WWE Monday Night Raw 4/29/2024

WWE Monday Night Raw 4/29/2024

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/04/wwe-monday-night-raw-4222024.html

We see Logan Paul arrive and meet up with Judgment Day. Priest says the US Title looks good on him. Paul said Adam Pearce invited him and he said he brought Patrick Mahomes with him. He said Judgment Day is running Raw and said Priest will destroy Jey Uso at Backlash.

Becky Lynch comes out to talk. She said the man is here and said she stood here 6 years ago and said this is my show now. She said she is still saying that. Becky said they need to find a new #1 contender for the title and said she only wants to fight the best.

Liv Morgan comes out. She said Becky owes her a title shot. She said she did what Becky couldn't do - take out Rhea Ripley. She said she won't stop her revenge tour until she gets everything she wants. Becky agrees but says Liv would be holding this if it wasn't for what she did to her.

Nia Jax comes out. She gets booed and rips the fans for booing her. She said she dominated both of them and should be champ right now. She said she's not champ because they teamed up to make sure she wouldn't be. She said she got drafted to the superior show - Smackdown. She said that's why she is wearing blue. 

Nia said she will soon be champ and said it's her last night on Raw. She said if she's leaving, she's taking one of them with her. Nia goes to get in and Liv dropkicks her. Liv says she accepts of she was going to make a challenge for tonight.

We see Jey Uso arrive and we see Stephanie McMahon come out with draft picks.

We see Sami Zayn and Bronson Reed arrive.

Stephanie McMahon comes out to make draft picks. She said Raw picks Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser. Cole says Vinci is kicked out of Imperium so he's only eligible on his own. Smackdown picks Jade Cargill. Raw picks Damage Ctrl. Smackdown picks Kevin Owens. 

Gunther vs Xavier Woods

Gunther clubs on Woods. Woods side headlocks him then Gunther is pulled over the top. Woods gets chopped on the floor. We go to break and return. Gunther hits euros on Woods then slams him. We see the screen get taken over with some kind of QR code. Gunther chops Woods down then Woods hits chops back.

Woods superkicks him in the gut and they fight on the buckles. Woods top rope dropkicks Gunther for 2. Woods is pushed and his leg gets stuck in the ropes. There's an audio issue and Gunther kicks and chops the leg.

We go to break and return. Gunther slams him, hitting Woods' leg off the ropes. Gunther chops and kicks the knee. Gunther gets caught coming off the top with Woods getting his knees up. Gunther half crabs him. Kofi goes to throw the towel in and Woods says "no, I can do it". Kofi then throws the towel away. Gunther does an STF variation with a cravate and taps out Woods.

It was a mostly one sided match with Gunther working the knee and eventually tapping Woods out. Woods really didn't get enough in to make this great.

Jey Uso is interviewed. He's asked about feeling pressure. He talks about the various things pressuring him but says Damian Priest is about to get the yeet down. Cathy Kelley mentions Logan Paul and Jey said he wishes it was the one with the winning record.

They show the Kansas City Chiefs players being there and given title belts.

Logan Paul and one of his buddies do the next draft picks. They point out Patrick Maholmes. Raw picks CM Punk. Smackdown picks The Pride. Raw picks Braun Strowman. Smackdown picks Tiffany Stratton.

Logan Paul then heads down to ringside. He talks about Jey Uso, saying Damian Priest will beat him. He said Jey made a mistake leaving Bloodline and is incapable of becoming a champ on his own.

Jey Uso comes out. He asks the crowd if they think he can beat Priest, become champ and knock the yeet out of Logan Paul. Logan says he's been yeetin' since 2017 and calls him "little brother Jey". He said Jey's not good alone. Finn Balor and JD McDonaugh come down.

Logan said Jey can't fend for himself. He calls him stupid and said his vocabulary consists of two words. Jey goes after Judgment Day then is beaten up 2v1. Patrick Maholmes gives Logan Superbowl rings to hit Jey with. Logan misses and nails JD. Jey says "yeet" then takes down Finn. Logan then jumps on Jey.  

Braun Strowman then comes out to help. He chokeslams Finn. Logan runs and Braun tells him to run. Bruan then goes face to face with Maholmes and The Chiefs. Jey backs them off.

Chad Gable and R-Truth talk in the back. Chad says it's been a pleasure doing busines with him. Miz comes in. Truth said he negotiated a deal with Chad Gable where they do one now and two later. Truth said they are the champions but they could be drafted to the NFL and play for the Kansas City Chiefs. Miz tells him it's not the NFL Draft and Truth said my bad. Truth asks who he could talk to and Miz says Maholmes. Truth says the insurance guy? Truth said he can get a bundle on his house and said let's get going. Chad tells Miz he's got quite the negotiator there.

Sami Zayn then face kicks from the side and knocks him out.

Cathy Kelley asks Booker T about what he thinks about the Draft. He asks what will happen with Judgment Day and CM Punk. Drew McIntyre shows up next to him. Drew's mad about Punk being drafted ahead of him. Booker mentions him losing the title at Mania. Drew said he was with Booker back in the day and knows how he felt about Punk.

WWE Intercontinental Title - Sami Zayn (c) vs Bronson Reed

Sami hits chops in the corner. Reed pushes him then shoulders him over. Reed chops him on the ropes and beats him down. Sami throws Reed out then sitout moonsaults him outside. Sami is caught on a crossbody then slammed. Reed sentons him.

We go to break and return. Reed hits forearms. Sami back springboards over him then lariats him. Sami comes off the 2nd buckle and takes a uranage. Sami takes a buckle bomb then Reed sitout powerbombs him for 2. Reed shoulderblocks him off the apron then Sami helluva kicks him in the ring. Chad Gable then comes in and deadlift german suplexes Sami for the DQ win.

Chad pounds on Sami and hits crossfaces. Chad ankle locks Sami then Reed top rope splashes Sami. Chad holds up the IC title and Reed death valley drivers Chad.

It was a good match up until the interference. Sami's a good underdog face and he's pretty much a natural opponent for Reed.

The APA do the next set of picks. Raw picks The LWO, including Carlito who just turned on Lee. I don't get this considering Vinci isn't with Imperium. Smackdown picks Legado del Fantasma. Raw picks Drew McIntyre. Smackdown picks Shinsuke Nakamura.

Drew McIntyre comes out. He's mad about being drafted in Round 3. He said there's not one person in the arena who would say it makes sense. He asks if the APA has been drinking because that's how stupid it is.

He says Punk fractured his elbow, but he came to work unlike him. He said he's a real man. CM Punk's music then hits. H appears in a sky box. He says he's not at home, he's right here. He waves at Drew and Drew walks up to see him. Ron Simmons then says "D@MN".

Alpha Academy talk in the back. Max is happy about getting 2 eliminations last week. Chad asks to see her title and she said she didn't win. Chad says that means she lost. Chad said we don't celebrate mediocrity. He tells Otis to get it together and threatens Tozawa if he dances. He says to go out and win him a championship. Ivy Nile then grabs Otis.

Bron Breakker is interviewed. He said Adam Pearce knows he's the best pick and he says he's here to take this place over. Sheamus comes up to him and Bron asks why he interrupts him. Sheamus says he's a big fan and said he reminds him of a young, hungry Sheamus. Drew then walks past Sheamus.

Candice LaRae vs Maxxine Duprii

Max takes her down and bangs CL's head off the mat. Max spin kicks her in the gut then fisherman suplexes her. Max kips up and does a facebuster. Max pulls down the straps and does a reverse caterpillar elbow drop. Max angle locks her. Indi throws Ivy Nile into the post. CL kicks Max in the face then CL curbstomps her. CL then gets the win.

It was a short and nothing match for the most part. It was just there to continue to push the LaRae and Indi heel turn.

Indi carries CL away after. 

The LWO minus Carlito are interviewed. Rey says he has mixed emotions about Carlito and said they are happy to be on Raw. Rey said he doesn't know what Carlito did what he did and they have unfinished business. Dominik Mysterio comes up and says Judgment Day runs Raw. Rey asks how they can run Raw when he's not drafted. Rey asks what's on Dom's lip and calls him Dirty Sanchez.

Drew is looking for CM Punk and finds an empty suite. Punk leaves an autograph for him then Punk's appears in the entrance way. Drew stares him from the box. Punk says he loves Kansas City and said he will try to do this in less time than the last time Drew was champ. He says he has 5:46.

Punk said he has had Drew's attention for some time. He calls him an ex-gf he can't get rid of. Punk said it's good if he hurt his elbow as Drew prayed for him to get injured. Punk said he thought Drew got hurt tweeting as that is all he is good for. Punk says Drew has given him purpose.

Punk says he's the best in the world. Punk says losers pray for things to happen, winners make things happen. He says he will make Drew's life a living hell when he's 100%.

Alundra Blayze and Teddy Long announce the next set of picks. Punk kisses Blayze. Raw picks Judgment Day. Smackdown picks Naomi. Raw picks Ilja Dragunov who is at the Performance Center with the NXT roster. Smackdown picks Chelsea Green and Piper Niven.

Liv Morgan vs Nia Jax

Nia throws her twice. Nia shoulders her over and bangs her knee off the mat. Nia corner splashes her then throws her. Liv chinbreakers her and hits kicks. Liv shotgun dropkicks her then running euros her. Nia running lariats her down. Nia gets stuck on a banzai drop attempt and is kneepressed down. Nia blocks a baseball slide and bangs Liv's head off the commentary table. Tiffany Stratton appears in the front row as we go to break.

We return and Nia has a cobra clutch on Liv. They cut to a movie commercial during that. Nia is sent into the post inside then her head is dropkicked against the post. Liv bangs Nia's head off the post then Nia samoan drops her for 2. Liv bodyscissors Nia into the buckles then double stomps her back.

Liv is spinebustered. Nia stands on the 2nd rope, Liv is under her and pulls her head into the buckles. Liv then grabs her from the 2nd rope and powerbombs her. Naomi shows up and beats Tiff, sending her over the rail to ringside. Tiff stomps on her and Tiff is sent into the table and apron. Naomi PK's her from the apron and is knocked off the apron by Nia. Liv springboard codebreakers her then hits oblivion to win it.

There some highlights here.

I didn't love all of Liv's offense here and I didn't like seeing Nia lose again. She was pushed strong and it seems she's the jobber girl for all of the faces now. The Tiff/Naomi stuff also definitely distracted from the match.

Booker T is interviewed. He asks who will be picked next. He said Ilja Dragunov is on his way and iwll do a heck of a job.

Adam Pearce is also interviewed. He said they have a new foundation on Raw and said his favorite was the pick he didn't make. He said Chelsea Green is on Smackdown and is all Nick Aldis' now. Pearce is wearing a bright red Jim Cornette jacket and Pat McAfee says to grab a tennis racket.

The Dudley Boys bring a table out and make the next draft picks. They say "wazzzup" and "get the tables". D'Von then says "oh my brother, testify". Raw picks Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston. Smackdown picks Pretty Deadly. Raw picks Lyra Valkyria from NXT in a surprise pick. Lyra is crying and thrilled. I like Lyra but she's gonna get lost in the shuffle on Raw. She just doesn't have a fantastic personality and she's never getting past Liv and Becky. Smackdown picks Candice LaRae and Indi Hartwell. 

Tag Titles - Awesome Truth (c) vs Alpha Academy (Otis and Akira Tozawa)

We join this in progress. Truth backdrops Akira. Miz hits chest kicks on Otis then corner lariats him. Akira runs at Miz on the apron and is face kicked. Akira flips for the sell on it. Miz stunners Otis over the top rope then is caught on a springboard and world's strongest slammed. Oits does the caterpillar elbow drop. Miz gets hits knees up on a top rope Akira senton. Akira takes a truth crushing finale and is pinned.

It was short though Tozawa's bump off the apron was nice here. They just didn't have the time to do much. I was surprised Gable didn't come down.

Judgment Day talk in the back. Dom is surprised they came down to the 4th Round. Priest said they got in his business and didn't talk about it beforehand. Priest said he doesn't need their help against Jey. JD takes the towel off his face and they did some make-up injury job as his face is bright red and purple.

Liv Morgan and Becky Lynch talk in the back. Becky congratulates her. Damage Ctrl walks up to Becky. Kai says they guess they will be seeing her on Monday's now. One of them touch her title and Becky says "don't touch my title".

Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce announce the last set of picks for the night. Raw picks The Final Testament. Smackdown picks DIY. Raw picks Bronson Reed. Smackdown picks Blair Davenport. Blair's probably going to be doing jobs like she did on NXT.

Jey Uso, Andrade and Ricochet vs Judgment Day (Damian Priest, Finn Balor and JD McDonaugh)

Legit, I didn't even know this was the main event. They did not do a good job in hyping this up.

Finn and Andrade go at it. Finn hits corner spears and headlock takeovers him. Finn does a side headlock. Finn throws Andrade into the ropes but Andrade poses on them. Finn and JD are sent out then Priest is double lariated over the top. All of Judgment Day takes topes with Priest going over the announcer's table for it. 

We go to break and return. Priest ear claps Ric then falcon arrows him for 2. Priest hits kicks to the body then spinning punches him. Priest high kicks Jey off the apron. JD sitout moonsaults Ric then Ric takes a backbreaker + legdrop combo. Andrade's shoulder is sent into the post. Ric codebreakers JD.

Jey and Finn go at it. Jey hits shots and superkicks him in the gut. Jey enzugiri's him. Jey enzugiri's Finn from the apron then springboard crossbodies him. Andrade takes a high kickthen Ric is flatlinered by Priest off a springboard.

Priest hits a big lariat on Jey. Jey samoan drops Priest. Dom distracts on the apron. JD tries to help out Priest but screws up. Jey superkicks Priest and JD then spears Finn. Jey top rope splashes Finn and wins it.

I didn't like Judgment Day losing this one. Their opponents were too weak of a team. They did push some of the issues going on with Judgment Day on this one with JD trying to help out Priest and failing. They didn't have that much time for this and it wasn't anything special.

Overall thoughts: It was a pretty lame edition of Raw. There is no hype for Backlash whatsoever and it just seems WWE forgot about it. The main was quick and the semi-main was also quick. We didn't even really get the strong undercard workrate match of the night like we usually do. The Draft stuff also didn't really add much to this and ate up a lot of time.