WWE did not let off the gas on Monday Night Raw which continued their tremendous momentum after a very successful Bash in Berlin event in Germany. Triple H has had the wind at his back all year in 2024, and WWE is wisely not resting after successful weekends overseas. Acceleration toward the next PLE event, Bad Blood was underway on this week’s episode even if it wasn’t mentioned by name.
Punk Challenges Gunther but Drew has Other Plans
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CM Punk challenged Gunther and was setting his sights next on the World Heavyweight Championship. The “best in the world” celebrated his decisive win over Drew McIntyre at Bash in Berlin and stated that McIntyre was clearly in his rearview. Punk showed his recently retrieved bracelet and gave his usual energized promo.
Shortly after Punk exited the ring, he was attacked by a hoodie-wearing Drew McIntyre in a very brutal and focused attack on Punk’s head. Specifically, bouncing his noggin off of the announce table like a ball. The Scottish Psychopath returned a destroyed Punk to the ring and delivered a face-smashing claymore kick. Drew then took the bracelet, destroyed it, and shoved the beads into the mouth of the downed Punk! This was intense and this feud is not over, to say the least.
Monday Night Raw’s Intercontinental Monster
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“Big” Bronson Reed was not medically cleared after last week’s destruction of Braun Strowman. Complete destruction? Perhaps not, as Strowman showed up backstage in front of Adam Pearce demanding that he be put into the triple-threat match to determine advancement in the number one contender tourney for the Intercontinental Championship since Reed was not available.
The monster of all monsters made Seamus and Ludwig Kaiser look great, in part due to his vulnerability from the injuries he suffered last week. Seamus was on a roll in this match, but Pete Dunne again showed up to bully Seamus. Strowman with a running power slam on Kaiser to advance.
Curious to if WWE was planning on Reed winning this one, but was forced to go with Strowman due to Reed’s absence.
Priest and Uso over their Bad Blood?
After making the save for Rhea in the show’s opening, Damian Priest vowed that he would get his hands on Judgment Day and that he was going to see Adam Pearce. Finn Balor had said he would only face Priest in a tag-team match. Ripley told Priest that she knew just who to get…and that turned out to be Jey Uso! Could Priest and Uso work together, given their rivalry from a few months ago?
This match was slotted for the main event at the end of the night and brought main event caliber action with the typical Judgment Day extracurriculars. The match saw the faces go over but also demonstrated that Priest and Uso are just a bit better than Balor and JD McDonagh. The win could build the story that Priest and Uso should now be considered the number one contenders for the tag titles, but Priest just wants revenge.
Additional Highlights
Rhea Ripley opens the show: Rhea opens the show and declares that she and Damian Priest are not done destroying Judgment Day, but that they are just getting started. Dominik Mysterio interrupts the promo to distract Ripley from Liv Morgan’s sneak attack. Ripley was caught in the ropes, hanging upside down only suspended by her ankle. This looked painful and was done well to delay the inevitable meeting between Ripley and Morgan, but also to set up a match for Priest for later in the night.
Damage CTRL vs. The Unholy Union: Jade Cargill and Binaca Belair were watching this match from the ringside after their celebration of winning the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles. Kairi Sane and Iyo Sky were perhaps poised to win this match, but the addition of Cargill and Belair provided enough distraction for Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn to get the win. Cargill laid out Sane for revenge after an errant dive caught Belair.
Sammy Zane Challenges Gunther: Sammy Zane reminded Gunther that he was the only one on the roster that was able to best him, and that was for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania. Zane told Gunther that deep down Gunther knows that he can’t beat him. This was executed perfectly for a promo segment and it makes a lot of sense. Zane is a natural challenger to Gunther, due to their recent history.
WWE Raw Review
American Made vs. Alpha Academy: B+
Otis was the star of this match until the end and the focus shifted to the upcoming 8-person tag with Wyatt Sicks. American Made needed to win this contest for it to make any sense for a continuing feud with the Wyatt clan. The pit bull Ivy Nile won dominantly using a Dragon Sleeper, but these matches take everyone to succeed. The announcement of an 8-person tag against the Wyatt Sicks next week was a great bonus. Highly entertaining.
Damage CTRL vs. The Unholy Union: B-
The Unholy Union is getting rewarded for their hard work. They have either been the tag champions or are in contention. This match was made more for the tension building between Damage CTRL and the new champions, but Fyre and Dawn get to benefit and are again number one contenders.
McIntyre vs. Punk Build: A+
The Scottish Psychopath looked like he turned his intensity up to maximum. Did any of us know that he had another level? This attack on the Second City Saint was on a different level than all of the weeks before tonight’s episode. This is surely the initiation of their Bad Blood program and was extra insulting to Punk, who had taken his eyes off of McIntyre. This also keeps both men from pursuing the World title for now.
Braun Strowman vs. Seamus vs Ludwig Kaiser: B
Pete Dunne is everywhere lately and also intervened in this match. The attack by the bruiserweight wasn’t the main story but gave them out for Seamus to not be pinned and this can continue the mini-program. Kaiser showed as usual, but Strowman was too much. The monster of all monsters displayed dominance in the match’s finale. Strowman qualified for next week’s fatal four-way to finally determine the number one contender for the IC title.
Ilja Dragunov vs. Dragon Lee vs Dominik Mysterio: B+
The other match to determine who advances to next week’s finale in the IC number one contender’s hunt was plagued by interference, as we knew it would be since Judgement Day cannot resist. Carlito attempted to help Mysterio, but Damian Priest ran both of them off, which left Dragunov one-on-one with Lee. Dragunov with an earned victory advances in the tournament and will be facing Strowman, Uso, and Dunne.
Shayna Baszler vs. Zelina Vega: C-
This match did nothing except give The Pure Fusion Collective and Vega screen time. As predicted, Baszler won this contest. One has to ask, what is WWE going to do with this faction? It either needs to build toward tag team gold or make a run at Liv Morgan. Everything else would just be more of the same, a flavor familiar…and somewhat bland.
Jey Uso and Damian Priest vs. Judgment Day: B
Again we know what type of action a Judgment Day match will give us, but the booking keeps it feeling fresh every time. How do they do this? The addition of Uso in this contest helped and is beginning to build for more of his involvement with Ripley and Judgment Day, even though Uso also has a program forming with Bron Breakker. Perhaps this can kick the World Tag Team titles back to the forefront of Priest’s feud?
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