The New Day’s 10th Anniversary on WWE RAW Turns Heel

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RAW was in Everett, Washington (64th venue sellout of the year) tonight for the ‘show after’ Survivor Series: WARGAMES. With the countdown to ‘RAW on NETFLIX’ beginning in five weeks, these final few episodes on USA have the feel of a QB ready to begin a set of kneel-downs to kill-out the clock.

Still, with CM Punk expected to begin the show and New Day’s 10th anniversary highlighting the show, there is plenty of excitement to come in the show.

Punk’s Point Is To Point

CM Punk came out fairly proud of himself following the events of Survivor Series in Vancouver. Not only did he play a major physical role in overcoming the Solo-led Bloodline, but he also positioned himself strategically with the advisor of Roman Reigns and his friend, Paul Heyman. Punk did not flat-out say what his favor would be or whether he just knew a ‘favor’ couldn’t hurt his ultimate goal. His ultimate goal? WrestleMania.

Punk pointed to the vacant spot in the rafters where the Mania sign hangs every show following the Rumble. He even referenced ‘finishing his own story’ in a reference to Cody. The line could be taken as a hint of chasing THE title in WWE, but it could also have been a Freudian slip of the jealousy he feels towards Cody’s accomplishments— at least, that’s how it played. Seth Rollins came out to admit he regrets not knocking out Punk a year ago when he returned at the final PLE of 2023. The two bickered for a while before they scuffled. That brought out Jey Uso and Sami Zayn to separate both men.

Punk masterfully was able to relent from the heat by allowing the tension between Seth and Sami to steal the narrative. Sami and Seth hurled accusations (mostly true) against one another before a match was made between the two for the main event.

Jey Gets Attacked

Jey was attacked backstage, and Sami blamed Seth for it—adding a new personal motivation to their match.

Main Event: Seth Rollins vs. Sami Zayn

This was an incredible match to book as the main event ‘aftermath’ show following the PLE. These two represent the best of the roster’s 5-tool players pitted against one another. Commentary called the feud “manufactured hatred,” alluding to the idea that may further the ‘toxic Punk’ narrative.

The match underscored how far Sami has come, and he is competing on Seth’s level and receiving some of the loudest crowd pops. The TV limitations could have held this match back, but sub-plots involving Jey and Punk made this more segment than match as Sami beat on Seth while yelling at him, “I know it was you [that attacked Jey].’

Sami admitted that he was not fond of teaming with Punk at the beginning of the episode, but he seemed to change his tune towards him after successfully teaming with him the night before, but when he had a chair in his hand ready to make Seth pay, “Monday Night Rollins” accused Punk—a concept that Sami never seemed to consider until that moment. Sami got rid of the chair and Seth used the opportunity to pull off the rollup victory on Sami.

After the match, Seth tried to further his case about Punk to Sami, and he just sat in the middle of the ring, confused as Seth walked back to Gorilla. That is when Drew McIntyre jumped into the ring to attack Sami. It is not clear whether Drew is responsible for Jey’s attack, but it seems likely. This was the first we’ve seen of Drew since his loss to Punk at HITC.

Feliz Navi-Dom

Gunther confronted Finn Balor backstage about why he had interfered with his Survivor Series title defense against Damian Priest. Balor, who believed Gunther should be grateful for his help, was expecting a shot at Gunther’s title to show his gratitude. Instead, Gunther was upset, and then he threw the fact that Dom has beaten Priest in singles action and Finn has not.

Balor was not happy with that comment, and he was guilty of trolling Dom in front of Liv and the rest of Judgement Day. Gunther decided to troll Finn further by requesting a match with Dom.

Dom attempted to use all the dirty tactics at his disposal, but it was not enough for Gunther, who finished ESPN’s #1 ‘wrestler under 30’ with a powerbomb into a stacked pinfall victory. Finn would come out after the match to attack Gunther, audibly claiming that Dom should ‘watch how it’s done.’ Finn appears next up for Gunther, and the aggressiveness of his character continues to raise the bar while it feels like he is clashing more and more with Liv—the unofficial leader of Judgement Day by all accounts. Balor was given a title shot as the main event at Saturday Night’s Main Event against Gunther. Interestingly, Pearce said that they would talk about Finn’s tag titles next week.

New Day 10th Anniversary

We were here to celebrate and commemorate The New Day, at least according to RAW GM Adam Pearce, who announced both Kofi and Woods. The stage was set with lore from their decade-long run, complete with 12 tag team title wins spanning both WWE and NXT. The entire segment felt lacking from the jump without Big E because it did not feel authentic without such a ‘big’ part of this faction. Woods spoke first after a united New Day chant from both, and then Kofi

Woods went on to say they had an announcement, one that was ‘not the fans’ fault’ as if Mom and Dad were sitting us down to tell us we’re having ‘separate family holidays’ from now on—setting up the ‘breakup announcement’ that fans have speculated over for months. That is when Big E’s original entrance music hit, and the trio was finally whole once again on WWE TV. Big E expressed how difficult it has been for him to see his two best friends bicker and argue each week before taking a stroll down memory lane with the two—including reminding Woods of how the two of them were very close to losing their jobs with the company. His speech was impassioned, and it was made clear in an instant what aspect of the New Day that’s been missing.

“Until I am medically cleared to return to this ring, I am going to remind the two of you exactly who you are,” Big E claimed. “I’ll be here every single week to serve as your manager.” The bombshell of Big E, even admitting he had hoped to return to the ring, felt good enough, but returning in a roll was big enough to have the crowd chanting “New Day Rocks.”

Woods snapped back, “Now?” before claiming E “left them,’ a sentiment that Kofi echoed before using Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle as examples of guys that have broken their necks and came back despite not having anyone ‘waiting for them.’ The two New Day members claimed that if he cared for them, he would have returned for them—even throwing his new girlfriend and desk job over them. Woods referred to Big E as a ‘burden’ because of how much they are constantly reminded by fans who ask about him.

“You chose yourself over us,” Kofi said. Then Woods put the dagger in Big E’s chest by claiming he’d ‘never be cleared’ and to ‘stop kidding the fans.’ The double turn was in, but Big E, off-mic, said he wouldn’t throw this friendship away as he extended his arms before being rebuked by Kofi. The fans were so heartbroken that they started an impromptu “Big-E-Rocks” chant in the same cadence as the “New-Day-Rocks” anthem famous for a decade. Woods and Kofi embraced hands in the middle of the ring, “Over the Top” style, and Big E walked to the back, stunned with emotion.

Mario Mungia

Mario Mungia Jr. has a decade worth of experience as a combat sports journalist and correspondent which began with ThaBoxingVoice (TBV) as a podcast co-host, writer and editor-in-chief. Aside from his online resume, Mario spent a fair portion of his early career working for Spanish/English magazine Premier Round and the Mexican website Izquierdo. Mario has also contributed to NYFights while simultaneously working for MIC Sports Network as part of the broadcast crew covering local high school sports. Since then, he has launched his own podcast/live stream (Infighting/Work In Progress) and is covering pro wrestling for FightsATW.

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