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Add FightsATW on GoogleWith Money in the Bank in the books, RAW continued to serve the Canadian crowds by making the four-hour flight from Toronto to Ottawa as the Canadian Tire Centre played host to the “Monday after/night after” show—though the MITB Premium Live Event (PLE) was technically on Saturday night.
After the men’s briefcase winner crashed and burned both his cash-in attempt and the potential months-long program in favor of being fodder for his feud with Punk, fans eagerly await the plans for the women’s winner, Tiffany Stratton. The hope is that “Tiffy Time” will go the distance.
See, Umm Punk, In Action?
CM Punk landed the first segment of the night, rightfully so, considering his involvement in the red brand’s heavyweight title match at MITB. When McIntyre won, it felt inevitable that he would keep his promise to cash in that night. And, as FightsATW’s very own Abe Gonzalez predicted on last week’s episode of “Work in Progress,” CM Punk was there to interfere and directly cost McIntyre his shot.
Instead of ‘making it make sense,’ WWE opted to suspend Drew after he crashed the MITB post-show moments before it was kicked to John Cena’s retirement press conference. McIntyre lost it live on air, and as WWE officials, including RAW’s GM Adam Pierce, were attempting to physically escort Drew off-screen, he accidentally caught Pearce with an elbow as he attempted to launch another referee.
Pierce, a former wrestler with a terrific legacy on the indies, reacted instinctively and somehow found the restraint to not get physical with McIntyre, but it was close. Wade Barrett, as a member of the post-show commentary team and a long-time friend of Drew’s, put himself between Drew and the officials. Still, Drew would end up being suspended after quite the social media tirade.
Punk started uncharacteristically by congratulating and thanking Cena fresh off his retirement tour announcement. However, even in his humility, he quickly reminded the cheering crowd that Cena was not there, but their cheers could be redirected towards him for simply showing up to his job. CM Punk admitted he was fined half of what McIntyre was, but the “keyboard warrior,” as Punk called him, was suspended despite having a legal right to be ringside for the heavyweight title match, so the favoritism is still very apparent. He then name-dropped Jack Tunney in a very deliberate move to show us he’s “still a fan” before calling Adam Pearce by name, clearly a joke, but acting as though you forgot your “kayfabe” boss’s name just makes you look like a jerk.
“Unfortunately, the ratings just took a dip because Drew was on television,” quipped Punk live on RAW moments before Seth Rollins entered the chat. Punk got over by echoing fans’ sentiments in his promos and connecting with audiences after delivering “everyman” kind of performances. But in 2024, with all of his ‘out-of-WWE’ antics involving Colt Cabana and The Elite, he feels more like a guy trying to get his because he believes the fans believe that ‘it is long overdue.’ There is a distinct disconnect between this current version of Punk and the WWE© universe, but it offers hungry and talented guys like McIntyre and Rollins a chance to shine and get through to the next level.
Rollins did just that when Punk slow rolled an apology for making Rollins collateral damage. Rollins quickly jabbed about Punk ‘not being good with apologies,’ edging very close to using one of Phil’s no-no’s in an in-ring promo. There were cheers from those in the know, but Punk reacted by taking his promo to the next gear. He commented on McIntyre having his bracelet containing the names of his wife and dog and how he needed his “pound of flesh” from Drew, and Seth retorted by putting the entire thing into perspective—a perspective that makes Punk look like anything but a ‘man of the people.’
At MITB, there was a botch from the champ who never kicked out of the three count, making it look like the ref botched the entire count by stopping at two despite Priest’s shoulders clearly on the mat—the ref could’ve counted to 5. After the botch, Priest benefited from Drew’s cash-in and subsequent Punk interference, but the ‘message boards’ were lit up with those pointing out the gravity of that mistake and in that match.
In the end, Punk later agreed to ‘stay home’ as Pearce attempted to get McIntyre back next week. Why is Punk even on TV if he cannot compete? At some point, and to spite how good McIntyre has been, the crowd will turn on a feud that has yet to result in a single match.
Punishing Or Protecting Priest?
Seth gave grace to the ref, making it clear that WWE’s creative reaction is to blame the ref and keep Priest strong, from a kayfabe standpoint, and this is the right move. There is no need to protect a ref’s character over your champion’s, but still, WWE made sure to address the issue on camera with a comment buried in the ‘script.’
In a later segment, Seth found heavyweight champion Priest and told him he’d keep his word of not challenging for the title so long as the Judgment Day leader has it. But he reminded the champ that ‘as good as he was on Saturday,’ if Priest wants to keep the title, he needs to be ‘better at Summer Slam.’
This was obviously a ‘nod’ to the high-profiled screwup from Trips, and using Rollins to deliver the message, a participant in the match who looked visibly upset by the sh** show, showed that he is willing to give him the same benefit of the doubt he kayfabe gave the ref blamed for the botch. This move offers up two things: one, the boys in the back now have no reason to move past this and give Priest a chance to make up for it, and two, it shows the fans in the know that WWE still believes in Priest and are willing to ride this out all the same.
In a move to get fans back on his side, Priest told Rollins to forget their gentlemen’s agreement and that he would give Rollins another chance after he finishes with Gunther. It is a great gesture on the champ’s part, but hopefully, we’ll see the last of Priest-Rollins as they move onto different feuds respectively.
Wyatt Sicks VHS Cassette Collection Continued
Chad Gable stole the show at MITB, but Jey Uso had all the momentum heading into the event, so naturally, a single’s match between the two is a thing of interest, and WWE understood as much after deciding to match them up in RAW’s opening match. The match was solid, but it was merely a matchup of manipulation as Jey got over on Gable with the help of the new Wyatt faction. After the lights cut off, a gesture that surely triggered Gable, likely suffering from PTSD after he was victimized the night Wyatt Sicks officially debuted. That distraction cost Gable the match as he was gaining momentum, and after the fog filled the ring, nearly covering Gable left on his back in the middle of the ring, “Abby the Witch,” or Nikki Cross, presented commentary with another VHS tape. This time, Pat was brave enough to check its contents.
The video was later cued up, and it was another vignette of Bo Dallas reluctantly taking the role of leader of his new family assembled from the island of misfit toys. “Sick is what will be,” Bo said as shots whipped back and forth, creating the illusion of Bo Dallas transforming back and forth from images of Uncle Howdy and those that made him resemble his late brother Bray. After the video was played, Gable found Pearce and demanded he get control of the situation.
The Dirty Daddy Saga ‘Liv(S) On’
The match was made and advertised as a mixed tag match between Dom and Liv versus Rey Mysterio and Zelina Vega. Still, Dom continues to play innocent in all this, even as he attempts to get out of the match. But then, he was later caught getting ‘stretched out’ by Liv just as TJD walked in, and Priest took the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart with Dom about his efforts. That is when Dom accused Priest of ‘sounding like his dad.’
The tone of this feud has certainly flirted with the edge at times, but there was a spot in the match that may have sent it to the dark side. Dom, confused for a second by the rules of a mixed tag, was tripped up by his father and landed inches from Liv’s ‘lap.’ She smiled devilishly as Dom was clearly uncomfortable. The optics are not great, especially when considering whether this program would fly the same if the roles were reversed.
The final segment has Liv take out Vega and then set up a chair in the ring to distract the ref before grabbing Rey’s leg and causing him to fall off the top turnbuckle. This set up Rey perfectly for Dom to take advantage, landing his frog splash and getting the first-ever pinfall victory over his father. In the end, Dom openly embraced Liv in the excitement of celebration before retreating momentarily. Then, Liv jumped in Dom’s arms, and the two fell to the ground with her legs wrapped around him as he seemed to move in for a kiss.
That is when the magnitude of the program finally hit a new peak as Rhea Ripley’s music hit and Liv ran out of the ring. Rhea chased away the RAW women’s champ, and then she immediately rolled into the ring to confront Dom, sort of. After weeks of criticism from fans and media like myself, the big payoff came, and it hit hard. Ripley lightly touched Dom’s face with her fingers, an intimate gesture between lovers or the sensual touch of a scorned woman on the verge of exacting her revenge?
Next Monday will hopefully shed more light on this developing storyline.
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