WWE Monday Night Raw 4/8/2024

WWE Monday Night Raw 4/8/2024

 Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/04/wwe-monday-night-raw-412024.html

Triple H comes out to talk. The crowd chants Thank You Hunter and he said he came out to thank them. Triple H said it was the greatest Mania of all time and says thank you. He says we are entering a new era and brings out Cody Rhodes, who he says will lead it.

Cody Rhodes comes out. Triple H congratulates him and thanks him. He said he got a call last night from people in the studio and was told they made something special for Cody. We then get a Cody tribute video. Cody then hugs Triple H after.

Cody puts down the title in the ring and kisses it. Cody is crying and does his "what do you want to talk about?" line. Cody asks the ring announcer to announce him as the new undisputed champ again.

Cody talks about altitude and said it feels like they are standing on top of the mountain. He calls Roman the most important wrestler of this generation. Cody shows his kid. He said he has always stood in line and now the line is for him. He says he was once undesirable and now is the undeniable and undisputed champ.

The Rock's music hits. The Rock holds up his own title belt. The crowd chants "Undertaker". The Rock tries to get the crowd to shut up and says he doesn't suck. He tells the crowd they also broke a record for the largest gathering of trailer park trash.

They bleep out most of what it is said and Rock holds his title up. He tells Cody he did it and completed his story. He said Cody's mom and dad both had smiles on their faces.  He said Dusty Rhodes was his hero. He said his dad and Dusty were friends and talks about Cody's new belt.

The Rock asks if he can hold Cody's title as he never held that one. Cody said he can hold it for a moment if he can hold his title. Rock says okay and said he'd be honored if he did that. They trade titles and Rock looks at the title. Rock puts the title on his shoulder and the crowd chants "this is awkward". The Rock says this feels right. He hands Cody the title back and Cody hands him his title back. Rock says thank you.

Rock says he has to go away for a little while now. Rock says he doesn't want to leave and loves wrestling. The crowd does the "na na na hey hey goodbye" song. Rock says he is going away but when he comes back, he's coming back for Cody. Cody said he's looking forward to it. Rock said Cody beat Roman, but one night before, Rock beat Cody in the middle of the ring. The Rock said Cody's story with Roman is over, but their story has just begun.

Cody said he believes that because he is The Final Boss and his literal boss. Cody says he's the champion and the people's champion. He says that means he's Rock's champion. The Rock agrees. He says he has something to give him and hands him something. He said Cody doesn't have to open his hand to know what it is. He said don't you ever break my heart again if you smell what The Final Boss is cooking.

It was a good segment and kickstarted the eventual Cody vs Rock match which should be big. I have no idea what Rock gave Cody.

We see the Judgment Day arrive along with Awesome Truth and Sami Zayn.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Ilja Dragunov

This is Ilja Dragunov's main roster debut. They say 4/29 is the 2024 WWE Draft and Ilja will be part of it. SN flying kicks him and they trade shots. SN hits knees to the body then hits chest kicks. Ilja enzugiri's him then flying knees him. Ilja 2nd rope knee drops him and hits a german. Ilja tiger feints and lariats him.

Ilja misses a top rope senton then SN sliding germans him. SN 2nd rope flying knees him for 2. SN germans him and knees him in the back of the head. SN back body drops him then pumping knees him. Ilja jumping front kicks him then powerbombs him.

Ilja hits an h-bomb for 2 then hits a topedo moscow for the win.

Wow. I'm glad Ilja won but real surprised. SN has been dropping a lot of falls lately, but not to people from NXT. Ilja's debut didn't go over that well. The crowd didn't really know him or care because they probably don't watch NXT. And he was a total surprise so there was no building this up. I'm not really surprised at the reaction he got.

It was a quick one here and pretty much all striking. I liked it, but I wouldn't have done it.

We see Drew McIntyre arrive. He stares into the camera and looks upset. The Judgment Day are jovial walking in the halls though.

We get out first commercial break in the first hour commercial free Raw.

Finn Balor, JD McDonaugh and Dominik Mysterio come out to talk. Finn said the fans were all wrong about Rhea and Priest and has a large bruise on his eye. Dom gloats about Rhea still being champ then she comes out.

Rhea said Mania was almost perfect and says they have new problems they need to deal with. Rhea said mami is always on top. She said this is a new era for The Judgment Day. Finn then brings out Damien Priest.

The Judgment Day hug. Priest said the terror twins stand before you as world champions. Priest said they always rise to the occasion and said the whole world needs to rise for The Judgment Day. R-Truth then pops in and holds up his title. Priest says "oh hell no, are you crazy?". He tells Truth to get out. Truth said he's out here to celebrate all of us and said he brought the tag titles back to The Judgment Day.

Truth said he knows how they are picky about choosing people to be in the group and says he's only one-half of the tag champs. The Miz comes out. Miz said he doesn't want to be in Judgment Day and says Truth doesn't want to be either. Priest said he's not with them and Truth says he is. The crowd chants "yes, he is". Miz then introduces him and Truth as the tag champs.

Finn says Miz thinks he's so funny. Finn says Awesome Truth will have the shortest tag title reign in history. He said they should put the titles up now. Truth said it sounds like fun but there's only 3 of them so they can't. Miz asks if he's talking about a real person and not Little Jimmy, right? Truth said they can have a 6-man match with Judgment Day vs Miz, Truth and the guy they can't see. JD agrees. Miz said he wants to physically see their partner. Truth tells him he will then he and Miz get nailed before they can announce who it is. Truth and Miz are thrown out. 

We go to break and return.

The Judgment Day (Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonaugh) vs The Miz, R-Truth and ?

Truth is taking 3 amigos as we return. Dom knees him in the gut then JD stomps Truth. JD chokes Truth on the ropes then sleepers him. Dom throws Truth into the corner and misses a splash. Miz is tagged in and springboard crossbodies Dom. Miz chest kick flurries Dom then corner lariats him. Miz rolls Dom up then hits a double short ddt. Finn lariats Miz then Miz is thrown into the rails.

We go to PiP break and return. Miz and Finn lariat each other down. Truth is pulled down off the apron and sent into the steps. Truth is stomped on by Finn and Dom outside then JD hits mounted shots on Miz. John Cena then comes out.

Miz tags in Cena. Cena flying shoulders JD then blue thunders him. Truth blue thunders Finn then Miz blue thunders Dom. The faces hit triple five knuckle shuffles then triple attitude adjustments to win it.

I didn't like the logic in this one. Cena lets Miz and Truth fight 3v2 for the whole match and only came in at the end. The match could have been over before he came in and his buddies got beaten up during it. It didn't make any sense.

The faces celebrate after.

We see Bronson Reed with the Andre trophy. He said winning the battle royale was just the beginning. He said Drew, Jey Uso and Ricochet will learn a lesson in raw dominance tonight. He said he will prove who the real heavyweight champion should be.

Rhea and Dom talk in the back. She said Cena isn't their problem, Andrade is.

Liv Morgan then throws a chair at Rhea hard from the side unprotected then hits shots on her. Liv throws her into the wall and pounds on her.

I really hope that chair was gimmicked because that looked really nasty.

Indi Hartwell vs Roxanne Perez

This is Roxanne Perez's main roster debut. She is not ready whatsoever but management seems to love her. Indi won the title in a match again Perez and Perez had been bringing it up.

RP slaps her and climbs her back with a sleeper. Indi throws her off, shoulders her over the misses an elbow. Rp dropkicks her in the knee then clubs on her. RP russian legsweeps her and Indi hits upkicks. Indi throws her off then hits lariats and punches.

Candice LaRae trips RP from the outside. Indi yells at her about it. LaRae gets on the apron. RP eye rakes her and hits a pop rocks to win it.

It was good that Perez won but the match wasn't anything special. Perez got little reaction due to people not knowing her. At least they made some sense of it with Indi and LaRae fighting.

Sami Zayn and Jey Uso talk in the back. They say they are proud of each other and do a handshake.

Roxanne Perez runs into Natalya in the back. Nat says she will see her tomorrow on NXT and Perez said she will see her tomorrow on her show.

Sami Zayn comes out to talk. The crowd says he deserves it. Sami said he did some historic things at prior Mania's and wanted to do something historic here. He said Gunther is the best Intercontinental champ of all time but he beat him. Sami said he got a lot of help from the fans and said he didn't believe in himself. He said seeing his wife, kid, Owens and one other guy also helped him.

Kaiser and Vinci of Imperium come out. Kaiser said Gunther put in work to make the IC title the most prestigeous in WWE. He said it breaks his hart to see someone like Sami holding it. He said Sami looks like all these peasants in Philly tonight. He said Sami looks like a bum.

Kaiser said they are here on behalf of Gunther to make this right. Kaiser and Vinci surround Sami then Chad Gable's music hits. Chad runs down and backs the heel off.

We get a video on Sheamus. We see clips of him and he must be ready to return.

Sami Zayn and Chad Gable vs Imperium (Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser)

This was made during the break. Chad flips out of a wristlock and trips Vinci. Chad armlocks him then 2nd rope twisting crossbodies him. Chad armdrags him then goes up and over in the corner. Vinci hits his hard crossbody.

Kaiser slaps Chad then hits forearms on the back of Chad's neck. Chad hits a wild back body drop on him. Sami 2nd rope double axe handles Kaiser then elbows him off the 2nd rope. Vinci hits uppercuts on Sami. Sami fights out of the corner then throws Vinci out. Sami back body drops Kaiser out. Chad dives off the top to the outside onto both opponents.

Chad top rope crossbodies him for 2. Kaiser hits Sami from behind then Sami takes a double low dropkick while hanging over the middle rope. We go to PiP break and return. Sami blue thunders Kaiser. Chad hits shots on Vinci then flipping neckbreakers him. Chad atomic drops Kaiser then exploders him. Chad then does the same to Vinci.

Chad crossbodies Kaiser over the top then cannonballs him off the apron. Chad top rope headbutts Vinci for 2. Chad is kicked in the face by Kaiser then backdropped. Chad takes a powerbomb + flying euro combo for 2. Kaiser comes off the 2nd rope and is caught and german suplexed by Chad. Kaiser and Vinci are german suplexed together three times.

Sami ankle locks Vinci then Kaiser breaks it up. Kaiser pounds on Sami then throws chad out. Sami lariats Kaiser over the top then Sami corner exploders Vinci. Sami goes for the helluva kick and tags in Chad. Chad hits a chaos theory german on Vinci and gets the win.

It was an interesting tag here. Kaiser seemed real off and took some nasty looking bumps here. It felt like there was a chance Chad would turn on Sami but it didn't happen.

Jey Uso does a promo. He said WM40 was personal. He said he's in a fatal fourway tonight for a title shot and says he will give the yeetdown.

Ricochet is getting ready in the back.

Ava Raine, Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce talk to Andrade but he leaves as we get there. Aldis and Pearce talk about the draft. Ava said you never know who could end up on NXT after. Aldis says they should put their differences aside.

Chelsea Green walks in. She complains about not being at Mania. She said she will contact the top brass. Pearce said he's aware and said Aldis has a special match for her. Green said she wants someone who is worthy of the spotlight. Aldis said she won't be disappointed. Green said she wanted her moment and Pearce said her moment awaits in the ring right now.

Chelsea Green vs Jade Cargill

Green said she didn't agree to this and said this is not happening. Jade pump kicks her then hits a jade end. Jade then wins it.

It was what it should have been but I do wonder if part of the reason this was so short is because they don't have faith in Jade to put on a good match.

Sami Zayn talks to Alpha Academy in the back and asks for a minute with Chad. Sami asks if we can call the favor thing even tonight. Sami said he's joking and said he knows what he wants. He then holds up the Intercontinental Title. He said it'd be his honor to defend the title against him and said he deserves it more than anyone. He challenges him to a match next week in Montreal. Chad agrees on it and said he can't wait.

Drew McIntyre is mad and grabs the mic. He said what happened last night was BS. He said his moment lasted 5:46 last night. He said it was 5 minutes longer than the fans last in bed. He said he doesn't like Seth but respects him. He thanks him for the moment. He calls Priest a "bondage Undertaker" and said he screwed it all up.

Drew said the MITB briefcase is a joke that cost him the title twice. He said Priest stole the belt from him and he's coming for him. He said he's a transitional champ. Drew said "that prick CM Punk" caused this. He said he told Punk what he would do and did it. He said he got in his face and Punk did nothing. He then said Punk hit him when he wasn't looking. Drew said he's going for Punk's weakest part and said Punk's whole body is his weakest part.

#1 Contenders Match - Drew McIntyre vs Jey Uso vs Bronson Reed vs Ricochet

All 4 pair off and fight. Drew clubs on Red then is belly to belly suplexed. Jey is lariated over the top by Reed. Ric dumps Reed over the top then walks up the buckles and dives on everyone.

We go to PiP break and return. Ric is flipped and Drew powerbombs him. Jey throws Drew over the top then Reed bodyblocks Jey. Reed jumping elbows him then hits headbutts on him. Reed corner hip attacks him then clubs him on the head. Jey superkicks him then Reed powerslams Jey through a table.

We go to another PiP break and return. Ric enzugiri's Reed then Ric enzugiri's Drew. Ric hits corner forearms then Drew throws him far on a belly to belly. Reed throws Ric over a kneeling Drew then stares Drew down. They chop each other and Reed corner splashes him. Drew michinoku drivers him for 2.

Jey superkicks Drew then Ric joins him to superkick Drew. Reed then joins him and Drew takes a triple superkick. Reed takes a double superkick. Reed lariats Ric then Jey spears Reed. All four men are down.

Jey and Drew fight up top. Drew is crotched on the top rope then is put in tree of woe. Drew crackerjacks Jey from tree of woe. Ric is powerbombed into Drew then Reed death valley drivers Ric.

Reed sentons Ric then flying shoulders Drew from the apron. Drew sends Reed into the post then headbutts him, putting him on the commentary table. Jey topes Drew then is enzugiri'd off the top by Ric. Ric springboard 450's Reed on the commentary table and looks like he really hurt his pelvis from it.

Drew future shock ddt's Jey. Drew goes for a future shock ddt. CM Punk comes out and grabs Drew's foot. Jey spears Drew then top rope splashes him. Jey then picks up the win as CM Punk laughs.

It was a fun four way with some chaos and clever spots. Ric has to be in pain from the 450 and I liked Reed throwing people over Drew. I liked the ending of Punk screwing Drew and Jey winning works.

Overall thoughts: After a few years of disappointing Post-Mania Raw's, we got a good one here. We had some of the NXT wrestlers on the show, Cena and Rock stopped by, the main was good and Punk screwing Drew furthered their feud. I was entertained all throughout and I really liked this show. This was a good one and I'd give it an 8 or 9 out of 10.