WWE Monday Night Raw 12/30/2024

WWE Monday Night Raw 12/30/2024

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/wwe-raw-12232024.html

 This is the last 2 hour Raw and the last Raw on USA for the time being. Raw moves to Netflix next week.

We are in Houston, TX.

We see various wrestlers arrive. Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett are on commentary and talk about the show from ringside. They say the first half hour is commercial free.

The New Day come out. 

The New Day try to talk but the crowd keeps booing them. Jey Uso comes out. Woods tries to talk to Jey but keeps getting booed. Woods says they go way back. Jey agrees and says he only has to say one thing - "New Day Sucks".

New Day leave. Jey says he's got other problems to take care of tonight. He mentions Drew McIntyre then tells him to come down to get a beatdown.

The Bloodline interrupt on the screen. Solo says Sami got too close and they dropped it. Solo says Jey should have sided with the real Bloodline. Solo says the necklace will stay on his neck forever. He says he will destroy Roman next week and stay tribal chief.

Jey says he doesn't believe that then Drew McIntyre nails Jey from behind. Drew bangs Jey's head off the mat. Jey superkicks Drew on a claymore kick attempt and pounds on him. Drew headbutts him and both go down. Officials break it up. Drew then runs back in and nails Jey again.

Cathy Kelly interviews American Made. Chad says he's sick of all the talk about how he can't win the title and is ducking Otis. He says he checks stuff off his bucket list tonight and it starts with Alpha Academy. He says he taught Otis everything he knows and Otis will learn that the master remains the master forever. 

Otis vs Chad Gable

Chad clubs Otis in the back. Chad side headlocks him then Otis shoulders him over. Otis hits bolo punches. Otis gorilla presses Chad. They go out. Chad's head is banged off the commentary table and he's thrown into the steps.

Chad hits punches on Otis. Otis lariats Chad. Otis spears the post when Chad moves. Chad dragon screws Otis while he's hanging onto the ropes. Chad hooks Otis' leg. Chad dropkicks Otis. Otis misses a splash on the mat. Chad misses a top rope headbutt. 

Otis throws Chad then lariats him over. Otis does a flying cannonball at Chad. Otis then does the caterpillar elbow for 2. The Creeds put Chad's foot on the ropes. Akira Tozawa attacks them and is suplexed down. Otis sends The Creeds over the timekeepers rail. Maxxine jumps on Ivy.

Otis takes a dropkick in the knee in the ring. Chad ankle locks him. Otis pushes him out of the ring then throws Julius in. Otis throws Brutus in. Otis corner splashes both then suplexes Chad into them. Otis does an ankle lock on Chad. Chad does a slow german on Otis. Chad comes off the top and runs into a spinning back elbow. Ivy grabs Otis' foot. 

Chad ankle locks Otis and Otis taps out.

Thoughts: It was a good match here with Chad working the leg/ankle and winning with it. There was a lot of shenanigans with American Made as expected. It wasn't a classic or anything but it did what it was supposed to do.

We get a package on Liv vs Rhea for next week. Rhea says she's going after the women's title, which she never lost. Liv says she has always been one step ahead of Rhea. Rhea says Dom and Raquel can't save Liv from her beating. They say this has to end together.

We go to The Judgment Day's hangout in the back. Dom says Liv has something up her sleeve. Raquel says she doesn't know. Finn says Liv has a plan for everything and she's sure she has something. Finn says they have a plan for the trios match tonight and says when you listen to Finn, you win. Finn tells Raquel to wish Liv the best of luck next Monday.

We see Adam Pearce and CM Punk talking in the back.

We see Pure Fusion Collective and Damage Ctrl talking in the back separately.

R-Truth vs Pete Dunne

Truth gets nailed by Pete during his entrance. Pete stomps on him and pounds on him. Officials then break it up. Pete says he's nobody's Butch.

Damage Ctrl is interviewed in the back. Kai says PFC don't have what it takes to beat them so they use dirty tactics. She says she can't wait to knock Zoey out of the tournament. She says it would be an honor to face Iyo in the finals of the Women's IC Title Tournament. Iyo says it would be great. Iyo says Lyra has her respect and will be champ sometime, but tonight is not her night. 

Women's Intercontinental Title Tournament Semifinal - Zoey Stark vs Dakota Kai

Kai pump kicks Zoey then clubs on her. Zoey hits corner spears. Zoey flips out of a monkey flip then Kai lariats her. Kai trips Zoey then pump kicks her while she hangs over the apron. Zoey superkicks Kai on the apron.

Kai enzugiri's her there. Zoey springboard dropkicks her. We go to PiP break and return. Zoey boots her around. Kai lariats Zoey over a few times and sweeps her leg. Kai hits a canadian destroyer backcracker. Kai running facekicks her then facewash kicks her. Zoey half-nelson suplexes her then knees her in the face for 2.

Zoey rolling death valley drivers her and superkicks her for 2. Zoey hits mounted forearms. Zoey springboards and Kai superkicks her. Kai hits a go to sleep kick to the gut and wins.

Thoughts: Kai didn't hit her finisher clean but I was okay with the match otherwise. It was rather athletic and the two moved around well. Not a ton of logic to it though.

We get a video of the history on Raw on USA.

The Judgment Day (Finn Balor, JD McDonaugh and Dominik Mysterio) vs Damian Priest and The War Raiders

Finn kicks DP in the leg and tags out. JD takes a facekick from DP. DP uppercuts JD in the corner and Erik forearms JD over. Erik does a muso style slam on JD then slams Dom and Finn. Erik slams Ivar onto JD.

Erik hits shots on JD. JD is sent hard into the buckles chest first. JD is popped up but Finn saves him from a powerslam. Finn and JD are knocked off the apron onto the commentary table together. We go to PiP break and return. 

Erik hits punches on Finn then Finn final cuts him. Finn chinlocks Erik. Finn hits DP while DP is on the apron. Ivar gets in and side slams Finn. He then low crossbodies him. Ivar butt drops Finn in the corner and spin kicks JD.

Ivar misses a bronco buster in the corner. DP and Dom get in. DP throws him in and hits shots on him and JD. DP lifting flatliners Dom. DP hits a big lariat on Dom. Dom clips DP. Erik nails Carlito outside then JD asai moonsaults Erik. Ivar crossbodies Jd against the rails.  DP is hurricanrana'd by Dom. Dom then takes a black hole slam and is pinned.

Thoughts: It was a good tag. They kept it moving and the last part of this was fun. They left you wanting more though and it wasn't quite as good as it could be.

Finn nails DP after and stomps on his leg.Finn butt drops DP's leg. The Raiders save DP.

Adam Pearce tells Jey Uso he escorted Drew and Solo out. He says Jey can face Drew next week though.

Ludwig Kaiser comes out. He says he demands all our gratitude for himself. 

He says we all know he belongs on the top of the food chain in WWE. He says he's A+ everything and European elegance. He says he demands Bron Breakker come out now.

Sheamus comes out and beats up Kaiser. Kaiser eye rakes him and takes a pumping knee. Sheamus then brogue kicks him.

The LWO and Alpha Academy talk in the back. Rey says it takes a lot of guts for Otis to stand up to Gable. He says he will get another shot and beat him next time. The New Day come up to Rey. Kofi says Rey gave Otis a shoulder to cry out. Rey says to back off and take their BS somewhere else. Kofi asks what they will do about it. Rey says part of being a leader is shutting up any egos that need checked. Rey says they can have themselves a match. Woods asks if he will pick one of his Rey Mysterio cronies to team with him. Woods says they will see him soon.

Women's Intercontinental Title Tournament Semifinal - Lyra Valkyria vs Iyo Sky

Lyra grabs the arm and side headlock takeovers her. Iyo does the same to her. Lyra goes up and over. Iyo gets rolled up for 2. Lyra side headlocks her then dropkicks her. Dakota Kai is watching in a box in the stands for some reason. Lyra rocking horses Iyo then bangs her knees off the mat. Lyra dropkicks Iyo through the ropes.

Lyra dragon screws Iyo off the buckles. We go to PiP break and return. Iyo hits shotei's then dropkicks her. Iyo hits a top rope dropkick for 2. Lyra john woo's her then tornado ddt's her. Lyra fisherman suplexes her for 2. 

Iyo does a chaos theory german for 2. Lyra spinning heel kicks her then hits a twisting neckbreaker for 2. Lyra victory roll drops her off the 2nd rope. Iyo then top rope moonsaults her outside.

Iyo hits a corner meteora. Iyo backrolls Lyra and Lyra gets a surprise bridge pin to win.

Thoughts: I was surprised Lyra won. She was being pushed for a while, then it stopped and now it's back I guess. I was surprised nobody got involved in this one. It was a good athletic match here and above the usual work. The crowd really got into it.

Seth Rollins comes out. He talks about the match with CM Punk next week. He says he will be here week after week. He says CM Punk might cry about losing and take another 10 years off.

CM Punk comes out. He complains about Seth using the "took his ball and went home" line. Punk says he hasn't seen Becky Lynch in a while and asks if she took her boll and went home. Punk asks Seth how his knee, neck and insides are. Seth says his wife is taking a break to raise a kid and says Punk doesn't know what that's like.

Seth said Punk wanted WWE to die with CM Punk chants. He said Punk took all kinds of shots to kill this place then took a big chunk of change to join the competition. He asked how that worked out. Seth says Punk can't big brother him anymore because he's the big brother.

He says Punk will take another 10 years off and it'll be a decision Seth makes for him. Punk says he liked the place he worked, but hated the guy in charge. He said the guy in charge loved Seth. Punk said Seth should have had his back but shot arrows in it. Punk says Seth stabbed Roman in the back and is dressed like an idiot.

Punk says he will jam the arrows down Seth's corporate throat. Seth calls him a cancer and says the only way to beat cancer is to cut it out. Seth tells him to bring his fist full of arrows and he will bring his fire and burn him to the ground. They then stare down. 

Thoughts: It was a good segment with them bringing up AEW (without saying it) and Vince. I thought they did a good job of explaining why they are feuding and giving us a reason to care. It definitely made me hyped for their match.

Overall thoughts: It was a good Raw. It would have been better with a little more time. The in-ring work was good. They've done a good job hyping up next week's big Netflix show and I'm definitely pumped for it. The Punk/Seth segment was the best thing on here and the Iyo/Lyra match was the best match of the night. There was little to complain about this one and it was a great way to cap off a good 2024 from Raw. I'll give this one a 7 out of 10 and would recommend it.