Whenever WWE teases us with an opening to a show with an extended period of no commercial breaks, you know things are about to cook. And cook they did on Monday’s episode of “WWE Raw.”
Sure, it was our first post-Survivor Series action, but if anything, the anticipation was for The New Day 10-year celebration that’s been repeatedly previewed to us. And … wow. All there is to say is wow.
Let’s talk about it.
The swerve of all swerves.
There was zero chance Big E wasn’t going to be on this show and reflect on the greatest of times with his historic team and best pals. It drew comparisons to Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho’s “Festival of Friendship” back in the day, and we all know how that ended. Brilliantly executed betrayal.
This was even better.
The entire stage was set to either implode between these three men, or have the biggest, happiest best buds moments you could think of, because that’s what these guys are and the world knows it.
Instead, we got both.
Big E interrupted at the perfectly timed tones of Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods nearly — officially —breaking up. The important moments of the past were reflected upon, emotions were felt, and Big E announced not to worry, it’s all good, he’ll return as the manager of his boys.
There’s no reason this couldn’t have happened sooner. But that’s the thing. And the duo let him know it.
Woods and Kofi swiftly told the former WWE champion that he left them. To hear Kofi offer a “So what?” at Big E breaking his neck was an absolutely wild line, all before making even further comparisons to Edge, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Kurt Angle still working after their neck breaks.
They were pissed at their longtime partner and friend’s sudden selfishness. It’s an absurd route to take, but you understood their perspectives and what the group stood for as they shamed E out of the ring.
The big man brought The New Day back together, but they completely turned on him and their good-guy face ways.
This. Was. Cinema.
An injection of life couldn’t have been critical for the legendary stable. Now they have it, and I couldn’t be more fascinated to see where it goes next.
Intertwining grudges like no other
The New Day segment is the winner of all winners for the foreseeable future. But the night opened pretty damn strong as well.
CM Punk was ready to declare he’d finally pick up where he left off, pursuing the World Heavyweight Championship before his injury woes. That, of course, prompted an angry Seth Rollins interruption and beatdown that beautifully, and somewhat surprisingly, bled into an exchange of words with Sami Zayn.
Rollins’ hatred of Punk is really playing the long game and I have my theories about where we’re headed in early 2025. You all will have to wait until our latest Uncrowned get-together for that chatter though.
But the best part of Monday’s “WWE Raw” opener came between Rollins and Zayn, who essentially argued over the creation of Roman’s reign of terror. (See what I did there?) We’re talking callbacks to Rollins’ infamous Shield-separating chair shot countered by Zayn’s own chair-wielding moment in rebellion against Reigns throughout The Bloodline saga.
I will say, Zayn’s inclusion in this whole thing has always felt super random to me and WWE made it work despite that. That deserves massive props, but it’s funny to look at in hindsight, and Rollins comes off as the most realistic and understanding guy out of everyone here — excluding his Punk hatred, even if that has reasoning behind it.
So, what better way to blow off steam? A match.
Rollins vs. Zayn was unsurprisingly fun while it lasted. They flowed well together and you could tell Zayn was feeling it with his excellent character work. In the end, those good old emotions cost him when they came full circle with the chair talk as he wanted to bash Rollins but couldn’t.
This was a nothing-match in the grand scheme. It set up storylines within storylines within storylines, while maybe adding on another storyline. Hence the return of Drew McIntyre and his foot to Zayn’s face.
Poor guy. He’s just trying to make everyone get along.
This might be too much crossover storytelling for me, but McIntyre being the bitter S.O.B. he rightfully should be — and has been playing masterfully — makes plenty of sense. I’ll see where it goes.
Get over it, girl
As good as those two portions of the show were, we still got some prolonged nonsense.
Damage CTRL’s Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane took on Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. They felt understandably tired from Saturday’s WarGames match and it just wasn’t great. If anything, it made me wish Kairi was in the WarGames match over Bayley, who was the most pointless replacement for Jade Cargill.
Raquel won over Kairi with the Tejana Bomb relatively quickly and she and Liv continued beating the duo up afterward. Can you guess what happened next? Of course, Rhea Ripley made the save — then got thrown eyeball-first into the corner of the table. Ouch.
The big problem here is the awesome perpetually dominant force in Ripley feeling like the sour ex-girlfriend who just cannot let this all go. Sure, she’s helping her recent partner in a violent match, but at some point it has to end, man. Ripley is destroying the champion at every turn now without holding the belt herself. It’s not interesting anymore.
We still love “Mami.” That’s why we need to change it up. Please don’t ruin her again.
👊 BEATDOWN OF THE NIGHT
Gunther vs. Dominick Mysterio. Talk about an old-school Bob Holly-type rookie welcome party.
Getting to this match was hilarious thanks to Finn Balor’s request to the World Heavyweight Champion for his own match. Balor got his wish by the night’s end and they’ll tango at Saturday Night’s Main Event. However, the writing is clearly on the wall that Dom will turn on Balor to cost him his match.
Gunther smashed and chopped Dom around the ring for the majority of this one and literally patted him on the head like a child at one point. They worked well from a comedic sense, but the flow was a bit off at times. Not that it was supposed to be there, but sheesh did Dom take a nasty Powerbomb to close the match.
The match’s close with Balor’s beatdown and scolding of his Judgment Day lackie was a good appetizer to what is hopefully a transition away from this group for Gunther.
👍 WINNING 👍
1. One more time, they have to get a second mention. Woods and Kofi’s heel work is surprisingly exceptional. Woods in particular, but these guys have something here. I mean, Kofi dropped a “bros before hoes” type line on Big E when they put their former friend down. Insanity.
2. Ludwig Kaiser and Bron Breakker work great on their own and even better together. Bron pointing out the classic “I wasn’t pinned” in a triple-threat match troupe was excellent. We all know it’s the easiest excuse in the book and we’ll see these guys go at it again, which we should all be thankful for.
3. Dakota Kai actually won her triple-threat Intercontinental title eliminator vs. Shayna Baszler and Katana Chance. They sold me a couple of times there, making me worry they wasted that previous vignette and push tease. But no. The push begins. Good for her.
4. The announce table corner is taking names these days. They’re going to put a belt on that thing sooner rather than later.
5. Dom did some mime work in the background before his beatdown. He works so well in these little annoying ways, and for a moment, I was kind of curious if they’d sneak him the win over Gunther. Nonetheless, he’s entertainment.
👎 LOSING 👎
1. Pete Dunne has been ruined. I’m worried there may not be any coming back from that stupid Butch gimmick.
The former NXT staple was made to look like a clown with the crowd chanting between his names and that’s now his gimmick. The name argument guy. “I’m this, not that!” Dude. Awful. Terrible. Stupid. I hate it. And then he gets rolled up for the loss. He even got trolled by Cathy Kelley, for crying out loud.
Dunne’s one of the best in the world and he’s been wasted and relegated to this. Lame, man.
2. There was a pretty rough rope maneuver botch from Iyo to Raquel in their match. It was a tough scene out there and another reason to break all these wrestlers away from each other.
3. Karrion Kross got a video package reflecting on last week and warning The Wyatt Sicks. Talk about a WarGames miss with this whole thing. It’s been dragged out. Hopefully, it ends with their eight-man tag match next week.
👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑
This was a tough show to give our crown to. We have to stay consistent though. Rollins is being — and has been — too reasonable for me to not admire.
He’s a main event player with his ability to have many cookie jars to choose from, and the flavors are all different but slightly similar enough to enjoy. I think we’re at the point where no matter where his future heads, it’ll be good. And if it’s what I hope it is — there’s your tease again — it’s going to be awesome.
👑 I give this show a Crown score of 7.5/10. 👑