We’re only one day away from WrestleMania 40 and we’re already witnessing the insane aftermath of one of the biggest main events in WrestleMania history.
Although the Bloodline saga is officially over, WWE is not done with the feud between Cody Rhodes and The Rock. It appears the two are on a collision course for the Universal Championship, but we still don’t know when that will take place.
There were many questions that needed to be answered, and Monday Night RAW did a great job answering several. Chad Gable and Sami Zayn will indeed fight for the Intercontinental Championship. Liv Morgan hasn’t forgotten her beef with Rhea Ripley. Awesome Truth appears to be here to stay as RAW Tag Team Champions. It was a great show to help us all calm down after WrestleMania while continuing to get fans excited for what the future holds.
There were too many questions to answer in one RAW. However, there are clearly plenty of interesting storylines to look forward to. Here’s everything that happened on RAW 2024 after Mania from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
WWE News:WWE is officially in a new era and it has its “quarterback”: Cody Rhodes
Fatal Four-Way: Jey Uso vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Ricochet vs. Bronson Reed
The winner of this match would have a shot against Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship. So with that in mind, you can imagine the motivation coursing through Drew McIntyre’s veins after winning that same championship, only to lose it to a successful Money in the Bank cash-in five minutes later. His opponents, however, were not to be taken lightly.
Jey Uso is still a clear threat. Ricochet is a great athlete and can do some serious damage. And Reed, of course, is coming off a victory at the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. Reed proved to be the most dangerous competitor on the outside. He landed powerful shots on Jey Uso and Ricochet, commanding the center of the ring while everyone else was forced to take most of their fights outside the ring.
It took a series of punches from McIntyre as well as some superkicks and a spear from Jey Uso to knock Reed off his game. Still, Reed almost managed to win with a cover on Ricochet after all that. Ricochet would get his revenge soon after, delivering a splash on Reed onto the announcer’s table.
This splash put Reed and Ricochet out of action. The fight officially came down to McIntyre and Jey Uso. McIntyre had victory in his sights, but a surprise appearance from CM Punk prevented McIntyre from landing the finishing blow and gave Uso the advantage, and he would walk away victorious.
Well, Gable and Zayn aren’t actually a team.
Behind the scenes, we saw the aftermath of Chad Gable and Sami Zayn’s victory over Imperium. It was clear that Zayn and Gable had chemistry as teammates, but they won’t team up. Instead, the two will fight for the Intercontinental Championship, as many predicted.
Zayn returns Gable’s favor and gives him exactly what he wants. They will fight for the Intercontinental Championship next week.
Chelsea Green vs. Jade Cargill
After being kicked out of WrestleMania 40, Chelsea Green had harsh words for RAW General Manager Adam Pearce. She wanted respect and she wanted her era to shine. Well, Pearce offered him a chance and told him to head to the ring immediately. Unfortunately for Green, Jade Cargill – who helped Naomi and Bianca Belair defeat Damage CTRL in a six-man tag team match at WrestleMania – was his opponent.
Green immediately began asking officials to stop the game. She was clearly terrified and Jade Cargill managed to defeat Green in less than 30 seconds.
It wasn’t even a competition. Even though she hasn’t been in WWE for long, she has shown immense prowess. She was a star in AEW and she appears to be headed for stardom in WWE as well.
Sami Zayn’s first appearance as Intercontinental Champion
Sami Zayn wasted no time congratulating WWE fans and everyone who helped him win against Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship. Zayn wanted to especially thank Chad Gable, even waving him out. Instead of Gable, Gunther’s lackeys – Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci – came in to berate Zayn and “make things right.” However, Zayn wouldn’t be without his own help.
Gable arrived at just the right time. Although many believe Gable will eventually turn on Zayn for a shot at the IC Championship, that didn’t happen tonight.
Gable put on a masterclass in this fight, landing blow after blow on Vinci and Kaiser, even landing a splash on both Imperium members outside the ring at one point. Gable’s technical prowess and athleticism were on full display as he rolled, jumped and weaved his way to an impeccable performance. Eventually, Zayn and Gable would join forces inside the ring and give us a big moment, suplexing Kaiser and Vinci several times side by side.
Zayn and Gable would make quick work of their opponents after this incredible teamwork. Perhaps we’ll see the two team up in the future rather than fighting each other like many think.
Indi Hartwell vs. NXT Champion Roxanne Perez
Another debut, another NXT champion. The NXT Women’s Champion made her main team debut in a bout against Indi Hartwell, accompanied by Candice LeRae.
The fight started off fairly normal with Hartwell and Perez trading blows, but the tide quickly turned in Perez’s favor after LeRae pulled Perez’s leg from outside the ring and helped Perez avoid a giant kick of Hartwell. Hartwell and LeRae began arguing, and Perez took full advantage, quickly dispatching his distracted opponent with a kick to the stomach and a slam.
Maybe we’re even closer to the end of the Hartwell-LeRae team than we think.
Liv Morgan attacks Rhea Ripley backstage
In the aftermath of Judgment Day’s loss to Awesome Truth, Rhea Ripley called on Dominik Mysterio to go after the man who betrayed them at WrestleMania – Andrade. Liv Morgan takes the opportunity to attack Ripley with a chair, but the fight is quickly interrupted.
Judgment Day vs Awesome Truth
While the team of Damian Priest and Finn Balor may have lost the tag team title, the number of titles held by Judgment Day remained the same over the weekend.
It took Priest a long time to cash in on his Money in the Bank contract, but he did so at the perfect time, stealing the world heavyweight title from Drew McIntyre just minutes after beating Seth Rollins for that same title. Rhea Ripley also retained her title, the Women’s World Championship, after defeating Becky Lynch in the first match of WrestleMania weekend. However, none of these titles were the main focus of this segment. One half of the new RAW Tag Team Champions, R-Truth, took to the ring alongside Judgment Day to rekindle his friendship with the faction.
Although R-Truth wanted to return to Judgment Day, The Miz was less enthusiastic about such a move. The Judgment Day challenged Awesome Truth to a match for the tag team title, but R-Truth came up with a counter-offer: a six-man tag team match, Judgment Day (Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh) vs. Awesome Truth ( The Miz). and R-Truth) more “a guy you can’t see”.
Almost everyone expected John Cena to appear after this statement, but it was a 2-on-3 disadvantage for much of the match. Both The Miz and R-Truth were beaten by Judgment Day, but help eventually arrived.
John Cena’s presence gave Awesome Truth an immediate advantage and the match ended shortly after. Awesome Truth and John Cena emerged victorious.
Shinsuke Nakamura faces RAW newcomer
Shinsuke Nakamura was having trouble with some huge names heading into WrestleMania 40, including Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn. Now that WrestleMania has passed, Nakamura’s first opponent was RAW newcomer and NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov.
Dragunov has held the NXT title since September 2023. Even though it was his first appearance in WWE, the crowd immediately supported him. Dragunov landed some good shots on Nakamura, including a clothesline, but Nakamura is not someone to take lightly. Nakamura landed each of the first two covers, but Dragunov rebounded well, and after a torpedo reversal, Dragunov was able to pick up the victory, defeating Nakamura, himself a former NXT champion, in his first bout on the main roster of WWE.
The Rock interrupts Cody Rhodes’ victory parade
Many people expected The Rock to not stand by as much as his cousin lost the Universal Championship. Dwayne Johnson was expected to be Rhodes’ next opponent and the two men would line up for a title match at SummerSlam in August. This seems to be where we are headed.
Of course, the Philadelphia crowd wasn’t going to let The Rock say whatever he wanted. He wanted to say a lot, but the crowd silenced him every time he opened his mouth for about ten minutes.
Once The Rock finally got the floor, he wasted no time throwing compliments at Rhodes. And it didn’t take long for him to make his intentions clear. He wants the Universal Championship.
The Rock and Rhodes would end up trading belts for a moment. The Rock presented Rhodes with his “People’s Champion” belt which was presented to him Friday at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony by Muhammad Ali’s widow, Lonnie. Rhodes gave The Rock his Universal Championship belt, and The Rock simply replied “That sounds good” before giving it back to Rhodes.
The Rock and Cody Rhodes continue to bite each other until the end of their segment. The Rock admitted he had to leave WWE for a while, but promised he would return to challenge Rhodes whether or not he still had the Universal title.
Beautiful tribute to Rhodes
Before Rhodes could say a word, the crowd started chanting “You deserve it” at him. And damn, it’s hard to argue with them, given how good the belt looked on Rhodes’ person. Triple H….
Gn entert
News Source : www.usatoday.com
