Nia Jax is the new WWE Women’s Champion after defeating Bayley for the title at SummerSlam on Saturday.
Jax pinned Bayley following two Annihilators and a distraction from Money in the Bank contract holder Tiffany Stratton to win the title on Saturday night in Cleveland at SummerSlam.
Bayley had kicked out of one Annihilator when Stratton’s music hit and the MITB holder ran to the ring with a referee. Bayley cut Stratton off before she could cash in, but the distraction allowed Jax an opportunity to get back into the match and hit her finisher twice and win the title.
WWE recognizes the current Women’s Championship as having the same lineage as the WWE Women’s title introduced in 2016, making this the second time Jax has held this particular title, and the first time since 2018 that Jax has held a singles championship.
Bayley’s title reign ends at 118 days, with the former champion having won the title from IYO SKY at WrestleMania 40 in April.
Nia Jax will be coronated Queen of the Ring on tonight’s SmackDown from Albany, New York.
Jax earned the honor by defeating Lyra Valkyria in the Queen of the Ring tournament finals last weekend. With the victory, Jax is now in line to challenge for the WWE Women’s Championship at SummerSlam. Bayley currently holds the title.
Also set for tonight, The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) will take on the former Guerrillas of Destiny, Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa. This will be the first time the Bloodline’s Tonga & Loa have teamed together in a WWE ring after their years as a duo in Japan.
Andrade will compete in his first SmackDown match since being selected by the brand in the WWE Draft. He’s going one-on-one with Apollo Crews tonight.
Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes is also expected to make an appearance following his successful title defense against Logan Paul at King & Queen of the Ring. Our live coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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– The show opened with a shot of the Bloodline walking backstage. The same was shown for the Street Profits.
– A video recapping last Saturday’s King & Queen of the Ring PLE aired.
Nia Jax’s Queen of the Ring coronation
It really does feel like WWE is doing its best to limit Jax when it comes to promo time, but I wouldn’t mind seeing her given the chance to talk more at this point. We can all probably agree that Jax’s most recent WWE run has been her best and she’s made a marked improvement all around; why not give her the opportunity to get after it on the mic? Either way, this was a little shorter than I thought it would be, but the attack from Niven on Bayley was effective. With Green as Niven’s mouth piece, the build to the inevitable Niven/Bayley title match should be fun.
SmackDown GM Nick Aldis stood in the middle of the ring and said there was no better feeling than when one of your top draft picks comes through in the clutch. From there, Aldis welcomed Nia Jax to the ring. One Jax entered the ring, Aldis said the floor was hers. Jax then put on her crown and took the microphone. The crowd chanted “You suck!” Jax said she wanted everyone to get their facts straight and it was a fact that she was their Queen of the Ring. Jax said as queen, she gets a title shot at SummerSlam. Jax then commanded that Bayley join her in the ring.
Bayley’s music hit and Bayley made her entrance. As Bayley walked down the entrance, Piper Niven and Chelsea Green ran out and attacked Bayley. Or, well, Niven did most of the attacking. The action spilled into the ring and Niven hit a splash on Bayley as Jax looked on, kind of confused. Green told Jax she didn’t have to worry about facing Bayley because by the time SummerSlam comes around, the new WWE Women’s Champion will be Niven. Jax said she didn’t give a damn who the champion will be because Jax will annihilate whomever it is no matter what. Jax’s music hit and Jax left the ring to end the segment.
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– Aldis was walking backstage and AJ Styles was waiting for Aldis in Aldis’s office. Styles asked Aldis for some time for him to address his future. Aldis asked Styles if there was something Styles wanted to tell him. Styles said it’s going to be hard enough to do it once, so he’d like to do it in the ring later tonight. The two shook hands.
– Backstage, Bayley was being attended to by a trainer. Naomi walked in and asked Bayley if she could fight tonight. Bayley said she could, so a tag-team match appeared imminent.
Tommaso Ciampa defeated Austin Theory [9:43]
Well, this is sort of fun. #DIY teased a break up and now Waller and Theory appear to have tension. All four guys in both teams could benefit from getting a true singles run, but the question has to be asked: Will WWE simply just start invested in any true tag teams? Or are tag teams just simply over and done for? Anyway, the match was an OK TV bout and Ciampa did a very good job selling his neck pain. I guess this means #DIY gets a tag title shot?Meh. The whole thing screams meh.
The two locked up to begin things. Ciampa had control early until Grayson Waller got mildly involved and Theory took control with a modified suplex onto Theory’s knee. Theory hit a series of elbows and ran at Ciampa, but Ciampa got a knee up to briefly take control … until Ciampa missd a dive. From there, Theory landed a draping neck-breaker on Ciampa onto the outside. The show then went to a commercial break.
The show returned and Theory was in control, working a chin-lock. Theory went for a rolling move, but Ciampa hit Theory with a boot. Ciampa fired up and hit a leaping clothesline before landing a reverse DDT for a two-count. Ciampa sold neck pain and stomped away on Theory until Ciampa set up for the FairyTale Ending, but Theory countered into a suplex for a good near-fall. Theory tried A-Town Down, but Ciampa stopped Theory and the two traded chops and big boots. Ciampa then hit a running knee and both men were down. Theory jawed at Wade Barrett at ringside, yelling that Theory is only relevant because of the Grayson Waller rub. Theory looked confused as he listened to Waller and Ciampa rolled Theory up for the win.
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– Aldis was shown talking to Blair Davenport backstage and Naomi walked in, demanding a tag match later. Davenport was angry Naomi interrupted her time with Aldis. Davenport said Naomi will eventually know who she is and walked away. Aldis made the tag match official and LA Knight then walked into Aldis’s office. Knight asked Aldis if Styles was going to retire and Aldis said he didn’t know. Knight said he was looking for Logan Paul was and he couldn’t find him. Knight and Aldis sat down to talk and the show went to a commercial break.
– Video highlights of Cody Rhodes vs. Logan Paul in Saudi Arabia from last weekend aired.
– Knight was shown walking out of Aldis’s office. Kayla Braxton approached Knight and asked him what he talked about with Aldis. Knight said there wasn’t much to say; it was only that Logan Paul wasn’t there this week. Knight spoke to the camera and said he wanted the U.S. title. Carmelo Hayes walked into the frame. Hayes mistakenly called Paul “Knight” and Knight funnily corrected Hayes. Hayes talked some trash and left to end the segment.
Andrade defeated Apollo Crews [7:06]
Hey, good for Apollo Crews for getting nearly 10 minutes on TV. That’s about all there is to say about this. The match wasn’t much of anything, and I could do without an Andrade vs. Fantasta feud; in fact, things might actually be more interesting if Andrade just joined the faction. But I digress. Andrade has been spinning his wheels since returning to WWE and it felt like a lot of us had a lot of high hopes for him. Right now, he’s lost in the shuffle (some may even say buried), but here’s hoping creative has something good for him because he’s got talent.
Things were even at first until Andrade hit a dropkick. Andrade landed a belly-to-back suplex for a one-count. Andrade went to the top, but was distracted by Angel, who walked out (footage of Angel offering Andrade a spot in Legado Del Fantasma and Andrade turning him down aired before the match). Crews kicked Andrade off the top to the outside of the ring. Crews followed that up with a moonsault and the show went to a commercial break.
Upon return, Andrade hit a high cross-body from the top on Crews and both guys were down momentarily. Back on their feet, Crews and Andrade traded blows until Andrade got in a flying forearm. Andrade hit a running double knees for a two-count. Crews came back with a German Suplex. Crews lifted Andrade and dropped him before hitting a standing moonsault for a two-count. Angel got on the apron and Crews ran at him. The distraction was enough for Andrade to follow that up with a spinning back below and his finisher for the win.
After the match, Santos Escobar walked out and appeared to appreciate Andrade. Andrade walked toward Fantasma and instead of stopping to say hello, walked past the faction. Escobar appeared angry and Escobar stared at Angel.
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– Solo Sikoa was shown talking to the rest of the Bloodline backstage and Paul Heyman walked in to tell Sikoa he’s been doing a lot of thinking about how he could better serve Sikoa. Heyman talked about how Roman Reigns preserved the family through violence. Heyman said he sees Sikoa recruiting a lot of violent men into the Bloodline, but he doesn’t see strategy at all. Heyman said the strategy has to be that when Roman comes back, they have Cody Rhodes in check. Sikoa said “we” have Cody in check and he doesn’t even know it. Heyman asked Sikoa who “we” is, and Kevin Owens’s music hit inside the arena. Sikoa told Heyman he had to go out there and fix it now.
– Andrade was shown in the locker room and Angel tried to talk to him. Out of nowhere, Apollo Crews showed up and attacked Angel.
The Kevin Owens/Bloodline segment
Boy, oh boy, Heyman is good. Shoot. Owens is good, too. Great, actually. They’re both great. I don’t mind this Bloodline story dragging only because Heyman is so entertaining as the guy who nobody will listen to but obviously seems to know best. As for if I truly view Sikoa, Loa and Tonga as awe-inspiring fear-inducing giants … that’s another story (but one Jacob Fatu may hopefully be able to change). This was the best segment of the night (to this point). Very, very good stuff all around.
Owens sat on a top rope in a corner and thanked the crowd. Owens said last week, he went all the way to Saudi Arabia to make sure he had Randy Orton’s back. Owens said over the last few years, Orton has had Owens’s back. Owens offered a side comment about how Orton didn’t really lose the KOTR finals because his shoulder wasn’t down. As Owens spoke, Heyman did his “Ladies and gentlemen” line and walked out alone without music. Heyman said he was out there to talk to him because he feels like there is a mutual interest he could serve.
Heyman got in the ring and the crowd chanted “We want Roman!” Heyman said he didn’t think there was a person who wanted Roman there more than Heyman wanted Roman there. Heyman said Reigns has great respect for Owens and anything they went through together was because Reigns viewed Owens as a threat to his championship. Heyman said Sikoa has no respect for Owens and Sikoa has been recruiting bloodthirsty “thugs” looking for an excuse to take Owens out. Heyman told Owens that if he keeps calling out Sikoa’s name, those guys are going to “do something really bad about it.” Heyman asked Owens to back off the Bloodline.
Owens asked Heyman if he really is trying to help Owens. Owens asked Heyman how he could think Owens would trust Heyman. Owens said he wasn’t falling for it and Owens said he believed Heyman was still pulling all the strings. Owens asked Heyman if Heyman wants to make sure everyone fears Sikoa and his guys. Owens said the Bloodline gave Owens everything they had and Owens is still standing. Owens said that was Jey, Jimmy and Roman – guys he respects. Owens said Sikoa and his guys are not the Bloodline and Owens promised he will keep fighting those guys. Owens said he didn’t want or need Heyman’s help.
Heyman said maybe he’s not trying to help Owens and instead, he’s trying to save Owens. Heyman referenced their kids and mocked the idea of himself ever redeeming himself. Heyman said, “Oh, let’s not listen to the Hall of Fame Wise Man” and kind of flipped out. Heyman screamed, “Why won’t anybody listen to me!” and accidentally hit Owens. The crowd chanted their requisite cuss phrase and the show’s audio went out. Owens stepped toward Heyman and out came Sikoa, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa. The Street Profits appeared and stood next to Owens. The six guys brawled with Sikoa and Owens brawling through the crowd. Dawkins hit a splash on Loa and Tonga to send the show to a break.
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The Bloodline (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) defeated The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) [12:09 of TV time]
The former GOD looked all right in their SmackDown tag debut. Some of those shots from Tonga were stiff and those were the pleasantly surprising moments. Loa wasn’t as featured as much, but he held his own fine enough. Nobody tripped over their own two feet and Loa didn’t have another viral (for all the wrong reasons) moment. So no harm, no foul. All told, it looks like the Profits have become the WWE Main Roster Gatekeepers, because those guys don’t win much, but they always seem to be featured when it comes to introducing a new team. In the meantime, the countdown to Jacob Fatu continues, I suppose.
The match was joined in progress and the Profits had control until Tonga came back, eventually hitting a pair of sliding clotheslines on Ford. Loa tagged in and slammed Ford. Tonga tagged in and landed a springboard elbow on Ford for a two-count. Ford got the hot tag to Dawkins before long and Dawkins hit his series of splashes and clotheslines and an enziguri for a two-count. Loa tagged in and landed a stiff clothesline and a Saito Suplex before throwing Dawkins to the outside, where Loa toyed with Dawkins. Tonga hit a leaping clothesline and the show went to a break.
When things returned, Tonga was beating down Dawkins. Heyman looked concerned at ringside. Tonga went for an elbow and Dawkins moved, inevitably getting the hot tag to Ford after suplexing Tonga. Ford took out Loa and Tonga with a combination of strikes and suplexes. Dawkins tagged in and Dawkins lifted Loa onto his shoulders. Ford hit the Blockbuster from the top for a two-count. Tonga tagged in and after Ford went to the top to hit a Frog Splash, Tonga ran in to hit his finisher on Ford for the win.
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– Highlights of the women’s tag team title match from the King & Queen of the Ring PLE aired. Cargill and Belair were shown walking backstage and they ran into Indi Hartwell, who said Candice LeRae is hurt because of Cargill and Belair. In response, Cargill and Belair essentially told Hartwell to go away.
– Kayla Braxton was backstage with Michin and asked Michin about Styles potentially retiring. Michin began to talk, but Nia Jax interrupted Michin and wondered why people are talking about Styles. Jax told Michin not to step to her, but wouldn’t you know it – Michin stepped to Jax. The segment ended.
Chelsea Green & Piper Niven defeated Naomi & Bayley [8:27]
A fine television match and it earns bonus points for Green and Niven getting a meaningful win. While it felt they’d get it, I had to wonder, considering the star power on the opposite side of them. But naturally, Green gets the fluke(ish) pin on Naomi while Niven and Bayley continue to try and heat up their (what feels like it will be short) feud. It’s wild to think Clash at the Castle is only two weeks away.
Bayley and Green began the match and Green quickly tagged in Niven. Bayley went at Niven, but Niven slowed Bayley down and tagged in Green. Bayley hit a suplex on Green and tagged in Naomi, who dominated Green. Bayley tagged in and the two clotheslined Green over the top rope. Naomi then hit a suicide dive on Green on the outside. Bayley attacked Niven on the outside. Naomi and Bayley hugged as the show went to a commercial break.
The show returned and Niven was working over Bayley inside the ring. Green then tagged in and punched Bayley. Bayley landed some punches back, but Green forced Bayley back into her corner. Niven tagged in and Bayley ultimately worker her way away from Niven to tag Naomi as Green tagged in. Naomi spiked Green, went to the top and hit a cross-body on Green. Naomi dropkicked Niven off the apron and got the crowd behind her. Naomi dropkicked Green and landed the split-legged moonsault on Green for a two-count.
With Green and Niven on the outside, Naomi hit a splash on them. Green was inside the ring and Naomi went to the top, but Niven pushed Naomi off the top. Bayley went after Niven, but Niven cut Bayley off and ran Bayley into the ring steps. Inside the ring, Naomi landed a hip attack on Green, but Niven hit a splash on Naomi and Green covered Naomi for the win.
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– Next week, Jade Cargill will face Indi Hartwell. Johnny Gargano will go up against Grayson Waller. Apollo Crews and Angel will wrestle. And Solo Sikoa is set to anoint Tonga Loa.
– AJ Styles was shown walking backstage and LA Knight approached Styles. Knight said, “If the rumors are true … respect.” Cody then appeared and shook Styles’s hand. Styles whispered something into Cody’s ear. Styles ran into Gallows and Anderson and Styles thanked them for going with him to the ring.
The AJ Styles segment
A swerve that was never really a swerve. Styles did his best to sell it throughout the night, but I never quite bought into the idea of him retiring. Either way, I like the ruthlessness of the angle. I don’t even mind WWE going back to Styles vs. Cody after freshening it up in this way. With Gallows and Anderson behind him, this should be a fun heel run for Styles, who was in need of a spark. Is this Clash at the Castle or Money In The Bank?
Styles looked forlorn in the ring and said he’s been thinking about having to go to the back of the line after losing to Cody at Backlash. Styles said he understood that, but he just couldn’t bust his body anymore and he couldn’t work his way back from the back of the line. Styles stopped himself mid-sentence and the crowd cheered him. Styles said his son graduated high school this past week and he got to be there. Styles talked about the graduation party and it was beautiful. It hit him, he said, and wondered how many of those types of parties he missed. Styles said maybe he should stay at home and be a phenomenal father.
Styles asked Gallows and Anderson to join him in the middle of the ring. Styles said he couldn’t have done it without them. Styles said they are better than friends; they are brothers. Styles put up the “Too Sweet” and Gallows and Anderson complied. The three hugged and Styles was teary. Styles said before he goes, he wanted to call out Cody, whose music hit and Cody walked out to the ring. Styles said he wanted to look Cody in the eyes and tell him he had one of his greatest matches ever with Cody in France. Styles said if he was ever going to have one last match, that was it. Styles said it was still the house that AJ Styles built … and he called Cody out there to hand Cody the keys.
Cody noted how the two exchanged text messages after Backlash and Cody raised Styles’s hand across the ring. In a move everyone could see, Styles eventually clotheslined Cody and attacked him outside the ring. Styles then gave Cody a Styles Clash off the ring steps onto the floor outside the ring as Gallows and Anderson held off officials trying to stop Styles. The show ended quickly after that.
WWE has announced the first two segments for the Friday, May 31 SmackDown episode.
After defeating Lyra Valkyria in the tournament finals at last Saturday’s PLE, Nia Jax will have her Queen of the Ring coronation ceremony on Friday’s SmackDown.
Jax powered through Naomi, Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair, and Valkyria en route to winning this year’s Queen of the Ring tournament.
An appearance by Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes is also set for Friday’s episode.
Rhodes retained his title with a victory over United States Champion Logan Paul at King & Queen of the Ring in a bout where Paul’s title was not on the line. In a video promo for Friday’s episode, WWE has teased that we will find out what is next for Rhodes on Friday’s show:
Nia Jax is heading to SummerSlam for a shot at the WWE Women’s Championship.
Jax was crowned WWE’s Queen of the Ring by defeating Lyra Valkyria in the tournament finals on Saturday. In addition to the Queen of the Ring crown, Jax receives a WWE Women’s World Championship match at SummerSlam this August. Bayley is the current champion.
The Queen of the Ring tournament saw Jax pick up victories against Naomi, Jade Cargill (by disqualification), Bianca Belair, and Valkyria. Valkyria, a recent NXT call-up, was presented as the underdog in the finals, desperately fighting to put away the more powerful Jax. She went for a sunset flip powerbomb near the end of the match, but Jax blocked it and squashed down on Valkyria with the Annihilator to get the victory.
After the match, Paul “Triple H” Levesque entered the ring and presented Jax with her crown. Levesque also sent out a tweet congratulating her.
Jax is the second wrestler to ever wear the crown. In 2021, Zelina Vega won the inaugural Queen’s Crown tournament. The name of the tournament has since been changed to Queen of the Ring.
SummerSlam is being held in Cleveland on Saturday, August 3. Before that, it looks like Bayley may have a title defense against Piper Niven at Clash at the Castle in Scotland this June.
New holders of the King and Queen of the Ring crown will be determined on Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
In the King of the Ring finals, Raw’s Gunther will battle SmackDown’s Randy Orton. For the Queen of the Ring, SmackDown’s Nia Jax will face Raw brand newcomer Lyra Valkyria. The winners of both matches will receive title matches that will take place at SummerSlam on August 3 in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Undisputed WWE Championship will be on the line when Cody Rhodes defends against United States Champion Logan Paul. Although it was initially billed as a title for title match, Paul successfully managed to get Rhodes to sign a contract where only the WWE Championship would be on the line.
Other matches will have Becky Lynch defend the Women’s World Championship against Liv Morgan and Sami Zayn defending the Intercontinental title in a triple threat against Chad Gable and Bronson Reed. In the pre-show kickoff, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill will defend the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles against Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell.
Join us for live coverage starting at 11 am ET.
After 90 minutes of King of the Ring history with the occasional propaganda, we are finally getting to the first match. Two hour pre-shows are bad enough for WrestleMania. Doing it on a FIVE MATCH SHOW is simply ludicrous.
Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair defeated Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles
This was fine, a basic match that the crowd got really into.
Cargill started the match, quickly giving LeRae a fallaway slam. Belair did a cartwheel and walked up to Cargill, who slammed Belair on top of LeRae. Belair was still selling her leg and that ended up playing a part of LeRae escaping and tagging in Hartwell, who took over for heat.
Hartwell and LeRae took turns working on Belair until she tagged in Cargill for the hot tag. Cargill gave LeRae and Hartwell stinger splashes in the corner. Cargill hit a powerbomb on Hartwell but LeRae broke up the pin.
LeRae and Hartwell hit an assisted moonsault spot, but Hartwell only got two. The champions then rallied back and ended up getting the win with a wheelbarrow DDT into a German suplex combination.
Liv Morgan defeated Becky Lynch to win the Women’s World Championship
I was surprised by the title change but there’s clearly a story here between Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley whenever she returns, so that seems to be the key story in the division going forward. Maybe we’ll see Morgan/Ripley at SummerSlam. Match itself was very good, the crowd heat for today’s show was strong.
The two ended up outside early. Morgan cut off Lynch by dropping her from the middle rope. Morgan got heat for a good while until Lynch cut her off and started to make a comeback, hitting a top rope legdrop.
Lynch attempted for the disarmher but Morgan hit a codebreaker for a nearfall.Lynch recovered and went to the top rope but Morgan rolled away and connected with a dropkick. Morgan tried Oblivion, but Lynch cut her off and hit a reverse DDT for a nearfall. Lynch went for the manhandle slam but Morgan countered with a rollup but Lynch kicked out. The two traded punches as Morgan attempted a springboard arm drag but Lynch countered into the disarmher. Morgan countered with the Rings of Saturn but Lynch countered with the disarmher again.
Dominik Mysterio then appeared at ringside. Lynch, distracted, walked into a codebreaker. Morgan went to the top rope but Lynch met her there and landed a superplex. Mysterio introduced a steel chair into the ring as he distracted the referee. Morgan hit a DDT into the chair then hit Oblivion for the win.
The announcers painted Mysterio as an idiot for letting Morgan win the title.
Sami Zayn defeated Bronson Reed and Chad Gable to retain the Intercontinental title
Another very good match. Zayn was super over and Gable’s act got a lot of heat.
Crowd was SUPER into Zayn, who went after Gable after the bell until Reed cut him off. Reed managed to catch both Zayn and Gable and managed to slam both to the ground at the same time. Zayn threw Gable to the floor and Reed soon joined him as Zayn hit a huge tope con hilo to the floor.
Reed attempted to gain control by taking Zayn to the top rope, but Zayn took down Reed for a nearfall. He tried the blue thunder bomb, but couldn’t lift Big Bronson. Gable came back and attempted a superplex but Reed recovered and hit a tower of doom spot. Reed attempted a moonsault on Zayn, but Zayn escaped right as Gable hit one of his own, landing on Reed.
Zayn connected with a springboard DDT on Reed but Gable fought back with an ankle lock. Reed recovered but Gable took him down with the ankle lock. Zayn hit Reed with a blue thunder bomb in an impressive spot.
All three wound up on the outside, with Reed taking out both men as he went to the top rope. Zayn took him out, but when Gable arrived the two traded German suplexes. The three did a double German suplex spot that looked really cool. Gable recovered and told Otis on the outside that it was now time as he took out Reed, but hesitated when he was told to attack Zayn.
Gable lifted up Zayn and told Otis to pull the trigger, but he refused as Gable berated him, slapping Otis, who went into position. However, Zayn dodged the clothesline and Otis struck Gable instead to a big pop. Zayn then entered the ring and connected with the helluva kick on Reed for the win.
Byron Saxton asked Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill if there is a secret to their team. Belair said that there wasn’t a secret. Ok.
Nia Jax defeated Lyra Valkyria to become Queen of the Ring
This was fine, I thought Jax looked better here than in many of her other matches, but considering she took like 90% of the match she didn’t have to sell. The result was ordained as soon as Valkyria won her semifinal match and it’s very clear that Bayley vs. Jax is the SummerSlam match. Can’t wait.Â
Jax quickly took over after she rammed Valkyria on the outside after he hit a dive. Valkyria attempted to fight back but Jax kept pounding away. Jax put in a sleeper. Valkyria attempted to fight back with some elbows but Jax spun her around and slammed Valkyria to the floor, then connected with a Samoan drop.
Jax went to the corner for the Annihilator but landed on her butt on the outside as Valkyria went for a running dropkick. Jax attempted to counter, but Valkyria instead hit a bulldog on the floor. She took Jax back to the ring and hit a missile dropkick and connected with a tornado DDT for a nearfall.
Valkyria went to the top rope but Jax threw her off and tried for the annihilator again. Valkyria fought back and hit a legdrop off the top rope for a nearfall. Valkyria attempted for her nightwing finish but Jax was too big. Jax lifted her up and went to the top rope but Valkyria attempted for a sunset flip powerbomb. However, Jax countered by squashing Valkyria with the Annihilator for the win.
Triple H presented Jax with the crown. Jax cut off Kayla Braxton and said she knew no one was happy for her, but she was happy for herself because she will become the new WWE Women’s Champion at SummerSlam.
Saxton interviewed Becky Lynch, who said she doesn’t know what happened out there between Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan but she has a rematch clause, and is going to invoke it Monday on Raw.
Gunther defeated Randy Orton to become King of the Ring
I thought this was pretty good. It was much more methodical and worked at a less intense pace than normal top notch Gunther matches but I thought they told a good story here.
The two start off slow, with Gunther grabbing an arm. Orton reverses as the two go to the ropes. Orton puts Gunther in a side headlock and holds on to it. Gunther took Orton to a corner and when the referee called for a break, started to chop Orton. Gunther attempted a powerbomb, but Orton escaped and dodged an RKO, honing in on Orton’s shoulder.
Gunther continued to chop down Orton, working over the shoulder as well. Orton finally hit a suplex that put him in control. Gunther dodged a powerslam attempt by Orton, who injured his knee in the process. Gunther hit some punches, but still walked into a powerslam. Orton followed with the draping DDT.
Orton tried for the RKO but Gunther followed with a slam and a flying headbutt. Gunther went to the top rope again but missed, allowing Orton to hit an RKO. Both ended up on the outside where Gunther was slammed into the table twice, neither time breaking. After getting slammed on it for a third time, the two ended up back in the ring where Gunther started to target Orton’s leg, putting Orton in a half crab.
Orton escaped and hit the RKO, but Gunther kicked out. Orton favored his leg as Gunther pinned Orton with a crucifix for the win.Â
After the match, he told the crowd that what he deserves is none of their business. The apex predator became prey for the Ring General. gunther said he would become the World Heavyweight Champion at SummerSlam.
Kayla Braxton interviewed Triple H, who had breaking news. Drew McIntyre has been cleared medically and Damian Priest has agreed to defend the World Heavyweight title against him at Clash at the Castle on June 15.
Cody Rhodes defeated Logan Paul to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship
I thought this was the best match of the night. Paul is super athletic and does everything very well, never looking lost. Rhodes works a very good main event style match and the two managed to deliver.
The two started off tentatively. Rhodes attempted to do Goldust’s uppercut spot, but Paul grabbed the hand and slammed it to the mat. Rhodes fired back with a gourdbuster. He attempted a flying crossbody but missed and bailed to the floor, allowing Paul to hit a crossbody to the floor.
Back in the ring, Paul gained control with an abdominal stretch. Rhodes fired back with a disaster kick as Paul was on the apron, sending him to the floor. The two got near Logan Paul’s friends, who gave Paul brass knuckles, allowing him to hit Rhodes in the ribs with the knucks. Paul argued with Paul over using the knucks as Rhodes connected with a suicide dive. Rhodes missed another disaster kick but connected with Dusty Rhodes’ punches.
Rhodes put Paul in the figure four. Paul went for the buckshot lariat but missed, allowing Rhodes to hit the Cody cutter for a nearfall. Paul fired back with a crossrhodes. Rhodes took out Paul with a suplex. Paul cut him off and took him to the outside, where he cleared off the announcers table. However, Rhodes fired back and hit the Cody cutter with the help of the barricade. The referee attempted to count out Paul, but Rhodes told the referee to stop, so he did. I guess that’s how it works.
Rhodes cleared off the Arabic announce table but Paul made his comeback, put Rhodes on the announce table and hit a big frog splash to the outside. Paul put Rhodes back in the ring and hit another frog splash for a nearfall. Ref bump as Rhodes actually hit his vertebreaker for the first time in who knows how long. Rhodes attempted to get the referee to recover, distracting him long enough for Paul to low blow Rhodes.
Paul took the brass knuckles out of his gear and went to strike Rhodes but Ibrahim Al Hajjaj, the special guest ring announcer for the night, grabbed his leg. The distraction allowed Rhodes to hit the crossrhodes three times, securing the win.
Randy Orton and Nia Jax will be SmackDown’s representatives in the King & Queen of the Ring finals.
On Friday, Saudi Arabia hosted its first of two straight nights of WWE events. Orton defeated Tama Tonga in the main event of SmackDown to earn his spot in Saturday’s King of the Ring finals. Jax advanced to the Queen of the Ring finals with a victory over Bianca Belair earlier in the episode.
Orton vs. Gunther and Jax vs. Lyra Valkyria are the finals of the respective tournaments. In addition to bragging rights, the King & Queen of the Ring winners will receive title shots at SummerSlam.
Gunther and Valkyria were in the crowd watching on as Orton and Jax won their matches last night.
A storyline knee injury will be a factor for Orton against Gunther. The two had a staredown after Orton defeated Tonga. Solo Sikoa tried to take Orton out in a post-match attack, but Kevin Owens ran out to make the save.
Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair are two people who Becky Lynch could wrestle over and over.
During a book signing for Premiere Collectibles, Lynch was asked who her in-ring soulmates are, meaning opponents she could wrestle and work with forever. Lynch responded by naming Charlotte and Belair. Lynch also mentioned that she’s enjoyed working with Nia Jax lately.
The very cool thing about that is I think there’s several. You know, I think Charlotte and I obviously have an undeniable chemistry and an undeniable history. And I think no matter how many times myself and Charlotte have wrestled, I think people are always going to want to see more. And another is Bianca Belair. She’s fabulous. I love stepping in the ring with her. Every time we do, I feel like there’s a little bit of magic that happens.
And so, there’s a couple. There’s a couple. I’ve loved beating the bejesus out of Nia Jax also. I’ve loved it. I’ve loved it. I loved leg-dropping her through an announce table on Monday Night Raw, that was fun.
The main event of Raw this Monday saw Lynch defeat Jax in a Last Woman Standing match. It wrapped up Lynch’s feud with Jax on the road to WrestleMania 40. At WrestleMania, Lynch is challenging Rhea Ripley for the Women’s World Championship.
Belair was Lynch’s opponent at WrestleMania 38 in 2022. She defeated Lynch to win the Raw Women’s Championship.
Lynch and Charlotte have a long history together as both friends and rivals.
Lynch’s memoir, “Becky Lynch: The Man: Not Your Average Average Girl,” is set to be released next Tuesday (March 26).
Date: March 18, 2024 Location: PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC
**********
Show Recap —
Cody Rhodes was shown arriving earlier today with his dog Pharaoh. DIY and the Creed Brothers were also shown arriving.
Michael Cole mentioned that Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso would be just the third-ever brother vs. brother match at WrestleMania. He mentioned “Bret vs. Owen” and “Matt vs. Jeff” as the others. He also announced a sold-out crowd of over 14,000 tonight.
Jey Uso promo
Jey Uso entered to a big reaction. Jey said he knew the Bloodline were in the building because he knew how they rolled so he called out Jimmy.
Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa entered through the crowd. Jey and Jimmy stared each other down in the ring, which eventually got an “Uso” chant.
Jey told Jimmy that, despite everything that’s happened, “I miss you. I do.” Jey said they don’t see each other anymore and he asked Jimmy to come back to him.
Jimmy said he never left him. He protected Jey and it was Jey’s idea to leave the Bloodline. Jimmy said Jey went on to become the hottest star on Raw, the top merchandise seller, and a tag team champion — without him. Jey was able to do all of that because Jimmy protected him. The biggest moment of Jey’s career came because of Jimmy.
Jey said no. The biggest moment of his career would be his dream match at WrestleMania 40. “Me versus you, when I knock the Yeet out your ass.” Jey dropped Jimmy with a right hand but a distraction by Sikoa allowed Jimmy to knock down Jey with a superkick.
Cody Rhodes ran out (without music) to make the save. He nailed Sikoa with a Cody Cutter while wearing his fancy clothes and shoes. Rhodes helped Jey to his feet and Jey’s music played.
********
There was a video package for Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax which is tonight’s main event.
Adam Pearce was having a heated conversation on the phone when he was approached by Paul Heyman. Heyman assured him that what happened with Jimmy and Sikoa earlier was not authorized by him or anyone else in the Bloodline. Heyman assured Pearce that, on Roman Reigns’ word, Jimmy and Sikoa were gone from the building.
Heyman also assured Pearce that he was only there on official business (which Pearce knew) and that he would leave once that business was over. He also hinted that everyone would get caught off guard by what happens later tonight.
********
Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa defeated The Creed Brothers to qualify for the WrestleMania 6-pack ladder match (18:28)
DIY hit dives which led to a commercial break. Brutus tossed around DIY before Julius joined him to double-team Ciampa. Julius did a very impressive spot where he got Ciampa up in vertical suplex position from his knees and hit a delayed suplex. Brutus hit Gargano with a vertical suplex too and both men hit standing moonsaults which led to a two count on Ciampa. Gargano saved Ciampa from a Brutus Ball but Brutus slammed Gargano before tackling Ciampa over the announce desk.
After a break, Ciampa hit a reverse DDT and made the tag to Gargano who ran wild on the Creeds. Ciampa hit Julius with a second rope air raid crash for a nearfall. Julius and Ciampa exchanged strikes until Julius put him in an ankle lock. Gargano tried to make a save but Julius somehow powerbombed him with one arm.
The Creeds both put each opponent in ankle locks but Gargano and Ciampa reversed into their versions of the crossface. The Creeds fought out, picked up each member of DIY and literally chucked them at each other mid-air.
Julius and Brutus each hit Ciampa with moonsaults which led to a nearfall. They set up for Brutus Ball but Ciampa slipped out and applied a cradle. Brutus broke that up so Gargano chucked him from the ring. Julius had a cradle applied but Gargano superkicked him and Ciampa reversed into a cradle of his own for the pinfall win.
(This was really good and it felt like DIY earned their Mania spot by winning this sort of match.)
********
Andrade met with Judgment Day (minus Damian Priest). They noted Andrade had a match next week and they’d be watching him closely. Andrade crossed paths with Priest as he left.
Priest admonished JD McDonagh for losing last week. Rhea Ripley said Ricochet made a fool out of McDonagh. Ripley said Dom would make an example of Ricochet. Dominik was caught off guard by this but Dom acted tough and said he would go to Pearce to make it official.
********
They announced Thunderbolt Patterson for the 2024 Hall of Fame.
Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell defeated Kayden Carter & Katana Chance (2:01)
Katana fell awkwardly and sold a leg injury. They did that thing where the referee checked on Katana while telling Hartwell to back off (instead of just stopping the match or letting Hartwell continue the wrestling match).
LeRae tagged herself in and took out Carter with a baseball slide. She slammed Katana’s leg into the post and applied a deep single-leg crab for the submission win. LeRae actually did get some heat here.
*******
They aired clips of The Rock’s segment from Smackdown. Cody Rhodes is up next.
[SECOND HOUR]
They announced a Bray Wyatt documentary on Peacock. (Bo Dallas, JoJo Offerman, John Cena, Alexa Bliss and Seth Rollins were among those interviewed for it.)
Cody Rhodes segment
Rhodes said he would have a conversation of sorts with Roman Reigns on Smackdown. He moved on to The Rock.
Rhodes talked about Rock’s Instagram post where he called himself our favourite heel. Rhodes said we knew what that meant — Rock was the bad guy. Rhodes said he’s known some heels. Bobby Heenan, Billy Graham, Arn Anderson, Michael Hayes, and Ric Flair were all heels. Rhodes said, “Rock, I don’t think you’re a heel. I think you’re an asshole.”
Rhodes didn’t want Rock and his Seven Bucks team to get upset. Rock mocked him for getting emotional last week but Rock was the one crying behind the scenes this entire time. Rock cried to his buddies on the TKO board. Rock thought he would be great PR for WWE — until he wasn’t. The board was filled with yes people which is why they initially agreed with Rock. They weren’t going to tell Rock the truth but Rhodes would.
Rhodes admitted he had tennis shoes with Rock’s logo on them and Rock was on his wrestling Mount Rushmore. But Rock was now a succubus and if you didn’t know what that meant — Rock was a whiny bitch.
He said Rock brought up his mother which made it fair game. Rhodes knew Rock’s mom. He had nothing but respect for her — she even helped him chop Kevin Owens on a house show. Rock threatened Rhodes’ mom with what he would do to him but his mom wouldn’t be afraid of the Rock. She beat up an undercover cop at a Willie Nelson concert and would not be afraid of The Rock.
Rhodes said Rock should respect Seth Rollins because he carried Rock’s company. Rhodes had no idea if their tag match would be a fair fight and he didn’t know if he would finish the story. But Rhodes wondered how Rock could be so sure of himself. He hasn’t been in the ring in years. What would happen when the bell rang? Would Rock bring the Big Dwayne Energy or would it be LDS — Little Dick Syndrome. (The crowd chanted “LDS.”)
Rhodes said Rock called himself the “final boss” and credited Brian Gewirtz for coming up with the line. Rock wouldn’t be the final boss at WrestleMania, he was just Reigns’ side chick.
Heyman interrupted. Heyman apologized for his admittedly dumb plan to use off-duty NYPD officers on Rhodes. Rhodes said he didn’t ask for an apology and invited Heyman to enter the ring. Heyman chose to remain on the apron.
Heyman had a message from Reigns. Heyman admitted to not being a trustworthy person but Reigns was a man of his word. Heyman assured Rhodes that when he goes face-to-face with Reigns on Smackdown, there would be no other member of the Bloodline aside from himself.
Rhodes was good with that. Heyman said he forgot to mention one thing. Heyman was hesitating so Rhodes threatened to rip his throat out like Homelander unless he got to the point. Heyman told Rhodes he needed to show up to Smackdown alone too. Rhodes agreed and shook Heyman’s hand. Heyman was pleased and he left.
********
Nia Jax said Becky Lynch has never beaten her and never will. Jax would break her face again and take her spot at WrestleMania before finishing her business with Ripley. Jax planned on becoming the champion.
********
Jey approached Rhodes in the back. Jey advised Rhodes that Reigns would not be alone and he would be there for Rhodes if he needed him.
Dom was in control after a break (Cole said it was thanks to McDonagh but we never saw why) and hit Ricochet with an X-factor for two. Dom tried three amigos but Ricochet reversed the second suplex into a suplex of his own. Dom avoided a splash but Ricochet superkicked him and knocked McDonagh off the apron.
Dom tried to use the distraction to hit a 619 but Ricochet ducked it and hit a Recoil for the pinfall win. McDonagh tried to attack Ricochet after the match but he escaped.
********
Sami Zayn approached Chad Gable in the back. Zayn called last week’s match an honour. He hasn’t been pushed like that in a long time (a weird comment considering he’s lost to Shinsuke Nakamura and Drew McIntyre recently) and it could’ve gone either way. Gable dismissively told him “Yeah, yeah, it was great.”
Zayn knew something was bugging him and asked what it was. Gable resisted but admitted last week’s match meant more to him. Zayn said that was unfair. Zayn had a family at home too and his kid cried when he lost too. Gable couldn’t tell him what this meant to him because Gable didn’t know what it meant to him.
Gable said he knew all of that but his issue wasn’t about that. Zayn wanted to know what it was about and Gable flatly told him, “You can’t beat Gunther.”
This was good.
********
Intercontinental Championship contract signing
Adam Pearce introduced Sami Zayn and Gunther (who wore a suit). Gunther put over the importance of this contract signing and wondered why Zayn showed up dressed like a bum in the audience.
Zayn said Gunther’s smug smile was starting to piss him off. Zayn knew Gunther didn’t think he could beat him. Zayn said people didn’t think he would even make it to WWE let alone win championships or main event WrestleMania. He ended the longest tag title reign in history last year and would end the longest IC title reign this year. Zayn signed the contract and the crowd chanted for him.
Gunther told Zayn he should listen to Gable. The fans might love Zayn but they know he can’t beat him. Gunther didn’t think Zayn believed it himself either. Zayn would receive the beating of a lifetime on the grandest stage of them all and his dreams would meet reality. Gunther signed.
Zayn got in Gunther’s face and told him to look in his eyes. He was looking into the eyes of the man who would take him down at WrestleMania. Gunther smirked as Zayn marched out.
The camera stayed on Zayn as he stormed through the back. He marched right past Miz, R-Truth and DIY. Miz told Truth they needed that same mentality in their match tonight. Indus Sher walked by and Truth said he felt sorry for whoever had to fight them.
********
R-Truth & The Miz defeated Indus Sher (w/Jinder Mahal) to qualify for the WrestleMania 6-pack ladder match (3:11)
Truth was going to start the match but immediately tagged out when Sanga flexed at him. They beat up Miz for a bit until he made a quick hot tag to Truth who did Cena’s comeback sequence on Veer. Truth but Veer in the STF but Sanga broke it up. Miz and Truth hit Sanga with a double dropkick before giving Veer a combo Skull Crushing Finale/Flatliner.
Sanga shoved Miz to the ropes and Miz dropped Mahal with a dropkick. Truth tried going after Sanga but Sanga elbowed him. Truth fell backwards onto Veer (who was down from the combo finisher) for the accidental pinfall win. Truth and Miz qualify for the ladder match.
(It felt like DIY earned their Mania spot with the effort in their win. This was the opposite of that.)
********
[THIRD HOUR]
Zayn confronted Gable in the back. He wanted to know why Gable thought he couldn’t beat Gunther.
Gable said it wasn’t just a physical game with Gunther, it was mental. Zayn made a career out of being the underdog that crawls his way out of any hole that he’s in. He finds the window of opportunity but that doesn’t happen with Gunther. Gunther was a different animal than Zayn has ever faced and if he didn’t change his mentality, he wouldn’t win.
********
Drew McIntyre / Seth Rollins segment
McIntyre entered for his scheduled segment but his entrance was interrupted by Seth Rollins making his own entrance. Rollins pranced down to the ring and ignored McIntyre on the way. Rollins apologized to McIntyre and claimed he didn’t see him. Rollins said he was busy soaking up the spotlight. McIntyre wanted him to enjoy it because the spotlight would be his after Mania.
Rollins thought McIntyre was stupid and has said a lot of dumb things over the last few weeks but he had to admit that something McIntyre said was correct. Rollins raised his arm in the air and said, “My name is Seth freakin’ Rollins and I’m a spotlight junkie.” McIntyre called himself a parody of himself. The only thing McIntyre cared about was their match and the punchline would come when he beat Rollins at Mania.
Rollins said it wasn’t a joke when he called himself a spotlight junkie. He’s been doing this for 20 years but the feeling when he comes through the stage felt better every single time. The crowd sang his song and he said that was the fix he craved. Rollins said he would make the Bloodline his bitches on night one and the spotlight would be on them on night two.
McIntyre was almost glad to see this side of Rollins but he made a mistake making the spotlight about the Bloodline. McIntyre said Rollins worked hard to make his belt the workhorse title and the spotlight should be about that. McIntyre said he wouldn’t get the moment he deserved at Mania, he would get the moment he earned.
Rollins said McIntyre was a spotlight junkie too. McIntyre wanted the spotlight and wanted his moment because when he won at WrestleMania years ago, it was in an empty warehouse. McIntyre fumbled the ball when he got the chance again. Rollins shined brightest when the lights were on and at WrestleMania McIntyre would find out he wasn’t as good as he thought.
********
Becky Lynch said she was just weeks away from Mania but she was risking it all tonight because that’s what she did. All she knew was taking risks and fighting. She would be the last woman standing tonight.
The Rock was announced for Raw on April 1st in Brooklyn.
********
Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods defeated Otis & Akira Tozawa to qualify for the WrestleMania 6-pack ladder match (9:32)
Otis and Kingston tagged in after a break. Otis hit Kingston with a back elbow and knocked down Woods with a clothesline. He slammed Kingston and hit a Caterpillar for two. Otis missed a splash but Tozawa made a tag and hit Kingston with a flying crossbody for two. Woods tagged in and hit a tornado DDT for two.
Tozawa brought Woods down off the top with a hurricanrana and followed with a diving senton but Kingston broke up the cover. Kingston gave Otis a tornado DDT outside the ring. Tozawa tried a hurricanrana but Woods blocked it and hit a spinning sit-out powerbomb. Woods followed with a flying elbow drop for the pinfall win.
********
Liv Morgan approached Lynch in the back. Lynch wondered if she had to watch out for Morgan tonight. Morgan said tonight was hers and told her to kick Jax’s ass. Lynch nodded.
(Morgan was hard to hear because she spoke softly and Woods could be heard yelling in the background. He was bragging about his powerbomb and elbow drop.)
********
Rollins and Rhodes crossed paths in the back. They acknowledged that Rhodes would be going to Smackdown alone.
********
Next week on Raw in Chicago, IL:
CM Punk appears
Ricochet vs. JD McDonagh
********
They acknowledged Lynch’s visit to the White House and said she passed her test to become a United States citizen.
Last Woman Standing match: Becky Lynch defeated Nia Jax (18:33)
The match started with a full 20 minutes remaining in the show but they went to break a minute into the match. Pat McAfee said various weapons were used during a break including a kendo stick and a book.
Lynch was setting up a table following the break. She had trouble setting up the table, but it’s possible she was delaying because Jax came over to knock her down. Jax set up the table but the legs on one side gave out.
Jax chucked a bunch of chairs in the ring and gave Lynch a Samoan drop onto the pile but Lynch got up well before the referee’s ten count. Lynch followed with a bulldog onto a chair. Lynch tried something off the top but Jax hit her in the gut with a chair. Jax attacked with a kendo stick and bodyslammed Lynch onto a chair before hitting a leg drop.
Jax positioned a chair over Lynch’s body and sat down on it but Lynch fought out by attacking her repeatedly with the kendo stick. Jax responded by smashing the steel steps in Lynch’s face. Jax missed a leg drop on the apron and Lynch gave her a DDT onto the steps. The crowd cheered as Lynch slid a table into the ring and they went to break.
Jax placed Lynch on a table outside the ring and began climbing a ladder but Lynch rolled off the table and sprayed a fire extinguisher in her face. Lynch tried a spear through a corner table but Jax caught her and hit a Samoan drop through the table. Jax didn’t wait for the ref’s count and instead hit an Annihilator. Lynch beat the count by rolling to the outside and landing on her feet.
Jax set up for a Samoan drop off the apron but Lynch fought out and hit a Man-handle Slam off the apron and through a table, which looked terrific. The crowd popped big for that. Jax got up a nine count.
This was followed by another spectacular spot. Jax was dazed by the previous spot and leaned over onto the announce table. Lynch was standing near the top of a ladder and hit a diving leg drop through the table. The ref counted to ten and Lynch got the win. The replay looked devastating, particularly for Jax.
— Ripley entered as Lynch sat in the ring. Lynch stood up when Ripley hit the ring and they had a staredown as the show ended.
Becky Lynch & Nia Jax will renew their rivalry in a Last Woman Standing match on next week’s WWE Raw.
Following a victory over Liv Morgan on this week’s episode, Lynch & Morgan shook hands backstage in a show of respect, only to be attacked by Jax. The match for next week was announced later in Monday’s program.
Lynch and Jax have gone one-on-one twice on Raw this year, with Jax taking the first meeting, and Lynch winning the second.
Three qualifying matches for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team title ladder match at WrestleMania 40 are also set for the March 18 Raw episode.
In one qualifier, The New Day’s Kofi Kinston & Xavier Woods will face Otis & Akira Tozawa of Alpha Academy. DIY’s Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa will take on Julius Creed & Brutus Creed in another qualifying match. Indus Sher’s Veer Mahaan & Sanga will battle R-Truth & The Miz in the third qualifying contest.
Five teams will qualify for the six-pack ladder match at WrestleMania 40 where The Judgment Day will defend their Undisputed Tag Team titles as announced during this week’s Raw.
The lineup for the Monday, March 18 WWE Raw:
Last Woman Standing match: Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax
WrestleMania 40 Tag Team title ladder match qualifier: The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. Alpha Academy (Otis & Akira Tozawa)
WrestleMania 40 Tag Team title ladder match qualifier: DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) vs. The Creed Brothers (Julius Creed & Brutus Creed)
WrestleMania 40 Tag Team title ladder match qualifier: R-Truth & The Miz vs. Indus Sher (Veer Mahaan & Sanga)
Date: March 4, 2024 Location: Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, TX
**********
Show Recap —
Jey Uso and Nia Jax were shown arriving at the arena.
There was a recap of the Bloodline segment from Smackdown.
Cody Rhodes/Seth Rollins segment
Cody Rhodes entered to a big reaction. Rhodes said he would face the greatest champion in company history Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. But there was a distraction that “stings” quite a bit. That distraction was The Rock.
Rhodes mentioned that The Rock posted, then deleted, a 16-minute video before posting a 21-minute video. Rock called the fans crackheads and spoke about Rhodes’ dog. Rhodes warned him not to speak about his dog.
Rhodes noted that Rock did not accept his challenge but he spun it like a master politician. Rock told him that the people didn’t want to see Rhodes face Reigns, they wanted Rock against Reigns. But the fans spoke up (the fans chanted “We want Cody”) and Rhodes appreciated it.
Rhodes called out his friend Seth Rollins. Rhodes recalled Rollins having his back several times already. There was a moment when Rhodes didn’t think he would be on WrestleMania. That was until he saw the stupid PowerPoint slide that suggested Rock and Roman’s family was better than all of theirs. Rhodes changed his mind because he won the Royal Rumble and it was his right to wrestle for the title.
Rhodes said Rollins, despite having an injury, would have to defend his title against Drew McIntyre — the only other guy to pin him since returning other than Reigns. Rhodes understood if Rollins would not have his back.
Rollins said last week that there were things bigger than them and taking down the Bloodline was the biggest thing they could do. It wasn’t just Rhodes’ story, it was Rollins’ story too. Rollins debuted with Reigns and they tried to take the power from the top and give it back to the people. But now Reigns wanted to keep the power for himself.
Rollins was tired of The Rock. He hasn’t been “The Rock” or the “People’s Champion” in a long time. Rollins had a new name for him: Diarrhea Dwayne. Everything The Rock said came out like wet baby poop. The crowd chanted “Diarrhea.” Rollins referenced Rock’s suggestion that he could use his power to take Rollins’ title away. Rollins took offence to Rock saying he made wrestling cool again because he hasn’t been cool in 20 years. (This part of Rollins’ promo was no good.)
Rollins announced that he was 100% cleared and he would be on Friday’s Smackdown to confront the Bloodline. Rollins told Rhodes he had his back and asked Rhodes if he had his. The crowd chanted, “Yes.”
Rhodes said he was going with Rollins to Smackdown to give the Rock his very obvious answer straight to his face.
********
As the match started, Michael Cole congratulated Sting on his retirement and thanked him for the memories. Pat McAfee said he had an epic match last night.
Intercontinental Champion Gunther defeated Dominik Mysterio (w/JD McDonagh) in a non-title match (9:13)
Dom slapped Gunther and tried to play cat and mouse but Gunther chopped him down ahead of a break. Gunther ripped off Dom’s shirt and chopped him off his feet repeatedly. A McDonagh distraction allowed Dom to take down Gunther with a springboard dive. Dom set up for a 619 but Gunther nailed a clothesline. Gunther had it won but he pulled Dom off the mat at a two count.
Dom countered a powerbomb into a sunset flip cradle for a nearfall. Dom followed with a 619 but Gunther dodged a frog splash and hit a dropkick. Gunther hit a powerbomb and applied a Boston Crab for the pinfall win (Dom tapped immediately).
This was fun.
********
Adam Pearce confronted Damage CTRL as they walked through the back. Dakota Kai said they had every right to be there since Kairi Sane and Asuka were tag champions. Pearce said they caused havoc the last time they were on Raw and wanted to know why they were there. Kai said they were only there to scout Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark. Nothing insidious.
Shinsuke Nakamura approached Pearce. He wanted to discuss the IC title. Kai left with Damage CTRL and assured Pearce he had nothing to worry about. Pearce told Nakamura to meet him in his office.
********
Andrade was shown arriving at the arena.
Before the upcoming match, Kayden Carter and Katana Chance told Cathy Kelley that they were planning on getting back in title contention.
(The opening segment might’ve gone long because Dom didn’t get a full entrance and neither did Baszler/Stark.)
Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark defeated Kayden Carter & Katana Chance (6:47)
Damage CTRL watched the match while sitting on the announce desk, effectively blocking the view of the announcers.
They went to break a minute into the match. After the break, Chance and Carter gave Stark a double Spanish Fly for two. Cole called it a superplex and McAfee quickly corrected him. Chance and Carter hit their Afterparty move but Baszler yanked Carter out of the ring and put her in the Kirifuda Clutch. Stark used the distraction to roll up Katana for the win.
— Dakota Kai announced that Asuka and Sane would retain their titles on tomorrow’s NXT and would give Baszler and Stark their tag title shot next week where Damage CTRL would win again. The two teams got in each other’s faces and Baszler said it was about time.
*******
[SECOND HOUR]
Judgment Day was with Dom in the trainer’s room. Damian Priest told Finn Bálor that they would take care of Imperium while McDonagh would take care of Gunther. McDonagh didn’t seem on board with this.
Andrade approached to seemingly say hi to Dom and wish them luck. After Andrade left, Priest seemed skeptical but Dom told him that Andrade could be important for them. (McDonagh was still worried about Gunther.)
********
Nia Jax defeated Becky Lynch via disqualification (10:59)
Jax completely dominated for about three minutes until Lynch chop-blocked her and (sort of) hit a missile dropkick. Lynch tried a dive off the apron but Jax caught her and hit a Samoan drop. After a break, Lynch tried a superplex but Jax dropped her face-first. Jax followed with a middle rope diving leg drop for two.
Jax went for a punch but Lynch ducked and hit a Molly-Go-Round for two. Jax followed with a Samoan drop but Lynch dodged an Annihilator. Lynch applied a Disarmer before transitioning into an armbar but Jax rolled them out of the ring and drove her into the barricade.
The crowd buzzed and you could tell what was coming. Liv Morgan appeared on the barricade and attacked Jax — just as Lynch did last week — for the DQ.
Morgan and Lynch argued which allowed Jax to knock them both down.
(I don’t know if he was a plant or not, but Jax took some guy’s hat off his head and hit him with it before chucking it into the crowd.)
********
Ricochet confronted Pearce in his office. Ricochet said he’s kept quiet but closed mouths don’t get fed around here. Pearce hasn’t forgotten about him and has a plan that will satisfy Gunther, Ricochet and anyone else looking for an IC title shot.
Pearce, Bálor and McDonagh confronted Pearce. They said McDonagh wanted Gunther for the title. They abruptly cut to commercial as McDonagh made his case to Pearce.
********
Lynch confronted Morgan in the back. Lynch was fired up. Lynch said she apologized to her already. She understood why Morgan did what she did but when Lynch attacked Jax it was to get back at her, not Morgan. Morgan said The Man could dish it out but she couldn’t take it. Lynch challenged Morgan to a match next week and she accepted.
Rhea Ripley walked by (the crowd popped) and she laughed at Lynch.
********
Pearce announced that Sami Zayn, Ricochet, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bronson Reed, JD McDonagh, and Chad Gable would compete next week on Raw in a gauntlet match to determine Gunther’s challenger for WrestleMania.
********
Andrade defeated Apollo Crews (3:24)
Crews hit a superplex and tried to roll through but Andrade countered into the three amigos for two. Andrade hit a back elbow for two and followed with the La Sombra DDT for the pinfall win. The crowd politely applauded.
********
Jackie Redmond interviewed Sami Zayn. Zayn wanted to be a champion and do something historic. The gauntlet match was the only thing standing in the way of facing perhaps the most dominant champion ever. This match was do-or-die and was now the most important match of his career.
Valhalla and Ivar confronted Zayn. Valhalla couldn’t understand why Zayn would get an opportunity over a man like Ivar. Ivar knew that he could beat Gunther. He also knew that Zayn knew he couldn’t beat Gunther. Zayn knew he could be Ivar and challenged him to a match tonight. Ivar said he wouldn’t even make it to next week.
********
There was a memorial graphic for Paul “Butcher” Vachon.
********
In the locker room, Natalya was condensing to Tegan Nox and said they needed to get hungry and forget their manners. Natalya pulled Nox away and they left. Candice LeRae was annoyed too that they (LeRae and Indi Hartwell) were being complacent. Hartwell tried to be reasonable but LeRae wasn’t having it.
Maxxine Dupri and Ivy Nile showed up and Dupri tried to give words of assurance to LeRae. LeRae told her off because she didn’t want advice from someone who only had three matches and couldn’t lace her boots. LeRae left.
********
Tag Team Champions Damian Priest & Finn Bálor defeated Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci in a non-title match (14:14)
Priest missed a corner splash but Bálor made a hot tag and hit Kaiser with a slingblade. Vinci blocked Bálor’s dropkick attempt and Kaiser hit a Finlay Roll. Bálor fought back with a slingblade, dropkick and Coup de Grace on Vinci but Kaiser broke up the cover. Priest chucked Kaiser from the ring and Bálor wiped him out with a flip dive.
Vinci tried a schoolboy but Priest kicked out and followed with a clothesline and South of Heaven chokeslam for the pinfall win.
********
They announced that Paul Heyman would be inducted into the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame.
Cole said he wouldn’t be there after 27 years without Heyman. Cole told a story about sitting in the editing booth with Taz in Stamford and Heyman would drill them for hours on how to do commentary while teaching him a passion for the industry. Cole said that was minuscule compared to Heyman’s other contributions to the business.
*******
Redmond interviewed Drew McIntyre. McIntyre said Rollins obviously didn’t listen to him last week. He called Rollins a spotlight junkie. Rollins kept getting involved when people returned whether it be Rhodes, CM Punk or The Rock.
McIntyre didn’t care anymore what Rollins did as long as she showed up to Mania. McIntyre would put him down because the title deserved so much better than Rollins. It also deserved better than Jey Uso.
All McIntyre wanted from Jey this entire time was an apology. Instead, McIntyre wanted to be the bigger man and he apologized to Jey because he knew how much Jey needed this victory but there wasn’t a chance in hell he was winning.
(McIntyre continues to be very good with these interviews.)
********
Ripley confronted Iyo Sky (and Damage CTRL) in the back. Ripley told her to stay out of her territory. Sky chuckled and left.
********
Sami Zayn defeated Ivar (w/Valhalla) (10:10)
Zayn hit a flip drive but Ivar blocked a tornado DDT and hit a rolling senton off the apron. After a break, Ivar tried a super back suplex but Zayn countered into a crossbody for two. Zayn went for the Helluva Kick but Ivar dropped him with a spinning kick and sit-out powerbomb for two. (It looked like Ivar’s boot caught Zayn right in the forehead on the spinning kick.)
Zayn hit a sunset flip powerbomb for two. Zayn followed with an impressive exploder into the corner but Ivar blocked the Helluva Kick again, this time with a seated senton. Zayn dodged Ivar’s moonsault attempt and hit the Helluva Kick for the pinfall win.
— Bronson Reed attacked Zayn after the match and laid him out with Tsunami.
********
Kelley interviewed Gunther. Gunther gave Dom credit for stepping up tonight but the outcome was never in doubt. Gunther said the gauntlet was stacked because it should be. But all the winner would earn was a chance to get outclassed at WrestleMania.
Chad Gable interrupted. Gable was sick of Gunther’s condensing smile. Gable could look past that, but he couldn’t look past what Gunther did to him after their match. The tears in his daughter’s eyes and insulting him as a father.
Gable said this was his path to redemption which meant delivering on what he swore back in September, that he would take the title from Gunther and put it on his waist — and taking that smile from Gunther and putting one on his daughter’s face.
Gunther chuckled and left.
*******
Jey Uso cut a promo on McIntyre in the back. Jey said he was sorry for what he was going to do to McIntyre tonight. McIntyre would find out that Jey don’t play.
********
Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano and R-Truth played WWE 2K24 in the back. Miz wondered how they were playing it early and Xavier Woods said he had a hookup with 2K.
Miz heard their ideas on how to get revenge on Judgment Day and was baffled at suggestions of dropping slime or feeding them bread. Truth said one of them may have a problem with gluten. Miz said they should take the tag titles.
They (Ciampa, Gargano and Truth) called themselves Regeneration-X like dweebs and Woods pretended to like it.
********
Next week on Raw in Houston, TX:
Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan
Asuka & Kairi Sane vs. Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark for the tag titles
Gauntlet match with Ricochet, Chad Gable, Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, JD McDonagh and Bronson Reed — winner faces Gunther at WrestleMania
********
Drew McIntyre defeated Jey Uso (16:41)
They went to break 50 seconds into the match after McIntyre chucked Jey over the announce desk. McIntyre remained in control after a break until Jey blocked a White Noise and hit a sit-out powerbomb for two. McIntyre got his knees up on a splash and hit a spinebuster for two. McIntyre suplexed Jey on the outside leading to a second commercial break less than nine minutes into the match.
McIntyre repeatedly drove Jey into the barricade and the side of the ring. Jey fought back with right hands, a thrust kick, an uppercut and a Samoan drop for two. Jey followed with a running hip attack and suicide dive.
Jey went to the top as Solo Sikoa appeared at ringside. Jey missed a splash and McIntyre hit a Future Shock DDT for two.
Rhodes entered (to his music) to take out Sikoa through the crowd. McIntyre went for a Claymore kick but Jey caught him with three consecutive superkicks and a spear. Jey was distracted by Jimmy Uso appearing at ringside and stopped what he was doing. That allowed McIntyre to hit Claymore for the pinfall win.
— Jimmy grabbed a chair but Rollins sprinted out (not showing signs of a limp) and superkicked the chair in his face. Rollins turned around and was levelled by a McIntyre Claymore Kick. McIntyre encouraged Rollins to do the right thing and stop getting involved with the Bloodline.
No Bryan, no other people, just Vincent Verhei reviewing WWE’s Elimination Chamber show from Perth, Australia.
The show had few surprises but lots of good wrestling, especially with the help of fast-forwarding. WrestleMania matches are set for Becky Lynch, Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, and Rhea Ripley, with clear plans for Bianca Belair, Randy Orton, Logan Paul, and LA Knight as well.
We also have reviews of the brilliant Will Ospreay-Michael Oku match from Revolution Pro, one of the best matches you’ll see in all of 2024, and Bryan Danielson’s Dream Match of the Week, this time against Jun Akiyama on Collision. A fun show as always so check it out~!
WWE’s final premium live event before WrestleMania 40 takes place early Saturday morning in Perth, Australia.
Australia’s own Rhea Ripley will defend the Women’s World Championship against Nia Jax. After Jax blindsided and assaulted Ripley, Jax has made it clear that she will be the one going into WrestleMania as Women’s World Champion. Ripley told Jax this past Monday on Raw that she has reminded herself who she is, and that she is the most dominant woman in WWE.
Two Elimination Chamber matches will determine the challengers for both the Women’s World and World Heavyweight titles at WrestleMania 40. The women’s chamber match will consist of Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Tiffany Stratton, Naomi, and Raquel Rodriguez. The men’s chamber will include Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley, LA Knight, Kevin Owens, and Logan Paul.
Other matches for Elimination Chamber include The Judgment Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest) defending the Undisputed WWE Tag Team titles against New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate). A match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles on the pre-show will have The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) defend against Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell.
Join us for live coverage starting at 4 am ET.
***
Pre-show match for WWE Women’s Tag Team titles: Kabuki Warriors defeated Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell to retain
Good, simple opener that got some good heat thanks to the hometown hero Hartwell. Kabuki Warriors gel so well as a tag team and it really showed in this match, both through their selling and work as a team.
Hartwell and Kairi started off early, with Hartwell connecting with a big boot. Candice took control but was quickly cut off by Kairi, who tagged in Asuka. Candice connected with an elbow. Kabuki Warriors worked over Candice, who tried to tag in Hartwell but Asuka took her down with a suplex. Candice hit an enziguri on Asuka and hot tagged Hartwell.
Hartwell with what I guess looked like a crossbody to the outside on Asuka, rolled her back in, and tagged in Candice as the two worked over Asuka. Hartwell tagged back in and rolled up Asuka for a nearfall. Candice tagged back in but Kairi cut her off as she went to the top rope. Asuka tagged Kairi in, allowing her to hit an assisted insane elbow for the win.
Elimination Chamber match: Becky Lynch defeated Tiffany Stratton, Naomi, Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, and Raquel Rodriguez
This was great. For a match where you expect some big bumps, this match had plenty of them (the Stratton swanton off the pod a notable example) and the wrestling was also real good. This was a great way to set up the match everyone has been anticipating, considering that Ripley wins her match later this morning.
Becky Lynch and Naomi start things off. They exchanged some nearfalls until Naomi connected with a boot in the corner. Naomi went to the top rope and hopped over Lynch, but Lynch connected with a dropkick. Outside the ring, Lynch kicked Naomi into one of the pods. She attempted to throw Naomi into the steel mesh, but Naomi latched on to the mesh, grabbed Lynch with her legs and repeatedly rammed her head into it, causing her to fall to the ground. Naomi then dropped to the ground, hitting a split for a nearfall.
Stratton was next to enter the match and attempted to cover both women for a nearfall. Lynch attempted to cut off Stratton, but Stratton countered with a spinebuster. Lynch attempted the disarmher but Naomi came in with a double crossbody. Lynch hit an exploder on Naomi. Stratton managed to lift both women on her shoulders briefly but Naomi escaped, only for Stratton to drop her. Stratton attempted the PME but Lynch cut her off.
Liv Morgan entered the ring next and immediately went after Stratton, throwing her into two pods back and forth. Morgan went after both Naomi and Lynch, hitting a codebreaker on the latter for a nearfall. Lynch took Stratton and hit an exploder into the cage, then hit the disarmher but Stratton escaped. Morgan grabbed Stratton and hit a stomp, but Naomi then hit a blockbuster on top of the pod onto Morgan. Stratton then grabbed Naomi and pinned her for the first elimination.
Raquel Rodriguez entered next and also went after Stratton. After throwing Lynch into the mesh, she next grabbed Stratton and threw her into the mesh as well. Rodriguez and Morgan battled in the ring but Lynch clipped Rodriguez’s leg as everyone attempted to pile on Rodriguez for a pinfall, failing.
Bianca Belair was the final entrant in the match as she too went after Stratton, throwing her into her pod as she entered the ring. Belair hit a delayed vertical suplex on Lynch and took out Stratton with a spinebuster. Belair and Rodriguez went face to face. They ended up outside the ring where Rodriguez went for a vertical suplex, but Belair springboarded off and hit a wicked-looking DDT.
Stratton lifted Rodriguez on the turnbuckle as Morgan jumped off the top of the pod, stomping Rodriguez. Stratton threw Lynch off the pod where they were fighting then hit a big swanton bomb, wiping out everyone on the floor. However, not too long after that Stratton was pinned after Morgan hit her springboard downward spiral.
Lynch in the ring hit the disarmher then transitioned into an armbar. Rodriguez lifed up Lynch to for the tejana bomb, then managed to hit it on both women. Belair however came in and hit the KOD on Rodriguez to eliminate her.
Lynch, Belair, and Morgan battled in the ring. Belair press slammed Lynch on Morgan then hit a springboard standing moonsault. Belair went for the KOD on Lynch. Lynch escaped, but was shoved into the cage. Belair threw Morgan into the cage as she slammed Lynch’s face into the mesh. Morgan used her legs to thrust Belair into a nearby pod. Lynch laid out both of her opponents with a double DDT.
Belair met Lynch on the top rope. Morgan hit a sunset flip bomb on Belair, then hit a superplex on on Lynch. Belair attempted a 450 splash, but Lynch got her knees up. Belair then attempted a KOD, but Morgan hit a jawbreaker. Belair recovered and attempted to hit Lynch with the KOD, but Lynch managed to get to her feet. Morgan suddenly rolled up Belair and pinned her, but then walked right into the manhandle slam by Lynch, pinning Morgan for the win.
Undisputed WWE Tag Team titles: Damian Priest & Finn Balor defeated New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate) to retain
This was great. New Catch Republic were given plenty of time to shine, and they did just that with some real good-looking nearfalls and offense towards the end of the match. Not sure what this means for Judgment Day at WrestleMania though if I had to guess, maybe DIY?
New Catch Republic got a new, bland theme song in a long line of new, hideously generic WWE theme changes. Please get new music people WWE.
Dominik Mysterio introduced the champions to a ton of heat. Dunne and Bate then took out him and the champions to start the match. Balor and Bate started things off as Bate and Dunne worked over Balor until he was cut off, with Balor applying a sleeper. Priest tagged in and started to work over Bate, with Mysterio cheap shotting Bate as he was on the ropes.
Eventually Bate tags out to Dunne who clears house, hitting a big moonsault to the outside, wiping out both Judgment Day members. Bate tagged back in but was soon taken down again by Priest. Balor tagged in but Bate hit a huge spinning slam on Balor then hit an airplane spin on Priest. Dunne was tagged back in as Bate took out Priest and Dunne hit the bitter end on Balor, but Mysterio put Balor’s foot on the rope right at the last second. Bate told the referee, who then threw out Mysterio.
Back in the ring Balor hit the sling blade on Dunne and connected with a shotgun dropkick. Balor and Dunne recover and hit a double Tyler driver but Priest dragged Balor out of the ring before the three count. Dunne went to springboard out of the ring but was taken out by Priest. Bate took out Priest but in the ring Balor countered and hit a DDT on Bate. In the ring, Priest and Balor went for a Razor’s Edge/coup de grace double team, but Bate escaped and kind of threw Priest into Balor, but it was very mistimed.
New Catch Republic hit a burning hammer on Priest but he kicked out. NCR went for a double team move off the top rope, but Balor grabbed Priest’s foot, preventing him from falling to the ground. Priest chokeslammed both men off the top rope, then tagged in Balor who hit the coup de grace on Dunne for the win.
Grayson Waller Effect with Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins
This took up a lot of show time, but it set up the idea of a Cody/Rock match, probably turning into a tag team match for WrestleMania as that seems like the direction.
Austin Theory was in the ring and talked about hating vegemite and ordering from Outback Steakhouse. He then introduced Grayson Waller, who got a big ovation. He did a shoey with UFC fighter Tai Tuivasa before entering the ring, where he then introduced Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes. This took up a lot of time for a show airing at 3 in the morning. I got a snack.
After what felt like 20 minutes of entrances Seth Rollins made an announcement, he was days away from being cleared and whoever wins the Chamber match will go on to lose at WrestleMania. Waller then asked Cody if he was selfish for taking away The Rock vs. Roman Reigns from everyone. Cody said he is a fan of The Rock and if he were here he’d probably say all of his catchphrases, including “Cody crybabies.”
Cody said people were probably wondering why he stepped out of WrestleMania, only to step back in. Grayson brought up “the people”. Cody said he knows that The Rock is the people’s champion, but if he wants to claim that title, maybe he should actually be around the people. Cody then said he had an announcement himself, bringing up The Rock slapping him. He said that until WrestleMania, he’s wide open. He challenged The Rock to a one-on-one match, anytime, any place.
Rollins said he admired the challenge to The Rock but he knows that there’s no such thing as being one on one against members of The Bloodline. He said that when The Rock accepts that challenge, he said Cody wouldn’t be alone. Theory then interrupted and started to do The Rock’s catchphrases, mocking Cody and Rollins. They eventually beat him up and throw him into Waller’s sign. Waller acted like he was going to get involved, but instead did nothing as Rollins gave Theory the stomp. Rollins and Cody shook hands to end the segment.
Men’s Elimination Chamber: Drew McIntyre defeated Logan Paul, Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley, LA Knight, and Kevin Owens
This was also a very good match, more storyline-driven than the women’s match. This also didn’t have as many big moves as the women’s match but it ended up being very well laid out and set up multiple matches for WrestleMania.
Ok, remember when I said the last segment had 20 minutes of intros? Just kidding, this literally nearly was 20 minutes of intros.
LA Knight and Drew McIntyre started things off. McIntyre hit an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. McIntyre taunted the crowd by attempting a GTS but Knight escaped. McIntyre went out of the ring, only for Knight to launch himself with a giant splash on McIntyre, sending them both out of the ring.
After a botched countdown clock (that was sponsored by Slim Jim) Kevin Owens entered next, chokeslamming Knight and connected with a senton for a nearfall. Owens followed up with a frog splash on McIntyre for another nearfall. Owens taunted Randy Orton and Logan Paul as he worked over McIntyre.
Owen and Knight went for a double superplex but McIntyre fought off both men, sending them to the floor. McIntyre then hit a wild-looking crossbody, hitting Owens’ head as they all fell.
Bobby Lashley was next to enter as he fought Drew McIntyre, eventually suplexing him outside of the ring. He attempted to put McIntyre in the hurt lock but sent McIntyre over the top rope instead. McIntyre hit a headbutt and went to the top rope, but Lashley escaped and laid out McIntyre with a chokeslam for a nearfall.
Orton entered the match and immediately went after Kevin Owens. He connected with the draping DDT onto the chamber floor. Knight hit his own DDT on McIntyre.
When it was time for Logan Paul to come out, Owens was right there and the two fought inside the pod. Owens threw Paul into another pod and crotched him against one of the pods for good measure. Paul eventually mounted a comeback but Owens fought him off. Lashley then speared Paul through one of the pods. Lashley started to sell his injured elbow, allowing McIntyre to hit the claymore. Lashley recovered in the ring, but as he was fighting Knight took another claymore from McIntyre to become the first one eliminated.
Knight and McIntyre went at it as Knight hit a superplex on McIntyre. Orton went for the RKO but Knight connected with the BFT on both men. As Lashley was being helped out of the ring, Styles entered the ring and hit Knight repeatedly with a steel chair, then gave him the Styles Clash on top of the chair. That allowed McIntyre to pin Knight.
Owens and Paul continued to fight until Owens laid out Paul again and hit cannonballs on both Orton and McIntyre. Owens hit a swanton on Orton for a nearfall. Owens went for another on McIntyre, but McIntyre got the knees up. McIntyre went for a claymore but Owens countered with the pop-up powerbomb, then hit a stunner on Paul but ended up taking an RKO from Orton, eliminating him.
Orton was selling his back as he and McIntyre started exchanging blows. Paul recovered as he and Orton fought. McIntyre interrupted and as he and Orton fought Paul went to the top of the pod, launching off and hitting McIntyre with a crossbody. Paul then took out the brass knuckles, but as he teased using him didn’t see Orton hit the RKO from outta nowhere, putting him out of the match.
McIntyre and Orton were the final two, with Orton selling his back. Orton hit a draping DDT and very gingerly prepared for the RKO, but McIntyre got up and gave Orton a spinebuster. McIntyre prepared for a claymore but paused as Orton struggled to get up. McIntyre smirked as he watched Orton struggle to get up to his feet, but Orton suddenly dropped McIntyre with the RKO. However, Paul was still in the ring and knocked out Orton with the brass knuckles, allowing McIntyre to cover Orton for the win.
So it’s officially Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania for the World Heavyweight title.
Triple H came to the ring and said he wanted to thank everyone for inviting them into their home. He said the attendance was 52,590.
Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley defeated Nia Jax to retain
This is probably the best Nia Jax match ever, or at least it’s up there. This was a simple, WWE 1980s-style main event where the babyface sold, got hit with the big move, kicked out, hit a big move on the heel then hit their finish. Went about as good as one can expect.
Ripley attempted to take down Jax, including a hurricanrana that didn’t look great, but wasn’t able to take out Jax, who put Ripley down and splashed her in the corner. Ripley attempted to fight back, but Jax took her down with a headbutt. Jax stomped Ripley then applied a stretch muffler, which transitioned into a half crab.
Jax put Ripley on her shoulders but Ripley countered with a guillotine. Ripley went for a springboard hurricanrana but Jax dropped her with a double powerbomb followed by a legdrop for a nearfall. Jax went for the annihilator but Ripley fought back and put Jax down with a missile dropkick off the turnbuckle. Jax fired back with a samoan drop.
Ripley hit another dropkick as she went to the top rope. Jax cut her off and hit a samoan drop off the middle rope, but Ripley kicked out. Jax went for the annihilator again, but Ripley put Jax on her shoulders and posted her, then hit a frog splash for a near fall. Ripley attempted for riptide but Jax powered out so strongly that it sent Ripley to the floor.
Dropping Jax on the apron, Ripley went to powerbomb Jax on the table, but Jax countered and samoan dropped Ripley on the table, then drove her into it with an elbow. Jax hit the annihilator, but Ripley kicked out. Jax went for the annihilator again, but Ripley shoved her off into the apron. Jax fought back but Ripley ended up hitting a superplex as Jax climbed to the top of the turnbuckle. Ripley then hit riptide to retain.
Fireworks went off as Ripley celebrated. That, by the way, makes it Rhea Ripley vs. Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 40.
Rhea Ripley will defend the WWE Women’s World Championship against Nia Jax at Elimination Chamber.
The title match for February 24 was made official during Monday’s Raw in an angle where Ripley demanded the match from Raw GM Adam Pearce. Jax then attacked Ripley and hit her Annihilator finisher to leave the champion laying.
Another bout was officially announced for Elimination Chamber on Monday, as a women’s Chamber match at the event. will decide the Women’s World title challenger for WrestleMania 40. Becky Lynch became the first star to qualify for that contest with a win over Shayna Baszler on Raw. Liv Morgan will take on Zoey Stark in another qualifying match on next week’s episode.
DIY’s Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa also came one step closer to challenging for the Undisputed Tag Team titles at Elimination Chamber with a win in a four-way match on Raw. They will now face Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate on SmackDown to decide which team will challenge Finn Balor & Damian Priest for the titles in Perth, Australia at Elimination Chamber.
The updated Elimination Chamber lineup:
WWE Elimination Chamber, Saturday, February 24, 5 a.m. Eastern time on Peacock/WWE Network —
Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Nia Jax
Elimination Chamber match, winner challenges the Women’s World Champion at WrestleMania 40: Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan/Zoey Stark winner vs. TBD vs. TBD vs. TBD vs. TBD
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Judgment Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest) defend against Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate or DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa)
While appearing at WWE’s Royal Rumble media junket on Friday, Nia Jax was asked about the allegations that have been made against Vince McMahon.
Haus of Wrestling asked Jax how former WWE employee Janel Grant’s allegations against McMahon have affected her mentality heading into Royal Rumble weekend. Jax gave the following response:
Oh, it doesn’t, you know, I’m all business. And, you know, this business is built on hard work and dedication, and that’s what every single wrestler in this room is doing right now, and so we just move forward. And it’s, you know, and we’re gonna put on an amazing show.
Grant filed a lawsuit on Thursday alleging that she was the victim of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault and trafficking while at WWE. McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE, issued a statement saying that they take Grant’s “horrific allegations very seriously and are addressing this matter internally.”
“The WWE did not respond to questions regarding the suit,” Dave Meltzer wrote in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. “WWE talent was told to lay low and not talk about anything other than the Royal Rumble or storyline related things.”
A Vince McMahon T-shirt that was on sale at WWE’s Royal Rumble store in Florida is no longer available for purchase. The shirt has also been pulled from WWE Shop online.
Jax will be one of the entrants in this Saturday’s women’s Royal Rumble match.
A second entrant has declared for the 2024 WWE women’s Royal Rumble match.
Nia Jax announced during Monday’s Raw episode that she will enter the women’s Royal Rumble match set for Saturday, January 27, 2024.
Jax declared her entry during a promo segment with Becky Lynch on Raw that led to a physical angle between the two where Jax left Lynch laying on the entrance ramp. The two are set to go head-to-head for the first time on the Day 1 episode of Raw on January 1, 2024.
The winner of the Royal Rumble can call their shot as to which title holder they will challenge at WrestleMania 40. The other confirmed women’s entrant, Bayley, has already stated her intention to challenge current Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley in spite of Bayley being on the SmackDown brand. Ripley is on the Raw brand, while IYO SKY holds the WWE Women’s Championship on the SmackDown side.
Ripley’s next title challenger was also announced on Raw, as Ripley will defend against Ivy Nile at Day 1.
Here’s the list of confirmed 2024 Royal Rumble entrants:
