WWE Monday Night Raw 1/1/2024

WWE Monday Night Raw 1/1/2024

Last week's show was a "Best Of" special.

Wade and Cole welcome us to the show and are in the ring. They hype up the show.

Becky Lynch vs Nia Jax

They shove each other and BL is caught  Nia catches her on a 2nd rope crossbody. BL enzugiri's her then is slammed. Nia elbow drops her then BL hits a forearm flurry. Nia bearhugs her then BL pulls her neck forward. BL top rope dropkicks her for 2. We go to PiP break and return.

BL sunset bombs her off the 2nd rope for 2 then cannonballs her from the top for 2. Nia misses a legdrop then BL baseball slides her. Nia punches the post when BL moves then Nia headbutts her. Nia misses a cannonball against the rails then BL top rope legdrops her for 2. Nia rolls her up for 2 to get out of the armbar and BL puts it back on. Nia lifts her up form it and sitout powerbombs her.

Nia gets stuck on the 2nd rope and samoan drops her from there for 2. Nia bangs BL's head off the mat then Nia pushed on the apron. BL hits a club flurry on her then Nia punches her as she comes off the 2nd rope. Nia bonzai drops BL and wins it.

It was a decent David vs Goliath style match up. I was glad to see Nia win here and not take the predictable loss. I liked them having Nia win this one with a punch and they did what they could to put that over. 

BL bled from the mouth after.

Cody Rhodes comes out to talk. He says he's stuck on Shinsuke Nakamura. He said this should be over between them. He said he is giving Nakamura the opportunity to finish it tonight. He said this ends right now. Nakamura gets on the tron. Despite this being live, he somehow has a translation already ready. He said he never thought it would be so easy to get in his head. He said Cody's story doesn't end tonight and says he has another week to dream. He said he will finish his story and close the book. He then spits mist on glass.

Jey Uso and Kofi Kingston vs Imperium (Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci)

Kofi headflips out of a wristlock then splashes him. Vinci does a fast crossbody on Kofi. Kaiser knees Kofi in the gut then punches him. Kaiser hits boots to the body and Kofi 2nd rope dropkicks him. Vinci trips Kofi then Kaiser sends Kofi's shoulder into the post. Kofi takes a double team basement dropkick in the corner.

We go to PiP break and return. Kofi hits shots on Vinci then dropkicks him as he springboards off the 2nd rope. The bell then  rings and a doctor comes out to check on Vinci. Jey and Kofi are declared winners via ref stoppage.

It was okay up until it stopped. Vinci got injured on the dropkick somehow and this clearly wasn't a work.

We get a package on Rhea Ripley vs Ivy Nile. Ivy said she's been considered the underdog all of her life and says she loves it. She said it makes it that much sweeter when she beats the odds. Ivy said everyone will see this pitbull is a different breed when she beats Rhea.

We see Ivy working out with Diamond Mine and Alpha Academy in the back.

Miz TV with The Judgment Day

The Judgment Day's music hits then R-Truth's music plays. R-Truth comes out.  Miz calls him the most likeable member of Judgment Day. Miz asks Truth where the rest of the grou pis and Truth said he swore they were behind him. Miz asks if he is seeing invisible people again and Truth asks if Little Jimmy is here. Truth says, "all rise for The Judgment Day". Miz said that worked better than when Priest did it. Truth is asked what his role is in Judgment Day. He said he's doing PR work today and did administrative work last week. He said people don't like them so he's trying to make them likeable to everybody.

JD McDonaugh and Dominik Mysterio come out. Truth said he's not with Judgment Day and isn't doing PR for them. He says no member of Judgment Day would be caught dead on Miz TV. Dom gets booed and Truth points this out. Truth then tells JD he's not even in Judgment Day due to losing last week. Miz agrees and asks JD what he's doing out here. Miz and Dom argue. Miz talks about how Punk beat Dom on the house show Holiday Tour. Dom says he is done talking and kicks a chair over. Dom says he and JD will fight Miz and Truth right now. Miz agrees. Truth says he's in Judgment Day and asks if he is tagging with Dom. He says he's not tagging with JD. Truth says this is some kind of strange bedfellows tag match. Truth then accepts the challenge for Judgment Day and winks at Judgment Day.

The Miz and R-Truth vs Judgment Day (JD McDonaugh and Dominik Mysterio)

Miz knees Dom and goes to tag Truth. Truth is in the neutral corner because he isn't sure what team he is on. JD and Dom double back elbow Miz. Miz hurricanrana's JD then tries to tag in Truth. Miz running face kicks JD then Truth legdrops JD. Truth punches JD then hits a flying corkscrew forearm. Truth corner splashes JD then JD hits a short arm clothesline on him. Dom 619's Truth. We go to PiP break and return.

Miz is in control and springboard crossbodies JD. Truth and Dom argue as Truth is in the Judmgent Day corner. Truth says he's in the group and Dom says he is not. Miz throws Dom out. JD headbutts Miz and JD tags in Truth. JD asks what he is doing. Truth says he's in Judgment Day and JD is not. JD and Dom tell Truth to Miz then. Truth goes to hit Miz, Miz moves and JD is nailed. Truth pushes JD into a skull crushing finale and Miz picks up the win.

This was one of the most bizarre tag matches in wrestling history and that's saying something from someone like myself. It made sense storyline wise, the logic was very interesting here and it left me at a loss of words. I think they made it clear here that Truth is not a member and that JD was not kicked out, though Truth disagrees with this. 

We see Kayden Carter and Katana Chance dancing at a club. Chelsea Green and Piper Niven come in. Green says they are VIP's. They tell them not to get too comfortable with their tag titles. They said they are bypassing Pearce and going to Aldis to get a tag match. Chance says they will be fighting champs and says it's great if they want to get a rematch. They say it's all about them though and throw drinks in their faces.

Rhea Ripley said she and Judgment Day took over Raw in 2023. She said anyone who stepped in her path was eradicated. She says Ivy will discover that this is her division and that she is nothing in her world.

WWE Women's Title - Rhea Ripley (c) vs Ivy Nile

Rhea pulls her down on the lock up then dropkicks her while she is seated. They botch an up and over in the corner. Ivy boots her then top rope crossbodies her. Rhea kicks her in the gut then clubs her back. Ivy flying headscissors her then catches a kick. Ivy hits a sloppy capture suplex.

We go to PiP break and return. Rhea dropkicks her then takes a german on the floor. Ivy spinning knees her then spinning headscissors her. Ivy flying kicks her in the corner. Ivy is popped up but legdrops her. Ivy tornado ddt's Rhea for 2. Rhea headbutts her then top rope dropkicks her for 2. Ivy high kicks her then hits a gutwrench suplex for 2. Rhea kicks her and lariats her.

Rhea slams her down on her chest for 2. Ivy is put on the top rope and punched. Ivy germans her off the 2nd rope for 2. Ivy hits forearms and kicks. Ivy jumps off the top and is headbutted. Rhea knees her then pumphandle slams her to win it.

There were too many botches here for this to be considered good.  I didn't think it was all bad though and there were some positives to it.

They promised that a former WWE champion was return all show long. They bring out Jinder Mahal. The crowd is shown on camera and they go "aw...". 

Jinder Mahal rips the fans for being disappointed. He just in general rips everything and mocks the crowd for chanting USA. He  says he said the national anthem in punjabi. He said the crowd boos him because he speaks and looks different. He talks in punjabi then The Rock comes out.

The Rock says Jinder is in trouble tonight. He says he's not The Iron Sheik. He said he loves and we all loved The Iron Sheik. He said if Sheik was here, he'd ask, "Who is this no good son of b!tch jabroni b@stard?". He said this is what The People's Champ does and said he'd be ashamed to rep the people. Rock says he's proud to be an American and does his finally line.

Jinder gets mad and Rock mocks him. Rock says he's not funny. Rock says he'd be Baywatch if he was one of his movies, because nobody saw it. He asks him if he saw Baywatch then says it doesn't matter if he saw it. Rock says America isn't a joke The Rock talks about free speech. He says Jinder isn't the Modern Day Maharajah, he's the Day One Douchebag. The Rock then leads that chant. The Rock sings part of the national anthem and says Jinder's balls aren't there. He calls him an angry, toxic douchebag with no class and says he has no choice but to whip his candy @ss.

Jinder then jumps Rock. Rock blocks his punches and hits his own. Rock spinebusters him and hits a people's elbow. Jinder then goes out of the ring. Rock says he loves the fans and says happy new year. He said he's hungry and wants to go out to eat after this. He asks if she should sit in a booth, at the bar or at the head of the table when he goes out tonight? The crowd pops big. Rock says that's what he thought then does his "if you smell" line.

It was a weird and long segment but they teased a Rock vs Roman match and the crowd liked it.

Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark vs Natalya and Tegan Nox

Nat shoulder throws Zoey then drops her on her butt. SB running knees Nat for 2. We go to break and return. Nox hits shots on SB then running euros Zoey. Indi and LeRae are watching in the back. Nox sentons SB in the corner then flips on her off the top for 2. SB high kicks Nox in the shoulder.

SB germans Nox then Zoey flips Nox into a knee in the face. Zoey picks up the iwn.

It was short and was basically a nothing match. 

World Heavyweight Title - Seth Rollins (c) vs Drew McIntyre

Seth flying boots him then pounds on him in the corner. Drew hits shots then is thrown over the top then Seth forearms him off the steps. Seth is dropped on a table. Seth topes him, is caught and takes a belly to belly on the floor.

We go to break and return. They trade chops and Seth goes down. Drew hits mounted punches then tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him. Seth's back gives out on a powerbomb attempt and he hurricanrana's him. Drew is sent into the post. Seth tope con hilos Drew outside. Seth satelite ddt's him then top rope frogsplashes him for 2.

Drew is up top and Seth walks up the buckles. Seth superplexes him and Drew hangs on to suplex him. We go to break and return. Drew hits a 2nd rope air raid crash for 2. Seth enzugiri's him then superkicks him in the head. Drew hits a future shock ddt then Seth powerbombs him. Seth rolls out of his pheonix splash attempt then superkicks and pedigree's Drew for 2.

Damien Priest comes out with Dom, a ref and the MITB briefcase teasing a cash-in. Priest hits Seth with the briefcase. Drew claymore kicks Priest as he tries to cash in then belly to belly suplexes Dom on the floor. Drew claymore kicks Seth but Seth's foot is on the bottom rope. Seth is thrown into the 2nd rope, hitting his head off of it. Seth pedigrees Drew on a table outside then Seth curbstomps him and wins it.

I thought they did too much here and didn't sell at all. They had a lot of big spots and just kept going through them until the next one. Priest trying to do a cash in during the match was dumb as well.

Overall thoughts: It was a weird show. The women's opener was good. Vinci got injured in the 2nd match, forcing an early end to it. The Truth/Judgment Day stuff made sense, but it was bizarre. The Rock's segment was a mess in my opinion and the main wasn't good.