Following the WWE “Then, Now, Forever, Together” signature
open, we were welcomed to the 1203rd episode of Raw by the
voice of Joe Tessitore. Shots of Seth Rollins and CM Punk
arriving at the arena followed, as we then took a look
around inside the sold-out Toyota Center.


– Tessitore & Wade Barrett were at the commentary table
talking about tonight’s Raw being the final show on USA
Network, to be presented with no commercial interruption for
the first 90 minutes. Before Barrett could welcome Jey Uso,
the maligned New Day duo of Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods
interrupted.

The New Day open Raw

Kingston demanded that their theme music be shut off as the
crowd chanted “New Day Sucks” at the two. Woods tried to
talk, but was drowned out by the loud jeers of the Houston
crowd. The “New Day Sucks” chants continued as Woods &
Kingston walked towards the ring. Woods asked “what did we
even do to you?” incredulously at the crowd, while Kingston
tried to speak. He was once again cut off by the
increasingly-louder jeers from the Toyota Center crowd.


Before Kingston could say anything, the theme of “Main
Event” Jey Uso interrupted, as Uso himself made his way from
the crowd to a raucous ovation of cheers.

Woods complained how the fans liked Jey Uso more as the fans
continued to boo him further. He asked Uso to tell the crowd
to quiet down so he could speak. Even with Uso’s
suggestions, the crowd continued to hate on the New Day.

Uso said that he and the New Day did go way back, but he
only had one thing to say to the two: “New Day Sucks”. Woods
stepped up to Uso and tried to confront him, but Kingston
got his partner to back down for the time being. As the New
Day left, Uso redirected his focus on the New Bloodline and
Drew McIntyre, as he challenged the latter to face him now.
He was interrupted by Solo Sikoa on the Titantron.


Sikoa said that Jey and Jimmy made a big mistake by siding
with Roman Reigns. He promised that he would remain the
Tribal Chief after next week’s Tribal Combat match on the
Netflix premiere of Raw. Then everyone would have to no
choice but to acknowledge him.

As Jey tried to respond, Drew McIntyre snuck up on him and
proceeded to assault Jey with a sneak attack. McIntyre tried
to size Uso up for a Claymore kick, but he got met with a
superkick. A Glasgow Kiss headbutt gave McIntyre the upper
hand as the crew of officials and referees stepped in to
stop him. McIntyre ran back into the ring and struck Uso
with a Claymore Kick.

**********

– Cathy Kelley was with American Made ahead of Chad Gable’s
match with Otis. Gable said that tonight he’d start checking
off his bucket list by beating Otis tonight. Gable promised
that the final lesson will be taught to Otis: with the
master remaining the master.

Chad Gable (w/ American Made) def. Otis (w/ Akira Tozawa &
Maxxine Dupri)

Gable started off by clubbing Otis with chops, but with
little effect on his foe. Otis responded with a shoulder
block that left Gable rattled in the corner. Otis lifted
Gable over his head for the gorilla press drop, which sent
Gable out of the ring.

Outside the ring, Gable yelled at Tozawa and Dupri, which
gave Otis an opening to throw his former mentor around. Once
the action returned to the ring, Gable’s attempt at a
comeback was snuffed out as he got thrown into the corner
hard. Otis rolled under a Gable clothesline and answered
with a clothesline of his own.

Gable created an opening for himself by avoiding a shoulder
charge from Otis, which sent the big man into the ringpost.
Otis’ left knee was targeted by Gable after that misfire.
Gable’s leg lock on Otis didn’t last long as an attempted
big splash by Otis was dodged at the last second.


On the top rope, Gable’s own diving headbutt was missed as
Otis rolled out of the way. Gable tried to run away, but
Otis caught him and unleashed his flurry of offense. Gable
got rattled by a freight train spear from Otis, which led to
the Caterpillar Elbow. Pinfall stopped as Gable’s foot was
on the rope. The Creed Brothers attacked Tozawa at ringside,
which prompted Otis to get involved. Maxxine tackled Ivy
Nile. As Otis re-entered the ring, Gable locked in the ankle
lock on him. After a long struggle, Otis managed to power
his way out of it to push Gable out of the ring. The Creeds
entered the fray and got taken out by Otis tossing Gable
into them. Otis ripped out his shirt and locked in an ankle
lock of his own on his former teacher.


Gable escaped and nailed an impressive deadlift German
suplex on Otis. Gable went up top but was met by Otis
clotheslining him. Nile tried to grab at Otis from ringside,
which created a momentary distraction and another ankle lock
by Gable. Grapevine applied on the leg created enough
pressure for Gable to get the win via submission.

Fantastic opening match. Though the feud between Gable and
Otis went cold a few months, back, I found myself enjoying
this quite a bit. Not a bad way to kick off the in-ring
action on Raw tonight, and the match unfolding with no
commercial interruption helped keep things easy to follow.

**********

– We got a promo from Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan ahead of
their Women’s World Title match next week on the Netflix Raw
premiere.


– Backstage at the Judgment Day clubhouse, they commiserated
amongst themselves with where Liv Morgan was. Finn Balor
tried to passive aggresively change the subject on the tag
match against War Raiders & Damian Priest, as he then told
Raquel Rodriguez to tell Liv that he wishes her good luck on
her title match next week.

R-Truth versus Pete Dunne

Dunne interrupted Truth’s entrance by attacking him from
behind. The incredibly-busy staff of officials and referees
ran in to stop the attack. “I’m nobody’s Butch!” shouted
Dunne as the segment ended, presumably meaning that this
match would not take place.

– Backstage, Cathy Kelley talked to IYO SKY and Dakota Sky
about their matches in the Women’s Intercontinental
Championship Tournament later tonight, as well as the
prospect of the two Damage CTRL members facing each other in
the finals.

Women’s Intercontinental Championship Tournament Semifinal
#1: Dakota Kai def. Zoey Stark

Kai started off with a boot to the face of Stark, as she
attempted a monkey flip from the corner. Stark landed on her
feet, but she couldn’t avoid a knee to the face from Kai. On
the apron, Stark and Kai had a dogfight as the latter got
the upper hand. That upper hand lasted for all of a few
seconds as Stark nailed a dropkick on Kai. We headed to
picture-in-picture at this point in the action.

We returned to Raw with Stark still in full control of the
match as she taunted Kai with lackadaisical kicks to the
head. Kai fired back with an offensive assault that capped
off with a rolling backcracker. Across the ring, Kai cracked
Stark with a boot to the head that lead to a near-fall.


Stark answered with a back exploder suplex and a big knee to
the head of Kai. One, two… not quite. Kai rolled through on
a powerbomb attempt by Stark and got yet another near-fall.
Big kick by Stark is followed by mounted fists to Kai’s
face. Attempted springboard attack by Stark is caught by a
superkick from Kai, who finished things off with the
fireman’s carry and Pele kick to punch her ticket in the
Women’s Intercontinental Championship final.

A solid match with an intriguing result that could
potentially pave the way for the all-Damage CTRL Women’s IC
Title final if IYO SKY wins later tonight.

**********

– We got a highlight package commemorating the best moments
of WWE Raw on the USA Network throughout the years. Notably,
clips of Chris Jericho and Bryan Danielson (fka Daniel
Bryan) [EDITOR'S NOTE: as well as Adam Copeland and
Christian] were shown in the package. We also learned that
John Cena will appear on next week’s Netflix Raw premiere.


Damian Priest and the War Raiders (Erik & Ivar) def. The
Judgment Day (Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, Dominik Mysterio)

Judgment Day entered to a brand new theme song ahead of this
match, eschewing “The Other Side”, which was their former
theme.

Priest and Balor started off for their teams. McDonagh got
the quick tag as Balor avoided Priest in the corner. Priest
got the tag to Erik, who nailed consecutive slams on the
Judgment Day trio. The War Raiders nailed a unique double
team move on McDonagh as Erik lifted Ivar up and trhrew him
onto the prone McDonagh.

Balor saved McDonagh from a War Raiders double team, but he
and his former co-World Tag Team Champion partner were sent
flying onto the commentary table by a double charge from
Erik and Ivar, which gave us a break in the action.


We returned to Erik attempting to fight this way out of the
Judgment Day corner, but he got put down by a neckbreaker
from Balor. Erik tried to power out of Balor’s rest hold to
make the tag, but couldn’t. Balor kicked away at Priest,
which gave Erik an opening to ram his foe into the corner as
Ivar entered the fray and was a house of fire.

Ivar missed on the Bronco Buster as Balor got outof the way
at the last second. Ivar leapt to his corner to make the tag
to Priest, who proceeded to clean house on the Judgment Day
trio. He had Dominik in his sights for the fierce
clothesline. South of Heaven attempt was interrupted by
Carlito, who provided a distraction long enough for Dominik
to clip Priest in the leg.

Action outside saw Balor and McDonagh taken out of the
equation by the War Raiders. In the ring, Priest put an end
to the action with a South of Heaven on Dominik for the win.

After the match, Balor got the jump on Priest and attacked
his knee. Erik and Ivar stepped in before Balor could do any
more damage.

Standard six-man tag match here. Not much to say, but the
Judgment Day vs. Damian Priest feud has kinda run its
course. It’s honestly hard to get invested in a feud that’s
been rather one-sided.

**********

– Adam Pearce informed an irate Jey Uso that since Drew
McIntyre got escorted from the arena tonight, he’ll get his
match against the Scotsman next week on the premiere of Raw
on Netflix.

– As we headed to break, a teaser for Penta aired, this time
showing the Ø icon, followed by his mask design being shown
briefly.

Ludwig Kaiser in-ring promo; Sheamus returns

Kaiser talked about how he was A+ everything and that he was
European Elegance. He demanded that Bron Breakker face him
now, but was met by Sheamus instead. The Celtic Warrior
didn’t waste any time and stormed the ring to attack Kaiser
with vicious ferocity. Kaiser tried to take advantage with a
rake to the eye, but that didn’t last long as he found
himself on the wrong end of a Brogue Kick from Sheamus.

**********

– Backstage, Rey Mysterio gave Otis encouragement after his
great effort against Chad Gable earlier tonight. As Alpha
Academy left, the New Day approached Mysterio and began to
condescendingly mock him. Mysterio issued a challenge to
Woods and Kingston for a tag match, which was promptly
accepted by the New Day.

Women’s Intercontinental Championship Tournament Semifinal
#2: Lyra Valkyria def. IYO SKY

The match started off with neither woman getting a clear
advantage as they exchanged holds and armdrags early on.
Fast-paced dodges and rollup pins from SKY and Valkyria kept
things fast-paced here. Valkyria finally gained control with
a dropkick to SKY’s knee. She applied a unique pendulum
submission hold on SKY to keep the advantage. SKY went up
top, but got slammed knee-first by Valkyria as we got a
break in the action.

Raw returned with SKY in pain as Valkyria looked on from the
opposite corner. SKY mounted a rally as she left Valkyria
flatfooted with her comeback. Off the top rope, SKY soared
with a missile dropkick on Valkyria that got a close two.
SKY looked to continue the momentum, but she was intercepted
by Valkyria at the top rope. Standoff up top ended with
Valkyria escaping SKY with a flip, followed by a shotgun
dropkick. Tornado DDT and suplex by Valkyria on SKY was not
enough for the victory.

O’Connor Roll by SKY turned into a bridging German suplex on
Valkyria. One, two… kickout! Spinning heel kick from
Valkyria couldn’t get it done as she headed up to the top
rope again. SKY met her there and began to batter Valkyria
with strikes before she hit an incredible avalanche rolling
victory powerbomb for the 2.999999 count.

SKY headed up to the top rope and hit a moonsault on
Valkyria at ringside. With Valkyria stunned, SKY looked to
have the match won with her moonsault, but she couldn’t
connect. SKY’s O’Connor Roll was reversed into a bridging
pin by Valkyria and that’s it, over. Lyra Valkyria advances
to the Women’s Intercontinental Championship Finals.

A fun little match we had here. SKY and Valkyria have
impeccable chemistry and it’s always a real treat seeing
these two go at it in the ring. Valkyria getting the win was
a genuine surprise and I can’t wait to see her and Dakota
Kai battle for the Women’s Intercontinental Title in two
weeks time.

**********

Seth Rollins & CM Punk Face Off

Rollins entered first and after the commercial break, he
welcomed Houston to Monday Night Rollins. He went through
his “I am a Visionary” spiel before he said that it was time
to go out with a bang for the final episode of Raw in 2024.
He called CM Punk the “self-proclaimed” Best in the World
before boasting that he himself was the true Best in the
World. Rollins said that he’d be here every Monday fighting
because that’s what he does and that if things don’t go
Punk’s way, he’ll whine and cry about it.

At that point, the static of CM Punk’s theme interrupted
Rollins’ tirade, which brought out Punk himself. He walked
down to the ring with a purpose and entered to stare down
Rollins before he started with his own promo.

Punk said that “took his ball and go home” was the biggest
industry bootlicker cliche planted lie he had ever heard of.
Punk asked did Stone Cold Steve Austin take his ball and
went home? He also took a jab at Becky Lynch, asking Rollins
if she took his ball and went home, and that Rollins is
crying because of him. Punk said that both he and Rollins
made their own decisions and he did not regret making them.

Punk asked Rollins how his neck and knee were. He asked
Rollins how his insides were after Bronson Reed crushed him,
and how his pride was after he was denied of getting revenge
on Reed, while Punk broke the big man’s ankle at WarGames.

Rollins fired back by saying that Becky took a break to take
care of his kid, something that Punk does not know how it
feels like. Rollins continued by taking a dig at Punk going
on Colt Cabana’s podcast to complain about WWE, and then
signing with AEW (calling them “the competition”), asking
him how it worked out for him. Rollins stated that he stayed
in the trenches and helped win “the war” because that’s how
revolutions are made and that he will not be “little
brothered” by Punk because he is the big brother now.

Punk shot back by saying that he left the place because of
the guy in charge, someone who loved Rollins. He said that
when he left, Rollins turned around and betrayed Roman
Reigns and played victims for years. Punk stated that he
came back because for seven years, fans chanted his name
(mostly during Rollins’ time, Punk noted). Next week, Punk
said, the same arrows that were supposed to do him in, he
now holds and he’s going to jam them right down Rollins’
“corporate throat”.

Rollins responded by saying that maybe Punk was a pioneer
once upon a time, but he’s now become a cancer, and that the
only way to defeat the cancer is to cut it out. Rollins
promised to burn Punk to the ground next week on Raw on
Netflix.

The final Raw on USA Network (and broadcast television)
closed out with a final tense staredown between Rollins and
Punk as the former’s music played us out.

**********

A rather intense way to close out the final Raw before the
dawning of a new era, and Punk and Rollins gave as good as
they got in a rather heated promo segment. Their showdown
didn’t need any physicality ahead of next week, but the
shots both men got in on one another made for a hell of a
parting shot for Monday Night Raw on the USA Network. In
fact, I enjoyed this two hour show from start to finish and
if WWE was wanting to get people hooked for the first
episode of Raw next week on Netflix, I’d say they did a
great job based on the closing segment with Punk and Rollins
alone.

• F4wonline