Jey Uso Starts the Show, Kofi Kingston VS Rey Mysterio
After we saw Rhea Ripley get attacked on her way into the building by Nia Jax, this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw kicked off with Jey Uso hyping himself up ahead of Saturday Night’s Main Event! However, Jey was quickly interrupted by Gunther who verbally bashed his rival, calling him a “dork” and saying he might as well face Jimmy Uso! Jey then fired back by saying that the winner of Saturday’s World Heavyweight Championship clash is going to be the only guy that’s Main Evented WrestleMania (Uso himself) before a brawl broke out before Jey Uso eventually stood tall after nailing The Ring General with a Superkick! Whilst I don’t think there’s much jeopardy involved, I do think Gunther-Uso will be a good clash, and this was a good segment!
Grade: B-
The New Day found JBL backstage and paid him to talk well about that on commentary, but that didn’t happen before Bayley came face-to-face with Nia Jax! It was then time for the first match of the night as Kofi Kingston took on Rey Mysterio. I honestly didn’t like this, I felt like it was important to position The New Day as stronger competitors than they’ve been recently, but it just didn’t happen here. Xavier Woods tripped Rey up which should’ve caused a DQ, so that was a big bit of inconsistency, and then Mysterio ended up winning anyway! I mean, The New Day attacked The LWO after the match, but still, this wasn’t effective at all.
Grade: C-
Kevin Owens Interrupts Sami Zayn, Bayley VS Nia Jax
Chad Gable was very angry about his loss to Penta last week, but he said both he and American Made will bounce back from this before Karrion Kross cut a fun promo about how he’s keeping an eye on the likes of Sami Zayn, Seth “Freakin” Rollins, and CM Punk! Speaking of Sami Zayn, he was in the ring next to cut a promo about how it’s time for him to start focusing on himself and that’s why he’s going to go and win the Royal Rumble! Interestingly, this brought out Kevin Owens who said he believes in his best friend and that the reason he isn’t attacking Sami like he did with Cody Rhodes is because the situation is a lot different, and Zayn is also a good guy. Owens then said that he would love to face Zayn in the Main Event of WrestleMania for the Undisputed WWE Championship, and he knows that will happen because whilst KO will have Sami’s back in the Rumble, Sami will have KO’s back in the Ladder Match against Cody Rhodes! Sami Zayn’s bit beforehand was well delivered, but the lines that Kevin Owens said were terrific, he’s on a great run right now!
Grade: B+
Bron Breakker told Sheamus that he should just retire as he’s never going to win the Intercontinental Championship before Ludwig Kaiser said when the time is right, he’ll give Penta a proper welcome! Bayley was then in the ring for her first match back as a Raw superstar as she took on Nia Jax. The action here was actually quite decent, both women did some good moves, and this was definitely a lot better than both of their previous clashes at Summerslam and Bad Blood! However, the transfer window is supposed to change things up, and yet we still had this match, just on a different show which honestly makes no sense! In the end, Queen Nia picked up the win with the Annihilator before Rhea Ripley ran down to start another brawl! Rhea then challenged Jax to a match at Saturday Night’s Main Event so that card is becoming stacked!
Grade: C+
Penta VS Pete Dunne, Damage CTRL VS Pure Fusion Collective
Chad Gable got some Luchador advice from Dominik Mysterio as Dominik agreed to fill in for Finn Balor in next week’s World Tag Team Championships match against The War Raiders! Lyra Valkyria then got a video package highlighting her big win last week before Sami Zayn and Seth “Freakin” Rollins joked backstage about who’s going to throw the other person out of the Royal Rumble first! Pete Dunne then arrived to have a go at the crowd before it was time for The Bruiserweight to go one-on-one with Penta. Once again, Penta spent most of this match being the one taking the brunt of the offense, with Pete Dunne doing multiple technical submissions whilst also trying to break the digits of the masked superstar. However, the Luchador managed to fire back with some strong moves of his own before Penta nailed the Penta Driver to get the win. 2 matches in, 2 matches were Penta has performed well, but I’m still not sold yet.
Grade: C+
Logan Paul had another video package where he called himself the GOAT before CM Punk took shots at literally everyone, whether they’re a good guy or a Heel! The War Raiders then had their own promo where they said they’re happy to face anyone at any time before Damage CTRL took on Pure Fusion Collective in Tag Team action! I enjoyed this, I thought this was good, everyone involved is talented, and I think this will be a contest that people will sleep on honestly. Zoey Stark in particular impressed me (as always) whilst Iyo Sky is simply the Best Women’s Wrestler in the World! In the end, Iyo nailed Shayna with Over the Moonsault to get the win, and I think it’s now all about whether or not The Genius of the Sky can win the Women’s Royal Rumble!
Grade: B-
Drew McIntyre VS Seth “Freakin” Rollins
It was then Main Event as Drew McIntyre clashed with Seth “Freakin” Rollins in a WrestleMania rematch! This match actually got more time than their WrestleMania bout, and there was also more story to it too. Both Drew and Seth verbally attacked their opponent throughout the contest, with Drew calling Seth “selfish” for not being on the same side whilst Rollins was out to prove his integrity. In truth, it was McIntyre that was doing most of the talking, and that ultimately played into the finish as Seth Rollins took advantage to win via roll-up! After the match, Drew attacked Seth only for Sami Zayn to run down to make the save, but just like at Crown Jewel, Sami again failed to connect with his intended target as he instead nailed Seth with a Helluva Kick! That will definitely lead somewhere!
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