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Highlights from Raw After WrestleMania

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4 months ago

April 12, 2024

WWE Universal Championship match between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes during Wrestlemania XL Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

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We’re simply at some point faraway from WrestleMania 40 and already we’re witnessing the insane aftermath of one of many biggest most important occasions in WrestleMania historical past.

Though the Bloodline saga is formally over, WWE shouldn’t be completed with the feud between Cody Rhodes and The Rock. It seems the 2 are on a collision course for the Common Championship, however we nonetheless have no idea when that might be.

There have been many questions that want answering, and Monday Night time RAW did an excellent job of answering quite a lot of. Chad Gable and Sami Zayn will, the truth is, struggle for the Intercontinental Championship. Liv Morgan has not forgotten her beef with Rhea Ripley. Superior Fact appears to be right here to remain because the RAW Tag Group Champs. It was an excellent present to assist us all quiet down from WrestleMania whereas nonetheless getting followers excited for what the longer term holds.

There have been too many inquiries to reply in only one RAW. Nevertheless, there are clearly many nice storylines to stay up for. Here is every little thing that occurred within the 2024 RAW after Mania from the Wells Fargo Heart in Philadelphia.

WWE Information:WWE is formally in a brand new period, and it has its ‘quarterback’: Cody Rhodes

Deadly 4-Manner: Jey Uso vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Ricochet vs. Bronson Reed

The winner of this match would get a shot towards Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship. So, with that in thoughts, you might think about the motivation operating by means of Drew McIntyre’s veins after he received that very championship, solely to lose it to a profitable Cash within the Financial institution cash-in 5 minutes later. His adversaries had been to not be taken flippantly although.

Jey Uso is all the time an apparent risk. Ricochet is a superb athlete and might do some severe harm. And Reed, in fact, is recent off a victory on the Andre the Large Battle Royal. Reed proved to be probably the most harmful competitor out the gate. He landed sturdy hits on each Jey Uso and Ricochet, commanding the middle of the ring whereas everybody else was compelled to do most of their combating outdoors the ring.

It took a collection of blows from McIntyre in addition to a couple of tremendous kicks and a spear from Jey Uso to get Reed off his sport. Nonetheless, Reed was practically capable of win with a canopy on Ricochet in any case that. Ricochet would get his revenge quickly after although, touchdown a splash on Reed on the announcer’s desk.

That splash put each Reed and Ricochet out of fee. The struggle was formally right down to McIntyre and Jey Uso. McIntyre had victory in his sight, however a shock look from CM Punk prevented McIntyre from touchdown the ending blow and gave Uso the sting, and he would stroll away victorious.

Properly, Gable and Zayn are, the truth is, not teaming up

Backstage, we noticed the aftermath of Chad Gable and Sami Zayn’s victory over Imperium. It was clear that Zayn and Gable had chemistry as teammates, however they won’t be teaming up. Quite, the 2 will struggle for the Intercontinental Championship as many individuals anticipated.

Zayn is paying Gable’s favor ahead and giving him precisely what he desires. They will struggle for the Intercontinental Championship subsequent week.

Chelsea Inexperienced vs. Jade Cargill

After being held out of WrestleMania 40, Chelsea Inexperienced had some harsh phrases for RAW common supervisor Adam Pearce. She needed respect, and she or he needed her time to shine. Properly, Pearce provided her an opportunity, and informed her to move to the ring instantly. Sadly for Inexperienced, Jade Cargill — who helped Naomi and Bianca Belair defeat Injury CTRL in a six-woman tag group match at WrestleMania — was her opponent.

Inexperienced instantly began asking for officers to chop the match. She was clearly terrified, and Jade Cargill managed to take Inexperienced down in lower than 30 seconds.

It wasn’t even a contest. Though she hasn’t been with WWE lengthy, she has proven immense prowess. She was a star in AEW, and she or he appears to be like headed for superstardom in WWE as properly.

Sami Zayn’s first look as Intercontinental Champion

Sami Zayn wasted no time giving reward to WWE followers and all of the individuals who helped him win towards Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship. Zayn needed to offer a particular because of Chad Gable, even motioning to the doorway for him to return out. As an alternative of Gable although, Gunther’s lackeys — Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci — entered to berate Zayn and “make this proper.” Nevertheless, Zayn would not be with out his personal assist.

Gable got here in at simply the best second. Though many consider Gable will ultimately activate Zayn to ensure that a shot on the IC Championship, that wasn’t occurring tonight.

Gable placed on a masterclass on this struggle, touchdown blow after blow on each Vinci and Kaiser, even touchdown a splash on each members of Imperium outdoors of the ring at one level. Gable’s technical prowess and athleticism had been on full show as he rolled, jumped, and suplexed his solution to an immaculate efficiency. Finally, Zayn and Gable would be part of forces contained in the ring and provides us an excellent second, suplexing each Kaiser and Vinci a number of occasions side-by-side.

Zayn and Gable would make fast work of their opponents after that unbelievable teamwork. Maybe we are going to see the pair group up sooner or later slightly than go at one another’s throats like many count on.

Indi Hartwell vs. NXT Champion Roxanne Perez

One other debut, one other NXT Champ. The NXT ladies’s champion made her most important roster debut in a struggle towards Indi Hartwell, who was accompanied by Candice LeRae.

The struggle began off slightly regular with each Hartwell and Perez exchanging blows, however the tide shortly turned in Perez’s favor after LeRae pulled Perez’s leg from outdoors the ring and helped Perez keep away from a large entrance kick from Hartwell. Hartwell and LeRae began to have an argument, and Perez took full benefit, swiftly dispatching of her distracted adversary with a kick to the abdomen and a slam.

Maybe we’re even nearer to the tip of the Hartwell-LeRae group than we notice.

Liv Morgan assaults Rhea Ripley backstage

Within the aftermath of Judgment Day’s loss to Superior Fact, Rhea Ripley requested Dominik Mysterio to go after the person who betrayed them at WrestleMania — Andrade. Liv Morgan took the chance to assault Ripley with a chair, however the struggle was shortly damaged up.

Judgment Day vs. Superior Fact

Whereas the tag group of Damian Priest and Finn Balor could have misplaced the Tag Group title, the variety of titles held by Judgment Day remained the identical over the weekend.

It took Priest a protracted, very long time to money in his Cash within the Financial institution contract, however he did so on the excellent time, stealing the World Heavyweight Title away from Drew McIntyre simply minutes after he’d defeated Seth Rollins for that very same title. Rhea Ripley additionally maintained her title, the Girls’s World Championship, after defeating Becky Lynch within the first match of WrestleMania weekend. Nevertheless, neither of these titles had been the principle focus of this section. Half of the brand new RAW tag group champions, R-Fact, made his approach into the ring alongside Judgment Day to rekindle his friendship with the faction.

Though R-Fact needed to return again to Judgment Day, The Miz was much less enthusiastic for such a transfer. The Judgment Day challenged Superior Fact to a tag group title match, however R-Fact proposed a counteroffer — a six-man tag group match, Judgment Day (Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, and J.D. McDonagh) vs. Superior Fact (The Miz and R-Fact) plus “a man you may’t see.”

Virtually everybody anticipated John Cena to seem after that assertion, however this was a 2 vs. 3 drawback match for a lot of the match. Each The Miz and R-Fact took a beating by the hands of Judgment Day, however ultimately assist confirmed up.

John Cena’s presence gave Superior Fact a direct benefit and the match ended shortly after. Superior Fact and John Cena emerged victorious.

Shinsuke Nakamura battles RAW newcomer

Shinsuke Nakamura had beefs with some monumental names previous to WrestleMania 40, together with Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, and Sami Zayn. Now that WrestleMania has handed, Nakamura’s first opponent was RAW newcomer and NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov.

Dragunov has held the NXT title since September 2023. Though it was his first look in WWE, the group was instantly backing him. Dragunov landed a couple of good licks on Nakamura, together with a clothesline, however Nakamura shouldn’t be somebody to be taken flippantly. Nakamura landed every of the primary two covers, however Dragunov bounced again properly, and after a torpedo knockdown, Dragunov was capable of get the win, defeating Nakamura, a former NXT Champion himself, in his first struggle on the WWE most important roster.

The Rock interrupts Cody Rhodes’ victory parade

Lots of people anticipated The Rock to not lay again so idly as his cousin misplaced the Common Championship. The expectation was that Dwayne Johnson can be Rhodes’ subsequent opponent, and that the pair would line up for a title match at SummerSlam in August. That appears to be the place we’re headed.

After all, the Philadelphia crowd wasn’t simply going to let The Rock say no matter he needed. He needed to say so much, however the crowd simply shut him down each time he opened his mouth for about ten minutes.

As soon as The Rock lastly had the ground, he wasted no time throwing backhanded praise after backhanded praise at Rhodes. And it did not take lengthy for him to make his intentions clear. He desires the Common Championship.

The Rock and Rhodes would find yourself exchanging belts for a second. The Rock gave Rhodes his “Individuals’s Champion” belt that was gifted to him on the WWE Corridor of Fame ceremony by Muhammad Ali’s widow Lonnie on Friday. Rhodes gave The Rock his Common Championship belt, and The Rock merely replied “This feels proper” earlier than giving it again to Rhodes.

The Rock and Cody Rhodes continues to jaw at each other till the tip of their section. The Rock admitted that he needed to go away WWE for some time, however promised that he can be again to problem Rhodes no matter whether or not or not he nonetheless had the Common title.

Lovely tribute to Rhodes

Earlier than Rhodes might get a phrase in, the group began chanting “You deserve it” at him. And by golly, it is laborious to argue with them, given how good the belt appeared on Rhodes’ particular person. Triple H wasn’t completed there although. He had a shock for Rhodes.

Triple H introduced a video for Rhodes that most likely made even probably the most hardened WWE followers shed a couple of tears. The video detailed Rhodes’ story in WWE, Rhodes’ relationship along with his father and former WWE wrestler Dusty Rhodes, in addition to the lengthy, lengthy highway Cody Rhodes needed to take to be able to earn the Common Championship.

No, no, no. I am not crying. I used to be simply washing dishes and obtained cleaning soap in my eye.

Triple H introduces the brand new WWE Common Champion

After such a big occasion that noticed a number of of the most important storylines in WWE come to an finish, it made sense for the massive boss, Paul Levesque, to kick off the primary even after all of it. There are new storylines that should be informed, new heels to create, new faces to push, and with all that in thoughts, there isn’t a one else that WWE followers belief to place the perfect product ahead greater than Triple H.

Triple H began the evening off by merely thanking the group in Philadelphia for making WrestleMania 40 unbelievable. After these pleasantries had been completed although, Triple H instantly handed the ground to the person of the hour, the brand new WWE Common Champion, Cody Rhodes.

The right way to watch Monday Night time RAW:

Time: 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT

The place: Wells Fargo Heart in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Stream: WWE Community

Match Card for WWE RAW, April 8:

Whereas there’ll clearly be so much taking place tonight, it’s within the WWE’s greatest pursuits to not promote their matches the evening after WrestleMania to be able to stop folks from seeing spoilers for the occasion. As of proper now, every little thing we all know is that Cody Rhodes might be topped because the WWE Common Champion, Damian Priest might be topped because the World Heavyweight Champion, a number of new wrestlers will debut, and that The Superior Fact will debut as the brand new RAW Tag Group champs.

Exterior of these appearances, we are able to additionally count on the brand new Intercontinental Champion, Sami Zayn, to make a press release, which can possible be interrupted by Gunther claiming foul play. It is usually very possible that Drew McIntyre and, thusly, CM Punk make an look to arrange their rivalry transferring ahead. Seth Freakin’ Rollins would even be a probable candidate for a section. Though he’s now not a champion, Rollins participated in three matches throughout WrestleMania weekend, which suggests his presence at RAW tonight must be practically assured.

What occurred at WrestleMania 40?

What did not occur at WrestleMania 40, if we’re being trustworthy?

All however one main title, the Girls’s Tag Group Championship, was on the road in the course of the occasion. Here’s a fast rundown of each title match.

Rhea Ripley retained the Girls’s World Championship towards Becky Lynch
Austin Idea and Grayson Waller secured the SmackDown Tag Group Championship
The Miz and R-Fact secured the RAW Tag Group Championship
Sami Zayn defeated Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship
Drew McIntyre defeated Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Damian Priest efficiently cashes in his Cash within the Financial institution on Drew McIntyre and secures the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Bayley defeated Iyo Sky for the WWE Girls’s Championship
Logan Paul defeated Kevin Owens and Randy Orton to retain america Championship
Cody Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns for the WWE Common Championship

What occurred on the final Monday Night time RAW?

In an effort to construct anticipation for WrestleMania 40, many of the matches and segments from RAW on April 1 had been simply hashing out the rivalries we noticed this previous weekend.

Judgment Day defeated New Day and DIY in 8-man tag group match
Gunther interrupts Sami Zayn’s match towards Large Bronson Reed
Ivy Nile and Maxxine Dupri defeated Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell
Ricochet beat Ivar
Injury CTRL defeated Shayna Baszler, Zoey Stark, and Tegan Nox
Roman Reigns and The Rock laid the beatdown on Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes

Predictions for RAW Tonight:

Though it’s inconceivable to foretell precisely what is going to occur, there are some things that ought to occur in direct response to the outcomes from WrestleMania 40.

For one, the Judgment Day ought to get a possibility to reclaim the Tag Group title. After all, now that the title is break up in two between SmackDown and RAW, they will solely go after one of many titles proper now. It will make sense for them to go after the RAW title, establishing a match between Judgment Day and The Superior Fact.

It will additionally make sense for Gunther to go after Sami Zayn once more and maybe ask for a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship. After all, incomes a rematch will not have the ability to safe a rematch so simply. He’ll possible must beat his solution to Zayn as soon as once more, however who will step between Gunther and Zayn? With Shinsuke Nakamura, Bronson Reed, and now Gunther all having grudges towards Zayn, there’s a probability that three of them struggle it out all for a shot on the IC Championship but once more.

Exterior of these two predictions although, nothing appears assured. Rhodes’ subsequent adversary is tough to pin down. Whereas it might make sense that Rollins can be upset with Rhodes after Rollins backed Rhodes up and Rollins arguably misplaced his World Heavyweight Championship due to it. Nevertheless, the 2 of them appeared to don’t have any in poor health will towards each other after WrestleMania 40. Given their historical past although, maybe revitalizing that feud might be the play for WWE transferring ahead.

WWE Information:The Rock, John Cena, Undertaker convey lovely bedlam to finish of WrestleMania 40