Show Recap —

Rhea Ripley (who was limping) and Damian Priest, Judgment
Day, Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane, Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair,
Braun Strowman, Bronson Reed, and CM Punk (wearing a Bret
Hart sweatshirt) were shown arriving at the arena.

The camera followed a stern Punk as he walked through the
back and to the ring.

CM Punk promo

Punk spoke slowly and deliberately throughout his promo. He
said people asked him how many more matches he had left. The
answer would make some very happy and others wildly
disappointed. He had way more matches left than you think.
(The crowd cheered.)

When Punk returned, he said he was not there to make
friends. He wasn’t there to make mortal enemies either but
that’s exactly what he’s done. The only way to end things
with Drew McIntyre was in Hell in a Cell. He was naive to
think this was over just because he touched four turnbuckles
in Berlin. McIntyre was naive to think it was over too.


This probably should have been over when McIntyre sent him
to a hospital again but Punk was too damn stubborn. People
asked how many HIAC matches he had left in him. The honest
answer was zero. His little sister and his wife begged him
not to do this. The angel on his shoulder begged him not to
do this.

Punk wanted everyone to know exactly why he was going to do
this. Punk once told McIntyre that if he’s pushed far enough
he can become the devil. Well, the devil was here. The devil
in his heart told him the only way this ended was in Hell in
a Cell. The same heart McIntyre promised he would stop.

Punk said, “Drew McIntyre, I can’t promise I’m gonna kill
you because I won’t make promises that I cannot 100% cannot
deliver on. So here is my promise: I’m gonna make you bleed.
And I promise that you’re gonna have to kill me because I am
prepared to die. I am prepared for my heart to stop beating.
I am prepared for this to all be over with. I had a great
career and if this is the end, so be it. I am prepared for
this to be the end of CM Punk. And if you’re prepared for
this to be the end of Drew McIntyre then I’ll see you in
hell.”


Punk dropped the mic and left.

********

Cathy Kelley interviewed Sheamus about Pete Dunne. Sheamus
said Dunne really hit him where it hurts. Not because she
smashed his hand or his back but because he took his dream
away from him. The one mountain Sheamus had left to climb
was to become the IC champion. Now it was time to inflict
pain on his protégé. Dunne hated when people called him
Butch. Tonight, Dunne would become his butch. (The crowd
chanted “Butch.”)

(I think Sheamus misspoke on his promo because he said
winning the IC title would make him the first grand slam
champion in WWE.)

Pete Dunne defeated Sheamus (11:15)

Dunne tried stomping Sheamus’ hand against the steel steps
but Sheamus saw it coming and gave Dunne a soft-looking
Alabama Slam on the announce table. After a break, Sheamus
tried an avalanche White Noise but Dunne countered with a
sit-out powerbomb for two. The crowd chanted “Butch” at
Dunne who hammered away at Sheamus.


Sheamus called him a bitch and came back with a powerslam
and diving knee drop for two. Dunne escaped a Razor’s Edge
and went to the top but Sheamus brought him down with a
middle rope powerslam for a nearfall. Sheamus followed with
sixteen beats of the Bodhrán. Dunne grabbed the shillelagh
but Sheamus nailed a knee strike.

Sheamus saw the shillelagh and was tempted to use it but the
ref took it away. As the ref put it away, Dunne grabbed a
cricket bat and hit Sheamus in the arm. The spot didn’t look
good and Dunne knew it because instead of going straight for
the cover, he followed with a running boot for the pinfall
win.


********

Jey Uso approached Ripley and Priest. Jey knew Priest
wouldn’t want him out there for his match against Dominik
Mysterio but he wanted Priest to know that he’d be keeping
his eye on it. Priest appreciated it.

Xavier Woods approached them. Woods and Jey were happy to
see each other but Priest wasn’t so happy. Woods
acknowledged they had their differences in the past. Woods
said Priest wanted to do things on his own as champion and
New Day wanted to do it on their own tonight against
Judgment Day. Woods asked them to stay in the back during
their title match. Priest was good with that and told Woods
to beat their asses.

Woods and Jey left. Ripley seemed smitten with Jey and did
his “Yeet” hand gesture.


********

Miz wished Braun Strowman luck against Bronson Reed. Miz
also wanted to know what Strowman meant when he said he was
not a match for Reed. Strowman meant no disrespect at all.
Miz began running down his accomplishments. Strowman knew
the career he had but said sometimes it takes a monster to
beat a monster. Miz seemed fine with this and gave some
words of encouragement.

********

Natalya (w/Zelina Vega & Lyra Valkyria) defeated Zoey Stark
(w/Sonya Deville & Shayna Baszler) (7:02)

After a break, Natalya blocked a springboard dropkick and
hit a German suplex. Stark blocked a clothesline and hit a
thrust kick for two. Natalya countered Stark’s finisher and
Stark countered a sharpshooter. They traded cradles until
Natalya finally won with a schoolboy.


********

Kelley tried interviewing Ripley but Finn Bálor interrupted.
Bálor said Ripley was just as bad as Priest. She acted like
they were a family but she only cared about herself. He
blamed her and Priest as the reason he wasn’t the world
champion last year. It was also their own fault that they
weren’t world champions now.

Ripley said Bálor wasn’t going to lie straight to her face
and rewrite history. They were a family. All she tried to do
was make opportunities for them and stop them from fighting
every week. He could make her the bad guy in his story if he
wanted. She and Priest would show them how bad they can be
at Bad Blood.


Bálor had one more thing to tell her. When Liv Morgan put
the moves on Dom and Dom was trying to resist, Bálor was the
devil on Dom’s shoulder. “I told him to go at Liv. I told
him to forget about you. It was me!”

Jey stepped in and asked if there was a problem. Bálor said
no and told him to concentrate on the IC title because he
was out of his league here (referring to Ripley). Bálor
left.

Ripley told Jey that Bálor had a point. Not about Jey being
out of her league — that he should focus on becoming IC
champion. He told her not to worry and he was on his way to
the ring right now.

********

[SECOND HOUR]

Jey Uso will face Bron Breakker for the IC title next week
on Raw.

Jey Uso/Bron Breakker segment

Jey entered and cut a promo as the crowd chanted “Yeet”
between sentences. He said he has wanted to become a singles
champion since coming to Raw and since leaving the
Bloodline. He didn’t need anyone’s help. He would finally
win a singles title and become Main Event Jey Uso.

Bron Breakker interrupted. Bron previously told Jey to stay
away and yet here he was going after his title. Bron knew
Jey wanted to prove to his family that he could do it on his
own. Jey has been there for fourteen years and was one of
the biggest stars in WWE. Bron has done more as a singles
star in six months than Jey has in his entire career.


Bron said he did it without his father or uncle. He didn’t
need his family’s help or their name. The championship was
his family. He fought for the title and it fought for him.
“I’m a dog. That’s what I do.” Bron said he would expose Jey
next week because he was nothing without his family.

They got face-to-face and the crowd chanted “Yeet.” Jey
removed his shades. Jey said, “I see it. I see it in you,
Bron. You got that dog in you, Uce.” Jey wouldn’t take Bron
lightly but let him know he’s been winning championships for
fourteen years—since Bron was in diapers. Jey said he would
dog-walk him next week and Bron’s reign would be short just
like his NFL career.

That pissed off Bron who got in his face. Bron backed off
but then decked Jey with a right hand. Bron went for a spear
but Jey speared him instead.

This was good.

********

Iyo Sky confronted Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair in the
back. She was pissed at Belair for challenging Kairi Sane to
a match despite her eye injury. Belair told Sky she didn’t
make the challenge, she was booked, and she never backed
down from a fight. Belair said if Sane was injured, maybe
Sky should take her place. Sky accepted.

********

Finn Bálor & JD McDonagh defeated Kofi Kingston & Xavier
Woods to retain the World Tag Team Championships (8:30)

New Day wore mismatching gear. Kingston wore green, Woods
wore black.

New Day were in control when they went to break a minute
into the match but Judgment Day were in control after the
break. Kingston hit Bálor with an SOS and Woods made the hot
tag to run wild on McDonagh. Kingston and Woods knocked
Bálor out of the ring and Kingston dropped him with a flip
dive. Woods gave McDonagh a sit-out powerbomb for a
nearfall.

Morgan, Dom and Carlito marched out. Woods was perplexed
upon seeing LWO run out to even the odds. As the teams
brawled, McDonagh used the distraction to apply a cradle but
Woods kicked out and superkicked him. Kingston wiped out
Judgment Day and LWO with a trust fall dive.

Woods hit McDonagh with a springboard elbow drop and had it
won but the ref was outside the ring dealing with the
outside parties. Woods and the crowd counted the pin before
Woods went out to grab the ref. The crowd loudly chanted
“Ref you suck.”

Woods tried to roll up McDonagh but Bálor had tagged himself
in. McDonagh grabbed Woods as Bálor hit him with Coup de
Grace for the pinfall win.

(The crowd didn’t cheer that loudly for New Day during their
introduction but they were super into this by the end.)

— Kingston tried consoling Woods but Woods brushed him aside
in frustration. Woods was tired and said things had to
change.

The match itself was fine but this was a strong segment.

********

Kelley tried interviewing Kingston but he left to find
Woods. Woods was down the hall screaming at LWO for getting
involved. Kingston said he was the one who asked for their
help. Woods argued with Kingston and wondered why they
suddenly needed help when they hadn’t for all these years.

Kingston said they never needed help before because they had
Big E but now it was just them. Woods took that to mean they
weren’t good enough to win without E. Kingston said that’s
not what he meant. Woods wondered why LWO knew the plan but
he didn’t.

Woods said Kingston was leaving him in the dark and he
didn’t know what the hell was going on anymore. Woods
stormed off.

This was great.

********

Rey Mysterio and Dominik were shown at UFC 306 at the Sphere
over the weekend. Rey gave Dana White his mask. Joe
Tessitore noted that Rey and Dom sat separately.

There was a Bronson Reed video promo.

********

Bronson Reed vs. Braun Strowman

The match didn’t happen because they had a chaotic brawl
instead.

As soon as Strowman entered the ring, Reed tried a charge
but Strowman moved and Reed crashed into the turnbuckle.
That snapped the turnbuckle and the top rope came undone.
(The ref checked on Reed just in case.)

Strowman was going to run around the ring for a shoulder
tackle but Reed threw a “fan” at Strowman, knocking him
down. Reed celebrated his actions but Strowman got up and
tackled him through the barricade. (Wade Barrett called this
the greatest 60 seconds in the history of the industry.)

The ref called for help but they weren’t done. Reed tried
leaving through the crowd but Strowman went after him.
Strowman chucked him into an equipment box and into a wall
backstage. Strowman tossed around some security guards and
tipped over a golf cart. Reed splashed him through some
tables moments later.

Reed stumbled toward an obviously fake wall and Strowman
tackled him right through it. Officials checked on them as
the crowd chanted “Holy sh-t.”

After a break, a million officials and medical personnel
checked on both men who were still down.

(This was great outside the fake wall spot.)

********

Ludwig Kaiser approached a stressed-out Adam Pearce. Pearce
told him he’s been working on Gunther’s next challenger
because he doesn’t want to face Sami Zayn even though he
makes a great case. Kaiser was baffled at Zayn as a
potential challenger. Zayn’s music hit and he was shown on
the screen making his entrance. Pearce told Kaiser that
Gunther should speak to him personally if he had a problem.

[THIRD HOUR]

Sami Zayn segment

Zayn entered to a big reaction. All week he has been locked
in the memory of standing in the ring with Bret Hart in
Calgary. He meant what he said last week when he called Hart
his hero. Last week was very motivational because he heard
what Hart said about what it meant to be a champion.

Zayn wanted that to be him. He needed that to be him. He
needed to become the World Heavyweight Champion. He needed
to be the guy who defended his title week in and week out
and that was the kind of champion the fans deserved. (They
chanted for Zayn.)

Unfortunately, the current champion Gunther has repeatedly
declined his challenge. Gunther claimed Zayn was not on his
level. Zayn didn’t believe that and didn’t think Gunther did
either. Zayn thinks he’s in Gunther’s head. Gunther
remembers what happened at WrestleMania. Gunther knows Zayn
beat him before and can beat him again. Gunther was scared.

Kaiser interrupted. Kaiser called it nonsense that Gunther
could be scared of Zayn. Gunther was the most dominant force
in WWE and, if anything, he was trying to save Zayn from the
worst embarrassment of his life.

Kaiser called WrestleMania the greatest moment of Zayn’s
career. It was the first time Zayn’s family looked up to him
instead of down at him. Miracles didn’t happen twice so he
encouraged Zayn to enjoy his moment because it would never
happen again.

Zayn said Gunther didn’t need Kaiser to speak for him. In
fact, he didn’t need Kaiser for anything. Zayn told Kaiser
he didn’t need Gunther either. Zayn knew Kaiser had the same
desire he did. That’s why he ditched his tag partner
Giovanni Vinci. But he wouldn’t earn respect as Gunther’s
mouthpiece. Zayn told him to have the balls to speak for
himself.

Gunther entered. Gunther asked Kaiser if he had anything to
tell him. Kaiser had something he had wanted to get off his
chest for a very long time. It seemed like he would address
Gunther but he attacked Zayn instead. Kaiser held Zayn down
as Gunther answered his challenge. Gunther said his answer
was still no. Gunther left the ring.

Kaiser tried attacking Zayn again but Zayn gave him a German
suplex and Helluva Kick as Gunther looked on.

********

Kelley tried interviewing Priest but Morgan interjected.
Morgan called Priest a former champion who was already a
has-been. She called them losers. Priest couldn’t believe
someone in Judgment Day actually had a set. He encouraged
her to hold on to them because Ripley would shove them down
her throat.

He also told her to kiss Dom goodbye because he was putting
her boyfriend down. He warned her that he was just getting
started with those boys. Priest said, “Bye sucia,” and left.

********

Jade Cargill is part of the DLC for WWE 2K24. Her rating is
85.

Iyo Sky (w/Kairi Sane) defeated Tag Team Champion Bianca
Belair (w/Jade Cargill) (12:20)

They mirrored each other early on and had a back-and-forth
exchange. Sky was in control after a break but Belair
powered out of her submission. Belair hit shoulder tackles,
a dropkick, a corner shoulder tackle and ten punches in the
corner. Sky fought back with uppercuts, a dropkick, Meteora
in the corner and a missile dropkick for two.

Belair came back with a spinebuster and moonsault for two.
Belair tried a press slam but Sky slipped out and hit a
German suplex into a bridge for two. The crowd chanted “This
is awesome.” Sane hit a suicide dive.

Belair grabbed Sane in a vertical suplex position and
actually carried her up the steps and chucked her into the
ring. That was impressive and the crowd popped for it.
Belair went for a 450 but Sky got her knees up. Sky went a
moonsault but Belair grabbed her in KOD position. Sky
countered that into a small package for the pinfall win.

There were some rough spots but this ended up being quite
good and it felt like a big win for Sky. Tessitore really
put it over big.

********

There was a video package for American Made. It was a
montage of them training while saying they were done with
those Wyatt freaks. They posed on a Jeep with an American
flag.

********

Kaiser told Kelley that he would expose Zayn in the ring
next week. Kaiser said Zayn wanted to speak about his past
and loyalty but Kaiser wanted to talk about Zayn’s. Zayn was
best friends with Kevin Owens but the two of them always
turned on each other the second the other found more
success. That’s the kind of man Zayn was—a sad, bitter man,
jealous of his best friend and jealous of what he once was.
Owens was once what Zayn will never be: a world champion.

********

Next week on Raw in Ontario, California:

Sami Zayn vs. Ludwig Kaiser
Drew McIntyre “returns”
IC title match: Bron Breakker vs. Jey Uso

********

Ilja Dragunov congratulated Jey Uso and wished him luck
against Breakker. Jey said Yeet and they bumped fists. Jey
left.

Judgment Day approached Dragunov. Bálor advised him to
choose his friends more carefully. Dragunov said he
respected Ripley, Priest and Jey and that was more than he
could say about them. Bálor warned him that they wouldn’t
deliver their message so nicely next time.

********

Judgment Day wore matching “Street Trash” t-shirts.

Damian Priest (w/Rhea Ripley) defeated Dominik Mysterio
(w/Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan & Judgment Day) (12:09)

Priest completely dominated and set up for Razor’s Edge.
Bálor was about to slip into the ring so instead of just
hitting the move, Priest let go and Dom escaped the ring.
Priest went after Dom and chucked him back in the ring. As
Dom distracted the ref, McDonagh distracted Priest and Bálor
shoved him into the ring post. Dom followed with a suicide
dive.

After a break, Dom hit a tornado DDT for two. Dom chopped
Priest but that just tired him up. Priest punched and kicked
Dom and hit a flatliner for two. Priest hit a Broken Arrow
but Morgan put Dom’s foot on the rope for a rope break.

Ripley tackled Morgan over the announce table and they wiped
out Barrett in the process.

Dom tried a dive but Priest caught him and shoved him into
Bálor before superkicking Carlito. Dom dropkicked Priest
into the rope and hit a 619 but he missed a frog splash.
Priest dropped him with a clothesline and hit South of
Heaven for the pinfall win.

— The male members of Judgment Day swarmed Priest as soon as
the match ended. The crowd chanted “Yeet.” Ripley went after
Dom but Morgan shoved her into the steel steps.

Jey Uso entered to his music but before he hit the ring,
Breakker flew in and speared him.

Morgan gave Ripley an Oblivion while Bálor gave Priest a
Coup de Grace three consecutive times. Judgment Day stood
tall as the show ended.

The crowd was hot for this.

• F4wonline