Monday night raw stopped by Grand Rapid, MI, for a great night of action from one of the best shows presented by WWEred mark recently. Gunther vs. Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship will take place at Survivor Series 2024with Gunther spending the night worrying about Priest defeating his compatriot, Ludwig Kaiser. Dakota Kai returned to Damage CTRL, who then won a trios match against Pure Fusion Collective, and Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill successfully defended their tag team championships against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez in a match that saw many of the SmackDown women storming. Bron Breakker and Sheamus had a verbal exchange that led to an Intercontinental title match on next week’s Raw.
Seth Rollins was the focal point of the night, brawling with Bronson Reed and cutting a world-class promo to turn down Sami Zayn’s offer of a truce with Roman Reigns. He also later turned down a similar offer from Solo Sikoa in a night when Seth Rollins stole the show. Pete Dunne defeated Kofi Kingston, who continues to feud with Xavier Woods, and Karrion Kross and The Miz put on a hell of a turn to decimate The Wyatt Sicks, taking this storyline to a whole new level.
Seth Rollins
The first person to talk sense about Babyface Roman Reigns
This was a very good Monday Night Raw for Seth Freakin’ Rollins. Interrupting a menacing promo from Bronson Reed (who continues to shine in every aspect of his game), Seth Rollins was called out and came out twirling a microphone to his signature song. As Grand Rapids awaited what the Architect had to say, Seth Rollins attacked the ring and sparked a brawl that was as exciting as their first encounter. Reed looked like Godzilla all summer, but, crucially, Seth Rollins took the fight to Bronson Reed. The two will definitely settle their scores on Monday Night Raw next week.
Then, Seth Rollins delivered one of his best moments of 2024. Being confronted after his war with Reed, Sami Zayn was about to beg Seth to be the good guys’ fifth man in the War Games. Seth Rollins highlighted that he reached his physical limit over two nights and lost his championship at WrestleMania just to ensure an end to Roman Reigns’ years of oppression. Kevin Owens may be ready to tear people down for aligning themselves with the OTC, but Seth Rollins made a spectacular but calm argument for remaining a babyface while asking “what the hell are we doing here?” about one of WWE’s biggest stars. A great twist that shows Seth has a real backbone, and he’s not done yet.
Father Damian
Gunther is scared of the former El Campion
After winning last week’s Fatal 4-Way to be the number one contender for Raw’s biggest prize, Damian Priest is officially challenging Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series. This means Priest has been in contention for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania (sort of), SummerSlam and Survivor Series. This continues to be the best year of Damian Priest’s career and this is not slowing down in the final stage.
Assuming Gunther remains in Vancouver, the goal for the next month and the next fight is to make sure Priest doesn’t look like cannon fodder to the big Austrian. Yellow card makes Gunther look scared of an opponent for the first timewith Priest doing a great job of planting seeds of doubt in the champion’s mind. Gunther reprimanded Ludwig Kaiser for defending his honor, fearing Priest’s reaction. Priest then defeated Ludwig Kaiser on a big night that also included their theme song getting a new shine that includes former Slayer guitarist Kerry King.
Damage CTRL
Dakota Kai returns to make damage CTRL stronger
To their enormous credit, Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane have been such an important part of Monday Night Raw that audiences could be forgiven for forgetting that Damage CTRL lost half of its faction to injury. Dakota Kai’s return was greeted with a huge pop as it wasn’t even rumored, a masterstroke when paired with the trio being thrown straight into a hard-hitting match with Pure Fusion Collective. Damage CTRL emerged victorious and their leader isn’t done with the night yet.
A women’s Survivor Series interbrand match
Raw and SmackDown face off on the road to Vancouver
Raw’s Main Event saw Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill put their Women’s Tag Team Championships on the line against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez in a rivalry that has been bubbling for weeks. Jade and Bianca always talk about working and the large volume of saves they made in the last month confirms this. The match itself ended with the champions retaining, but It was the all-star finale and postgame that stole the headlines.
SmackDown women Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton and Naomi invaded the show for a chaotic, all-out brawl to end the show with disagreements and carnage unfolding throughout the ring area. It seems Survivor Series is more likely to feature a cross-brand match than a Raw or SmackDown exclusive match-up, and it’s going to be a lot of fun if that’s anything to go by.
Karrion Kross
Best End of Testament week ever?
People have been hard on Karrion Kross over the years, but his new role as the devil on his shoulder has been steadily gaining momentum. It is no exaggeration to suggest This might be Karrion Kross’s best main cast moment yet. Interrogating The Miz following his kidnapping at the hands of The Wyatt Sicks last week, Kross intimidated a desperate, pleading and pathetic Miz. Grabbing him by the back of the neck and dragging him into the guerrilla stance in a way that looked convincingly off-script, they spilled out into the ring. His threats to the tearful, bloody Miz seemed filled with malicious intent as he demanded to face the Wyatts and that they pay for what they did to Paul Ellering.
It was impressive that Kross and The Final Testament were the first people to actively denounce The Wyatt Sicks. When the arena lights went out and they finally arrived, Miz left the ring fearing for his life. Only when The Wyatt Sicks faced The Final Testament did Miz reappear with a chair as part of a masterful maneuver to eliminate The Wyatt Sicks. The grand plan and execution here was the smartest the Final Testament has ever looked. Momentum is key from this moment on.
Fifth Men in War Games
A Layer of Intrigue Surrounds the Survivor Series Main Event
After Smackdown finished with the euphoric reformation of the original Bloodline, all eyes turned to War Games and the fact that this is a five-on-five affair. Solo Sikoa, The Bloodline and Jacob Fatu are facing Roman Reigns, The Usos and Sami Zayn. Both teams need to find a fifth member before the War Games and this became a constant element with no resolution on this episode of Monday Night Raw.
Seth Rollins turned down both teams, Bron Breakker was approached by Jimmy Uso in a section that was left open and Sami Zayn said he had someone in mind but didn’t specify who. Solo Sikoa’s team will certainly tend to lock Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn in a cage with the psychotic Kevin Owens if Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson isn’t the secret fifth man. It’s exciting, but with less than three weeks until the War Games, time is running out.
Uncle Hello
Your laughter clouds an excellent segment
For the first time, the Wyatt Sicks were called up and then eliminated by Final Testament. It’s important that The Wyatt Sicks is humanizedthe supernatural elements and wrestling have to meet at some point that makes sense in a wrestling ring on a wrestling show. However, this is not what questions his performance.
After taking a brutal beating that included steel chairs, being thrown from the apron and finishing moves being detonated, Uncle Howdy’s laughter seemed to have cheapened the good work that came before him. Instead of taking your medicine, Howdy’s laugh diluted the massacre this just happened and the performances that The Miz and Karrion Kross in particular guaranteed. He didn’t seem unbalanced or psychotic. It felt out of place and misguided.
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We miss hearing Gunther say “street trash.” How dare Priest take that away when it was just minutes away from happening?
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Dakota Kai returned to Monday Night Raw for the first time since July 8th. Welcome back, Dakota!
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Rey Mysterio turning down Jey Uso in the context of the Bronson Reed stoppage was a great touch.
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Bronson Reed walking past WWE security like he was John Wick. Incredible.
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Bronson Reed vs. Seth Rollins, Dominik Mysterio and Carlito vs. The War Raiders, and an Intercontinental Championship match between Bron Breakker and Sheamus are scheduled for next week’s edition of Monday Night Raw.
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Ludwig Kaiser hasn’t won on Raw or SmackDown since June.
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Dominik Mysterio is the only man to beat Damian Preist on Raw since April. What a statistic.
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The New Day continues to have issues with Pete Dunne defeating Kofi Kingston, with Xavier and Kofi no longer on the same page.