Cody Rhodes VS Drew McIntyre
Monday Night Raw kicked off this week with a really good video package hyping up the opening match of the night between Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre. What followed this was a pretty good match where both guys impressed. Cody Rhodes was able to keep up with Drew McIntyre which deserves to be praised and some of the moves here were really well done. After a pretty fair contest, Jimmy Uso appeared out of nowhere to distract the referee which allowed Solo Sikoa to drop Cody with the Samoan Spike and that ultimately led to McIntyre hitting the Claymore Kick on Rhodes for a massive victory. It’s very rare that Cody Rhodes loses so this feels like a big deal for The Scottish Psychopath.
Grade: B
Women’s Elimination Chamber Last Chance Qualifier Battle Royal, Rhea Ripley and Nia Jax Speak, The Judgment Day VS R-Truth, The Miz, and DIY
Andrade El Idolo talked about wrestling being in his blood in another well-shot video before Pat McAfee brought back his old editing tools to recap the ending of the Rhodes-McIntyre match. Pat is genuinely really funny! Seth “Freakin” Rollins then checked in on Cody Rhodes who told the doctors that he’s fine before it was time for a Last Chance Battle Royal to see who would earn themselves the final spot in this weekend’s Women’s Elimination Chamber. Before the match started, Raquel Rodriguez made her return to Raw after a few months out and it didn’t take long for the former NXT Women’s Champion to start dumping people out (Valhalla, Xia Li, Isla Dawn, etc). This was fine, but I have to be honest, I was pretty disappointed when Indi Hartwell got eliminated as she easily could’ve and probably should’ve won this match. Anyway, the other main talking point was how Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler worked as a team throughout and never once tried to eliminate one another. In the end, Raquel was able to eliminate both Baszler and Stark before Rodriguez got rid of a hiding Chelsea Green to officially book her ticket to Perth. There’s no doubt that the Women’s Elimination Chamber on Saturday is stacked, but that still doesn’t necessarily mean that Raquel Rodriguez winning was the right move.
Grade: C+
Jey Uso seemed pretty hyped for his Intercontinental Championship opportunity before Rhea Ripley and Nia Jax had a sit-down interview. If I’m being honest, this was actually pretty short as it only went a few minutes, and not much was said. However, something I will praise is this felt very much like an old-school NXT segment which is always a good thing.
Grade: C
We then got a pre-taped interview that Jackie Redmond had with R-Truth where Truth talked about how hurt he was by Damian Priest’s actions. There were actually some funny lines in this 2-minute chat. Chad Gable and Ivar then both cut video promos on one another before it was time for R-Truth, The Miz, and DIY to team up together to take on The Judgment Day in 8-man Tag Team action. This was actually quite fun, I’ll always enjoy watching DIY, and the crowd were fully behind R-Truth’s every move. Truth’s hot tag was especially good as he hit all of John Cena’s big moves whilst his partners took care of Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, and Dominik Mysterio. We also got a brilliant near-fall where Truth almost pinned Damian Priest, but in the end, a South of Heaven from Senor Money in the Bank to his former pal was enough for The Judgment Day to get the win. This was the most “house show of house show things” I’ve seen in a while (besides the Heels winning) and I’d like to see more of it going forward.
Grade: B-
Becky Lynch Promo, Chad Gable VS Ivar
Sami Zayn said he will keep fighting to find his path to a Championship match at WrestleMania before Becky Lynch came out to talk about why she will be the last woman standing inside the Elimination Chamber on Saturday. This brought out Liv Morgan who rightly reminded everyone that she was the last person to beat Rhea Ripley before Raquel Rodriguez, Naomi, Tiffany Stratton, and Bianca Belair all appeared to state their claim as to why they’re going to win in Perth. Raquel Rodriguez seemed to be the only person here who remembered about Nia Jax and this ultimately cost all of them as Jax arrived and beat all 6 of them up. This was a pretty basic segment that was somewhat saved by Nia Jax at the end. To be perfectly honest, I hope Nia wins on Saturday.
Grade: C+
Gunther told Jey Uso that he would lose to The Ring General in tonight’s Main Event before Shinsuke Nakamura warned Sami Zayn that he would happily beat him again. Chad Gable then made his way down to the ring as it was time for The Master to go one-on-one with Ivar. Was this match necessary, no. What is fun, yes! Gable and Ivar styles work really together and whilst this wasn’t must-see television, it still served its purpose. In the end, Chad Gable amazingly managed to make Ivar tap out before the rest of Alpha Academy arrived to celebrate so hopefully, this could and should well be the end of this months-long feud.
Grade: C+
Intercontinental Championship: Gunther VS Jey Uso
After a funny Drew McIntyre promo and The New Day challenging Imperium to a Street Fight for next week’s show, it was Main Event time as Gunther put his Intercontinental Championship on the line against “Main Event” Jey Uso. I felt this was also a pretty good match that had some really good bits in it. Some of the chops that Gunther delivered were absolutely insane whilst I’m not kidding when I say this, Jey Uso hit 5 Spears, yes 5 Spears! After delivering all of his Spears, Jey went to the top rope and hit the Uso Splash and he probably would’ve had the match won had it not been for the bell being rang early. That early bell ringer was none other than Jey’s twin brother, Jimmy Uso! Jey was able to take out his brother with a dive, but he then missed when attempting another Uso Splash on Gunther and this allowed The Ring General to roll up his opponent to score the victory and retain his Intercontinental Championship. I actually can’t remember a time where Gunther has been this vulnerable before, and after the match was over, Jimmy Uso continued to assault his brother with multiple Uso Splashes. So much for Cody Rhodes having Jey’s back then!
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