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Add FightsATW on GoogleWWE Monday Night RAW was live in Brooklyn, New York, to kick off ‘Crown Jewel’ fight week, where each world champion from both the men’s and women’s rosters on RAW and SmackDown will face off on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. As for tonight’s show, Solo accepted a challenge Royce Keys made last week and was booked for tonight’s main event as the Bloodline-946 feud intensifies.
Tonight’s Brooklyn show pulled double duty as both the go-home show and the site of John Cena’s epic announcement about the “John Cena Classic. Cena announced the tournament’s intention and purpose, named after the record-breaking 17-time world champion, following his retirement in December.
JOHN CENA ANNOUNCEMENT
A title belt wrapped in black satin sat on a pedestal in the ring, teasing John Cena’s ‘big announcement.’ After his music hit, Cena came out in his latest ‘merch drop’ that featured a Brooklyn Nets color scheme. The noticeably slimmer Cena said he had three monumental announcements to make, with the first two covering the where and when.
Cena announced that on December 14th, we would be “going to Disney World” for a special Double RAW feature emanating from both Perth, Australia, and Orlando, Florida. Cena said that earlier in the day, RAW would broadcast from Perth before a special “John Cena Classic’ edition of RAW launches later in the evening.
The brand new, never-before-seen John Cena Classic championship belt was unveiled as the next surprise— a beautiful title with a shape similar to that of Cena’s classic ‘spinner’ world title, depicting Cena saluting in the center of the belt. Cena went one step further by naming the first entry into the tourney.
“The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes made his entrance as the first official tournament participant before Cena acknowledged he would be headed to NXT Tuesday to invite several roster members to join the same tourney.
It was not long before Randy Orton made his way out to discuss his ‘Last Man Standing’ match against Cody this weekend, passing Cena as he made his exit with the “Cena belt.” Orton dropped a ‘Robocop’ reference as he tried to intimidate Cody by pointing out that this would be his first Last Man Standing match.
Orton went on to mention, for the first time in their feud, the fact that he was the one to officially retire Dusty Rhodes, Cody’s father, in a Texas Bull Rope match. Cody went the entire segment without ever uttering a word against Randy on the mic, fueling the narrative that Cody is ‘shook’ ahead of this violent affair scheduled for Saturday.
ROMAN AND SAMI FACE OFF AHEAD OF SAUDI
Roman Reigns came out first, receiving his full entrance before acknowledging the crowd, before Sami Zayn walked out after his next-level promo last week. Sami stayed on the same train, forcing Roman to acknowledge the world champion, and the two went back and forth on the mic.
Roman accused Sami of forgetting his place, then added that the only reason Zayn is making millions of dollars in a single year is the clout he earned as a member of The Bloodline. The current heavyweight champion called out Sami for his ungrateful attitude, reminding him that he was “Johnny Knoxville’s b***h” when he ‘found him.’
Sami was quick with the stick, poking fun at Roman’s feud with Lesnar that never seemed to end before claiming nobody deserves credit for his accomplishments. Roman called Sami a ‘hoe,’ a potential “shoot line” considering the look Zayn shot towards Reigns, and the segment ended with Roman drowning in acknowledgments from the Brooklyn crowd.
SOLO VS ROYCE KEYS
We picked up with Roman a bit later in the program as Solo prepared for his match with Jey, with Jimmy USO playing his hype-man. It was a strange sight to see Solo being urged on by Jey—after all, Solo made his name as a face by clowning Jey’s ‘warning shot’ schtick and hitting us with the ‘Pew Pew.’
Royce got a unique entrance, without the top production that marks a top superstar in today’s WWE landscape; instead, he was flanked by Brooklyn’s finest as he led the 946 through the audience to the ring.
Despite Roman making it clear that he was staying to watch Solo take care of business, only Jaida Parker hung around ringside with Keys in all black, dressed more for a street fight than an athletic competition. The match felt void of all the heat garnered over the past several weeks, and that’s partly due to Roman’s half in/half out attitude regarding the 946.
Solo was originally kidnapped by the 946, and that led to the OG Bloodline reuniting, but nobody has seen Jacob Fatu since being struck purposefully by a car driven by Jaida Parker the night she officially joined the 946. The schmoz ended the match as every single member of 946 was out at ringside.
Solo laughed at 946 standing in the ring as he hit them with the ‘pew pew’ before Roman and The USOs made their way out, four on four, with Roman first to toe the apron. RAW ended with all four men facing off in a similar scene to the first gang warfare involving Reigns. The two groups battled it out, with Roman and Royce going at it, with Roman standing tall.
Then, a masked man in a leather jacket appeared and saved Royce by throwing a steel chair into Roman’s head. The newest member of the 946 was unveiled as Cruz Montana—the former TNA world champion who initially debuted in NXT. This makes it 5 men for 946, and it will likely lead to Jacob Fatu’s return to finish the WarGames booking.
They cuffed Jimmy, put Jey through a table with a double Razor’s Edge, and beat down Roman ahead of his match with Zayn. However, the night did not end until Sami came down to hit the ‘Helluva Kick’ on Roman to make it clear— he is heading to Saudi to get his.
CHAD GABLE(c) VS ETHAN PAGE—Intercontinental Championship
Chad Gable entered this title defense sporting a series of intersecting KT Tape that favored his left shoulder— an injury he sustained after Page hit a suplex on the IC champion in the ringside area last week. Gable has successfully defended his title against mostly luchadores, looking particularly great against Rey Mysterio Jr. and Dragon Lee, while Page has been lobbying for an IC title shot.
Ethan Page picked up his first singles title since debuting on the main roster after sending Gable into an exposed turnbuckle, and that sequence led to Page hitting the ‘Egoplex’ for the win. Gable visibly sold the shoulder injury, but Page’s win was otherwise clean.
GREEN, STRATTON & SKY vs. JUDGEMENT DAY— Six-Woman Tag Team Match
With WWE Survivor Series: WarGames two weeks from Saturday, the women’s booking is starting to line up evenly just in time for the double-cage, multi-superstar match in Houston. Before any potential WarGames matchup, Liv Morgan and Chelsea Green are scheduled for singles action this Saturday in Saudi Arabia.
Liv would end up pinning Chelsea to pick up the win for The Judgment Day, though the focused narrative before the match revolved around Stratton’s two failed attempts to cash in on Morgan. Without any actual on-screen suggestions, it does feel like Stratton is trending towards a turn on Green, but for no other reason than Chelsea’s underwhelming booking.
THE VISION(c) vs. DRAGON LEE, PENTA & Je’Von EVANS— Six-Man Tag Match
Bron Breakker and The Vision targeted Penta and Evans as the ‘Money in the Bank’ match neared, and the fallout has continued to pit the future of the company against one another. Commentary mentioned Breakker’s run of jealous behavior, prompting variations of the 6-man tag we saw tonight.
Penta was given the hot tag and remains one of the most excitingly over superstars on the roster, playing perfectly into the program featuring Breakker. The Vision won the match after Breakker cut Evans in half with a spear, with Austin Theory getting the assist. The Vision defend their tag titles against Evans and Penta in Saudi this weekend.
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