The John Report: WWE Raw Deal 11/11/24 Review

It’s WWE Raw featuring Bianca & Jade against Liv & Raquel for the Women’s Tag Team Titles, Damian Priest in action, and more.

There is a double taping of Raw in Grand Rapids this week. It’s because the WWE crew had a busy week last week after doing Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, doing Raw in Saudi Arabia the next day, and then a week full of European shows as well. By taping two episodes, WWE is giving talent some time off after working hard for the past week. It’s the sign of a new regime, that’s for sure.

Last week’s Raw saw Damian Priest win a four-way match for a shot at the World Heavyweight Title against Gunther.

On a personal note, I am on vacation next week starting this Saturday, November 16 with a return on Saturday, November 23. I’m not going to have a Raw review next Monday or Tuesday. However, I will still write the review when I’m back so it will be later in the week. As much as I love wrestling, I am also excited to take a break for a week.

This is the Raw Deal for episode #1642 of Monday Night Raw. It’s taking place at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport. Let’s get to it.

There were arrivals shown earlier in the day of Women’s Tag Team Champions Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill along with The Judgment Day group including Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez.

The Raw commentary team was Joe Tessitore & Wade Barrett.

Let’s Hear from Gunther and Damian Priest

The World Heavyweight Champion Gunther entered for a promo wearing a black suit. A graphic confirmed Gunther will defend the World Title against Damian Priest at Survivor Series on November 30.

Gunther said he is the World Heavyweight Champion and he looks ahead to what’s in front of him. Gunther said he sees his next challenger is Damian Priest, so here comes the interruption from Priest.

Damian Priest joined Gunther in the ring while the fans gave Priest a nice ovation. Priest said he came out there so Gunther could talk to him in the face. Gunther was about to speak, so Priest cut him off saying Gunther would say he’s street trash, he’s a bum, his parents didn’t raise him right and Priest had to fight to get here while Gunther waited for a call. Priest said that the first time he stepped in the ring with him, he understood why people are intimidated by Gunther. Priest said if it wasn’t for his so-called brother (Finn Balor) betraying him then Gunther wouldn’t be the champion. Prist said that the vibe about Gunther faded because Gunther had started doubting himself. Priest mentioned Gunther got pinned by Cody Rhodes at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia. The fans chanted “Cody” for that.

Priest said that Gunther can’t even talk right now because Gunther is full of doubt. Priest said that Gunther knows he can’t beat Priest. Priest said by now, had he been anybody else, Gunther would have tried to take a swing at him by now. Priest asked if Gunther wanted to take a swing at him. Priest dared Gunther to take a shot while telling Gunther that he would drop his ass right there.

Ludwig Kaiser interrupted saying that Gunther had beaten Priest once already. Kaiser told Priest to get out of the ring right now and save himself. Kaiser said that Gunther would beat him once again. Gunther put his hand on the microphone and told Kaiser to do something. Kaiser said he would not let Priest talk to Gunther like that and Priest decked Kaiser with a punch. Priest clotheslined Kaiser over the top to the floor. Gunther stepped out of the ring instead of fighting Priest.

Analysis: A solid promo exchange from the two big guys for the World Title match at Survivor Series. A lot of it was Priest talking to show that he’s not intimidated by Gunther as we have seen from Gunther’s past opponents. Instead, Priest showed toughness. Anyway, the Kaiser involvement sets him up for a match with Priest. That’s typical WWE booking where Kaiser has a match with Gunther’s rival.

Damage CTRL’s Iyo Sky & Kairi Sane were interviewed by Cathy Kelley. Sky said she was ready for Liv Morgan. Sane said that they had other business tonight. Dakota Kai walked in wearing her ring gear, so she was ready for her return to action. Kai said that she’s mad at PFC because they took three months of her career and nothing is going to keep them down.

The Damage CTRL trio made their entrance for tag team action.

(Commercial)

A video aired supporting the American troops on Veteran’s Day. We have Remembrance Day here in Canada. Thank you veterans for serving. They showed some troops overseas.

Kofi Kingston was backstage talking to R-Truth about how for some strange reason, Xavier Woods didn’t want them to get involved last week. Woods walked up to them wondering what was going on. Pete Dunne showed up to complain about Truth calling him that name (Butch) and Truth didn’t know what he was talking about. Kofi got in Dunne’s face and they set up a match while Woods left frustrated. Truth said good luck with Pete and it’s Butch you have to worry about.

Analysis: It set up a Kofi-Dunne match for later in the show. That’s fine because it will continue The New Day story.

Pure Fusion Collective – Sonya Deville, Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark vs. Damage CTRL – Iyo Sky, Kairi Sane & Dakota Kai

The PFC trio was on Raw more when it was a three-hour show. They haven’t been on as much in the month. A clip was shown of PFC injuring Kai three months ago and Kai had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in her knee.

Stark tried a suplex, but Sky flipped over to land on her feet. Stark gave Sky a back body drop. Deville tagged in for a running neckbreaker for two. Deville hit a suplex on Sky, but Sky came back with an uppercut. Sane tagged in leading to a kick to the back along with Sane & Sky hitting a double dropkick. Sane did a headscissors on Stark along with a running dropkick. Sane hit a sliding elbow on Deville. Sane connected with a forearm off the apron to the floor. Baszler nailed Sane with a clothesline on the floor while the referee was looking at Deville, so the heels took over going into the break.

(Commercial)

The match returned with Sane sending Deville into the ring post. Kai got the tag against Baszler leading to Kai hitting a kick to the leg along with a dropkick. Kai did a snapmare, a scorpion kick and Baszler hit a kick to the head. Kai sent Baszler to the apron leading to Kai kicking Baszler in the back of the head for two. Kai hit a running boot to the face. Kai charged again, Baszler moved and Kai kicked Deville off the apron to the floor. Baszler applied a half crab submission and Sky broke free to break it up. Deville hit Sky, so Sane hit a forearm off the top. Stark hit a springboard missile dropkick on Sane and then Kai hit Stark with a forearm. Baszler went for a sleeper on Kai, but Kai was near the turnbuckle and Sky tagged in. Kai hit Baszler with a running boot to the face. Sky hit Over the Moonsault off the top rope for the pinfall win after 10 minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Damage CTRL – Iyo Sky, Kairi Sane & Dakota Kai

Analysis: **3/4 It was a good match that was given plenty of time with Damage CTRL getting the win, which was the right call. Sky is the number one contender for the World Title held by Liv Morgan, so Sky is building positive momentum. It was nice to see Dakota Kai back in the ring. She was put in the hot tag spot and did well.

A video aired from Smackdown last Friday showing that the original Bloodline group was back together, so it was Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso & Sami Zayn back on the same page again.

Jey Uso was talking to Sami Zayn backstage. They were happy about Sami being back with The Bloodline again. Jimmy Uso walked up to them and it was awkward communicating with Zayn while Zayn was awkward responding to him. Jimmy informed us that they need a fifth guy for WarGames. Zayn said he thinks he knows somebody and he’ll text Jey about it.

Analysis: I think a lot of us figured that Men’s WarGames would be 4-on-4 this year, but that just confirmed it’s 5-on-5 again for them.

Kofi Kingston made his entrance joined by Xavier Woods as usual.

(Commercial)

Damian Priest was shown getting ready backstage. Priest is in action against Ludwig Kaiser later in the show.

Pete Dunne vs. Kofi Kingston (w/Xavier Woods)

Kofi was in control with a jumping forearm smash followed by a turnbuckle dropkick. Dunne left the ring, so Kofi hit a somersault dive over the top onto Dunne on the floor. That led to a break.

(Commercial)

The match returned with Dunne in control with an armbar along with a knee drop on the left arm. Dunne worked over Kofi with forearms that didn’t even touch Kofi and they shot it from a bad angle. Kofi came back with a jumping double knee attack. Kofi hit some chops to the chest along with a jumping kick. Kofi hit two boots to the face followed by Kofi jumping off the top with a Frog Splash to the back for two. Dunne hit an enziguri kick to the head. Kofi went for a springboard attack, but Dunne hit Kofi with a forearm to the jaw. Dunne went for a move, Kofi avoided it and Kofi hit a Trouble in Paradise kick. Kofi tried to go after Dunne on the floor, the referee held Kofi back and Woods hit Dunne with a clothesline on the floor. Kofi went over to Woods wondering why he got involved. Kofi slowly got back in the ring, so Dunne kicked him and Dunne hit Bitter End for the pinfall win after about 9 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Pete Dunne

Analysis: *** It was a good match between two talented veterans and a finish that continued the story involving The New Day guys. The story was that Kofi took too long arguing with Woods, which delayed Kofi going back into the ring and it allowed Dunne to recover, so Dunne won the match. Dunne is never pushed that much, but it is a quality win.

After the match, Woods told Kofi there was no reason for him to be in that match. Kofi shoved Woods back. Woods told Kofi to focus and said he wasn’t focused in the ring.

Analysis: The issues continue. The New Day’s 10-year anniversary is coming soon, so we’ll see if they can make it without fighting all the time.

The Judgment Day group was shown talking backstage. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez talked about how they’re going to have all the gold. Finn Balor complained to Dominik Mysterio for not winning the World Title shot. Balor said that Dominik claimed he could beat Priest. Dominik mentioned he’s closer to the World Title than Finn has been in a while. Finn and Dominik argued. Finn suggested that Dom & Carlito team up against the War Raiders. Dom left saying they’ll do it and left to get the match made while Carlito wasn’t thrilled about it.

Bronson Reed was shown walking backstage for a segment up next. While that was going on, Jey Uso was talking to Rey Mysterio in the background possibly to talk about needing a fifth member of the WarGames team.

(Commercial)

The Women’s Tag Team Champions Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill talked about Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez ahead of their match later. Belair & Cargill made it clear they will remain Women’s Tag Team Champions.

They showed UFC Light Heavyweight Fighter Jamahal Hill at ringside.

Let’s Hear from Bronson Reed and Seth Rollins

Bronson Reed entered for a promo in the ring. Reed hasn’t been given much time to do promos like this in the past. Reed said that Seth Rollins is a hell of a competitor and Rollins proved that when he got the win over Reed at Crown Jewel. Reed said he’s not a competitor, he’s a monster. Reed bragged about taking out Rollins last week along with taking out Damian Priest and Sheamus. Reed said that he’ll take on anybody until he puts Rollins out for good. Reed told Rollins if he wants his revenge then come out to see Reed in the ring right now.

Seth “Freakin” Rollins made his entrance with a microphone in hand. Rollins dropped the microphone and ran down to the ring to fight.

Reed and Rollins exchanged punches, but then Reed hit a running body attack. Reed lifted up Rollins on the floor, Rollins slipped behind him and Rollins shoved Reed into the commentary table. Rollins cleared off the commentary table, so Reed superkicked Rollins onto the table. Reed teased a splash through the table, but Rollins was back up and dove onto Reed with punches. There were security guys, but Reed beat them up easily. Reed tackled Rollins against the turnbuckle. Rollins punched Reed a few times. Reed ran the ropes and hit a suicide dive onto the security guys because Rollins moved. That was wild. The Raw referees and WWE Officials showed up to break it up. Raw GM Adam Pearce held Rollins back. That led to a break.

Analysis: It was the usual chaotic brawl between these two guys. I liked it as usual because they know how to bring the intensity and have a believable fight like that. Reed said a few basic things while Rollins said nothing and instead brought the fight to up the intensity of the story. That’s cool with me.

(Commercial)

There was a recap of the fighting between Rollins and Reed.

There was a backstage scene where Seth Rollins yelled at Raw GM Adam Pearce saying he wanted one more match with Bronson Reed. Rollins said he wanted to end this. Pearce said that’s fine, so Rollins will face Reed next week. Pearce left.

Sami Zayn approached Seth Rollins saying they needed a fifth guy for WarGames. Zayn said he knew about the history between Rollins and Roman Reigns. Zayn spoke about how his family bond with The Bloodline never goes away. Zayn said that on some level, Seth and Roman are still brothers. Zayn told Rollins there was nobody else for him to pick because he thought Rollins was their fifth man. Rollins told Zayn he thinks that he is out of his damn mind. Rollins said that he tore Reigns down and he’s not going to help build Reigns back up. Rollins said he knows Reigns better than anybody and he is shocked that anybody would stand beside him, especially Zayn. Rollins said you’ve got to be blind to not see that Reigns is using him again. Rollins said the answer is no.

Analysis: That was an interesting discussion with Zayn wanting Rollins for that spot, but it’s a no from Rollins. It makes sense that Rollins would say no because while he is a former “brother” of Reigns with The Shield, that was a long time ago and Rollins is right to say that Zayn is wrong for teaming with Reigns. That was done well by both guys.

Ludwig Kaiser vs. Damian Priest

Priest missed a corner charge, Kaiser set him upside down against the turnbuckle and Kaiser dropkicked Priest off the apron to the floor.

(Commercial)

Kaiser was in control with a rolling senton slam for two. Kaiser went for a suplex, Priest was too heavy for it and Kaiser hit Priest with forearms to the back. Priest came back with a Broken Arrow slam. Priest caught a running Kaiser and spiked him into the mat. Priest delivered an elbow smash to the face along with a running elbow against the turnbuckle. Priest picked up Kaiser leading to flatliner into the mat for two. Priest with a lift, Kaiser broke free and Kaiser slapped Priest hard in the chest. Kaiser avoided a kick leading to a rollup for two. Kaiser hit a running kick to the chest for two. Priest did a bell clap on the ears along with a kick. Priest bounced off the ropes leading to a clothesline. Priest hit the South of Heaven slam for the pinfall win after about eight minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Damian Priest

Analysis: **1/4 It was an easy win for Priest as you would expect. Kaiser is there to put over Gunther’s PLE opponent and in this case that is Priest. A longer match would be better, but in this instance, I think it was the right call to have Priest win decisively as he did.

After the match, Gunther stared at Priest from a distance. Barrett thought that Gunther looked nervous.

Analysis: I’m going with Gunther to retain at Survivor Series.

The Rock was named GQ’s Entertainer of the Year and his new movie Red One is in theatres on Friday. The Rock was also on The Tonight Show on NBC on Monday night.

A clip was shown of Bron Breakker facing Sheamus on WWE Speed. The match ended in a time limit expiry. They got into a brawl after the match, so that led to multiple officials showing up to break it up.

Bron Breakker, the Intercontinental Title, was interviewed by Cathy Kelley, who mentioned Bron’s match didn’t have the outcome he was hoping for. Bron said that the Speed Championship interests him because he wants to win more titles. Bron called Sheamus an ugly, bonehead, idiot so Sheamus interrupted. Sheamus said that Bron is full of arrogance. Sheamus said he’s been here 15 years and Bron has been here 15 seconds. Sheamus said that it reminds him of himself because he became WWE Champion in his first year. Sheamus wondered if Bron would put the one title that had eluded Sheamus for his entire career. Bron said yes because he would love nothing more than to kick Sheamus’ old ass. Sheamus told “kid” to shine it up real nice because he’s taking it home next week. Sheamus left. Jimmy Uso walked up to Bron saying he wanted to talk to him.

Analysis: I like the idea of a Bron-Sheamus match for next week. Jimmy talking to Bron at the end is something to keep an eye on as well.

(Commercial)

The Miz Talks With The Final Testament

The Miz was shown walking backstage when The Final Testament’s Karrion Kross, Akam Rezar & Scarlett showed up. The Miz said that he was going to ask for a leave of absence. Miz said he promised the Wyatts that he had changed his ways and they let Miz go. Miz told Kross to move on. Kross mentioned that they attacked Paul Ellering, who is like his family, so they need to pay for what they did. AOP grabbed Miz while The Final Testament walked out to the ring.

Karrion Kross and The Final Testament group were in the ring with The Miz. Kross said that The Miz’s story wasn’t adding up. Kross told Miz to tell him where are the Wyatts? That’s when the lights went out.

The Wyatt Six group of Uncle Howdy, Erik Rowan, Joe Gacy, Dexter Lumis & Nikki Cross arrived in the ring. Miz showed up from behind Rowan and Miz hit Rowan in the back with a steel chair. Howdy (Bo Dallas) was laughing about it. The two groups got into a fight while Miz hit Rowan in the back with a chair. Barrett said that it was a setup from Miz. Miz kept on hitting Rowan with a chair to the back. Scarlett slammed Nikki Cross off the apron to the floor. AOP hit their Super Collider double team move. Miz gave Rowan a Skull Crushing Finale onto a chair. Kross hit his spinning neckbreaker slam on Howdy. The Miz and Kross hugged in the ring to show their plan worked. After Kross and Friends left the ring, Howdy leaned up against the ropes, which led to his maniacal laughter to end it while Kross looked concerned from a distance.

Analysis: That was a clever heel plan by Kross and Miz since Miz acted like he was done with The Wyatt Sicks, but in reality, Miz was ready with the steel chair attack. It continues to build this story to set up the eight guys for a 4-on-4 tag team match or 5-on-5 with the two ladies involved as well. All of this is fine as a midcard story.

(Commercial)

A replay was shown of Uncle Howdy laughing at Karrion Kross right before the break.

Seth “Freakin” Rollins was interviewed by Cathy Kelley, who asked how Rollins will keep Bronson Reed down this time. Rollins saw Solo Sikoa and The Bloodline in the distance, so Rollins listened to Solo, who suggested that they should work together to take out Roman Reigns. Rollins said that the next time he’s in the ring with Roman Reigns he will Stomp his head in the ground. Rollins said he’ll never team with Reigns ever again, but he’ll never join forces with a wannabe Roman Reigns like Solo. Rollins stared at Jacob Fatu, who was standing there, but Solo held Fatu back. Rollins walked away.

Analysis: I liked that segment. Rollins made it clear that he won’t team with Roman Reigns ever. That made Solo think Rollins was with them, but Rollins trashed Solo for being a “wannabe Roman Reigns,” which should draw some laughs.

Next week on Raw, which is a taped show:

* Seth “Freakin” Rollins vs. Bronson Reed

* Bron Breakker defends the Intercontinental Title vs. Sheamus

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez

Belair was in control over Morgan after sending Liv into the turnbuckle. They went to another turnbuckle where Belair missed a charging attack so Morgan took over for a bit. Belair sent Morgan face first into the turnbuckle. Raquel got in Belair’s face while Belair was going for the punch combo, so Liv pulled down Belair by the air. Liv and Raquel caused chaos on the floor leading to Liv hitting Belair with an impressive dropkick on the floor. That led to a break.

(Commercial)

The match returned with Jade getting the tag against Liv. Jade hit two forearms followed by a spinebuster. Jade did a corner splash on Morgan and a body slam for Jade. Jade picked up Miz onto her shoulders followed by a spinning Jaded slam for two because Raquel made the save. Raquel tagged herself in so she hit a boot to the face of Jade while Raquel did a boot as well. Nia Jax and Tiffany Stratton went down to ringside with Tiffany distracting the referee while Jax gave Cargill a Samoan Drop on the apron. Raquel hit a splash off the ropes on Jade but it was only a two count because Bianca Belair made the save. Tiffany Stratton was on the apron, so Naomi pulled Stratton down from the apron. Naomi sent Jax into the barricade and Liv hit double knees to Naomi. Liv tagged in, Liv jumped off the turnbuckle with nothing and Jade kicked her. Belair tagged in and Jade kicked Raquel to knock her down on the floor. Belair hit the KOD on Liv for the pinfall win. It went about eight minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill

Analysis: **1/4 This was just an average match with the champions getting the easy win. There was that good nearfall for Raquel, but other than that this match felt a bit flat. I’m happy the champions retained while I’m mildly surprised that Liv took the pin in this match. That could lead to Belair going after Liv’s title at some point, but for now, it’s still a tag team story.

After the match, Nia Jax ran into the ring to knock down Naomi, Belair and Jade. Belair wanted to do some damage, but Iyo Sky went down to the ring and hit a missile dropkick on Jax. Sky hit a double foot stomp on Tiffany Stratton. Jade & Bianca were back up to clothesline Raquel out of the ring. Naomi hit a knee to Jax, Sky kicked Jax, and Jade & Belair gave Jax a double team suplex.

The foursome of Bianca Belair, Naomi, Iyo Sky & Jade Cargill celebrated in the ring together. That was the end of the show.

Analysis: It seems obvious that this is going to set up the Women’s WarGames match even though everybody on the heel side doesn’t get along that way. They are clearly going in that direction based on what happened after the match.

===

Three Stars of the Show

1. Damian Priest
2. Seth Rollins/Bronson Reed
3. Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill

===

The Scoreboard

7.25 out of 10

Last week: 7.75

2024 Average: 7.58

===

Final Thoughts on WWE Raw

This is going up a few hours after Raw, so I’ll be brief here. I liked the show in terms of advancing stories while the matches were just average most of the night. Good storyline advancement throughout the show regarding the WarGames matches, the New Day stuff, and Seth Rollins/Bronson Reed again. I also liked Rollins turning down both sides of The Bloodline for the WarGames match. It wasn’t a great Raw, but it was a solid show as usual.

The spoilers for next week’s Raw are here on TJRWrestling for those of you wanting to read about it.

===

Thanks for reading. Please check out my reviews of every WWE PPV ever listed in order. Go Los Angeles Rams, Toronto Raptors & Toronto Maple Leafs. My contact info is below.

John Canton

Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter/X @johnreport