WWE Monday Night RAW has been a staple of wrestling programming since its inception in January of 1993, and as the weekly episodic show continues to trend towards 2,000 episodes (currently at approximately 1,700), it is a fact that some Mondays are more important than others. For example, the ‘RAW after Mania’ is typically considered the most important RAW of the year, setting the tone for the next saga—tonight might be bigger.
In the famed Madison Square Garden in New York City, John Cena showed up for his final RAW as an active wrestler. While it might not be the final time we ever see Cena on weekly TV, it is likely the last time we see him ‘suited up’ for the game. MSG has historic roots in pro wrestling, and no company has benefited more from the venue than the WWE. John has created moments in the building that will live forever.
As ‘final’ as it all feels, it is important to remember that everything is building towards the December 13th show—Saturday Night’s Main Event— and with “The Last Time Is Now” tournament continuing to play out, the night might be defined by the PLE matchups it helps establish.
BROCK LESNAR, ROMAN REIGNS, CM PUNK CODY, OH MY… WARGAMESSSSS
The night was considered a major event, and with it came expectations of Cena-related segments and surprises. It was a major event, only it set up something huge for every major figure in WWE, not named Cena. The segment was billed as the ‘Men’s SS Wargames Face-Off’ despite the teams not yet announced in full—in fact, Haymon teased his fifth and final member earlier in the night by claiming it was ‘sure to give both GMs a headache.’
The schmoz was in for the final segment of the evening as the heel team of Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, Logan Paul, and Drew McIntyre was eventually challenged by CM Punk, Cody, and The USOs, respectively.
However, the first big surprise came when the fifth member was revealed to be Brock Lesnar, returning with a full music entrance—cowboy hat and pyro included. Lesnar came down and beat down both Punk and Cody with relative ease—not to mention a nasty head bump off Punk’s first visit to ‘Suplex City’ courtesy of Lesnar, who delivered an extra one to Cody.
Just as it seemed the faces would end RAW with an even bigger advantage than they held last week, Roman Reigns’ music hit, and the crowd popped the roof off the building. Roman walked down to the ring and did what neither Cody nor Punk could do—put Brock on his back and out of the ring with a single Superman Punch.
That could have been the finish, but instead Reed got into the ring to ‘get him some’ in the form of a Tsunami on Reigns. Fortunately, Reigns was able to regain control even when the New York’s finest failed to do so (to be fair, it was a madhouse), and we saw Roman put Reed (and a couple of kayfabe NYPD officers) through the timekeeper’s barrier to close out RAW.
JOHN CENA GETS THE BAND TOGETHER TO ‘PLAY THE HITS’
After last Monday’s awesome show that featured an opening segment that ended in John Cena swiping Dom’s IC title to become a grand slam champion, but the rest of the episode trended upwards and was one of the best RAWs of the year. The rumors were that Cena would be facing Dom at Survivor Series, but when they met last week, it was assumed that the match was favored for Cena’s final RAW in his home state of Boston, 35 minutes from his hometown.
Well, tonight’s opening segment, which saw the NY fans pay their respects to the iconic Cena, we learned that Cena would face Dom in a rematch for the IC title. It was surprising, but not in a shocking kind of way—more in a, ‘Oh, huh. Okay. You sure?’ kind of way. The repeat match was stunning enough before Cena suggested a trilogy against Dom with a second non-title match as Cena’s final RAW match.
Instead, we got a six-man tag match after The Judgement Day’s Finn Balor and JD McDonagh came down to beat down Cena before Sheamus and Rey Mysterio Jr. came out to make the save. Suddenly, you had a past era of WWE standing together to face off with WWE’s future era. It was not the huge return expected or the company burning player gone rogue, but it was fitting in many ways.
Rey was just as over as Cena early on, and Sheamus delivered exactly what the fans wanted to see—it was the moment they all synced up to perform joint moves like the 5-knuckle shuffle and Sheamus’s brutal forearm-to-chest countdown that the fans responded to the most. It was magical to see these guys pay tribute to Cena while the ‘man of the hour’ dished out the respect equally towards his contemporaries.
Cena and the faces won the match, though it was Dom and crew that got into a post-match scuffle with Andrew Schultz and a host of NY Giants players, including breakout running back Cam Skattebo. The Hall of Famers got the win, but Dom, once again, got the rub.
LAST TIME IS NOW TOURNAMENT
SOLO SIKOA VS DOLPH ZIGGLER—ROUND ONE
After Zach Ryder was revealed as the mystery opponent for LA Knight on this past Friday’s episode of SmackDown, a lot of expectations were put into tonight’s mystery opponent concerning Solo’s own first-round matchup in the tourney. It was revealed to be Dolph Ziggler, returning to the company after a two-year absence, and the crowd was happy to see him.
Ziggler has been enjoying a solid run in TNA under his actual name, Nic Nemeth, while working with his real-life brother, Ryan. Ziggler has helped younger talent like Joe Hendry get over through stellar feuds. The TNA locker room has benefited from his veteran presence. He was unsuccessful in his quest to advance to the second round, and Solo was able to prevail over Ziggler’s return momentum.
GUNTHER VS. Je’Von EVANS—ROUND ONE
The ‘odds on favorite’ to win this tournament, Gunther, got all his money’s worth against Evans tonight, earning a “this is awesome” chant from the crowd. Evans has already been showcased in various situations on both RAW and SmackDown, and even in TNA, and he won over the crowd with his unique reversals and innovative offense.
Gunther would win by submission after he latched on the chokehold, but this was a situation where Evans walked away a winner despite taking the “L.”
As it now stands, Gunther will face either Bronson Reed or Carmelo Hayes; Solo will face the winner of Penta-Balor (SD), while Sheamus, Jey Uso, and LA Knight have also advanced.
BECKY LYNCH(c) VS MAXXINE DUPRI—Women’s Intercontinental Title
AJ LEE HELPS LIFT UP THE YOUNGER ROSTER
The feud came to a head after a months-long story played out into a multi-match feud, the climax coming several weeks ago when Dupri nearly uncrowned Becky in a ‘5-star’ type of banger. Maxxine was named the #1 contender by GM Pearce about a month ago, but she finally ‘felt ready’ for it and called for the title shot last week.
Becky has been unraveling slightly after every show since she and her husband, Seth Rollins, lost their mixed-tag match to Punk and his wife, AJ Lee, and then things got bleaker after her husband was injured by Breakker, who turned on ‘The Vision’ leader to take over the faction’s QB role.
This match was not as incredible as their barnburner weeks ago, but it was a terrific match and moment nonetheless, as Maxxine Dupri finally won the IC title over Becky, though it was not without some assistance. Becky had control as she was “fixing” the corner turnbuckle when AJ Lee’s music hit, and the distraction was enough for Dupri to capitalize on and secure the title-winning pinfall victory.
OTHER TIDBITS/IN-RING ACTION
- The women’s WarGames segment was a continuation of the same story—the faces are outnumbered—but it ended with a hint that AJ Lee will be the final member, as she was seen with Rhea at the close of a segment celebrating Maxxine’s IC title win. Tonight’s women’s WarGames segment brought the ‘Charlotte Flair’ story full circle as she joined the team with a kendo stick in hand.
- The stars were in abundance tonight as Lin-Manuel Miranda (of ‘Hamilton’ fame), UFC star Aljarmain Sterling, Andrew Schultz, members of the NY Giants including Cam Skattebo, and Stephanie McMahon were in attendance for this historic night.
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