Sami Zayn Starts the Show, Sami Zayn VS Chad Gable
Sami Zayn kicked off this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw to talk to the crowd about his upcoming Intercontinental Championship defense against both Chad Gable and Bronson Reed this Saturday. Sami said he will always back himself in this scenario before Chad Gable arrived to talk trash on both Zayn and his Alpha Academy students. This then led into the first match of the night, and whilst the in-ring action was solid, it was the storytelling that was the main point of focus. Both Maxxine Dupri and Akira Tozawa failed at Gable’s commands to cheat, and so did Otis. However, when it looked like Sami was going to go for the Helluva Kick, Otise jumped on the apron and decked Zayn with a Clothesline before Master Gable hit the Chaos Theory to score the big win! Not only was this good storytelling, but this gives Chad a much-needed victory which will serve him well down the line.
Grade: B-
Bron Breakker Wrestles, Iyo Sky VS Lyra Valkyria: Queen of the Ring Semi-Final, The Awesome Truth VS The Judgment Day: World Tag Team Championships
We got a cool video promo from Iyo Sky before Jackie Redmond tried to talk to Alpha Academy. However, that was soon interrupted as Cruz Del Toro had been attacked in the background. I feel sorry for him and Joaquin Wilde, I really do. Bron Breakker then wrestled his first match on Raw since the Draft as he took on NXT’s Kale Dixon. Bron straight away floored Dixon with a Spear before he hit a ginormous one on the outside. This ultimately led to the referee throwing the match out (for some unknown reason) before Breakker delivered a third Spear! However, the former 2-time NXT Champion wasn’t done here as Breakker smashed a steel chair onto Kale’s head whilst on the steps in a moment a little bit like what happened to Von Wagner last year. Firstly, this is how you make someone feel scary, but most importantly, a big deal. Bron Breakker absolutely wrecked this guy, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Grade: B
We saw Kale Dixon being stretched into an ambulance as Kiana James offered to help. Adam Pearce then shouted at Bron Breakker before Bron made it clear that this was on Raw’s General Manager. Lyra Valkyria was then hyped up by Becky Lynch before it was time for Lyra to take on Iyo Sky in a Queen of the Ring Semi-Final. Both of these women are former NXT Women’s Champions and they got plenty of time to show why here. Iyo is probably the best women’s wrestler in the world (she has been for years) and Lyra has definitely showed out since moving up to the Main Roster. I also thought that was the case here as this was a good and competitive contest where the winner was very unclear. In the end, it was a roll-up that separated them in favour of Valkyria before The Morgen made it clear that she will be crowned Queen this Saturday!
Grade: B-
R-Truth was annoying Pete Dunne backstage before Ilja Dragunov wanted to address Gunther. However, Ricochet then appeared to talk nonsense again before he got Speared into a crate by Bron Breakker! This was literally out of nowhere, and it was so damn cool! Gunther then cut a great promo explaining why he’s going to become King of the Ring before Damian Priest hyped up The Judgment Day backstage. Interestingly, Finn Balor made it clear to Priest that he wishes it had been them teaming up tonight. There’s definitely something going on here! Baron Corbin then played some Bowling because why not before Sonya Deville made her return to WWE TV to offer some advice to Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark. However, Shayna wanted none of it! It was then Championship time as The Awesome Truth put their World Tag Team Championships on the line against The Judgment Day’s Finn Balor and JD McDonagh. This was a decent contest, with Finn and JD doing most of the good wrestling, but to be fair to R-Truth, his hot tags are always pretty fun! Interestingly, Carlito then arrived to try and aid The Judgment Day in their quest to recapture Tag Team Gold, and it was going pretty well up until Braun Strowman’s music hit! Braun then floored Carlito into the barricade before he chased McDonagh into the ring, allowing Truth to hit the AA to score the 3 count. This was all totally fine.
Grade: C+
Liv Morgan Interrupts Becky Lynch, Damage CTRL VS Katana Chance and Kayden Carter VS Ivy Nile and Maxxine Dupri VS Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark: WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships Number 1 Contender’s Fatal 4-Way
Lyra Valkyria got met with a punch from Liv Morgan backstage before Bronson Reed made his intentions clear to Sami Zayn. Otis then appeared and apologised to Sami before Zayn made a reference to his Bloodline run by saying “The sooner you listen to them (the crowd), the better!” This was really good stuff! Becky Lynch then arrived to cut a promo, but she was very quickly interrupted by Liv Morgan. Liv and Becky both went back and forth here as they tried to get under each other’s skin, and it ultimately ended with Morgan just walking off. To be honest, I haven’t been at all impressed by this feud.
Grade: C
Damian Priest was furious with The Judgment Day backstage and this seemed to really break Finn Balor’s heart. I’m not kidding, but this Priest and Balor dynamic is wonderful at the minute! The New Day then celebrated Xavier Woods being cleared (funny how that works) before Karrion Kross arrived to once again make things uneasy. I’m really enjoying Kross’ work at the moment! It was then time for a Number 1 Contender’s Match as Damage CTRL, Katana Chance and Kayden Carter, Ivy Nile and Maxxine Dupri, and Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark clashed for the opportunity to fight for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. This was a decent match, I thought the KC’S looked good (no surprise), and Damage CTRL are always a lot of fun. Maxxine Dupri also looked decent here, but the problem I have with these matches is when there are only two legal superstars, there’s just way too much going on to actual know who’s legal. This actually seemed to confuse a few people, but in the end, it was the team of Shayna and Zoey who scored the win with a nice double team. I’d honestly have them win, but that’s just me.
Grade: C+
Ludwig Kaiser trash-talked Sheamus backstage for the second straight week before Drew McIntyre cut his own promo on both Jey Uso and Adam Pearce. Drew then turned his attention to Damian Priest, saying he will beat the “Paper Champion” sooner rather than later. Chad Gable was then talking to The Creed Brothers in an interesting moment to keep an eye on before Otis told Gable that he’d gone and apologised to Sami Zayn. Whilst Chad was annoyed at first, Master Gable realised that this is a genius strategy and was proud of his Number 1 Guy. These guys are awesome right now. Also, Sonya Deville was seen talking to both Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark again in the background, and it’s just nice to see Sonya back on tele as she’s really good!
King of the Ring Semi-Final: Gunther VS Jey Uso
And in the Main Event, Gunther and Jey Uso collided in a King of the Ring Semi-Final. This match got a good amount of time, and the word “good” is a good way to describe this. Gunther never has bad matches, and Jey’s Uso character fits the Main Event seen. However, what stopped this match from being great is the fact that Jey is limited as a singles competitor, and Gunther really exposed that here. However, I did really like the ending as a sort-of Ref Bump meant The Ring General was able to kick out following an Uso Splash before Gunther made Jey pass out in a submission to book his ticket to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia! I didn’t expect Gunther to win here, so that was a good surprise.
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