Tonight’s episode of WWE Monday Night RAW was live from the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington, just 12 minutes from the Super Bowl champion Seahawks’ home turf of Lumen Field. The live show took place 72 hours after Cody Rhodes defeated Drew McIntyre for the WWE world title on an episode of SmackDown that had company-altering ramifications.
Rumors surrounded a potential multi-man match at Mania for the world title, but that booking has now been reserved for a singles title defense pitting the new champ Cody versus his longtime friend Randy Orton—who won the Elimination Chamber to qualify as number one contender.
As for RAW’s main title narrative, CM Punk was forced to pull double duty on the promo side of things as Roman Reigns was absent from tonight’s show. That said, he was announced and promoted for next week’s WWE RAW in San Antonio—Brock Lesnar is also scheduled to appear.
GM PEARCE IS NOT PLAYING W/ROLLINS ANY LONGER
It was equally awesome and ridiculous, with the show opening on Adam Pearce calling out Seth Rollins for an in-ring face-to-face. The segment started uniquely cool as a couple of dozen or so masked men popped out of nowhere like ‘The Foot Clan’ pulling up on the Ninja Turtles.
Only one masked man was standing atop the commentary desk, and by the time the anonymous group entered the ring, the shenanigans turned goofy. In what was essentially a giant-sized version of 3-card Monty, the masked men began to scatter strangely to confuse Pearce until Seth revealed himself.
Pearce spoke to Seth like a concerned GM, telling him it was only a matter of time before his ‘luck ran out,’ and on cue, The Vision’s Logan Paul and Austin Theory crept out to confront Rollins. And, once again, the many masked men entered the ring and began randomly running around the ring like a pool break, sending the balls into a chaotic sequence.
Rollins escaped, but LA Knight came down to ‘get him some’ before The Vision took control. The numbers game would favor Knight as The Usos came down to make the save.
In the back following the segment, the tag champs were asked about how they feel being on the ‘same side’ as Knight at Seth Rollins. But the more prevalent line was a throwaway before the segment ended. Jey was asked about Punk-Roman, and he responded that he had nothing to say on it, but then Jimmy stepped in and claimed they may ‘have something to say’ before walking out of the interview.
CM PUNK HAS CONVO W/THE USOs
Punk opened on the controversial line he used against Roman Reigns last week in their promo battle, vowing to ‘bury him’ next to his dead father. It was a visceral line that cut to the core of everyone watching at home and in attendance. Punk said that it was categorized as ‘disrespectful’ before claiming that Roman has never shown Punk his proper respect.
After taking a shot at an absent Roman, telling fans chanting ‘OTC’ to ‘hold their breath’ and he may show up—it was a great improv. Punk spoke on titles in sports, claiming that you must ‘level up’ to face Punk.
Then, it seemed like he was going to offer up something akin to an apology, claiming that he ‘lowered himself’ to Roman’s level, but that is when Jey’s music hit. The USOs came out hot, specifically Jey, who was in near tears as he angrily demanded an apology. Jimmy took over for Jey to calm the temp in the ring before claiming that this whole thing was about respect—telling Punk that he respects him a ton.
Punk said that Jey and Jimmy were right, and it was not fair to call out Sika’s name when he no longer has a voice to defend himself. Punk said he respected Sika before sharing a personal story about Sika’s brother, whom he worked for out of pure education. The entire segment to this point was a complete walking back of Punk’s comment as he nearly apologized to the family and the spirit of Sika.
Once the family’s respect was given, Punk went in on Roman before Jey shot back in fury, saying they ‘needed to hear’ the apology. The fans broke into a ‘say you’re sorry’ chant. Punk said he was sorry… before walking back every word of his apology to double down on his comment.
“I’m sorry Roman Reigns treated the two of you and the rest of his family in The Bloodline like garbage for years, and never once came out here publicly to apologize for the way he treated the family that he loves,” Punk said to The USOs.
Punk called Jey and Jimmy Roman’s ‘young boys’ before they popped off on him—Jimmy landing a right hand that planted Punk as the two walked out of the ring.
DOM IS DONE WITH FINN
Dom, along with Liv and Raquel, crashed out immediately on Finn Balor to start his promo. He blamed Finn for losing the IC title against Penta last week after Balor prevented JD McDonagh from helping Dom via the timekeeper’s hammer. So, Dom called Finn out, and he responded immediately.
Finn came out and tried to play it cool at first, claiming that he had only ever wanted to help Dom become ‘the greatest Mysterio.’ However, Finn then said that maybe his father, Rey Mysterio Jr., was right and that Dom is a “little p****.’
Dom shoved Finn, and Finn responded with a soccer kick to Dom—that kicked off a Judgement Day beatdown of Balor as one by one, each member, Liv, Raquel, and even JD, took turns delivering blows to the outnumbered Balor. JD drove the chair into a downed Balor as Dom nailed a frog splash onto Balor with a chair being held on his chest by JD.
The group posed over Balor, and it is likely to set up a match at WrestleMania.
IYO SKY VS RAQUEL VS IVY NILE VS BAYLEY VS AUSKA VS LYRA—Gauntlet Match
Women’s Intercontinental Title #1 Contender—Winner to Face AJ Lee(c)
The gauntlet match was booked last week after AJ Lee returned to RAW fresh off her IC title win over former champ Becky Lynch. She shook up the women’s division after announcing a sort of ‘anyone, anywhere’ type of challenge.
One by one, Auska, Raquel Rodriguez, Iyo Sky, Bayley, Ivy Nile, and Lyra Valkyrie all were seen entering GM Pearce’s office before he eventually booked the #1 contender’s gauntlet match.
The match was good and checked off a few storylines, but it was Bayley who ended up securing the victory. Iyo Sky was the standout, but she was taken out after pinning Raquel, giving Ivy Nile the easy pin. Liv and Stephanie managed to heighten their feud after the champ came out to stop Liv from interfering in the match on Raquel’s behalf.
It was announced that Bayley will receive her title shot against AJ Lee on next week’s episode of RAW.
Iyo Sky def Lyra Valkyrie
Iyo Sky def Raquel Rodriguez
Ivy Nile def Iyo Sky
Bayley def Ivy Nile
Bayley def Auska
Other Tidbits
- Penta made his first successful defense of his newly won IC title over El Grande Americano (Ludwig version). Then, later in the show, it was announced that we will finally get the long-awaited El Grande V El Grande matchup on RAW.
- In attendance tonight were the Seattle Seahawks Ernest Jones and Mike Morris, but Zuffa Boxing’s Jose Valenzuela was also in attendance with a WWE world title belt on his shoulder.
- It looks like a feud between Je’Von Evans and Kofi Kingston is building off a narrative of Kofi trying to ‘befriend him.’ This could be a solid narrative for the young up-and-comer heading into WrestleMania.
- It wasn’t a full-on squash, but Oba Femi picked up the clean win over Rusev. The match put Oba over on a veteran wrestler with a similar ‘bad ass’ character.
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