Jey Uso Starts the Show, Rey Mysterio VS Xavier Woods
After a recap of last week’s Main Event, this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw kicked off with “Main Event” Jey Uso making his way down to the ring to celebrate his Intercontinental Championship victory! You could tell that Jey was a bit flustered, that the emotions were getting to him, but I honestly have no issue with that because it shows just how much the IC Champ cares! Bron Breakker then arrived to interrupt proceedings, but instead of doing his usual stick, Bron was quite polite to Uso before the two men shook hands to end the segment! There isn’t really much to say about this segment, it was just a nice moment for Jey.
Grade: C+
After The Judgment Day were shown talking outside as Finn Balor confirmed that he had “travel issues”, the opening match of the night saw Rey Mysterio take on Xavier Woods. This was a fine match, nothing too much to note in terms of the action, but I will say that Rey made a couple of mistakes which didn’t help the flow of things. One thing I did like though was the story as Xavier Woods “accidentally” ripped Mysterio’s mask off before Woods took advantage to win with the roll-up! Rey Mysterio wasn’t at all impressed after the match, but Xavier Woods was right to ask “What was I supposed to do?”
Grade: C+
Lyra Valkyria VS Zoey Stark, CM Punk and Drew McIntyre Meet Inside Hell in a Cell, The Judgment Day VS The LWO
Sonya Deville tried to intimidate Lyra Valkyria in the back before we got another video teasing the return of The Viking Raiders! Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston then had a conversation where Kofi told Woods that he (Xavier) has a shot at Jey Uso’s Intercontinental Championship next week! It was then time for the first women’s match of the night as Lyra Valkyria clashed with Zoey Stark! This was totally fine for what it was, both women are talented in-ring competitors, but as always with Heel factions, the focus was more on the outside. See, after Shayna Baszler distracted the referee to cost Lyra a 3 count, Sonya Deville nailed Valkyria with a knee before Zoey hit the Z360 to score the victory. After the match, Katana Chance and Kayden Carter made their returns to TV to even the odds against Pure Fusion Collective!
Grade: C+
Katana Chance and Kayden Carter got into a fiery exchange with Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn backstage before both CM Punk and Drew McIntyre headed inside Hell in a Cell for their final promo battle! Drew made it clear that he hates CM Punk, and in fact, Punk is actually the person who taught him how to hate! The Best in the World then fired back by saying that he will send McIntyre back to Scotland “in a box”, and the segment ended with the usual “I’ll see you in Hell” line! I thought Drew’s promo was pretty good here, he actually said some new stuff, but the rest of it was what we’ve seen/heard before. This feud is definetly not as hot as it was before Summerslam, but their match this Saturday is still the biggest on the show!
Grade: B-
The Miz tried to talk to Braun Strowman about his actions last week, but he was stopped by the returning R-Truth who confirmed to The Miz that he’d got them a match against AOP! Sami Zayn then talked about how he feels that Gunther is scared of him before The Judgment Day headed down to the ring to take on The LWO. The LWO are so good at what they do, they’re very entertaining to watch, and it’s just an all-round good time. However, I’ve seen these lot fight with Dominik Mysterio and The Judgment Day to the point where it’s not fun anymore because it’s just the same thing over and over again! Also, The JD couldn’t even win this one clean as interference from Finn Balor allowed JD McDonagh to win with the Devil Inside. After the match, Finn Balor and Liv Morgan cut promos about how they’re both going to win on Saturday before Rhea Ripley arrived to beat up Dominik Mysterio as Damian Priest attacked the other members of The Judgment Day. However, this plan didn’t exactly work as Rhea and Liv brawled off camera whilst Balor delivered another 3 Coup de Grace’s to Priest! Hmm, interesting!
Grade: C+ (Overall)
Chad Gable VS Kofi Kingston, Gunther Promo, The Authors of Pain VS The Awesome Truth
Sheamus challenged Pete Dunne to a “Good old fashioned Donnybrook Match” before Damage CTRL issued a challenge to Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships! Kofi Kingston was then heading down to the ring to go one-on-one with Chad Gable. This was a pretty even contest, maybe Kofi just edged it, but it wasn’t crystal clear which man was going to walk away as the victor. It was also a mess on the outside as Kingston and Xavier Woods wiped out the rest of American Made, but a strange moment where Woods tried to trip Gable up ultimately led to Master Gable hitting Chaos Theory to score a massive victory! Kofi Kingston wasn’t at all pleased!
Grade: C+
Bronson Reed said he hopes Seth “Freakin” Rollins returns soon so he can take him out for good before we got another new video for The Wyatt Sick6. Gunther was then out next as the World Heavyweight Champion had some things to address. Gunther’s arrival was quickly met by the music of Sami Zayn who called the World Heavyweight Champion a coward for not giving him a shot at the Gold. Gunther then had an interesting line about how Sami ruined his reputation a little at WrestleMania, and about how his dad wasn’t at all impressed. Zayn then once again called Gunther a coward which is when The Ring General struck before finally, Gunther agreed to face Sami Zayn next week!
Grade: B-
We then headed straight into a Tag Team Match as The Awesome Truth returned to take on The Authors of Pain. R-Truth did all his usual John Cena moves to take down Akam and Rezar, but after a hot tag to The Miz, Miz just wiped Truth out with a kick before AOP delivered their finishing move to get the win. I kind of assumed they were going to split The Awesome Truth up a few months ago, and I have no issue with it whatsoever! Also, it’s yet another example of Karrion Kross’ mind games working!
Grade: C+
Bronson Reed VS Braun Strowman: Last Monster Standing
After an interesting interaction between Gunther and Bron Breakker backstage, it was Main Event time as Bronson Reed and Braun Strowman collided in a gargantuan “Last Monster Standing” Match! This match got a lot of time, had two commercial breaks, and a lot went on! Braun sent Bronson through the announce table after literally 2 minutes, and Reed got him back later on by delivering a Death Valley Driver off of a crate onto two tables! The two then brawled at ringside which resulted in not only the barricade breaking, but also the one behind it which took out some of the fans on the front row! This led to the referee and security getting distracted trying to sort everything out, and this cost Bronson Reed as he would’ve won the match following 2 Tsunamis! Reed then put his hands on both the ref and Adam Pearce before Braun Strowman wiped everyone out with a crazy dive! We then got a ring break which is always exciting, and then, in what was a genuine surprise, Seth “Freakin” Rollins made his return and delivered a Stomp to Reed onto the steel steps which allowed Strowman to get up and be known as the “Last Monster Standing”! This was a really fun match, it was chaotic in a good way, and the ending was also a cool surprise. However, I don’t think Bronson Reed losing here was the right call, even if he was protected in defeat.
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