The last 3-hourWWEMonday Night Rawof 2024 took place in Evansville, Indiana. It’s a big week on Raw and the go-home show for Bad Blood featured CM Punk and Drew McIntyre involved in verbal combat inside Hell In A Cell, while Braun Strowman won the Last Monster Standing match thanks to Seth Rollins returning to attack Bronson Reed.Gunther will finally face Sami Zaynfor the World Heavyweight Championship on next week’s Raw, finally giving into Sami’s requests.
Speaking of Champions, new Intercontinental Champion Jey Uso was congratulated sincerely by Bron Breakker as part of a face turn and R-Truth returned,only for The Miz to turn on himand leave him beaten in the ring. Zoey Stark defeated Lyra Valkyria and The Judgment Day overcame the LWO before laying another beatdown on Damian Priest. It was also a big week for Xavier Woods, who defeated Rey Mysterio after pulling his mask off, and will face Jey Uso for the Intercontinental title next week.
Bron Breakker
A glimpse into the long-term future of Bron Breakker
It’s easy to forget thatBron Breakker spent his first few years as one of NXT’s biggest-ever babyfaces. Despite coming up to the main roster and wreaking havoc as one of Raw’s chief heels, the feeling is thatBron Breakker’s long-term future is surely being one of the lead faces of WWE. His promo congratulating Main Event Jey Uso on being the better man and showing genuine respect and love for the IC title gave us our first glimpse of that future.
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The seed of doubt was there about whether this was going to be Breakker playing possum buthis interaction with Gunther later on in the evening suggests he is now one of Raw’s lead faces. It’s a good creative decision. The dogs have been barking in every city Bron visits,the WWE powers that be are paying attention to that popularity surge and running with it. Let’s see how it plays out.
Xavier Woods
He has finally won…but at what cost?
Scoringa victory over Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio is a hell of a boost to Xavier Woods' resume, but the manner of it was as underhanded as possible. Seemingly accidentally pulling off Mysterio’s mask, he scored a cheap roll-up victory while Rey hid his face in shame.Woods being booed by the crowd after his winis a sign of how people feel about his new direction.
After Kofi Kingston was offered a championship opportunity, his New Day teammate gave up his Intercontinental Championship match in favor ofWoods, who will face Jey Uso for the IC title next week. Woods however thanked Kofi by costing him in his match with Chad Gable by trying to cheat. The New Day used to get exactly the same reaction that Uso enjoys today, being the premier choice of kids everywhere and being cool enough for the adults to join the party. How Woods conducts himself next week will steer The New Day’s popularity moving forward.
Drew McIntyre and CM Punk
The end of the line for the feud of 2024
January 27th, 2024. That’s the date of this year’s Royal Rumble and, over 8 months later,CM Punk and Drew McIntyre will finally end their bitter rivalry this Saturdayat WWE Bad Blood. It is the right moment to call time on this feud. Both men have elevated their respective positions.CM Punk is capable of pulling extreme reactions and bitterness out of anyone, Drew can go toe-to-toe with the best in the WWE in any capacity.
If you hadn’t seen a second of their feud,this segment was enough to convey the hatred in their upcoming match. This isn’t about sporting competition or the road to the World Heavyweight Championship. It’s about hatred. It’s two men willing to take each other to their limits to stand over their opponent’s broken body.Hell In A Cell will let the world know who is the better man.
The Miz
A much-needed change of direction for The Miz
It has been coming. After R-Truth returned to Monday Night Raw earlier in the evening, he volunteered Awesome Truth for a tag team match against Authors Of Pain. And then it happened.The Miz turned heel, dropping R-Truth and leaving him for deadin the ring for AOP to pick up the victory.
After being patronized by Braun Storwman and belittled by Bronson Reed, The Miz has had enough. In truth, The Miz is a much more enjoyable performer when he’s a bad guy. He can do it all, but his complicated relationship with the WWE’s audience makes The Miz more engaging when he’s enraging.
Raw’s Main Event and Seth Rollins
The Last Monster Standing match delivered and then some
For the last six weeks,Monday Night Raw’s main event has been must-see TV. Last week, the Intercontinental Championship changed hands as the world celebrated Jey Uso. Other recent Main Events have included Jey Uso vs Damian Priest and the fatal four-way number one contender’s match for the Intercontinental Championship between Dragunov, Dunne, Reed, and Uso.Bronson Reed vs Braun Strowman more than lived up to those standards.
These two behemoths have been a four-legged Demolition Derby for the last few weeks. Cars, walls, barricades, and tables have been used as props in their physical encounters up to this match. Everything about this was fun. The ring collapsed, Strowman launched himself off of the top rope onto around fifteen men. It all worked and thenSeth Rollins returned to secure victory for Braun Strowman. Bronson Reed had put Rollins on the injured list on August 5th, and The Architect would have his revenge on Reed by curb stomping him onto some steel steps and standing tall at the end of Raw.
The Judgment Day vs The Terror Twins
A lot of people who need new things to do
For the majority of this year,the inner turmoil of The Judgment Day has proven entertaining television. Liv Morgan replacing Rhea Ripley has been seamless. Finn Balor and Damian Priest have been locking horns while they were faction members together and now Priest has gone solo. It feels like this rivalry has been treading water for a few weeks.
Maybe Rhea’s injury has taken its toll, perhaps it’s just the storyline reaching its natural conclusion, but tonight’s Judgment Day vs LWO match and giving Priest another beat down in the aftermath felt stale. Both Rhea vs Liv and Finn vs Priest are sure to be incredible this weekend. However,all parties will benefit from new focus on next week’s Raw.
