WWE Monday Night Raw 7/1/2024

WWE Monday Night Raw 7/1/2024

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/06/wwe-monday-night-raw-6242024.html

We see Jey Uso arrive through groups of a fans. Jey gets on the mic. Jey says he will grab the contract MITB. Chad Gable comes out and says enough. He says yeet isn't a word but miracle is. And he says what he's survived over the last few weeks has been a miracle with him getting into MITB, surviving The Wyatt's and dealing with his group leaving him. He says he will call himself, "Master In The Bank" at the PPV.

Jey says "didn't The Wyatt's get to you?". Chad says they should be able after him for stealing the fireflies and for ditching his family. He said he got out of a manipulative scumbag like Chad's family/group did. Chad then hits him. They fight and Jey superkicks him.

They lights go out for The Wyatt's and they mute the "holy sh!t" cants, hurting the moment. Chad goes up into the stands to get away.

The security guards for the commentators get knocked out again and the girl (Sarah Logan) gives something to the commentators. Cole ends up receiving another box.

Xavier Woods vs Karrion Kross

Woods hits chops on Kross. Kross hits a big forearm in the corner then exploders him. They each hit chops and Kross chokes him with his leg over the ropes. Kross is pulled down over the top rope and Woods plancha's him. Kross powerbombs him into the post. We go to break and return.

We go to break and return. They trade shots and Woods chop flurries him. Woods hits a weak spinning shot then corner forearms him. Woods hits corner punches. Woods superkicks him then Kross headbutts him in the shoulder. Woods jumps off the top and takes a forearm. Woods cradles him out of nowhere.

Thoughts: It was short and nothing of note. The finish wasn't that good here.

The Final Testament beat up New Day after. Kofi goes to dive and takes a forearm from Kross. Woods is thrown into the rails. Kross armlocks Kofi after and they say he has to get medical attention. Kross asks Woods if he wants to shake his hand.  

Dominik Mysterio and Damian Priest talk in the back. DP asks if he talked to Rhea. Dom says they all good. DP says he just talked to Rhea and says she's p!ssed. Dom says he will handle it and DP says he says that every week and does nothing.

We go to The Judgment Day handout and Liv Morgan is playing video games with the crew. She then leaves. DP says Liv can't hang with them in the clubhouse. Finn says she helped bring the tag titles back to them. Finn says the problem is DP, putting his spot up in the match with Seth. Finn says he doesn't like DP calling him a sidekick. DP says he's the champ and of course they need him more. DP says they need each other. Finn says he will always have his back and tell him the truth and said he changed since he won the title.

We get a video on Wild Samoan Sika.

Zelina Vega is interviewed. She says she's interested in chasing the women's title. she says Liv and everyone will see what a real champ looks like.

Women's Title - Liv Morgan (c) vs Zelina Vega

Liv throws her back. Vega armdrags her then springboard armdrags her out of the casadora. Liv camel clutches her on the ropes. Vega is knocked off the apron then Dom comes out. Vega meteora's Liv off the apron. Rey Mysterio comes out and Dom backs up.

We go to break and return. Liv hits three amigos suplexes and does Eddie's shimmy. Liv ties up Vega's legs. Vega back rolls her and rolling kicks her. Vega axe kicks Liv in the back. Vega to prope moonsaults Liv for 2. Liv blocks a code red with a b-driver then step up enzugiri's her.

They fight on the buckles and Vega 2nd rope code red's her. Dom and Rey have words and Rey shoves him. Live baseball slides Rey. Vega 619's Liv then ddt's her for 2. Dom slides a chair in and Vega hits Dom with it for some reason. Liv hits oblivion and wins.

Thoughts: It was a circus here with a bunch of shenanigans with Dom and Rey. The match was really secondary to all of that and wasn't that special. They did somewhat sell me on Vega possibly winning though so this did work.

Liv is interviewed in the entrance way. She says she feels like the luckiest girl in the world. She says The Liv Morgan Revenge Tour is going as she planned it. She said she dedicates her victories to Dom, who she calls the most gorgeous man in WWE.

Drew McIntyre talks over video clips. He said he was screwed out of the title and sent to the back of the line. He said he's at peace as he will do to people who get in his way what he did to Punk. Drew says he will win the three-way tonight and go to MITB. He says he will rip the dreams out his opponents out of their hands like they did his. He says he can't be stopped. 

Seth Rollins comes out to talk. He says he will stand in the ring World Champ next week. He puts over Boston as a championship city. He said he needs to win back the title. He says he will have to reinvent himself if he doesn't. He says he will beat Priest and break-up Judgment Day, but says his goal isn't to break up Judgment Day.

Finn Balor comes out. He said he's in a bad mood when he should be in a good mood. He said everything around here is changing including Priest and what it means to be in Judgment Day. He says it's all Seth's fault. Seth said he thinks Finn is jealous of Priest and said he will knock his teeth down his throat if he gets in the ring.

Damian Priest comes down. Seth said it's a trap and Priest said it's not. Priest tells Finn this is his business and no one else is getting involved in it. Priest says Seth's days of running Raw are over. Seth says let's do this thing right now. Finn takes a shot at Seth but Priest doesn't touch him or help. Finn pounds on Seth and Seth pulls Finn off.

Seth superkicks the both of them and curbstomps Finn. Priest hits a south of heaven chokeslam on Seth.

They announce they are working with Bojangles and releasing WWE cups. 

Ludwig Kaiser does a video on Bron and Sheamus. He said Sheamus broke his ribs last week. He said Sheamus showed him who he is and says he is nothing but a coward. Kaiser says it was about beating him before and says his goal will be to beat him, humiliate him and end him once and for all.

Priest helps Finn to the back. He tells him to stay out of his match at MITB. Finn says "yep" and holds his jaw.

Women's MITB Qualifying Match - Dakota Kai vs Zoey Stark vs Ivy Nile

Zoey goes up and over Kai then kicks her. Kai pump kicks Ivy while she's hanging off the apron then Zoey baseball slides Kai. Zoey is dropkicked off the apron. Ivy hits a combo punch + kick on her opponents. Ivy flying corner kicks Kai. Zoey springboard dropkicks Kai for 2.

We go to break and return. Ivy hits a double bulldog off the ropes. Ivy germans Kai then Ivy spinning headscissors Zoey. Ivy germans Zoey then we get a double german suplex spot. Zoey overhead germans Ivy for 2. Kai scorpion kicks Zoey. Ivy high kicks Zoey then germans her for 2. Zoey tornado ddt's Ivy then Kai does a sunset flip backcracker.

Kairi Sane comes down. Ivy gets distracted and Kai stomps her in the back. Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn throw Sane into the rails. Zoey hits a Z360 on Kai and wins.

Thoughts: It wasn't anything too great but the sunset flip backbraker was cool and I popped for the double german spot. I expected disaster here and they surpassed expectations.

Cole says we will see footage from the VHS that he was given in a box earlier.

We see Bo Dallas and Uncle Howdy talk. Howdy asks if him he thought he brought him to live. Bo says he was destined to do this. He said he doesn't think he's special and says we're the ones everyone wanted to forget about and abandoned. Bo says they made them notice us.

Bo is asked how he thinks he can bring them to life. He says The Wyatts Sicks weren't chosen, they offered themselves. He says they've become a family. Bo says people belittling their family is disgusting and says they must pay for their sings. Bo says he's the voice of the reckoning and Howdy says he's the reckoning. They say the same things at the same time, talking about freeing them from the cave and saying they are nobody. They switch places and Howdy disappears. He says they set them free. We then see Howdy appear again and he says, "there you are".

Thoughts: It was weird and unusual stuff. It's hard to judge it until we know where it is going and it's going to be hard to tie this into something wrestling related.

Otis is eating and Chad Gable sits down next to him. Chad thinks The Wyatt's are talking about him. He says he's been critical of him and his choices. He says he knows he said hurtful things and he knows Otis hates him. Otis says he doesn't hate him. He says they aren't helping and it's not his problem, it's Chad's. Chad says it could be Otis or Tozawa attacked next. Chad says he will have his back if he is attacked next. Maxxine and Tozawa walk in and asks if everything is okay. Chad says everything is great.

Rey Mysterio vs Dominik Mysterio

Rey headflips out of a wristlock. Dom dropkicks him. Dom back rolls and Rey stomps him. Rey headscissors Dom over then jumps off the apron and headscissors him on the floor. We go to break and return. Rey gets crotched on the ropes on an up and over. Dom hits mounted punches.

Dom hits chops on Rey then throws him into the buckles chest first. Dom is tripped into the 2nd buckle then Rey bangs Dom's head off the buckles. Rey springboard crossbodies Dom. Rey kicks him in the head off a sunset flip. Liv Morgan comes down. Rey gets distracted.

Dom rolls through a sunset flip and catapults Rey down onto the mat. Dom rolls into a half-crab. Dom hits two of three amigos. Rey goes for the 619 and Liv pulls Dom out. Rey baseball slides Dom on top of Liv and Liv holds Dom there. Rey argues with Liv then Dom suplexes Rey for 2. Vega comes out and jumps on Liv and hits her. Dom dropkicks Rey into the ropes and 619's him. Liv and Vega pull each other off the apron and Liv crotches Dom on accident.

Rey 619's Dom who is hanging over the buckles. Rey slingshot splashes him and wins.

Thoughts: It was an okay match but the shenanigans made this one really fun. This Liv/Dom storyline is really good stuff.

Sheamus says it's been 15 years since he debuted in WWE. He said he fulfilled his dream and gets a chance to do it again and become a 2x Mr. MITB. He says it will be a war tonight. He says Ilja reminds him of himself and said Drew is always getting involved in his business. Sheamus says he gets one step closer to becoming champ tonight.

We see Nakamura visiting Rey Tsuruya at her UFC fight.

Sami Zayn comes out. He says it feels good to walk back in the arena as IC champ. He says he knows his next challenger is Bron Breakker and says everyone thinks Bron will run through him. Sami says he will beat him at MITB.

Bron Breakker comes out. He says Sami gained some of his respect as he showed he wasn't afraid f him. He says he has guts but says he doesn't know what he's in for. He says the respect is out the window as he will beat him down and decimate him in the ring to become the new IC champ.

Sami says a lot of people said they would break him in half and said he has put himself back together eveyr time. He says he gets back up every time and says the proof is in his title. He says he wants Bron to want his title. He says to try and take it from him.

He says maybe Bron hasn't done his homework and isn't as smart as he thinks he is. He says maybe he's not as good as he thinks he is. He says he will see him at MITB. Bron spears him. They both get out and Bron runs around the ring. He tries to spear him but Sami leapfrogs and Bron goes into the steps.

Sami hits punches on Bron and bangs his head off the table. Sami exploders him in the corner. Bron then spears him and poses over top of him.

Damage Ctrl are interviewed. Kai says the plans stay the same at MITB and Iyo will win the MITB briefcase. She says she's tired of people getting involved in Damage Ctrl business. Lyra Valkyria walks in. She says Kai can't climb the ladder for Iyo and says she will climb it faster. Damage Ctrl then get jumped by Katana Chance and Kayden Carter and a brawl erupts.

Ilja Dragunov talks about tonight's match. He says the MITB contract can take you from the bottom to the top. He says it's time to breathe the air of a new level. He say careers can be short when people like Bron try to end you. He says he will win tonight.

Men's MITB Qualifying Match - Ilja Dragunov vs Drew McIntyre vs Sheamus

Sheamus and Drew go face to face and argue. Drag jumping kicks Drew out. Ilja boots him and is lariated. Sheamus takes chops from Ilja then Ilja flying kicks him. Sheamus backbreakers Ilja and Drew. Drew throws Sheamus over the rails outside.

Ilja enzugiri's Drew. Sheamus pops up behind Drew and clubs his chest. We go to break and return. Ilja enzugiri's Drew then Drew belly to belly suplexes him. Sheamus top rope lariats Drew.

Ilja hits shots on both opponents and enzuigiri's both. Ilja running knees Sheamus. Ilja top rope dropkicks Drew then h-bombs Sheamus, who is laying on the floor. Ilja top rope sentons Drew then h-bombs him for 2. Sheamus sends Ilja into the rails. 

We go to break and return. Drew superplexes Sheamus and is german'd off the buckles by Ilja in the process. Ilja constantine special lariats Sheamus. Drew headbutts Ilja then Ilja flying headbutts him. Ilja springboards and gets hit with a brogue kick from Sheamus.

Sheamus pump kicks Ilja and Drew pulls Ilja out. Drew throws Ilja over the rails. Sheamus and Drew stare down. Thye trade shots and Sheamus powerslams him. Sheamus hits chest clubs on Drew. Drew rolls up Sheamus for 2. Drew claymore kicks him and wins.

Thoughts: You know the deal with three ways. It had its limitations and all of these matches probably would have been better on their own. We did get some Ilja/Drew fighting that I don't know if we would have gotten otherwise. It was good with everyone throwing bombs but not a classic. Drew winning wasn't a shock at all. I fully expect Punk to screw him at MITB though.

Drew is interviewed in the ring after. He said he told us he would win this war. He says he will walk into MITB this Saturday and leave Toronto champ.

Overall thoughts: There was probably about an hour total of commercials and various in-show ads here. As usual, the Liv/Dom stuff is carrying the show. We didn't see Awesome Truth for some reason here which was a surprise. Due to it being the Raw go home show before the PPV, there weren't any real major happenings. I liked the show overall but none of the matches were must see affairs and you probably could skip this one without missing too much.