CM Punk Starts the Show, Chad Gable VS ?
CM Punk arrived to kick off this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw as Punk talked about his victory over Seth “Freakin” Rollins last week and how he is now setting his sights on winning this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble Match! Seth Rollins then interrupted this to say that last week was the worst loss of his career and that he has to make up for it by eliminating CM Punk from the Royal Rumble! Drew McIntyre’s music then hit as The Scottish Psychopath talked crap about both of his enemies before Drew left saying he will also enter and win the Men’s Royal Rumble! A lot of people are declaring themselves for this big event, and there’s an argument for all 3 of these guys winning it!
Grade: B-
Chad Gable was out next as he had to face a mystery opponent in the first match of the night! That mystery opponent was none other than a debuting Penta who came out to a massive reaction before we got a pretty good contest that got plenty of time! Early on, Chad Gable was out-wrestling Penta which wasn’t exactly the most effective thing, but Penta got more into it as the match went on, and it only took a few dives to realise why this guy is so popular! In the end, Penta got the win with the Penta Driver (which is a terrific move by the way) before the Luchador cut a promo afterwards!
Grade: B
Ludwig Kaiser VS Sheamus, Jey Uso Challenges Gunther, Dakota Kai VS Lyra Valkyria: Women’s Intercontinental Championship Tournament Final
The Judgment Day were hanging out in the Clubhouse as Dominik Mysterio gifted flowers to Liv Morgan as an apology for his actions last week! Liv was clearly mad as Finn Balor told JD McDonagh to go to Adam Pearce about getting a rematch for the World Tag Team Championships before Pure Fusion Collective cut a promo where Zoey Stark seemed to throw herself in as the main challenger when it comes to winning Championships! Sheamus then made his way down to the ring as he had a fight scheduled with Ludwig Kaiser! It indeed was a fight as both men went at it, and like in previous encounters between the two, it was very hard-hitting! The crowd were also really into it which was a great thing, and it was another contest where Ludwig Kaiser was making a name for himself. However, in the end, a Brogue Kick from Sheamus was enough to put Kaiser down for the 3 count before The Celtic Warrior got into the face of Bron Breakker to make it clear that he still wants the Intercontinental Championship!
Grade: B-
Seth “Freakin” Rollins confirmed that he will face Drew McIntyre next week before Sami Zayn came up to him to ask him if he wanted to talk. Seth then went on about how Sami must delighted that Roman Reigns is back in power and that he needs to start doing stuff for himself again! The Judgment Day were then back as JD McDonagh and Carlito were answering questions they didn’t seem to care about before Karrion Kross found out that The Wyatt Sick6 had been moved to Friday Night SmackDown! Sami Zayn then walked by to try to talk to Adam Pearce, but this only resulted in Kross and The Miz saying some things to the point where Sami said he’d fight Miz later tonight! Gunther then made his first proper appearance on Netflix as the World Heavyweight Champion talked about how the only prize people should care about is his Title! This is when Jey Uso interrupted to say that he fully has his eyes set on the World Heavyweight Championship before he challenged Gunther to a match at Saturday Night’s Main Event! The Ring General laughed about this, calling Jey “a great Tag Team wrestler”, but the Champ was more than happy to accept “Main Event” Jey Uso’s challenge after Uso said he will keep proving people wrong! Gunther-Uso for the World Heavyweight Championship is a great matchup, but I’m a little disappointed that it’s not happening at the Royal Rumble!
Grade: B-
After a great video package and Bayley hyping up the importance of this match, it was time for the Final of the Women’s Intercontinental Championship Tournament as Dakota Kai and Lyra Valkyria clashed for the right to be known as the inaugural Women’s IC Champ! Almost straight away, we got a crazy bump where Lyra dropped Dakota onto the floor rather than on the apron, and I honestly think this took a lot out of both of them as the pace really slowed down afterwards! Dakota Kai came close to winning following both the Kairopractor and the GTK (Go to Kick), but Valkyria manged to roll out of the ring before she nailed King Kota with the Nightwing to get the winning meaning Lyra Valkyria is now the first-ever Women’s Intercontinental Champion! This result surprised me a little as I felt like WWE were telling a story with Lyra always finishing second (even going back to NXT). However, I think Valkyria massively deserves and she will be a great Champion. Having said that, I am a little disappointed that Dakota Kai didn’t win because it felt like this was Kai’s moment!
Grade: B-
Sami Zayn VS The Miz, Rhea Ripley Gets Interrupted
The New Day confirmed backstage that they will return to in-ring action next week before Sami Zayn headed down to the ring to go one-on-one with The Miz! Out of all of the things on this show, this was the one that wasn’t needed, it didn’t really add much other than giving Sami some spotlight! Despite The Miz trying his best, Zayn followed up a superb Helluva Kick with a Blue Thunder Bomb to get the win, and really, it was just that simple!
Grade: C+
Logan Paul had another video package where he talked about preparing himself to be the face of the entire company before Rhea Ripley arrived to cut her first promo as the new Women’s World Champion! Rhea said it was great to be back on top and to have her Championship back, but she was soon interrupted by Nia Jax who made it very clear that she’s going to win the Women’s Royal Rumble and go after any Championship she feels like! Nia then took a shot at Bayley who was in the crowd before The Role Model got in the ring and worked with The Eradicator to send Jax to the outside! There were two interesting things here, one of them was Nia Jax coming out to Rhea Ripley! The second was how many times Bayley looked at the Women’s World Championship rather than Ripley herself!
Grade: C+
Damian Priest VS Finn Balor: Street Fight
After Rey Mysterio cut a promo in the crowd, it was Main Event time as Damian Priest and Finn Balor went to war in a Street Fight! This match started off hot, with both guys using kendo sticks as weapons as they brawled through the crowd! Chairs and trash cans were also used as weapons before we got another crazy spot on this show where Damian Priest delivered a Broken Arrow onto Finn Balor which sent both men flying off of the side and through a pair of tables! Medics ran down to check on both as Finn was put onto a stretcher to be taken to Hospital! However, Priest wouldn’t allow this to happen as he wheeled Balor back to the ring before The Judgment Day got involved! This is when The War Raiders arrived to even the odds, but the action wasn’t done here as Balor delivered a Coup de Grace through a table whilst both men then went crashing through the barricade! The Archer of Infamy then delivered a Razor’s Edge to send The Prince through a table of his own before Priest nailed Balor with the South of Heaven to get the win! This was a much better match between Finn Balor and Damian Priest than their one at Bad Blood, and I have to (hope and) assume that this is finally the end of that story!
Comentarios