Date: February 26, 2024
Location: The Shark Tank (SAP Center) in San Jose, CA


**********

Show Recap --

Michael Cole announced that Raw was sold out (13,491). Drew
McIntyre and Becky Lynch were shown arriving at the arena
and there was a long video recap of Elimination Chamber.

Rhea Ripley/Becky Lynch segment

Dominik Mysterio (who was booed) introduced Rhea Ripley,
whom he called the greatest Women’s champion of all time.
Cole noted that Ripley’s match against Lynch at WrestleMania
will be their first match in four years.

Ripley welcomed us to Monday Night Mami. The crowd cheered
and chanted, “Mami.” Ripley said she walked in and out of
her home country as the champion. Nia Jax might have been
her biggest threat but, despite being from down under, Mami
was always on top.

Lynch interrupted. Lynch congratulated Ripley. Ripley’s
family got to watch Ripley win in her home country but at
least now they wouldn’t have to fly halfway across the world
to watch her lose at WrestleMania.

Dom tried to speak but Lynch cut him off and called him a
kumquat. She said if Mami wouldn’t put him in his place, The
Man would.

Lynch said Ripley spent the year on top as the face of the
company while being fed grapes by Dom. But during that same
time, Lynch was the backbone, the heart, and the soul of
this company—and became a grand slam champion—and did it all
while writing a book. Lynch said she could do it all,
including beat “Rhea bloody Ripley.”

Ripley told her not to disrespect her Latino Heat again.
Ripley said it was about time Lynch won something to get her
close enough to her level. Ripley said “ the man” always
thought they were the backbone of everything but behind
every great man was a greater woman. Ripley said she was not
behind Lynch because Mami was always on top.

After Ripley left the ring, Nia Jax attacked Lynch from
behind and hit consecutive leg drops. Jax set up for
Annihilation but officials ran out to stop her.

********

Jackie Redmond interviewed Nia Jax in the back. Jax said
there was no way Lynch should be going to WrestleMania after
Jax beat her “clean.” Jax said Liv Morgan would get ten
times worse than what Lynch got tonight.

Sami Zayn defeated Shinsuke Nakamura (14:56)

Zayn entered and they went to a commercial break, which made
me think they may give this match some time before going to
break again. Instead, they came back with the Jax interview
and Nakamura entrance, then they went to break a minute into
the match anyway.

Zayn hit a moonsault off the barricade before the break but
Nakamura was in control anyway after the break. Zayn came
back with a Michinoku Driver for two but Nakamura dropped
him onto the apron which led to the match’s second break
eight minutes into the match.

They came back with more than half the match so far taking
place during commercials and Zayn hit a Blue Thunder Bomb
for a nearfall. Nakamura blocked a Helluva Kick with a knee
strike and hit a Kinshasa off the middle rope for a close
two count. Nakamura hit another knee strike to the back of
Zayn’s head while outside the ring.

Zayn barely beat the ten count but Nakamura nailed him with
a running knee (which the director missed) for two after
Zayn got his foot on the rope. Zayn sidestepped another
strike and hit a Helluva Kick to the back of Nakamura’s
head. Zayn hit one more Helluva Kick for the pinfall win.

The crowd popped for the win. They seemed to enjoy the match
as they got to see the whole thing.

********

There was a video recapping the New Day/Imperium feud.
Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston were shown arriving earlier
today.

They announced that Diamond Dallas Page, Pat McAfee, Nia
Jax, and CM Punk would be among those added to WWE 2K24 with
the season pass. Cole said he knew about this already
because he got to call all of their moves. McAfee was
curious about what his moves actually were.

********

Raquel Rodriguez defeated Chelsea Green (1:18)

Before the match, Green said she would have won the Chamber
match if she was in it instead of Rodriguez. She mocked
Rodriguez for flying all the way to Australia just to lose
and said she was a big loser just like the San Jose Sharks.

Rodriguez hit Green with a clothesline, consecutive fallaway
slams, and a Tejana Bomb for the quick pinfall win.

(Rodriguez once again wore little to no makeup.)

********

Redmond interviewed Zayn who said he needed tonight’s win. A
loss tonight would’ve been devastating to him and not just
for his road to WrestleMania. Tonight’s win reaffirmed his
belief that he was a contender. A path would come his way or
he would find it.

Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci interrupted. They merely
walked by with a disgusted look. Gunther approached Zayn,
laughed in his face, and walked off. Zayn chuckled. (The
crowd popped at the sight of Gunther.)

********

[SECOND HOUR]

Cody Rhodes interview

Cathy Kelley interviewed Cody Rhodes in the back. She
wondered if challenging The Rock was a smart strategy this
close to WrestleMania. Rhodes said it wasn’t really about
strategy. It was simple. Rock slapped him across the face
and he challenged him to a match. Rhodes looked forward to
Rock’s rebuttal on Smackdown.

Kelley asked about Grayson Waller. Rhodes liked Waller
enough and said Waller should like him. On his first
appearance on Waller’s show, Rhodes brought back Jey Uso to
Raw. Then he gave him the exclusive announcement of his
challenge to the Rock. Tonight, Waller got to be in the Raw
main event where “he gets to find out.”

********

Gunther segment

Imperium entered. Gunther admitted that Jey Uso almost had
him beat last week. He felt the Intercontinental title
slipping away from him for the first time. He got lucky and
nobody was perfect, “but I am very, very close.”

Gunther said he has been working hard for more than 600 days
to make the IC title the most prestigious in WWE. He
wondered who his opponent would be at WrestleMania.

Gunther didn’t live under a rock and saw what people were
saying. He mentioned fans suggesting Zayn, Chad Gable, The
Miz, and R-Truth. (Gable got a modest pop, Truth got a
bigger one.)

Judgment Day interrupted. Damian Priest said they didn’t
sweat Gunther, whose impressive run was still second to
Judgment Day’s. Judgment Day ran the table at Elimination
Chamber and they planned on doing the same at Mania. They
wanted to add gold at Mania and that included the IC title.

Gunther wondered if his challenger would be Finn Bálor or
the one with the big head. Dom stepped up and Gunther
laughed as the crowd booed. Dom said the title belonged to
them. Gunther shoved Dom. Priest was about to go after
Gunther but his buddies held him back.

********

Ripley approached Dom after a break and questioned him
challenging Gunther of all people. Ripley left and Bálor
told Dom that he better go smooth things out with her. Dom
bumped into Andrade who said he was on his way to Adam
Pearce’s office to discuss his next opponent. Dom was
oblivious and took off.

********

Street Fight: Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci defeated Kofi
Kingston & Xavier Woods (18:14)

New Day wrestled in jeans and entered wearing San Jose
Sharks jerseys with their names on them. Kofi wore number
42, Woods wore 00.

New Day hit dives ahead of an early break and they fought in
the crowd after a break. Kaiser teased grabbing a table but
put it back to the dismay of the crowd. He grabbed a chair
instead and Imperium dropkicked it into Woods’ face.

Kingston nailed Imperium with a high cross before
bodyslamming Kaiser onto Vinci. Kingston tried to grab a
table but Imperium brought him back in the ring with a
double suplex. Kingston dropped Kaiser with a knee strike
but Vinci dropped him with a clothesline. Vinci hit Woods
repeatedly with a kendo stick ahead of another break.

Kingston chucked McAfee’s leather chair into Kaiser’s face
before driving Vinci into the steel steps. Kingston and
Woods took turns hitting Kaiser with kendo sticks. Woods
called out, “Get the tables” and the crowd chanted for
tables.

Kingston placed Vinci on a table outside the ring and Woods
drove him through it with an elbow drop off the top which
got an appropriately big pop. Woods had him beat in the ring
but Kaiser pulled the referee out of the ring at a two
count. Kingston hit a suicide dive which drew a “this is
awesome” chant.

Vinci (whose back was bloody) shoved Kingston off the top
through a table outside the ring and hit Woods in the head
with a baking sheet. Kaiser drove Woods into a steel chair
that was wedged between the ropes and followed with a roll-
up while holding the tights for the pinfall win.

********

Pearce was on the phone with Bronson Reed until Chad Gable
(wearing a suit) approached him. Gable was there not just as
a competitor but as a father. Gable came so close to beating
Gunther but that’s not what haunted him. What haunted him
was his daughter being reduced to tears. Gunther laughed at
her misery and called him a bad father. To anyone else, this
was just a championship match but to him, it meant more.
Pearce understood.

(I like this setup for a potential IC title challenger.
Hopefully, it isn’t ultimately leading to a multi-man title
match.)

********

Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark didn’t appreciate that Indi
Hartwell and Candice LeRae got a title shot just because
Hartwell was from Australia. They told Asuka and Kairi Sane
to pay attention to tonight’s match because they would make
their opponents tap out. They would do the same to Asuka and
Sane and finally become champions.

Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark defeated Candice LeRae & Indi
Hartwell (2:47)

Baszler and Stark got the heat on LeRae until she tagged
out. Hartwell was briefly on offence until Baszler made a
blind tag and put her in the Kirifuda Clutch and she very
quickly tapped out.

********

Truth was in Judgment Day’s clubhouse when he was approached
by Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, and the Miz. Truth
thought Gargano and Ciampa were Shawn Michaels and Triple H.
They said Truth was always cheering them up so they were
going to cheer him up by getting revenge on Judgment Day.
They made some more DX references.

[THIRD HOUR]

Drew McIntyre/Seth Rollins segment

McIntyre entered and slapped hands with fans in the front
row. He started his promo with, “We did it,” which was
funny. McIntyre wanted to thank everyone who put their hands
together and prayed for this. This happened because of them
— Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins at WrestleMania for the
world title.

McIntyre admitted he felt like crap. He was in the Chamber
match first, was banged up and felt jetlagged. McIntyre
mentioned that he got his eardrum busted in the match the
doctor told him he was hurt and may have to miss Mania.
McIntyre told the doctor, “Who do you think I am, CM Punk?
Nothing’s going to stop me making Mania.”

McIntyre sat cross-legged in the ring. He knew it hurt Punk
to miss Mania and probably killed him to see McIntyre in the
world title match. McIntyre wanted to do something for Punk.
He knew Punk was straight edge and didn’t drink, so McIntyre
drank twice as much on his way home for both of them.

McIntyre called out Rollins and Rollins entered. Rollins
said McIntyre finally had the opportunity to win the title
in front of a capacity crowd at WrestleMania. But Rollins
was standing in his way.

McIntyre said Rollins was right. Rollins was in his way and
he was a hard man to beat — as was McIntyre. That’s why
McIntyre wondered why Rollins was getting involved with
Rhodes and the Bloodline. McIntyre wanted Rollins at 100%
and suggested he stop going to Smackdown to fight that
battle. McIntyre thought Rollins should just let Smackdown
burn.

McIntyre urged Rollins not to push the Bloodline because we
all knew what was going to happen. They’d be having a hell
of a match at Mania until the Bloodline interfered to cost
Rollins the title and tarnish McIntyre’s win. McIntyre urged
him to back off.

Rollins told McIntyre, respectfully, that some risks were
worth taking. Rollins has already thought about everything
McIntyre just said. Rollins said his knee may not be 100%
and his back might give out and the Bloodline could make it
an easy night for McIntyre.

Maybe McIntyre was right, but maybe he was wrong. Rollins
repeated that some risks were worth taking. He’s been
selfish in his career and his life. He thought the goal at
the end of the road would fill the void but every time he
got there, he felt empty inside.

It wasn’t until Rollins had his daughter that he realized
that not everything was about him. The world title was
bigger than him and Drew and so was taking down the
Bloodline. Rollins said it didn’t matter if he or McIntyre
were the champion because if they didn’t take down the
Bloodline, it was just a matter of time before they were
going after the world title.

They could secure the future of the industry if they ripped
apart the Bloodline. Then it would be just Rollins against
McIntyre at Mania. Rollins reiterated that some risks were
worth taking.

********

Liv Morgan defeated Nia Jax via disqualification (8:10)

Morgan went right after Jax but Jax nailed a Samoan drop.
Jax put Morgan in a stretch muffler and slung her face-first
into the middle turnbuckle. Jax went for a leg drop on the
apron but Morgan dodged it and followed later with a suicide
dive.

Jax was in control after a break but Morgan avoided a senton
and hit a missile dropkick. Morgan followed with a
Codebreaker for two. Morgan dodged a charge and Jax went
shoulder-first into the ring post. It didn’t matter though
because Jax caught Morgan as she dove off the apron and
drove her into the ring post.

Becky Lynch suddenly appeared and attacked Jax for the DQ.
Lynch slammed Jax’s face repeatedly into the announce table
but Jax managed to get away as the ref held back Lynch.

The camera focused on a displeased Liv Morgan after the
match.


********

Kelley interviewed Grayson Waller and Austin Theory. Waller
said Rhodes disrespected him in his home. Rhodes attacked
his boy Theory and Waller did everything he could to stop
it. Waller would disrespect Rhodes in his house tonight and
the Bloodline would pick the bones. (Theory didn’t look too
happy with Waller.)

********

Michael Cole sent his condolences to the family of Ole
Anderson.

********

Lynch told Pearce she wanted a match against Jax. She
wouldn’t be able to focus on her Mania match until she ended
Jax. Pearce made it official for next week.

Morgan confronted Lynch. Morgan said she was in the middle
of a match but knew Lynch didn’t care. Morgan told Lynch
that not everything was about her.

********

Redmond interviewed Jey Uso. Redmond asked how he would
rebound after losing last week. Jey said he would keep being
himself and keep being Main Event Jey Uso. He was this close
to becoming IC champion and every time he came close to
something, he came up short. Every time he was trying to win
a title, do something positive or bring himself up, he came
up short — due to a past enemy on Raw or even his own
family.

McIntyre approached Jey and said, “I want you to know, from
the bottom of my heart, you deserve this.” Jey attacked
McIntyre and they brawled until it was quickly broken up by
officials.

********

Next week on Raw in San Antonio, TX:

Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso
Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax

********

Cody Rhodes defeated Grayson Waller (w/Austin Theory) (8:00)

Rhodes hit a delayed reverse vertical suplex and sent Waller
from the ring. Cole frantically let us know that Paul Heyman
was backstage as they went to break. (Heyman could be seen
briefly in the background in Waller’s earlier interview
segment.)

They actually showed us how Waller took control during a
break (with a rolling flatliner) but Rhodes fought back with
a powerslam and Disaster kick for two. Theory hit the apron
and Rhodes turned his back on his opponent to look at him.

Waller tried to take advantage but Rhodes wiped out Theory
with a suicide dive. Waller again tried to take advantage
with Rhodes’ back turned but Rhodes fought him off and hit a
Cody Cutter and Cross Rhodes for the decisive win.

— Paul Heyman appeared on the stage, along with three men in
suits. Rhodes quickly grabbed a steel chair.

Heyman spoke but Rhodes cut him off and said if this was a
Bloodline setup to come and get him. Heyman said he was the
only Bloodline member there. The three men with him were
“off-duty” NYPD officers. Technically, they were on
suspension, but that was beside the point.

Heyman came to San Jose to tell Rhodes that no one was
asking for an apology. He knew how insulting it must be to
get Will Smith’d across the face, but Rhodes needed to take
The Rock’s name out of his friggin’ mouth.

Heyman could forgive Rhodes for taking away The Rock vs.
Roman Reigns, but The Rock could not. Roman Reigns
authorized Heyman to tell Rhodes that he could withdraw his
challenge against the Rock — or else.

Rhodes fired up and said there was a reason he hasn’t
trashed Dwayne on the mic yet. Like many of us, he was a fan
of The Rock. Cody came from a family where the food on their
table came from the number of tickets they sold and nobody
sold more tickets than The Rock. But Rhodes was fed up with
playing nice. If this was a Bloodline setup, “come and get
me.”


Heyman and the three officers got on the apron. Heyman
wanted in the ring but Rhodes said no. The three officers
entered instead. Rhodes warned them not to get any closer or
else they’d all get dropped. Heyman thought the rule didn’t
apply to him and took a step into the ring so Rhodes
attacked the three men with the chair and gave one guy a
Cross Rhodes.

Rhodes told Heyman to go ahead and call Reigns and the Rock
because the Bloodline wasn’t hunting him, he was hunting
them. Heyman spoke into his two cell phones as he backed
away and Rhodes cleared the ring.

(It was good to see fiery Rhodes instead of happy to be here
Rhodes.)

• F4wonline