WWE Monday Night Raw 11/25/2024

WWE Monday Night Raw 11/25/2024

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/11/wwe-monday-night-raw-11182024.html

We are in Glendale, Arizona. Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett are on commentary. Survivor Series is this Saturday.

We see various wrestlers arrive.

Gunther comes is interviewed by Jackie Redmond in the ring. Damian Priest interrupts before Gunther gets a word in. DP says to tell everyone how easy it will be for him at Survivor Series.

DP says Gunther wants him to know the old Gunther is back but it's not true. He says Gunther used to have an aura where he could say anything he wanted and no one would make a move on him. He says he knows why Gunther is the way he is and it's because he never had to deal with a problem like him. He says this problem is taking that title at Survivor Series. He asks what happens to Gunther when he loses to a guy from the streets.

He tells Gunther to talk away. Gunther hits DP with the mic. Gunther then pounds on him. Gunther lariats him down on the floor. DP sends Gunther into the post and pounds on him. DP sends Gunther through the commentary table with a razor's edge. 

Thoughts: I didn't like this and thought it made Gunther look like a punk. This didn't do much to interest me in Priest/Gunther.

We see footage of Jade Cargill out on a car hood. Naomi and Bianca talk. Bianca says Jade is doing bad and won't be back for a while. Bianca says when they find out who did it, they will get them. Naomi says they need to find a 5th member for Wargames. Iyo Sky comes in and suggests Kairi Sane. Bianca says she doesn't know about more Damage Ctrl. Naomi picks Bayley. All 3 girls argue. Rhea Ripley comes in. She says who ever they choose has to carry their weight and stay out of the way. Bianca asks Rhea who should be picked. She says she doesn't care as long as she is left Liv Morgan. Bianca says she doesn't have time for this and says they can figure it out as she gets ready for tonight.

Tornado Match - The LWO (Dragon Lee and Rey Mysterio) vs The Creed Brothers

BC = Brutus Creed, JC = Julius Creed

The 4 pair off and fight. Rey is sent into the buckles chest first then Lee is sent into Rey. Lee flying headscissors BC. Rey is popped up onto JC. Rey asai moonsaults onto JC for 2.

BC lariats Lee over then throws Rey out. Lee headbutts Bc on the buckles. JC jumps up to the top and superplexes Lee. JC flying knees Lee. Lee flying headscissors BC off the apron and JC hits a stiff lariat on Rey.

We go to break and return. Rey jumps off the 2nd rope but is caught and rolled down. JC forearms Lee off the apron. JC top rope 450's Rey for 2. Lee hits combinacion cabron on JC. Lee ddt's JC for 2. 

The Creeds are standing on the 2nd rope and takes a 619 to the legs. Lee then double stomps both Creeds as they hang. Rey sliding splashes BC on the outside. Lee tope con hilos on JC then is suplexed on the floor. Rey flying headscissors JC into the ropes. BC goes into the ref. Chad Gable comes out and turns Rey's mask around. JC then rolls up Rey and pins him.

Thoughts: Some of the spots were a little rough here as Lee overshot JC and then it seemed like something went wrong with the Rey headscissors spot on JC. The finish was weak in this one and I don't know if the good things about this were better than the bad things in it.

The Creeds and Gable pose on the commentary table after.

The Judgment Day talk in the back. Finn says Liv needs to have more faith in her teammates. R-Truth comes in and says he needs a place to hide from Butch. Finn says he will need a place to hide from him if he doesn't get out of his clubhouse. Truth says they aren't a family anymore and says Thanksgiving is out.

Finn talks to Liv and Dom and rips him. He says Carlito and Dom lost to The War Raiders, but did soften them up. He says that's teamwork and will help keep them champs. Finn says it'll be a great week for Judgment Day. Finn says there's no leaders but when everyone listens to Finn, they are one big, successful, happy family. 

Bron Breakker vs Ludwig Kaiser

Bron picks him up and rams him in the corner. Bron overhead suplexes him. They trade punches. Kaiser chops him then Bron runs him over with a body block. Bron hits a fireman's carry gutbuster and Kaiser goes out. Bron runs around the ring, tries to spear him but hits the corner edge of the commentary table super fast.

We go to break and return. Kaiser abdominal stretches him. Kaiser armlocks Bron and hits shots to his now injured ribs. Bron takes punches and starts to hulk up. Bron flying lariats him and hits shots to the head. Bron catches him in the air and powerslams him. Bron walks up the buckles and hurricanrana's Kaiser. Bron goes for a spear and takes a step up enzugiri.

Kaiser goes out then Sheamus runs him over from behind, causing the DQ. Sheamus pounds and stomps on Kaiser. Bron and Sheamus argue about it and officials come to break it up as they start to fight. All 3 wrestlers then brawl as officials try to break it up.

Thoughts: I liked the match. Bron's table bump looked like it could have killed him so he needs to not do that again. Bron got over some with the crowd here and was definitely a bit more face than usual. The interference made sense since Kaiser interrupted the match last week.

We come back and the three are still fighting. Adam Pearce says "enough". He says everyone fights for the IC Title at Survivor Series if they want to fight. Pearce then throws the mic up. Everyone then starts fighting again.

Sami Zayn and The Uso's are interviewed. Sami says he's shocked at Paul returning with Punk. He says he never thought the 5th man would be Punk. He says Punk's a complicated guy and says Roman and Punk have a complicated history. He says they will talk on SD. Sami asks if they can trust Punk. Jimmy says they can as The Wiseman says it's okay. Jey says there's an advantage match with him vs Fatu on SD. He says it's a family reunion and he's whooping that @ss.

World Tag Title - The Judgment Day (Finn Balor and JD McDonaugh) vs The War Raiders (Ivar and Erik)

Erik forearms Finn over. Erik throws JD in then hits a double lariat on his opponents. JD is thrown out by Erik. Erik slams Ivar onto Finn. Ivar cannonballs The Raiders off the apron.

We go to break and return. Erik back body drops Finn then takes a basement dropkick for 2. Finn slingshot stomps Erik then JD seated springboard moonsaults Erik for 2. Erik and Finn trade shots. Finn final cuts Erik for 2.

JD misses a corner charge on Erik. Finn armlocks Erik to stop him from making a tag. Erik drops him with a forearm and both fall down. Ivar and JD are tagged in. Ivar back body drops him and side slams him. Ivar low crossbodies JD. Ivar butt drops JD in the corner then spin kicks Finn in the head.

Ivar bronco busters JD in the corner. JD is then popped up and powerslammed by Ivar for 2. Finn tkes a knee to the face from Erik. Dom and Carlito come down and get hit. JD takes a springboard lariat + german combo but Dom puts JD's feet on the ropes on the pin attempt. The ref ejects Dom and Carlito and Erik nails both.

Ivar goes for a moonsault but Finn pulls him throat first down on the ropes. JD then rolls up Ivar and wins.

Thoughts: It was what it should have been with the smaller guys bumping around for the bigger guys and them only winning by cheating. It wasn't great but it was fine. I'm sure this is leading to a rematch of some sort.

The New Day's 10 Year Celebration is next week. Woods and Kofi see the graphic. Woods says he loves Kofi and Kofi says the same. Woods says it'll be the greatest night of their careers. Kofi says let's show them what we are all about.

The New Day vs Alpha Academy (Otis and Akira Tozawa)

Maxxine Dupri is with The Academy. New Day argues over who gets in first. Woods allows Kofi to do it then tags himself in. Otis spinning back elbows Woods and bodyblocks Kofi. Otis corner splashes Kofi. Otis does a caterpilla elbow on Woods. Akira hits a top rope senton on Woods and gets the win.

Thoughts: This was a lot shorter than expected and I was surprised The Academy won. We know why it happened though as it fits the storyline, so I'm fine with it.

Kofi and Woods argue. Woods tells him to get out of the ring and they argue to the back. Woods says he was running the play and should start the match. He says Kofi can't listen and thinks he's bigger than everyone else. They argue in the back. Woods says Kofi wrestles like garbage and asks if he will help him.

Kofi says he gave him his title shot and says Woods fumbled it. He says there's a reason him and E never let Woods call the shots and he says it's because he's too reckless. Woods says he remembers when Kofi was too afraid to take any risks. Woods says he's the reason Kofi got the shot and became world champ. Kofi says it's the other way around. He says Woods shouldn't talk about titles as he never won one by himself. Kofi says Woods has not been good enough to be world champ and says it's not his fault.

Woods says he was good enough to fight for him and take his beatings and believe in him. Woods says they turned it into KofiMania. He says Kofi p!ssed it away in 6 seconds to Brock Lesnar (first time he was mentioned in a while). Kofi says if he was anyone else....and Woods says, he would finally get mad? They say they will see each other at the anniversary.

Thoughts: This good and continues the issues between these two.

The Final Testament and The Miz talk in the back. Miz says The Wyatt's are here. Kross asks if they saw him and he says no. Kross says if they want to play games, they will. Kross tells Scarlett to stay back here out of danger. Miz says he should stay here too but is pulled away with them. Nikki Cross then appears behind the door.

We see clips of CM Punk' return last year. We see HHH give him instructions and see Bruce Pritchard.

The Final Testament run into Pete Dunne. Pete asks if they have seen Truth. They knock on their door and see their room all messed up and see Scarlett acting wild. Scarlett says Nikki Cross did this. The mirror has "everyone has something to lose" written in make-up on it.

We see clips from earlier of Adam Pearce in the ring talking about the Intercontinental Title. This was not shown on TV. He then shows off the new WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship. He says it will be earned in a tournament.

Thoughts: Raw has enough women for this unlike Smackdown. The argument is always that a title will give people in a division something to do. While that is true, if a division is booked well, you don't even really need a title. The big problem I see with this and the Women's US Title is that WWE PPV's only have 5 matches as is now and unless that changes, I don't think either belt will be seeing many PPV's. 

Nia Jax talks to her Wargames team in the back. She says Wargames is over as their opponents are down Jade. She says it's not about beating Bianca tonight, it's about squashing her. She says they will have the 5v3 advantage on Saturday.

The Bloodline do a video. Solo says we are 5 days away from Wargames. Solo says he has to give credit to Roman for getting Punk/Heyman and catching them off guard. Solo says that's a good one but says that's the only one he will get. He says they took their shot and now it's his turn. He says it's Fatu vs Jey Uso for the Wargames Advantage on SD. Solo says Roman could have 100 people on his side but doesn't have the advantage. He says he's the tribal chief and he acknowledges his Bloodline over Roman's. 

Wargames Advantage Match - Bianca Belair vs Nia Jax

Nia throws her to start and corner splashes her. BB bangs Nia's head off the buckle and hits corner punches. BB flips over Nia then flying dropkicks her out. BB dives on her off the apron, gets caught and is rammed into the post. Nia sends BB into the rails.

We go to break and return. Nia slams BB then sentons her. Nia misses a butt drop. Nia spears the post when BB moves. BB plancha's her outside. BB misses a handspring moonsault and Nia legdrops her for 2.

Nia 2nd rope legdrops BB for 2. BB gorilla press slams Nia. BB handspring moonsaults Nia for 2. Nia headbutts BB then samoan drops her. Nia climbs on the buckles and is half-electric chair dropped down.

Nia corner splashes BB then samoan drops her on the commentary table. Nia throws BB into the steps. Bayley comes out and pulls Nia off the buckles. BB top rope 450's Nia and wins.

Thoughts: I didn't like Bayley costing the match, especially since Nia didn't cheat. That was bogus. While Nia taking big bumps was cool, she should never be gorilla pressed to protect her size. I liked the work but not the booking of this.

Overall thoughts: It was an easy show to watch and had a lot of decent wrestling on it. It was odd not to see Reed and Seth on this though. I didn't like the Priest/Gunther segment. I'm not super excited for the Women's IC Title. I don't think this show was super effective at getting me excited for Wargames though. I would give this one a 6 out of 10 but I don't think you really need to see it.