It’s Survivor Series week, how WWE rolled to the Desert Diamond Arena for Monday Night Raw. Gunther was once again broken at the hands of Damian Priest. The two opened the show with Priest eviscerating the World Heavyweight Champion, before putting him through the table before this Saturday’s fight. A Triple Threat Intercontinental Championship match was added to Survivor Seriesas Sheamus, Ludwig Kaiser and Bron Breakker brawled to the top of the entrance. Judgment Day retained their tag team titles for the vibrant and re-energized War Raiders.
Meanwhile, a new and much-requested championship has been revealed and there will be a tournament to crown the first Intercontinental Women’s Champion. The New Day stole the night with a passionate and personal discussion ahead of the 10-year anniversary celebration next Monday. Nikki Cross attacked Scarlet Bordeaux as The Wyatt Sicks continued to pursue The Final Testament and Bianca Belair scored a victory over Nia Jax in the main event to gain an advantage for her team ahead of the WarGames, with Bayley set to replace Jade Cargill in the PLE, in what was a rather weak show before one of the traditional Big Four shows of the year, as Raw appears to be overshadowed by the Bloodline match that is set to be one of the best Survivor Series matches of all time.
The new day
A landmark segment for one of WWE’s most popular teams of all time
Over the past few months, the slow erosion of The New Day has been harrowing to watch. Future Hall of Fame members and one of the most beloved combos in wrestling history, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston hit rock bottom in the ringlosing to The Alpha Academy after an embarrassing display of ego and miscommunication. The result of the match was horrible. What was to come was worse.
As Woods and Kofi could be heard arguing and swearing at each other to the core, an argument that lasted ten years exploded for the entire world to see.
Every grievance imaginable was aired with rancor dripping from every word. Kofi’s humiliating loss to Brock Lesnar was referred to by Woods as having “pissed off” the championship, while Xavier was criticized for being the only member of The New Day to never win a singles championship. In a career full of unforgettable moments, this was an all-time segment and comfortably the highlight of Monday Night Raw.
Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser
Dueling duo will challenge for intercontinental gold
For the second time in consecutive weeks, Bron Breakker’s Intercontinental Championship defense was interrupted by the never-ending war between Sheamus and his European compatriot, Ludwig Kaiser. With Kaiser enjoying a breakout year and Breakker celebrating his second IC championship in his rookie year, the two engaged in a bruising feud, before a beefy-looking Sheamus ran down the ramp to interrupt the match and started hammering Ludwig Kaiser. Sheamus’ interference serves as revenge after Kaiser thwarted the Irishman’s championship opportunity on last week’s Raw.
Breakker’s ability to work both the face and heel makes him believable when he explodes over not being able to win his match for the second week in a row. The fight between the three men was magnificent, with WWE officials huddling together to try and stop them (unsuccessfully) and only Adam Pearce holding a Triple Threat Intercontinental Championship stopped the men from wrestling. The match will take place at Saturday’s Survivor Series.
The Women’s Intercontinental Championship
The long-rumored belt is now confirmed
All roads in WWE currently lead to the company’s big debut on Netflix. It will be a night that will bring a huge number of eyes back to the product, many of whom will not have experienced WWE as whatever their age dictates it is “the glory days” for them. The Intercontinental Championship is synonymous with WWE and the improved treatment of wrestling talent in the women’s locker room is fully deserving of the Intercontinental belt.
Perhaps one of the reasons WWE is introducing two mid-card championships to its women’s roster is because there is an impressive amount of incredible talent coming through NXT, as well as the current crop of legends, veterans, and superstars populating WWE’s main roster. A tournament will begin next Monday night on Rawonce Survivor Series concludes. The smart money is on the new champion being crowned during the company’s Netflix debut.
Judgment Day
Balor’s Brigade stays up to date with Monday Night Raw
It wasn’t pretty, but The Judgment Day managed to overcome a gutsy showing from the War Raiders and retain their Tag Team Championship. After the Raiders struck The War Machine and appeared poised to become the new leaders of Raw’s tag division, Dirty Dom interfered in the pinfall to prevent a certain victory. The champions would make good on their numerical advantage, but there is more than meets the eye to Judgment Day at the moment.
In the early evening, Finn Balor gave a “leaderless” speech that seemed to lose his teammates the longer it lasted. Balor’s mood has been volatile for months, and nothing seems right with Finn and his attitude toward those around him. Something still doesn’t smell right in him and it’s affecting the group’s success. How long the hapless Judgment Day club can function successfully seems a reasonable question to ask at this point in this version of the group’s life.
Wyatt’s patients
A change of approach is desperately needed
Since debuting to a wave of excitement, cryptic video messages and relatable fan sentiment, The Wyatt Sicks have been positioned as a priority on Monday Night Raw. The intro that saw them destroy backstage and leave cast and crew members bloodied and broken was disturbing and creatively bold. It was great, but after seven months since that arrival, The Wyatt Sicks are at risk of aging quickly.
This week, as part of her feud with The Final Testament, Scarlett Bordeaux was visited by Nikki Cross with sinister intentions. When Karrion Kross and his crew returned, Bordeaux was attacked with “everyone has something to lose” written on the room’s mirror. There is a “copy and paste” nature to these attacks and your enigmatic motivations are becoming increasingly monotonous. The Wyatt Sicks urgently need new gimmicks to remain a priority in 2025.
Nia Jax
The queen is in crisis
Since winning Queen Of The Ring in June, Nia Jax has been one of the most dominant forces in WWE and a serious contender for the best performer on the company’s roster this year. That said, the Queen is currently in a rut. Nia Jax has lost three of her last four singles matches despite being WWE Women’s Champion, with her last loss to Bianca Belair on Raw. She now loses the edge for her team’s WarGames match at Survivor Series this Saturday.
Nothing that could happen between now and January would stop this from comfortably being the best year in Nia Jax’s wrestling career. It would be a shame for Nia to end the year whiningbut the looming threat of Tiffany Stratton and her Money In The Bank briefcase continues to hang over her head. A good showing in WarGames seems essential to arresting its current decline.
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Give whoever created “Seasons Yeetings” during Jey Uso’s WWE Shop ad a pay raise.
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Bron Breakker’s collision, hitting the corner of the table at full speed, was the work of a mad man.
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LA Knight vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the US Title has been added to Survivor Series.
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Bayley interfered in the Main Event and will be the fifth member of the Face Survivor Series team.
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Vanessa Hudgens recognizing Roman Reigns as her tribal chief. Legal.
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The Creed Brothers defeated Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee.
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CM Punk and Roman Reigns will meet face to face on this week’s SmackDown.
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You’re going to pay William Regal a salary and not have him shout “WARGAMES!” once?! Really??!?