WWE Monday Night RAW Recap

Live from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri and amid a passionate #WeWantCody movement on social media, “Monday Night RAW” was certainly a can’t-miss. With uncertainty surrounding the WrestleMania 40 card, there were a lot of questions that needed to be answered: who will Cody Rhodes challenge at the Showcase of Immortals? Who will step up to challenge GUNTHER and break his record-setting Intercontinental Championship reign?

Opening Promo from Seth Rollins 

The show kicked off with World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins where he was once again searching for an answer from Cody Rhodes as to whether he will challenge him at WrestleMania 40. Hearing his name called, Cody Rhodes made his way to the ring, but before he could respond to Rollins, Drew McIntyre interrupted. He attempted to convince The American Nightmare to finish his story, and challenge Roman Reigns, leaving the door open for him to, once again, challenge Rollins for his championship. After a war of words, McIntyre fired off a cheap shot at the champion, causing a brief exchange, ending with McIntyre fleeing and leaving the babyfaces standing tall. All in all, a good exchange, but the question of who Rhodes will challenge at WrestleMania still remains.

Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match

Imperium, the New Day, the Creed Brothers, and DIY, who is comprised of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, squared off next in a fatal 4-way tag team match, were the winner will go to “Friday Night SmackDown” this Friday to challenge British Strong Style for a chance to go to Elimination Chamber and battle the current WWE Undisputed Tag Team Champions The Judgement Day for said titles. After a great encounter between the four talented teams, DIY prevailed and earned the opportunity to travel to “SmackDown” and challenge British Strong Style which is almost guaranteed to steal the show. The highlight of this match came when Ciampa delivered White Noise to Xavier Woods from the top rope, onto the rest of the competitors outside on the floor.

Winner: DIY via pinfall

Elimination Chamber Qualifier: Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler

Following suit was an Elimination Chamber qualifier match between Shayna Baszler and “The Man” Becky Lynch. This was a good match between two veteran wrestlers who always deliver when they encounter each other. Baszler countered, blocked, and resisted everything Lynch threw at her. She prevented the Disarmer and at one point, looked like she may be able to exploit an arm injury and pick up a submission victory of her own. After fighting back with everything she had, the resilient, fiery Lynch fought back, though, and delivered the Manhandle Slam for the win. This is the first Elimination Chamber match Lynch will be a part of in her career, a shock to most as she is a certified Hall-of-Famer.

Winner: Becky Lynch via pinfall

Rhea Ripley Makes an Appearance

Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley was next, as she hit the ring, enraged after the brutal attack she suffered last week at the hands of Nia Jax. RAW general manager Adam Pierce made himself known in this promo, revealing he has booked Jax against Ripley for the title at Elimination Chamber in Perth, Australia. As per usual, when another wrestler mentions your name, you're required to come out (not actually required, but it happens every time. Just another wrestling trope), so out came Jax to make her presence known. With security holding the champion back, Jax sprinted across the ring and squashed her in the corner, flattening her shortly after. The segment ends with Nia walking up the ramp to a chorus of boos, leaving the Women’s World Champion writhing in pain. This is the best WWE has made Nia Jax look ever, looking like an unstoppable force with no solutions on how to stop her.

Akira Tozawa and Maxxine Dupri vs. Ivar and Valhalla

This was your typical filler match, giving all four competitors something to do to keep them on TV. The match was too fast, maybe even rushed, for it to accomplish anything. Ivar and Valhalla rolled through Dupri and Tozawa, ending with Ivar hitting Tozawa with a second-rope power slam. This feud doesn’t feel like it is over, which is good in terms of keeping them busy, but it does feel like it has run its course.

Winner: Ivar and Valhalla via pinfall

The Miz vs. JD McDonagh

Backstage, R-Truth caught up with The Judgement Day, adamant that he is a member of the group, despite the beatdown he received a week ago. To magnify the complexity of whether Truth is in or not, Damian Priest told Truth to make himself at home, creating hope that he may actually be a member of the dominant faction. In the ring, Miz squared off with JD McDonagh, continuing their week-long feud. This back-and-forth encounter picked up when R-Truth made an appearance, throwing T-shirts into the crowd and even collecting some cash. This distraction was enough for Miz to capitalize and hit the Skull-Crushing Finale on McDonagh to pick up the victory. Things may not look good for R-Truth next week.

Following the match, Backstage, Imperium told Adam Pearce that everything better be ready for Gunther's 600-day celebration when Bron Breakker interrupted the proceedings, and the general manager started his pitch to acquire the former NXT champion's services. The same Breakker who remains the last Superstar to defeat Gunther.

Winner: The Miz via pinfall

GUNTHER’s 600-Day Celebration

Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER made his way to the ring to celebrate 600 days of being champion, the longest IC championship reign in the history of the business. GUNTHER made the claim that there is no man worthy enough to challenge him for his title, as he has defeated everyone to cross his path…cue “USO”. Jey Uso took exception to these claims, making his way to the ring and making his claim for a shot at the title. The two had a verbal sparring before Uso threw down with GUNTER after some disrespectful words from the champion. The two stars squabbled for a little while until Uso threw GUNTHER to the floor, causing him to flee and leaving Uso standing tall. This is a WrestleMania program for the ages. The white-hot babyface vs the unstoppable heel is a tale as old as time, but this one has the feeling to be special.

Women’s Tag Team Title Match: Kayden Carter and Katana Chance vs. Kabuki Warriors (c)

Asuka and Kairi Sane defeated Katana Chance and Kayden Carter to win the Women's Tag Team Championship on SmackDown before the Royal Rumble. Monday night, they defended against the former titleholders in a high-stakes rematch. The match was perfectly acceptable pro wrestling but the lack of investment from a quiet audience hurt it significantly. A couple of miscues between the competitors slowed the pace down, resulting in some clunky spots. Ultimately, Sane delivered her In-Sane Elbow to score the win and retain the titles. The question now is where the champions go from here and which team steps up to challenge them in time for WrestleMania. This was a decent match, but nothing that’ll be remembered.

Winner: The Kabuki Warriors via pinfall

Bullrope Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

This match came to be after Nakamura misted Rhodes backstage at a live event show Sunday evening. Another in a string of perfectly OK matches hurt by the lack of crowd heat early on, it intensified and by the time Rhodes fired up late, the crowd was right there with him. After a good, high-quality match between the two wrestlers, Rhodes hit Nakamura with a Cross Rhodes to claim victory. Drew McIntyre attacked a celebratory Rhodes after the match, leaving him lying with a Claymore and further muddying the WrestleMania title scene, something that appears to be an initiative of the creative forces on this road to Philadelphia. It helps create intrigue and interest in the show, but it does hurt the overall quality of the product as twists and turns occur in a manner that makes certain angles and segments feel rushed or thrown together on the fly. Maybe the stuff involving Rhodes, The Rock, and Roman Reigns is a masterful story that will unfold in the coming weeks and make perfect sense but right now, it feels...messy, which is hardly what fans want out of WWE TV at the hottest period of the year.

Winner: Rhodes via pinfall

Overall, this was a good episode of “Monday Night RAW”, but something felt off. Maybe it was fans still in disbelief over the creative call on “SmackDown” last Friday, but the show felt a little flat. There was some high-quality in-ring work, with some good stories being developed, but this show lacked a sense of urgency and didn’t really follow up on what we saw Friday.

This probably has to do with WWE having its eggs in the WrestleMania Kickoff event on Thursday in Las Vegas. That should be an explosive press conference and provide more answers to the questions fans have, but this felt more like a placeholder broadcast than anything.