Our WWE Raw results for tonight include “Main Event” Jey Uso defending the Intercontinental Championship against the New Day’s Xavier Woods, Sheamus clashes with Pete Dunne in a Donnybrook match, Seth “Freakin” Rollins addresses the WWE Universe, Sami Zayn challenges Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship! Here’s our review and grades for tonight’s show, live from St. Louis, Mo, at Enterprise Center.
WWE Raw Card:
- WWE World Heavyweight Championship match: Gunther (c) vs. Sami Zayn
- Intercontinental Championship match: Jey Uso (c) vs. Xavier Woods
- Donnybrook match: Sheamus vs. Pete Dunne
- Seth Rollins speaks
WWE Raw Results:
“Rapper” Sexyy Red welcomes the crowd to the show.
CM Punk Returns From Hell
CM Punk is heavily bandaged and limping. Punk only makes it out to the stage. Punk quips that it’s good to be not dead in St. Louis tonight. The crowd cheers as Punk notes that he is in no condition to be here tonight. He won the Hell in a Cell match but is left with questions about what’s next. Punk wants to thank three groups of people. First, his fans; second, his peers. And lastly the people who don’t like him at all. Punk turned their hate into cash and he thanks them for that. Punk says he’s going home and doesn’t know when he’ll be back. As Punk turns to leave, Seth Rollins‘ music hits. Rollins meets Punk on the stage. Punk and Rollins go noes to noes. Rollins shoulder-checks Punk as he shimmies to the ring.
Grade: B+
Punk sold the heck out the effects of his epic clash with Drew McIntyre in Hell in a Cell. It would have been too predictable for Punk to have been attacked here, so it’s good that WWE showed some restraint here and allowed Punk to shoot bedroom eyes at Rollins instead of an injury angle to write him off TV. Punk will be best used in short bursts, so giving him a few weeks to rest is best for everyone.
The Visionary has returned
Seth Rollins says he has to do the right thing. Rollins tells CM Punk to get well soon… just so Rollins can kick his a$$ and retire him for good. Rollins runs down all of the craziness that has been going on since he’s been on the shelf. He’s not here to talk about all of that; he’s here to destroy Bronson Reed.
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Reed isn’t here tonight, but Rollins knows he’s watching. Rollins pulls the cameraman in close and congratulates Reed because, after six tsunamis, Rollins knows Reed’s name. If Reed wants to be famous, Rollins will give him 15 minutes. Reed can name the time and place, except he’ll be expecting it this time.
Grade: C-
Rollins showed some fire here toward the end of the promo when he called out Reed. Beyond that, this is standard stuff from Rollins. How many times can we listen to people sing a song without lyrics and hear about Rollins being a visionary? This is getting old.
Intercontinental Championship Match: Jey Uso (c) vs. Xavier Woods w/Kofi Kingston
Jey is in control early, landing a series of strikes. The fight spills out to the apron, and Woods sends Jey flying with a DVD out on the floor. After the break, Woods and Jey are trading strikes. Woods lands a superkick for a near fall. Woods dives off the top into a Superkick. Jey lands the Uso Splash for the win.
Winner and STILL Intercontinental Champion, Jey Uso!
After the match, Jey offers Woods a handshake. Woods walks away. While Jey is celebrating, Bron Breakker appears out of nowhere and Spears Jey. Kingston tries to convince Woods to help Jey. Woods tells Kingston it’s not there business. Kingston runs down to try to make the save anyway. Breakker Spears Kingston. Woods pulls Kingston out of the ring. Breakker rolls out and hits a super Spear out on the floor to Woods, who was just trying to help Kingston. Breakker Spears Jey one more time for good measure.
Grade: B
There was never any doubt that Jey was going to retain. If anything, this match was just a setup for the angle after the fact, which was highly effective. The tension between Kingston and Woods intensifies while Bron Breakker returns to looking like a bada$$ after showing up with his tail between his legs last week. Top marks for everyone involved here.
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The ringside area is adorned with a bar set up;whisky barrels and more for the next match.
Donnybrook Match: Sheamus vs. Pete Dunne
Sheamus and Dunne trade shots. The referee looks on as Sheamus chokes Dunne with the walking stick. Sheamus sends Dunne out to the floor. Dunne avoids a Brogue Kick and hits a tornado DDT off a whisky barrel. Sheamus fires up and powerslams Dunne on the commentary desk. After the break, Dunne climbs a stack of whiskey barrels. Sheamus lands the ten beats on top of the barrels. Sheamus lifts Dunne up and leaps off the barrels, putting Dunne through a table with white noise.
After bringing Dunne back into the ring, Sheamus hits a high cross. Dunne kicks out. Dunne snaps Sheamus’ fingers before whacking him with a cricket bat. Sheamus rolls out of the ring. Dunne follows and hits Sheamus in the head with a draw, which he pulled out of the bar. Dunne zip ties Sheamus’ hands behind his back. Dunne gets distracted yelling at the crowd because they are calling him Butch. Sheamus surprises Dunne with a Brogue kick for the win.
Winner- Sheamus
Grade: C+
Dunne and Sheamus used their environment like this was a stage on Mortal Kombat 1. This has to be the first time we’ve seen a drawer used as a weapon in a wrestling ring. Fun contest, but if the idea is to get Dunne a rub, him losing this match doesn’t make a lot of sense. Never mind the fact that he lost to a man with both hands tied behind his back. Make it make sense.
Unholy Union (Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre) and Pure Fusion Collective (Sonya Deville, Zoey Stark, Shayna Baszler) vs. Natalya, Zoey Stark, Kayden Carter, Zelina Vega, and Kitana Chance
A huge brawl breaks out. The referee has all read lost control Chance, Vega, and Carter all land dives. After the break, Vega lands a diving rana. Stark manages a superkick. Stark lifts Vega for a suplex. Vega reverses it into a stunner. Moonsault by Vega. Deville, who got a blind tag, destroys Vega with a running knee strike. Valkyria tags herself in and crushes Deville with Nothing but Net for the win.
Winners- Natalya, Zoey Stark, Kayden Carter, Zelina Vega, and Kitana Chance
Grade: C
With Raw being two hours, we knew certain parts of the roster would suffer. This writer had flashbacks of the dark Diva days of the women’s division when this random 10-women tag match was announced. To my surprise, they were given more than the standard 2 minutes those Divas tag matches would get. The action here was fast-paced and fun, but ultimately just a throwaway match.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match: Gunther (c) vs. Sami Zayn
Gunther works over Zayn. Zayn sends Gunther over the top. Gunther runs away to avoid a dive, but Zayn springboards back into the ring. After the break, Zayn tries a crossbody. Gunther catches Zayn and lays him on the top rope. Gunther lights Zayn up with a chop. Before Zayn can respond, Gunther chokes Zayn with his boot. Zayn reverses Gunther’s sleeper into a blue thunder bomb. Gunther kicks out. After the break, Gunther is working over Zayn. The fight spills out of the ring. Zayn counters Gunther’s powerbomb with a back body drop.
An exploder by Zayn sends Gunther into the barricade. Helluva Kick by Zayn. Zayn breaks the count since he can’t drag Gunther back into the ring. Zayn sends Gunther back into the ring and lands another Helluva Kick. As Gunther is slumped in the corner, Zayn tries another Helluva Kick. Gunther counters with a lariat. After a series of reversals, Gunther hits a powerbomb! Zayn kicks out. Gunther lands another powerbomb. Zayn kicks out at one! Gunther is shocked. Gunther traps Zayn in another sleeper. Zayn passes out.
Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion, Gunther!
As Gunther walks up the ramp, Cody Rhodes walks out on the stage leading to a staredown.
Grade: B+
Zayn and Gunther didn’t exactly recreate their epic WrestleMania match, but they got pretty close to it. Zayn is the ultimate underdog, and being in the ring with a beast like Gunther is a perfect pairing. No matter how unrealistic it seems for Zayn to win, his next-level selling makes you buy every near fall. This match, for the time it was given, was brilliant.
WWE Raw Review:
Tonight’s Raw moved at a lightning-fast pace. Clocking in at an amazingly palatable 2 hours, WWE had to cram a lot in a considerably shorter amount of time. In the past, WWE would stick all its eggs in the main event basket, heavily featuring the top stars and cutting time from the women’s division and tag team segments. Shockingly, that wasn’t the case tonight. Everything that happened felt jumbled and rushed, so at the very least, WWE was consistent tonight. The match of the night was the main event world title match.
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Gunther and Zayn’s chemistry is unmatched. Hopefully, we will see these two clash again. Liv Morgn name dropping WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes being on hand to watch Gunther clash with Zayn were both nice touches. Despite the wonky pacing, this was a solid show that effectively started the build to Crown Jewel, our next big event. Did you think tonight’s show felt rushed? Let us know in the comments!
Grade: B-
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