The John Report: WWE Raw Deal 12/09/24 Review
It’s WWE Raw featuring Rhea Ripley in action against Raquel Rodriguez, the Wyatt Sicks against Final Testament & The Miz, and more.
Last week’s WWE Raw was a great show that featured The New Day’s Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods completely turning their backs on their injured friend Big E. That segment was very emotional and featured some performances by all three guys. Drew McIntyre also made his return by attacking Sami Zayn with a Claymore Kick. There are just four more Raw episodes before the Netflix era begins.
This is the Raw Deal for episode #1646 of Monday Night Raw. It’s taking place at the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport, friend me on Facebook, or chat with me on the Bluesky App as well. Let’s get to it.
There were some arrivals shown of key superstars on Raw.
Let’s Hear from GUNTHER…and Finn Balor
Gunther made his entrance as the World Heavyweight Champion. Gunther beat Dominik Mysterio last week on Raw. After the match, Finn Balor attacked Gunther. Balor will challenge Gunther for the World Heavyweight Title at Saturday Night’s Main Event this Saturday on NBC.
Gunther said that Finn Balor has his undivided attention. That led to Finn Balor interrupting the champion.
Finn Balor was joined by The Judgment Day’s JD McDonagh, Carlito & Dominik Mysterio. Finn & JD are World Tag Team Champions. Balor said that you could have given Balor the title shot that he deserved and instead he wanted to give a title shot to Dominik. Balor said that he’s the only reason why Gunther is World Champion right now. Balor said that Gunther retained the World Title at Survivor Series and he’ll lose at SNME because of Balor, so after eight long years, Finn will be World Champion.
Gunther told Balor that he didn’t earn the World Title match. Gunther gets it that Balor is frustrated because eight years ago, Finn became the first WWE Universal Champion and at that point in his career, Gunther looked up to Balor. Gunther said that over time, that respect faded away because Balor chose to cut corners and take shortcuts. Gunther said that Balor chose to hang out with a bunch of weirdos in the clubhouse. Gunther told Balor that he chose to pay second fiddle to Damian Priest. Gunther said now he’s looking down on Balor figuratively and literally. Gunther told Balor that he was the best in the world for one night while Gunther is best in the world and for thousands of days to come. Gunther told Balor he won’t leave as World Champion on Saturday is because Finn is not on his level and he never will be.
Finn Balor and The Judgment Day were about to go into the ring, but Damian Priest showed up with a brace on his right hand. Priest beat up the J-Day guys with punches and throwing them into the barricade. Priest punched Balor in the gut and sent Balor into the ring. Gunther chopped Balor down. Priest knocked Balor out of the ring. Gunther clotheslined Priest and Gunther tossed Priest out of the ring. Gunther cleared off the commentary table and Balor nailed Gunther with a Slingblade and a dropkick into the steel steps. Balor jumped onto Gunther on the floor with the Coup de Grace double foot stomp on the floor. Priest beat up JD, Carlito & Dominik in the ring. Balor saved his buddies by hitting Priest in the lower back. Balor hit a reverse DDT on Priest. Balor dropkicked Priest into the turnbuckle. Balor went up top and hit a Coup de Grace on Priest. Balor went up top and hit Coup de Grace a second time. Balor went up top for a third time and hit Coup de Grace on Priest again. Balor held up the World Heavyweight Title and World Tag Team Title together. The fans booed.
Analysis: It was a good promo segment between two heel characters Balor and Gunther that made Gunther look more like a babyface just based on how it went. I thought we might see Priest return at Saturday Night’s Main Event, but having him back here is fine too. Balor looked dominant over Gunther for the second week in a row. I think Gunther will retain his title at SNME.
The Final Testament and The Miz were shown walking backstage for their match up next.
(Commercial)
It was mentioned that Jesse Ventura will be part of the Saturday Night’s Main Event commentary team. We learned that last week.
The Raw GM Adam Pearce talked to The Judgment Day. Pearce approached Balor and said that at Saturday Night’s Main Event, the World Heavyweight Title match at Saturday Night’s Main Event will be Gunther vs. Damian Priest vs. Finn Balor. Finn said he was fine with that because he beat Gunther and Damian in the same match. Pearce told Finn that next week on Raw, Finn & JD have to defend the World Tag Team Titles against the War Raiders and the rest of The Judgment Day are banned from ringside. The J-Day guys were grumpy. Liv Morgan asked Finn if he had any advice for their match. Finn told her that he’ll get back to her on that and left.
Analysis: A triple threat match with Gunther-Balor-Priest doesn’t surprise me that much since Priest got screwed by Balor at Survivor Series, so now Priest is right back in a World Title match.
The Raw commentary team is Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett.
A PBR Professional Bull Rider Koltin Hevalow was at ringside. Sure. I have no idea who that is. He has no idea who I am, either, so we are even.
The Wyatt Sicks – Uncle Howdy, Joe Gacy, Erick Rowan & Dexter Lumis vs. The Final Testament – Karrion Kross, Akam, Rezar and The Miz (w/Scarlett)
It’s an 8-man tag team match that will be very chaotic. The Wyatt Sicks group made their entrance, Howdy went for a move and Miz saved his partner. They went to break less than one minute into this match.
(Commercial)
The match returned with Rezar working over Gacy with punches to the body. Gacy bounced off the ropes with his upside down clothesline. The Miz tagged in against Rowan, who connected with a spin kick and clotheslines. Rowan did a bit of a tribute to his late tag team partner Luke Harper and tossed Miz out of the ring. Rowan hit a baseball slide kick on Miz on the floor. Rowan gave Miz a reverse suplex like a neckbreaker for two because AOP made the save. AOP picked up Rowan and hit a double Powerbomb. Lumis and Gacy knocked AOP out of the ring. Gacy hit a dive onto AOP on the floor. Lumis jumped off the floor with a cannonball dive onto AOP on the floor. Howdy tagged in against Miz with a running elbow. Howdy delivered a neckbreaker off the ropes to The Miz. After Miz hit an elbow, Kross tagged in and Howdy clotheslined Kross out of the ring. Howdy ran the ropes, Scarlett tripped up Howdy and that led to Nikki Cross showing up at ringside, so she scared Scarlett. Cross jumped onto Scarlett on the floor with a Thesz Press on the floor. Howdy went for Sister Abigail on Kross, but Miz hit Howdy with a forearm. Howdy put a Mandible Claw on The Miz and Paul Ellering showed up with the dreaded powder to the eyes. The referee was looking at Kross so he didn’t see the powder in the eyes. Kross hit The Final Prayer spinning slam on Howdy for the pinfall win after about 10 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: The Final Testament – Karrion Kross, Akam, Rezar and The Miz
Analysis: *** A cheap win for the heels. When Paul Ellering was taken out by Uncle Howdy with a Mandible Claw I thought that was Ellering’s retirement from wrestling since he’s an old guy, but here he is helping The Final Testament get the big win. The action was good for the most part and I assume that ending will lead to another match down the road. I think the Wyatt Sicks will win when they do the match again.
CM Punk Interview
CM Punk was seated in the locker room with Jackie Redmond, who asked about the favor deal with Paul Heyman. Punk said that it’s between him and Paul. Redmond mentioned Seth Rollins having issues with Punk. Punk said he won’t shy away from a fight, so if you come at him, he’ll come out swinging. Punk said he didn’t hate Seth at all. Punk said that the 16 year old Seth Rollins came to CM Punk to ask Punk to train him to be a wrestler for free. Punk said that he remembers when Rollins was on a list of people to be fired from this place and Punk shielded him from that. Punk said that Rollins is extremely talented and a multi-time champion. Punk said everything that Rollins did, Punk did it first. Punk said he realized that Rollins had all the potential in the world at 16 years old, but the starter is back and second string guy (Rollins) has to sit on the bench. Redmond thanked Punk to end it.
Analysis: There’s a bit of insight into the CM Punk history with Seth Rollins. Punk had a good line there about how he “shielded’ Rollins from being fired, which was a reference to The Shield group starting in 2012 as a Punk idea and Rollins was a part of that. Anyway, I thought it was well done a short chat on the show. They could have filmed it last week to save Punk from having to go to this week’s show too, so that’s why it’s smart to do taped segments like that.
The graphic was shown about Raw on Netflix coming on January 6, 2025. It was shown a few times already just like on Smackdown.
(Commercial)
Liv Morgan vs. Dakota Kai
This was not for Liv’s Women’s World Title. Liv will defend the Women’s World Title at Saturday’s Main Event on December 14th.
Kai worked over Liv with two hiptosses along with a flipping neckbreaker and a two count for Kai. Liv sent a charging Kai over the top so that Kai’s hand hit the top of the steel steps.
(Commercial)
Liv was in control as Pure Fusion Collective’s Sonya Deville, Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark went down to ringside. Liv hit two suplexes and Kai came back with a suplex of her own. Kai worked over Liv with punches, clotheslines, and Kai hit a dropkick. Kai sent Liv into the turnbuckle followed by a running boot to the face. Kai stomped on the back of Liv by the ropes for a two count. Kai was looking at the PFC women at ringside. Kai hit a Scorpion Kick to the jaw. Kai kicked Stark and Baszler at ringside. Liv went for a move, but Kai rolled up Liv for two. Liv hit a Codebreaker double knees. Liv hit a jumping knee smash. Kai countered Liv with a Powerbomb and Kai kicked Deville off the apron to the floor. Kai went for a kick, Liv avoided it and Liv hit Oblivion for the pinfall win after about eight minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Liv Morgan
Analysis: **1/2 It was a sketchy win by Morgan benefitting from PFC distracting Kai throughout the match. Since Kai was going after Deville, it allowed Morgan to avoid a Kai attack and Morgan was able to get the win.
After the match, PFC attacked Kai. Dakota’s Damage CTRL buddies Iyo Sky & Kairi Sane went to ringside to clear the ring of PFC. Sane jumped off the top with an Insane Elbow onto PFC on the floor. Morgan capitalized with an Oblivion on Sky. Morgan posed over Sky to end it.
Analysis: The PFC women haven’t been featured as much since Raw went to two hours from three years. Using them in this spot was a way to bring Sky out there, which led to Morgan dropping Sky, so it was an effective segment to utilize a bunch of women on the show.
Words From Drew McIntyre
A video aired featuring Drew McIntyre standing in the backstage area. Drew said that at Hell in a Cell, he suffered massive blood loss. Drew said that he had to go back to Scotland because his family needed him. Drew said that 2024 should have been a career year for him. Drew talked about how he saw Survivor Series with Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Sami Zayn and The Usos. Drew said that at least Punk took a bribe while they all sold out to Reigns for nothing. Drew said that’s when he knew he had to take out Sami Zayn and Jey Uso. Drew said he can’t change the past, but he will change the future.
Analysis: There was confirmation from Drew that he took out Jey Uso in a cheap attack last week. Drew is also going after anybody that wants to support Roman Reigns, who has a long history with Drew. It actually puts McIntyre on the same page with Seth Rollins in terms of his complaints, but that doesn’t mean those guys are going to be allies any time soon.
Seth “Freakin” Rollins was shown walking backstage. Raw GM Adam Pearce was talking to Tiffany Stratton in the background. Rolins was up next.
(Commercial)
A video package aired about The New Day’s 10-year anniversary celebration from last week’s Raw. Big E tried to mend the fences for Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods, but instead, Kofi & Woods were jerks to Big E about being injured. This led to Kofi & Woods coming across as heels while Big E was sad. The fans hated Kofi & Woods for this. It was a very emotional segment.
The Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes was shown walking out of the office of Raw GM Adam Pearce. The New Day’s Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods walked down a hallway. Cody said he has known them both for a long time and Woods since they were in school. Cody told them they should be ashamed of themselves. Kofi and Woods walked away laughing.
Analysis: There needs to be more of that with wrestlers on the roster trashing The New Day for their actions towards Big E. It will get the group more heat.
Let’s Hear from Seth “Freakin” Rollins
Seth “Freakin” Rollins went down to the ring for a promo in a ridiculous outfit as usual. Rollins said that what CM Punk said earlier was a masterclass in how to spin the truth. Rollins said that Punk has been spinning the truth and playing the victim for his entire life. Rollins said that Punk was a fraud and a conman. Rollins said he did go to Punk to get trained and Rollins called Punk one of the best in the world while saying he idolized Punk. Rollins admitted Punk for helping Seth get his foot in the door. Rollins said that they were friends. Rollins said that the part of Punk’s story that he left out is that when Punk left WWE 11 years ago, Rollins reached out to Punk and he didn’t hear from Punk. Rollins said he was ghosted and so did everybody in this company. Punk said that for the next ten years, all Punk tried to do was tear this company down. Rollins said that Punk took any potshot he could. Rollins said that Punk came back because he failed at everything else and he burned every single bridge that would lead him to water and the money was right. The fans chanted “CM Punk” after all that.
Rollins said that once upon a time he used to chant his name and he wanted to be like Punk too. Rollins said he realized that Punk was a fraud and he wanted to be better than Punk and he was. Rollins said that everything that Punk did, Rollins did it twice and he did the one thing that Punk didn’t do – main event WrestleMania. Ouch. Also true.
Analysis: A lot of what Seth Rollins said about CM Punk was true. Rollins was right that Punk burned his bridges in other places and he came back because the money was right. However, the WWE fans are just happy that Punk is back “home” and they don’t care that Punk failed in other places. They are just happy that Punk is back. But I like that Rollins is speaking the truth because it makes it a better storyline.
Sami Zayn interrupted the Seth Rollins promo. These two guys had a match last week that Rollins narrowly won. Rollins said if you are here to defend Punk again then Rollins will fight him again. Zayn said that fighting last week will happen sometimes when you know somebody as long as they’ve known for eachother. Zayn apologized for thinking that Rollins attacked Jey Uso backstage and Zayn said he was sorry. Rollins said that they have been friends for 20 years, their kids play together and they are close friends. Rollins wondered why he was the first person that Zayn thought about. Zayn said that Rollins was talking like he was out of his mind and the kind of person who blames everybody else for their actions. Zayn said that you sounded less like Rollins and more like Drew McIntyre. Rollins said he’s not like Drew. Zayn said that Rollins is a better person than Drew and not like Drew. Zayn said that maybe he shouldn’t have gotten involved. Zayn said that this thing with Rollins and Punk is clearly worse than Zayn thought was possible. Zayn told Rollins to deal with this thing with Punk however Rollins wants to deal with it. Rollins said he appreciated that. Zayn asked if they were good. Rollins said that they are good. Rollins said that he appreciates Zayn handling his business with Punk and it seems like Zayn has business with Drew that Zayn needs to handle. Rollins left the ring.
Analysis: That was simple enough with Zayn telling Rollins he won’t get in his way. Zayn saying that Rollins sounds like Drew McIntyre is something I brought up earlier in the review, which makes me wonder if Rollins is on his way to a heel role or if they continue using him as a face.
Sami Zayn said that he is going to handle this business with Drew McIntyre. Zayn said that he’s not going to listen to Drew complain about everything like he always does. Zayn said that he has already spoken to Adam Pearce and Zayn announced that at Saturday Night’s Main Event, Zayn will face Drew McIntyre. Zayn left the ring at that point.
When Zayn was in the aisle by the entrance area, Drew McIntyre showed up with a punch that knocked Zayn down. Drew worked over Zayn with punches. There were officials there to break it up quickly. Drew backed away at that point while Zayn was down on the floor.
Analysis: I like that Zayn-McIntyre has been added to the SNME show. That’s a great match to put on the show. I assume McIntyre won since he lost his last match at Bad Blood over two months ago, but Zayn needs a win too. I just think that Drew winning is the more likely outcome there.
(Commercial)
Women’s Intercontinental Title Tournament Quarterfinals: Zelina Vega vs. Lyra Valkyria vs. Ivy Nile
Vega dropkicked Nile and Lyra rolled up Vega for two. Vega hit a spin kick on Lyra. Vega hit a 619 kick on Lyra. Nile tripped up Vega on the floor and Nile hit a spinning slam on Lyra in the ring for a two count. Nile stomped on Lyra a few times as the show went to break.
(Commercial)
Lyra was in control of Nile with a Tornado DDT off the turnbuckle followed by a fisherman’s suplex for two. Nile applied an armbar on the left arm, but Lyra did a rollup for two. Vega went to the middle turnbuckle and hit a senton bomb onto both women for a two count on Nile and then a Vega two count on Lyra as well. Vega jumped onto Nile on the floor. Back in the ring, Vegan jumped off the turnbuckle with double knees on Lyra for two. Vega jumped off the turnbuckle, Nile caught her and Nile hit a spinning sidewalk slam on Vega for two. Nile hit a German Suplex on Lyra, who hit a German Suplex on Vega at the same time so it was a double German Suplex. Nile hit a belly-to-back suplex for two. Vega hit Code Red on Nile for two because Lyra broke up the pin. Lyra hit the Nightwing sitout slam for the pinfall win on Nile. It went about nine minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Lyra Valkyria
Analysis: **3/4 It was a good match for the time given. These three women haven’t been featured that much of late, so it was cool to see them in a meaningful match. The finish was fine with Vega hitting a finisher, then Lyra broke it up and hit her finish to win. That’s kind of a basic ending that we often see in triple threat matches.
Lyra Valkyria’s win means she moves on in the Women’s IC Title tournament and joins Dakota Kai in the semifinals.
Rhea Ripley was shown getting ready for her main event match. Damian Priest approached his buddy Rhea and told her to eradicate. They touched fists.
(Commercial)
Let’s Hear from The New Day’s Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods
The New Day’s Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods were interviewed by Cathy Kelley backstage. The fans booed at the sight of The New Day. Woods said that this won’t be an unbiased interview so they wanted to go talk to the people. Woods took the camera from the camera guy and Kofi walked out to the ring with Woods following while holding the camera. When Kofi and Woods got into the ring, they were greeted by “New Day Sucks” chants rather than “New Day Rocks” chants. Woods put the camera down on the steel steps and the guys went into the ring.
Kofi was booed as he tried to act shocked that the fans were this mad over what happened in one day instead of the ten years of positivity. Woods tried to speak, the fans booed them loudly and Woods stopped a few times. Woods shouted that they didn’t even do anything to Big E. Kofi said that they could have taken a steel chair to Big E’s back or hit Big E in the head and the fans booed some more. The fans chanted “Big E” some more. Woods tried to speak more, but then he dropped the microphone. Woods and Kofi left the ring after getting booed out of the building.
Analysis: I loved how that was handled. The fans were absolutely on fire booing Kofi and Woods, so having Kofi and Woods act like they are shocked by it was the perfect way to play this. The heat will continue to grow until Big E comes back or I should say if Big E comes back.
There was a rundown of the Saturday Night’s Main Event card for this Saturday on NBC:
* World Heavyweight Championship: GUNTHER vs. Finn Balor vs. Damian Priest
* Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn
* Women’s World Championship: Liv Morgan vs. IYO SKY
* Tournament Finals To Crown First WWE Women’s US Champion: Bayley or Chelsea Green vs. Michin or Tiffany Stratton
* Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens
Analysis: It’s a good lineup. I will likely be home on Saturday to write a live review.
Rhea Ripley made her entrance for the main event match.
(Commercial)
Anything Goes Match: Raquel Rodriguez vs. Rhea Ripley
It’s an Anything Goes Match where pinfalls must take place in the ring.
Raquel Rodriguez was making her entrance and Rhea went after. They were fighting in the aisle. They went fight into the crowd a bit and then they made their way to the ringside area. Rhea hit Raquel with a trash can to the head. There were chairs and kendo sticks in the ring because Rhea put them there during the break, according to Joe. Rhea hit a missile dropkick off the top rope to knock Raquel out of the ring. Rhea kicked Raquel on the floor. Rhea got a table from under the ring, the fans loved that and Raquel stopped that. Raquel hit a fallaway slam onto the commentary table. They went to a break there.
(Commercial)
The match returned with Rhea and Raquel doing a double kick to knock eachother down. Rhea hit a dropkick into a chair that Raquel was holding. Raquel picked up Rhea and sent Rhea face first into the turnbuckle. Rhea countered a move and sent Raquel into a chair that was opened up in the ring. Rhea hit Raquel with a chair to the body. Rhea teased a Riptide onto steel chairs, but Liv Morgan went to ringside so Rhea tossed Liv into the ring. That allowed Raquel to come back with a kick to the head. Raquel slammed Rhea onto a pile of chairs. Rhea slipped out of a slam attempt and Liv jumped on Rhea’s back. Rhea tossed Liv down. Rhea superkicked Raquel out of the ring. Liv capitalized with an Oblivion no Rhea. Iyo Sky jumped off the top with a missile dropkick on Liv. Sky hit a suicide dive onto Liv on the floor. Raquel covered Rhea for a two count. Raquel set up a table in the ring and wanted a slam, but Rhea got out of it. Rhea sent Raquel into a chair that was against the turnbuckle. Ripley gave Raquel a Riptide slam through the table that was set up in the ring. Ripley covered Raquel for the pinfall win after about 10 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Rhea Ripley
Analysis: ***1/4 I liked the match. Rhea and Raquel had some great matches in the NXT days because they were given a lot more time than this. It felt a bit rushed since it was only ten minutes with a commercial in the middle, but they did what they could and it was an exciting match. Liv getting involved was no surprise while Iyo coming down to the ring to take care of Liv made sense. Ripley got the decisive win thanks to the chair and the Riptide slam. Good match.
After the match, Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky each had their hands on the Women’s World Title. Ripley stared at Sky. That was the end of the show.
Analysis: It was a smart way to end the show because it teased that either woman could be the next Women’s World Champion. I doubt Sky wins at SNME this week, but maybe Ripley will get it in early 2025.
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Three Stars of the Show
- Rhea Ripley
- Seth Rollins-Sami Zayn
- Liv Morgan
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The Scoreboard
7.5 out of 10
Last week: 7.75
2024 Average: 7.59
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Final Thoughts on WWE Raw
It was a good show for the most part although I think last week’s episode was a bit better in terms of the promos. The in-ring action was okay this week although I wish the Ripley-Rodriguez match got more time.
The women’s division was featured heavily since they had three of the four matches on the show. The lone men’s match was booked well with The Final Testament getting the win over The Wyatt Sicks thanks to Paul Ellering making his shocking return with the dreaded power to the eyes.
They did a nice job of promoting the SNME matches for this Saturday. Adding Damian Priest to the Gunther-Finn Balor match is fine with me. Drew McIntyre attacking Sami Zayn in a cheap way is fine because they have a match at SNME too. I liked the CM Punk interview followed by Seth Rollins responding. The men’s singles division on Raw is so deep with a lot of main event level talent. I love to see it.
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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