The New Day Start the Show, Chad Gable VS Otis
The final-ever Monday Night Raw on the USA Network kicked off with The New Day as they again failed to explain anything due to the crowd booing them out of the building! Jey Uso then arrived to say that “New Day Sucks” before Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods walked off as Drew McIntyre arrived to take out “Main Event” Jey Uso! Officials ran down to stop things from escalating, but as always, they were useless as McIntyre floored Uso with a Claymore to end the segment! Not much happened here at all!
Grade: C
It was then time for the first match of the night as Chad Gable clashed with Otis! Honestly, this match should’ve happened like 5 months ago, but the crowd were still into it, and the Wrestling itself was strong! Otis is such a terrific Babyface, definitely one of the best in the business whilst Chad Gable is just a terrific Pro Wrestler! There were also a lot of shenanigans ringside involving the rest of Alpha Academy and American Made before Master Gable eventually forced Otise to tap after cinching in the Ankle Lock!
Grade: B-
Women’s Intercontinental Championship Tournament (Semi-Finals): Dakota Kai VS Zoey Stark, The War Raiders and Damian Priest VS The Judgment Day
We got a video package hyping up next week’s Women’s World Championship clash between Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley before The Judgment Day were once again being passive-aggressive in the Clubhouse! R-Truth then made his way to the ring, only to get laid out by Pete Dunne before a backstage promo involving Damage CTRL led to the first Semi-Final in the Women’s Intercontinental Championship Tournament as Dakota Kai went one-on-one with Zoey Stark! In my opinion, this was the best match of the night, certainly in-ring-wise! The crowd didn’t really seem to care all that much, but they got into it purely based on how good the action was! I rate both Dakota Kai and Zoey Stark highly, I think they would both do well as Women’s IC Champion, but in the end, it was DK who hit her finisher first to pin Zoey to advance to the Final!
Grade: B
We got a video package highlighting the best moments from Raw on the USA Network before Damian Priest and The War Raiders teamed up to take on The Judgment Day! Firstly, The Judgment Day have changed their music which all but ends any coolness they had, and they just got completely destroyed here! Granted, Erik, Ivar, and Damian Priest are all great so it’s fair enough, but Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, and especially JD McDonagh were made to look awful! In the end, Priest picked up the win with a nice spinning slam before Balor took out the knee post-match! Just end all of this, please!
Grade: C+
Sheamus Interrupts Ludwig Kaiser, Iyo Sky VS Lyra Valkyria: Women’s Intercontinental Championship Tournament (Semi-Finals)
Jey Uso had a chat with Adam Pearce backstage which resulted in Pearce giving Jey a match with Drew McIntyre next week before Ludwig Kaiser was in the ring to demand respect and gratitude! Ludwig called out Bron Breakker, only for Sheamus to arrive and drop Kaiser with a Brogue Kick to end the segment! Kaiser-Sheamus is a feud that has been going on for an awful long time now, so it really needs to end in the next 14 days!
Grade: C (I have no idea what to give this)
Rey Mysterio was hyping up Otis backstage before The New Day walked over to talk trash! This ultimately set up a match between The New Day and The LWO for later down the line before it was time for the final Main Event match for Raw on the USA Network as Iyo Sky and Lyra Valkyria clashed for a spot in the Women’s Intercontinental Championship Tournament Final! This was another good match, the Wrestling on this show was really strong, and it’s another showcase of why Iyo Sky is the Best Women’s Wrestler in the World! Also, Lyra Valkyria is very good, and I honestly think WWE would be silly not to give Lyra Gold in 2025! In fact, that could happen in just 2 weeks as, after a couple of really good near-falls, Valkyria managed to get a unique pin in on Sky to get the win and book her ticket to a Final date with Dakota Kai! I joke about Lyra Valkyria’s gimmick being that she keeps finishing second, but it might actually be true!
Grade: B-
CM Punk and Seth “Freakin” Rollins Come Face-to-Face
After a great video package highlighting Tribal Combat between Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa next week, the final segment of Raw in 2024 saw CM Punk and Seth “Freakin” Rollins Come Face-to-Face! As always with these two, it was very personal, with Punk mentioning the fact that Becky Lynch hasn’t been around recently whilst Seth took a shot at the fact that Punk isn’t a Father! CM Punk then said that he’s going to “throw” all the arrows that have been thrown at him back at Seth Rollins whilst Rollins ended the segment by saying he was going to burn Punk “into the ground”! This was really, really well done, and mainly because it felt real which isn’t the first time we’ve said that in a segment that involves these too! Punk-Rollins next week is the perfect headline for Raw’s first show on Netflix, and it’s going to be fascinating!
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