Rhea Ripley Starts the Show, Carlito VS Damian Priest
Rhea Ripley arrived to start this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw as Rhea claimed that she will make Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio’s lives a living hell! Liv and Dominik then appeared in the crowd as a war of words took place before Dom made a great point how Liv did the one thing that Rhea couldn’t do and that’s help him beat his “Deadbeat Dad”! Ripley then said she was proud of “Dirty” Dom before the crowd got even louder as Damian Priest arrived from behind Mysterio and a brawl got underway. Dominik was actually narrowly able to escape as Carlito attacked Priest to start their contest. This was what you would expect, Carlito got in a bit of offense, but this was all about Damian getting his anger out on another member of The Judgment Day (who he’s never liked). Of course, Priest was able to pick up the victory, but he was then attacked by Finn Balor and JD McDonagh after the match before Rhea Ripley ran down to make the save, only for Balor to escape this time. As The Terror Twins hugged, Dominik Mysterio stupidly tried to dive on them which didn’t work, but Liv Morgan was then here as The “New” JD just narrowly escaped once again! All of this together was good, especially Dom’s promo and Priest’s appearance.
Grade: B-
Odyssey Jones Debuts, Alpha Academy VS American Made, Damage CTRL VS The Pure Fusion Collective
Ivy Nile offered Maxxine Dupri a place in American Made which she rejected before Bo Dallas appeared in another one of those Wyatt Sick6 videos. After a backstage segment with The New Day, Odyssey Jones was out next to make his Raw Debut as he took on Vincent Winey! This was a pretty short match that saw Odyssey destroy Mr. Winey before OJ hit his finisher to get the win. After the match, The Final Testament arrived to try and plant more seeds of descent between The New Day, but it was actually Kofi Kingston who did that by speaking over Xavier Woods and booking a 6-Man Tag for next week’s show. All of this was fine, it was entirely forgettable, but I won’t mind it as long as Woods takes out Kofi next week (or at least soon)!
Grade: C
Adam Pearce told Drew McIntyre backstage that CM Punk was experiencing travel issues, but Drew didn’t care as he was more focused on why Randy Orton was getting a World Heavyweight Championship match over him! It was then time for some Tornado Tag Team action as Alpha Academy took on the newly named American Made. This was pretty decent, Otis and Akira Tozawa are fun to watch whilst The Creed Brothers are so damn good at what they do. The Tornado Tag stipulation also added to this one in a good way, but it was ultimately shenanigans outside of the ring that played into the finish. See, Ivy Nile appeared out of nowhere to attack Maxxine Dupri and lock in her Dragon Sleeper which distracted the Academy enough for American Made to steal a roll-up victory. Honestly, I would’ve had The Creeds win in more convincing fashion, but I like the fact that Ivy Nile is sticking with the crew!
Grade: B-
Pete Dunne had an interview promo where he said he will make Sheamus pay for calling him “Butch” before we got a fun video explaining why Bronson Reed’s attack on Seth “Freakin” Rollins last week was so brutal. Bronson then warned Adam Pearce what could happen again if he doesn’t get him a match before it was time for Damage CTRL to take on The Deville’s Crew. However, I can’t call it that anymore as the trio of Sonya Deville, Shayna Baszler, and Zoey Stark are now known as “The Pure Fusion Collective”. I have no idea what it means, but I thought the action in this match was pretty decent. It’s a strange one seeing Iyo Sky back in the Tag Team division, but Dakota Kai getting injured (again) has unfortunately forced WWE’s hand a little. Anyway, Zoey Stark accidentally Superkicked Alba Fyre at one point in this match and it ultimately led to The Unholy Union causing the DQ just as Damage Control were about to win. This honestly made no sense in so many ways, and it’s now set up a Triple Threat for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles next week!
Grade: C (The finish hurt it)
Gunther Interrupts Randy Orton, Bronson Reed VS The Miz
R-Truth accidentally got The Miz a match with Bronson Reed in a not-very-funny backstage segment before Randy Orton came out to cut a promo about making more history. Gunther interrupted Randy to call him one of the greats, but he then interestingly said that Orton should’ve been the Greatest of All Time if it wasn’t for him dropping the ball! The Viper responded to this by saying both his career and personal life have been pretty great before The Ring General fired back by calling both Orton’s Dad and Grandad’s “Screw-Ups”! Before anything else could happen, Drew McIntyre’s music hit as The Scottish Warrior made his way down to the ring! This actually opened the door perfectly for Randy Orton to floor Gunther with an RKO before CM Punk arrived out of nowhere and started a brawl with McIntyre that involved a belt/leather strap. All of this was done well, especially Gunther’s promo.
Grade: B-
Sheamus laughed about Pete Dunne backstage as Ludwig Kaiser came up to him and told Sheamus that their story is far from over. Pete Dunne then attacked The Celtic Warrior from behind before he tried to break his former friends’ digits with a Shillelagh. Gunther was then angry backstage as CM Punk confirmed to Cathy Kelley that he got Adam Pearce to lie about his having travel issues (which doesn’t seem like a good thing for a General Manager to do). Anyway, Bronson Reed was then out next as it was time for him to go one-on-one with The Miz. Surprisingly, The Miz got in quite a lot of offense in here, in fact, he probably got a little too much. However, Miz was still no match for Bronson Reed as The Colossal One scored the win following a Tsunami. However, Reed wasn’t done there as he delivered another 6 of them to R-Truth in what was another brilliantly booked segment for The Big Aussie. Also, shout out to Pat McAfee because his commentary here was tremendous!
Grade: C+ for the Match, B+ for the Post-Match Angle
Intercontinental Championship 2-out-of-3 Falls Match: Bron Breakker VS Sami Zayn
After a Judgment Day video promo where Finn Balor called himself “Back-stabbing Balor” (I like it a lot), it was Main Event time as Bron Breakker and Sami Zayn clashed in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match for the Intercontinental Championship. This match got a decent amount of time, and it was probably the best match of their trilogy. To my surprise, it was Sami Zayn who got the first fall following a Helluva Kick before Bron was able to make it 1-all following two quick Spears. The third fall was then anyone’s to win, with both men coming close including Sami hitting a Helluva Kick in the middle of the ring. However, as Zayn dived from the top rope, Breakker caught him mid-air with a massive Spear and that was enough for The Badass to retain his IC Title! I personally would’ve had Bron Breakker win this 2-0, I certainly wouldn’t have had him lose the first fall, but the action here was good enough that it’s not the end of the world.
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