet, and Kofi Kingston about the Intercontinental Championship. Poor Xavier! It was then time for some Tag Team action as Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell took on Katana Chance and Kayden Carter in a battle between two former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions. Speaking of Tag Team Champions, Chelsea Green and Piper Niven were back on commentary and they’re always a delight (they seriously are) and as for the match, it was alright because all four women are talented. However, it can’t have gone more than 3 minutes and The KC’s just won with the Afterparty. Shrug Emoji.

Grade: C

DIY and Imperium had a backstage confrontation where Gunther questioned who would want to team up with DIY. All I got from this segment is a Championship Title looks right on the shoulder of Johnny Gargano! Becky Lynch was then in the ring as she called out Nia Jax to talk about what happened five years ago. Becky took a couple of shots at Nia for getting fired before Nia brought up a good point about how her breaking Lynch’s face was ultimately the catalyst to The Man winning the Main Event of WrestleMania 35. Whilst the idea of a Becky VS Nia match doesn’t have me particularly excited, I thought Nia (in particular) cut a good promo here.

Grade: B-

Cody Rhodes then confirmed that he still wants to finish his story (make that 4 people) before it was time for a Six-Man Tag between Imperium, DIY, and a mystery partner. That mystery partner was none other than “Cleveland’s own” The Miz which is slightly questionable given the history that The Miz has with both Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. However, it meant that the two hometown favourites were in the same team against Imperium so it certainly made the crowd happy. The match itself was decent enough as you would come to expect, but it did very much feel like a house show contest. The Miz did come close to making Gunther tap out, but in the end, The A-Lister had to settle with pinning Giovanni Vinci thanks to the Skull Crushing Finale instead.

Grade: C+

Cody Rhodes VS Shinsuke Nakamura

It was then straight to the Main Event as Cody Rhodes looked to get some revenge on Shinsuke Nakamura. This is a weird match for me to review because it didn’t feel like much happened, even though plenty did happen. This match got plenty of time which allowed Cody and Shinsuke to tell the story (no pun intended) they wanted to tell before it eventually resulted with Nakamura spitting red mist into the eyes of Rhodes to cause a Disqualification. Whilst a DQ finish is never great (especially in the Main Event), it didn’t bother me too much simply because it meant Shin wasn’t pinned. Nakamura then took out The American Nightmare with a Kinshasa before The Creed Brothers ran down to make the save which is both odd and smart. However, Julius and Brutus didn’t help much as The King of Strong Style returned to drop Cody Rhodes with another Kinshasa to end the show. This made Shinsuke look great so I have no complaints.

Grade: B-