Randy Orton Starts the Show, Pete Dunne VS Sheamus
Monday Night Raw kicked off this week with Randy Orton as he talked about Gunther making their rivalry personal. Gunther then arrived to tell everyone in Florida to shut up before he made it clear that Randy would never RKO him again. After a bit of a back-and-forth promo, Ludwig Kaiser arrived to take out Orton from behind and this ultimately allowed Imperium to stand tall to end the segment. This was fine, nothing more, nothing less.
Grade: C
After a quick promo, Sheamus was ready to take on his former brother Pete Dunne in the first match of the night! This was a super hard-hitting affair between two men that just wanted to beat the hell out of one another. There was also the added story of Sheamus’ injured hand, and Dunne focused on that with a couple of nasty strikes. We then got this really unique moment where Pete trapped Sheamus’ hand in the turnbuckle, but somehow, The Celtic Warrior managed to tear himself out of it and deliver a massive Brogue Kick to The Bruiserweight to score the victory. Well done to both!
Grade: B
Ivy Nile VS Maxxine Dupri, CM Punk Speaks, The New Day and Odyssey Jones VS The Final Testament
The New Day were chatting backstage as Xavier Woods made it clear to Kofi Kingston that he felt like Kofi was bringing in Odyssey Jones to replace Big E. Kingston said this was not true, and it’s just about helping the up-and-coming talent. Chad Gable then hyped up American Made backstage before it was time for Ivy Nile to take on Maxxine Dupri. This contest started off quick, with Maxxine taking out Ivy before the bell before she continually threw her former friend into the barricade. However, once they got in the ring, Nile took down Dupri before the lights dimmed, and Nikki Cross appeared! The rest of American Made then ran down to protect The Pitbull, but the rest of The Wyatt Sick6 then arrived for Uncle Howdy to ultimately lay out Master Gable with a Sister Abigail. One thing that wasn’t mentioned at all was where they hell did Maxxine Dupri go?!
Grade: C+
After a video promo from The Terror Twins, CM Punk arrived to do the thing he’s best at, talking! Punk said meeting a bunch of fans at Fanatics Fest meant a big deal before he called himself “Taylor Swift for men!” Punk then confirmed that he’s still not done with Drew McIntyre which is why he’s spoken to Adam Pearce about a Strap Match taking place in Berlin next weekend. Drew McIntyre then arrived to accept this challenge, but he wouldn’t accept CM’s offer of swapping the strap in Punk’s hand for the bracelet that McIntyre has been wearing for weeks. This wasn’t as good of a segment between these two as usual, but it still served it’s purpose well.
Grade: C+
Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio made it clear that they’re the best power couple in WWE history before The Final Testament arrived to clash with The New Day and Odyssey Jones. Kofi Kingston tagged himself in almost immediately, and then he went on to get beaten up for most of the match. Kofi then made the decision to tag in Odyssey Jones instead of Xavier Woods which you could tell that Woods wasn’t happy about. In the end, it proved to be the right move as Jones was about to run through Karrion Kross and AOP to score the victory, but still, a story was certainly being told here.
Grade: C+
Bronson Reed VS The Miz, Damian Priest VS Dominik Mysterio, Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn VS Damage CTRL VS The Pure Fusion Collective: WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
Whilst Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley agreed that Dominik Mysterio’s challenge for a match was most likely a trap, Priest didn’t care because he just wants to get his hands on “Dirty” Dom. The Miz then told Adam Pearce that he has to fight Bronson Reed which is when the two went one-on-one in a No Disqualification Match! This was a good bit of fun, The Miz used plenty of steel chairs and kendo sticks to try and take The Big Aussie down, but Bronson was simply too powerful. The only thing I would’ve done here to make this all better is Miz (or WWE for that matter) should’ve acknowledged the fact that Reed is in WWE because of The A-Lister! Anyway, after a great table spot, Reed hit the Tsunami to score the win before Braun Strowman arrived to stop The Colossal One from doing more. As long as Bronson wins that match, I’m good with this.
Grade: B
Ludwig Kaiser made it clear to Sheamus that they will have a rubber match eventually before Bron Breakker announced that there will be an Intercontinental Championship Number 1 Contender’s Tournament starting next week. I then laughed as Dominik Mysterio arrived to take on Damian Priest. However, The Judgment Day didn’t even allow this match to start, but it didn’t work out for them as it looked like Rhea Ripley was going to put Dominik through the announce table with a Riptide. However, Liv Morgan then arrived with a chair as she destroyed Rhea (including hitting an ObLIVion) whilst Priest got met with both a Coup de Grace and a Frog Splash. The closing visual saw The New Judgment Day standing tall whilst The Terror Twins were completely out. This was needed, and very well executed.
Grade: B-
The Judgment Day were then celebrating their masterplan backstage before Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn put their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships on the line against both Damage CTRL and The Pure Fusion Collective. There’s a lot of history between these different superstars, and there’s also a lot of talent too. However, this just didn’t click which pretty much sums up the entire history of these WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles! It also made no sense to have this match now given Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill are going after the belts on SmackDown, and in the end, The Unholy Union just won so it all felt a little bit pointless.
Grade: C
Ludwig Kaiser VS Randy Orton
After a Jey Uso promo and a video package for the departing Pat McAfee, it was Main Event time as Randy Orton had to go through Imperium’s Ludwig Kaiser. This was actually a pretty competitive match, with Ludwig Kaiser getting in a lot more offense than I anticipated. Kaiser was clearly told by Gunther (who came out to ringside towards the end) to target the leg of Orton, and he did it rather effectively. However, this is Randy Orton after all, and The Viper was ultimately able to hit his greatest hits including the RKO to beat LK before Orton and Gunther brawled as the show went off the air. The match was good, but if I’m being honest, I’m still not into this Gunther-Orton feud.
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