WWE Raw 12/23/2024

 WWE Raw 12/23/2024

 Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/wwe-monday-night-raw-12162024.html

We are in Boston, MA. Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett are on commentary.

We see Drew McIntyre walk in and head to ringside. Drew says he was never more beaten up than he was after Hell in a Cell. He said he went back to Scotland after as a family member passed away. He said only person called on him to check. He said his brother wouldn't stab him in the back to take his spot by The Uso's and Sami would. Drew say everyone forgot what Jey did because he does a stupid hand signal and said the fans turned on him when he was fighting for them. Drew said the fans forgot about him after Hell in a Cell. He says he will give no more for anyone and says he will continue to tell the truth. He says the real villains in WWE are Roman and CM Punk. He says if you choose to prop them up. He says he's coming for anyone who wronged him.

Sami Zayn comes out. He says he doesn't know what happened to Drew in Scotland and thought he was just recovering. Sami says he's been through what Drew talked about. He said he had to put losses aside and missed funerals and birthdays like him. He says this is the life they chose and they are WWE superstars. He says everyone has losses and they try to get through the day without pointing the finger at everyone else.

He says the fans didn't forget about Drew, they made him. Sami says what him and The Uso's do has nothing to do with him. Sami says if Drew is still mad about The Bloodline, he has no problem facing him right now. Drew says it's not just anger. Drew says Sami can be with his family easily but he can't. He says Sami knows the result if they fight and says Sami never beat him. Drew says Sami and his family should leave the arena.

Sami says the right thing would be just to go home but then he hits Drew. Drew kind of headbutts him down and Jey Uso comes out. Jey superkicks Drew and Drew takes a double lariat over the top.

Adam Pearce talks to Pure Fusion Collective. Sonya says she wants Sane's spot in the Women's Intercontinental Title Tournament. Adam says they caused Sane to be out and he'd be crazy to reward them. He then gives the vacant spot to Iyo Sky. 

Women's Intercontinental Title Tournament First Round - Alba Fyre vs Iyo Sky vs Natalya

Alba fights off both and is thrown out by Nat. Iyo rolls up Nat. Iyo is dropped on her butt then Alba sends Nat into the rails outside. Iyo overshoots a tope on Alba. We go to break and return. Iyo hits a top rope double crossbody on her opponents.

Iyo dropkicks Alba then springboard dropkicks her. Alba tornado ddt's her and drops her on Nat. Alba hits a top rope swanton and tries pins on both opponents. Nat does a double sharpshooter on her opponents. They go out and Iyo asai moonsaults both opponents outside.

Nat germans Alba while she's on the 2nd rope. Iyo top rope moonsaults Nat and pins her.

Thoughts: It was a bit clunky and nobody hit their spots totally clean here. That brought this one down. 

Judgment Day are upset in the back. Finn complains about losing both titles. Liv and Finn tell at each other through other people. Dom says he's gonna step up and get a match with Damian Priest. He says he has a plan and will fill everyone in on it later. Finn says he wants a week with no drama.

Jey and Sami talk in the back. Sami said Jey didn't tell him he's cleared but he's happy he saved him. Jey wants to handle Drew tonight but Sami says he needs to back up what he said. He asks Jey to let him finish it. Jey says okay and says he has next. 

Chad Gable vs Tozawa

Chad wristlocks him and chops him down. Chad knocks him over. Chad hanging triangles him over the top. Chad argues with Oits outside. He tells him he never learns and slaps him. Toz rolls up Chad inside and superkicks him. Toz hits a top rope senton and Chad gets his knees up. Chad germans him and powerbombs him. Chad then ankle locks him. Toz then taps out.

Thoughts: It was short and wasn't much. This could have used more time.

Chad keeps the hold on after. Otis throws him off and goes face to face with him and The Creed's. The heels back off.

The New Day talk in the back. Dominik Mysterio comes up to them. They say Dom has to understand what they are going through. Dom says he didn't like Big E but that was crazy.

Dominik Mysterio vs Damian Priest

Dom stalls outside. DP blocks Dom's punch, ear claps him and hits punches. DP drops him down body first. DP torture racks him and throws him over. Dom superkicks him and dropkicks him in the back of the head. Dom pulls him out. DP blocks his tope and lifting flatliners him on the commentary table.

JD McDonaugh is dressed as Santa in the front row. DP spots him, takes the beard off and throws him over the rail. DP then throws him over the commentary table and JD takes a great spinning bump. DP finds Carlito under the ring and throws him over the timekeepers rail. Finn Balor then nails DP for the DQ.

Thoughts: Like the last match, we didn't get that much of it before it ended. JD took two great bumps here over the rail and over the commentary table.

Finn's head is banged off the commentary table by DP. DP ends up taking a 4v1. The War Raiders come out and make the save. DP superkicks Finn then stomps on him in the corner. DP flips JD with a lariat and Dom takes a war machine. DP hits a south of heaven on Finn.

We see a sitdown interview with Seth Rollins and Jackie Redmond. Seth says CM Punk needed this place and it didn't need him. He says the hypocrisy eats at him. Seth says it'll be a fight between them and says it'll be the biggest fight in the industry. He said he wanted to throw the remote when he saw Punk posing with Roman at HIAC. He says the Netflix debut show is the best time for the match. He says we will see a side of Seth no one has seen. He says he has to extract the demon from his soul. 

The Miz vs Dexter Lumis

The lights go out and Dex enters. Dex crawls at Miz and Miz goes out. Miz hits a shot on Dex and makes Dex chase him. Dex sends him into the rail. Miz goes out again and Dex cannonballs him off the apron. Dex uppercuts him and Miz facekicks him. Dex hits a thesz press and pounds on him.

Dex uranages her. AOP comes out and Dex top rope dives on them. Karrion Kross comes out and nails Dex for the DQ.

Thoughts: Like the last two matches, it was another short one that wasn't much.

Dex is surrounded by The Final Testament. The lights go out and The Wyatt's arrive. A big fight breaks out. Nikki Cross is powerbombed onto the heels outside.

The War Raiders are hyped up in the back. Priest comes up to them and says it was fun. Ivar says they have known each other a long time and says there's always been honor amongst them even if they didn't see eye to eye. Erik says they owed him one this week. DP says they are at war with Judgment Day and he will go to war with them.

We get another graphic with a 0 with a line in it.

The New Day come out near the commentary table. They complain about Joe Tessitore not being unbiased. Kofi says his job is not to have an opinion but to tell the truth like them last week. Woods says neither Wade or Big E are man enough to get back in the ring.

Kofi gets in the ring. The New Day say they could have gotten E stretched out but they didn't and want to know why the fans are so upset. Kofi said he got a plane ticket for his mom here and it was supposed to be a welcome home party. He says they are ruining his mom's experience. Woods says they gave the fans the 10 best years of their lives.

Kofi apologizes to his mom and says he doesn't understand why they are doing this. Kofi ask for a hug and his mom yells at him. His mom then walks away from him. 

 The New Day and Rey Mysterio talk in the back. Rey says he could have handled things differently last week and wants to apologize. He says what they did to Big E was just foul. He says they should apologize to start fixing things. Kofi says they didn't do anything wrong. Rey says they are on their own and says get used to hearing "New Day sucks, New Day sucks".

Drew McIntyre vs Sami Zayn

Drew hits punches and chops. Sami hits chops. Sami tries to go up and over but is kicked in the arm. Drew suplexes him. Drew bends over and Sami kicks him. Sami throws him out of the ring. We go to break and return.

Drew stomps on Sami. Drew suplexes him. Drew hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Sami hits a ddt. Sami is caught on a plancha and bangs Drew's head off the commentary table. Sami's head is banged off the steps. Drew sideslams him on the apron from the steps. We go to break and return. Sami victory rolls out of a reverse alabama slam. Drew spears the post when Sami moves. Sami goes up top and gets caught. Drew 2nd rope air raid crashes him for 2. Sami cradles him for 2 and takes a flying headbutt.

Sami lariats Drew on a claymore kick attempt. Sami exploders Drew into the buckles. Drew claymore kicks him and wins.

Thoughts: It was another shorter and unspectacular match. I like the backbreaker on the apron spot. It just wasn't that great and they didn't go all out here or work any story.

Drew stands over Sami after and pounds on him. Jey Uso comes out to make the save. Jey spears Drew. The Bloodline come out and knock Jey off the top.Fatu misses a conrer hip attack on Jey. Jey superkicks Tama. Jey hits punches on Fatu and Solo. Fatu superkicks Jey. Solo samoan spikes Jey. Sami saves Jey from another.

Tama pounds on Sami. Fatu corner hip attacks Sami. Fatu double jump moonsaults Jey. Solo samoan spikes Sami. Sami is laid on Jey. The heels then pose. 

Overall thoughts: It was one of the weakest Raw's of the Triple H era. There were a bunch of short matches here and multiple DQ's. Everyone basically took the night off here and there was really nothing you needed to see on this. It made sense and all but that's about it. I'd give this one a 4 out of 10 and would not recommend this at all.