Featured below are complete INSERT SHOW NAME AND DATE 2023. The following report was written by Rajah.com reporter Matt Boone and our live coverage partner (@MattBoone0709) as the show aired live on the USA Network from 8-11pm EST.
The usual "WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together." opening signature airs to get this week's episode of WWE Monday Night Raw officially off-and-running.
We see highlights of how things went off the air last week with Jimmy Uso costing Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes the Undisputed WWE World Tag-Team Championships and Finn Balor and Damian Priest recapturing them.
The usual "Greatness" theme and opening video package plays and then we shoot inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX. where the camera pans the crowd as the commentary team welcome us to the show. We then hear the familiar sounds of The Judgment Day's theme music as the lights in the building go down low.
Fireworks explode and out comes the new Undisputed WWE World Tag-Team Championship team of Finn Balor and "Senor Money In The Bank" Damian Priest. The two head to the ring together by themselves to kick off this week's show. The duo settle inside the ring as the fans boo and the commentators sing their praises.
The theme music fades down and Balor begins on the mic. He says he's feeling so good tonight that he's gonna do something special. "All rise for The Judgment Day" he says. He then boasts he and Priest being the two-time undisputed tag champions of the world. Priest tells Balor that he did a good job.
Priest says before anyone asks, the rest of The Judgment Day are handling business because they have a big night tonight. He gloats about The Judgment Day having all the gold again and touts the group running Monday Night Raw. Cody Rhodes' theme then hits to cut him off. The crowd roars as "The American Nightmare" emerges in a suit.
Cody settles in the ring and says he has some things to say to The Judgment Day leader, but he can see that Rhea Ripley is not out here right now. He then says it looks like she is their "Mami" as well as Dominik Mysterio's. He mentions her making deals for the group, such as one with The Bloodline.
He then mentions Priest giving him a low blow and asks if he thought it was the final shot in their fight. Priest says it's convenient that Cody forgot to mention that he put him through a table as well. Priest mention Cody Rhodes' "story" and says at this point, it's gotta be that he failed. Priest challenges him to a match at Crown Jewel. Cody accepts. He says but what do we do now?
With that said, a big brawl breaks out as Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio come down to give The Judgment Day the advantage. Jey Uso tries to help but gets taken out of the equation. JD McDonagh also attacked and Cody ended up getting assaulted outside of the ring with a chair, leading to his leg being "injured." That is how the opener wraps up as we head into our first commercial break of the evening.
When we return from the break, we see highlights of the attack on Cody's leg. We then shoot backstage and we see Jey Uso helping Cody to see the trainer as Adam Pearce watches on. The commentators then confirm Cody Rhodes vs. Damian Priest for WWE Crown Jewel 2023.
The commentators run down the lineup for tonight's show and then we return to the ring, where we see Alpha Academy already standing. The commentators inform us that Akira Tozawa is with them as their new junior cadet. The theme for The New Day hits and out come Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods for this tag showdown against Chad Gable and Otis.
Now the bell sounds and we're officially off and running with our first match of the evening. Chad Gable and Xavier Woods kick things off for their respective teams. Gable immediately utilizes his amateur wrestling skills to ground Woods and control him. Maxxine Dupri is shown at ringside shouting words of encouragement to Coach Gable.
Kingston tags in and keeps things competitive, however Gable ends up in the offensive lead. He knocks Kofi out to the floor and then hoists Woods up before Otis blasts into him to lay him out. We head to a mid-match commercial break with Alpha Academy in firm control of the offense in this opening contest.
When we return from the break, we see some more back-and-forth action. Otis goes for the caterpillar but gets stopped. Xavier Woods goes for a backwards caterpillar but ends up stuck in an ankle lock by Gable. Kingston ends up hitting the Trouble in Paradise and Woods follows up for the pin fall victory. Good opener.
Winners: The New Day
We shoot backstage to Jackie Redmond, who is standing by with NXT Women's Champion Becky Lynch. She talks about her showdown tonight against Indi Hartwell, admitting that Hartwell never lost the title. She also mentions her defense against Lyra Valkyria at NXT Halloween Havoc. We then head to a commercial break.
As we settle back in from the commercial break, we see Valhalla talking to The Viking Raiders in a unique vignette hyping Ivar as a singles competitor as the one true warrior. The commentators then sing Ivar's praises.
We shoot backstage afterwards and we see Seth "Freakin'" Rollins strutting and laughing when he stops and lowers his sunglasses. The camera pans back to show Rhea Ripley standing there. Rollins says he can tell by the fact that her crew isn't with her that he's not about to get jumped.
Ripley says this won't take long. She brings up The Judgment Day and himself having a history. She says it was all built on respect and them wanting to become the champion. She says now he's dealing with Drew McIntyre and they're concerned. She feels at the pace he's been running at, he needs a little insurance in the form of The Judgment Day.
Rollins speculates that Ripley isn't confident that Priest can cash in his briefcase and win. He guesses that's why she's been running around wheeling and dealing. He says he can see what she wants, but he questions what he gets from her. She says he needs him. Because he's just a champion but he could be THE champion.
She says if he joined them, Priest could cash in his briefcase on someone else and then they'd all hold the gold. Without them, she doesn't see how he's gonna accomplish a title reign like Roman Reigns. She says over 1,000 days is a long time and the way Rollins back is, it's fragile, but The Judgment Day could have his back.
She says they could make people acknowledge you. He says he wants to make this clear. He doesn't want to do anything like Roman Reigns. She says she knows and tells him to think about it. She smiles and walks off.
We shoot backstage and we see Natalya approach Indi Hartwell and tell her if she needs anything, she's here. They also mention Tegan Nox being injured. Back in the arena, Becky Lynch's theme hits and the NXT Women's Champion makes her way to the ring for her next title defense.
On that note, we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break. When we return from the break, Lynch is shown in the ring finishing up her entrance as Michael Cole also points out Lyra Valkyria from NXT, who is shown in a cameo appearance in the crowd as the NXT Halloween Havoc special two-week event is plugged.
Indi Hartwell's theme hits and out she comes with Candice LeRae, who wishes her good luck before heading to the back. Hartwell then makes her way down to the ring for her big title opportunity. Her music dies down and the ring announcer handles the formal ring introductions for this championship contest.
The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this women's title tilt. We see Hartwell faring well early on but "The Man" starts to take over as we head into an early commercial break as the match continues. When we return, we see Lynch still in control until Hartwell decks her with a big boot coming off the ropes.
Lynch ends up fighting back into the lead and then finishing Hartwell off with her "Dis-Arm-Her" submission for the victory to retain her NXT Women's Championship. After the match we see Lynch turn her attention to Lyra Valkyria in the crowd as the commentators hype their Halloween Havoc showdown. Xia Li is shown attacking Candice LeRae afterwards.
Winner and STILL NXT Women's Champion: Becky Lynch
We shoot backstage where Adam Pearce is telling security to be on their toes because contract signings get out of hand. Nick Aldis walks in. Pearce asks what he wants. Aldis apologizes for things getting out of hand on Friday night's SmackDown.
He chalks it up to rookie errors. Pearce accepts and tells him as a sign of good will that Aldis can stay and enjoy the show. He then tells extra security to be prepared. We head to another commercial break.
When we return from the break, the commentators hype the WWE Women's World Championship Fatal-5-Way match at WWE Crown Jewel, with Rhea Ripley defending against Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Zoey Stark and Raquel Rodriguez.
We shoot inside the ring where Raw General Manager Adam Pearce welcomes us to the contract signing for the bout. He mentions the extra security at ringside for the signing and then begins introducing the challengers for the match.
Raquel Rodriguez signs the contract as soon as she enters the ring. Shayna Baszler does as well. Zoey Stark comes out next and also signs. Finally, Nia Jax's theme hits and the crowd loudly boos as she makes her way down to the ring.
Nia asks where Rhea Ripley is. Pearce mentions she has been the cause of a lot of the issues lately so he's gonna get her signature later. She signs it. Rhea Ripley's theme hits and she says she's not sorry for coming out here prematurely.
"Mami" addresses the fans chanting her name and then vows to make Pearce's life a living hell for the conspiracy he is setting up by having her defend her title in a match with five people. She claims the Raw division will lose four women when she's done.
Jax then speaks up and everyone boos. She says over and over again how Ripley wants her to squash everyone in the ring so she's the only one left to deal with. Rodriguez gets annoyed at listening to this and starts brawling with Jax. Everyone brawls and then Rodriguez and Jax are the last left standing.
Ripley is heard loudly cheering them on to continue fighting. Security rushes to the scene and breaks Jax and Rodriguez up as fans chant "Let them fight!" They break through all the security and continue doing exactly that. Jax hits a Samoan drop on Rodriguez and is the last one left standing. She stares down Ripley.
We shoot backstage and see Ludwig Kaiser demanding that Giovanni Vinci take out Johnny Gargano because his actions now reflect on him. Up comes Bronson Reed who tells them to tell their boss that he's ready for round two when he is.
Kaiser says to tell him by himself. He walks off to do that. Akira Tozawa comes in and demands a match for tonight. Maxxine Dupri runs up and says Chad Gable is gonna be upset. Back in the arena, Johnny Gargano makes his way to the ring as we head to a pre-match commercial break.
When we return, we see Ludwig Kaiser barking orders into Giovanni Vinci's ear as they make their way to the ring. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Vinci starts off well but Gargano starts to take over. We see Kaiser try and get involved but Tommaso Ciampa runs out and stops him. Gargano hits his finisher for the win.
Winner: Johnny Gargano
We shoot to a vignette where Shinsuke Nakamura is talking into the camera backstage about being pleased with the beating he put on Ricochet. He wants to find the person who can challenge him enough to bring out his inner-self that has yet to be shown.
Now we return inside the arena where Logan Paul's theme hits. "The Maverick" makes his way to the ring as we head to a quick commercial break. When we return, he continues to trash Dillon Danis without saying his name about getting released from Bellator MMA.
Paul then turns his attention to Rey Mysterio. He says he's gonna give keyboard warriors something to talk about when he beats Rey Mysterio for the United States Championship at Crown Jewel. Before he can continue, the theme for Dominik Mysterio hits and out comes "Dirty" Dom to a ton of boos.
Logan tells the fans not to boo and to show respect for "Dirty" Dom. He then applauds him for having a deadbeat dad and still growing up to be the champion of an entire continent. Dom goes to speak but is booed like crazy. Logan mentions how good it's gonna sound to be introduced as the U.S. Champion.
He then turns his attention to Samantha Irvin. He says he owes her a genuine heartfelt thank-you and asks her to join him in the ring. He brings up beating her fiance Ricochet at SummerSlam and then asks her to give the fans a taste of what it's gonna sound like to hear him announced as the new U.S. Champion.
Dom and Logan taunt Samantha and ask her to say it, but Ricochet hits the ring and attacks them both. Ricochet heads to the top-rope with Dom laid out but Logan pulls him out of harm's way, yanking him out of the ring as Ricochet came flying off the top.
We hear, "It's Chelsea!" The theme for the Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Champions hits and out comes Chelsea Green accompanied by Piper Niven. The champs head to the ring for our next match of the evening. As they do, we shift gears and head into a pre-match commercial break.
The commentators mention that the champs will be facing Natalya and a partner yet to be announced when we return. As we settle back in from the break, we see Natalya making her way to the ring. She stops and her theme dies down. Nikki Cross' music hits and out she comes to join Nattie for this one.
Now the commentators point out that Cross, who is usually a giant ball of energy, is moving slow and looking out-of-it as she settles on the ring apron. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Nattie and Chelsea kick things off for their respective teams.
The commentators keep talking about the unusual behavior from Cross on the apron. Nattie fares well at first but ends up in a on-on-two situation as Cross simply hops off the ring apron and leaves without ever doing anything. Piper ends up attacking Nattie and finishing her off for the win.
Winners: Chelsea Green & Piper Niven
Now we shoot backstage and we see "Main Event" Jey Uso and Damian Priest talking. "The Scottish Warrior" talks about how if he wasn't on Raw, this match with Sami Zayn tonight wouldn't be happening. He says so whatever happens to Sami tonight is on Jey. He walks off.
We head back inside the arena to the sounds of Sami Zayn's catchy entrance theme. He makes his way down to the ring for our next match of the evening to a huge crowd response. As he settles inside the squared circle, we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break.
When we return, we see Adam Pearce backstage when The Miz approaches him. He talks about how it's been weeks since he's had something worth his stature on this show. He talks about how Nick Aldis knows how talented he is. He is interrupted when Rhea Ripley walks in and signs the contract for Crown Jewel and walks off.
She claims she's keeping the pen and walks off as The Miz asks where the camera is going. Dominik Mysterio walks up and Ripley talks about his gorgeous face and asks if he's okay after what just happened with Ricochet. She says let's get some ice and then we return in the arena where Zayn is in the ring waiting for his opponent.
The theme for Drew McIntyre hits and out comes "The Scottish Warrior" for this big time one-on-one showdown here on this week's Raw. He settles in the ring as the commentators plug McIntyre's shot at the title against Seth Rollins at Crown Jewel. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one.
We see some back-and-forth action and then McIntyre and Zayn battle out to the floor. McIntyre catches Zayn coming through the ropes from ringside and then launches him over the commentary desk like a rag doll. We head to a mid-match commercial break with McIntyre standing still with a glare in his eyes that the camera shows a close-up of.
As we settle back in from the mid-match commercial break, we see McIntyre and Zayn hitting their trademark spots left and right. When it looks like Zayn has McIntyre set up for the Helluva Kick for the win, Rhea Ripley's theme hits. She comes out and the distraction allows McIntyre to hit his Claymore Kick for the win. McIntyre simply leaves afterwards and walks past a smiling Ripley at ringside.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
We shoot backstage and we see Nick Aldis talking to Katana Chance and Kayden Carter. Adam Pearce approaches him and says when he told Aldis he could stay he wasn't inviting him to stick around backstage and talk to all of his Superstars.
Aldis says it was just a friendly conversation. He says he's gonna take off. Pearce says that sounds like a great idea and thanks him for coming. Nikki Cross walks past him with the blank stare she had the entire time she was out in the arena earlier.
Now we return inside the arena where Bronson Reed's theme hits. The big man heads to the ring for our next match of the evening, as he takes on the new junior cadet of Alpha Academy, Akira Tozawa. As he settles in the ring, we head to a pre-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, Akira Tozawa makes his way down to the ring accompanied by Maxxine Dupri of Alpha Academy. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Reed dominates Tozawa from the word go, however Tozawa has his moments. Ultimately, Reed hits his Tsunami to finish him off for the easy win.
Winner: Bronson Reed
We shoot backstage and see Alpha Academy and The New Day looking at a special custom Dallas Cowboys title belt. In walks the DIY duo of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, who comment on the tag-team division on the Raw roster. They all focus on Akira Tozawa, mentioning how even though he lost tonight, he's still a champion to them.
Now we shoot to a different area where we see Drew McIntyre walking. Seth "Freakin'" Rollins walks up clapping saying he saw McIntyre win his first match as "the newest member of The Judgment Day."
McIntyre brings up Rollins talking with Rhea Ripley earlier and says he didn't see him turning her down. They both make it clear they're not affiliated with The Judgment Day and declare the best man will win at Crown Jewel.
It's main event time!
We head to the ringside area where Michael Cole and Wade Barrett announce four big matches for next week's Crown Jewel "go-home" Raw show. The show will feature Seth Rollins vs. JD McDonagh, Ricochet vs. Dominik Mysterio, DIY vs. Imperium and Xia Li vs. Candice LeRae.
From there, we hear "Just me Uce, day one ish!" and out comes "Main Event" Jey Uso for our final match of the evening. As he hypes up the Dallas crown, we shift gears and head into a pre-match commercial break.
The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. The commentators spend a lot of time talking about Cody Rhodes' leg injury following the attack at the start of the show, as well as the announcement of Cody vs. Priest for the WWE Crown Jewel PLE in Saudi Arabia on November 4.
Priest starts off strong but Uso knocks him out of the ring with a dropkick and hits a suicide dive as we head into a mid-match break. When we return, we see Priest is back in control of things back inside the ring. Jey starts to fire up and he takes his shirt off and goes to work on Priest.
Fans chant "We want tables!" as the action spills out to the floor. "Senor Money In The Bank" takes back over and then brings the action back into the ring. Priest sets Jey up for the Razor's Edge. He hoists him up but Jey slips out the back door and hits a spear. He heads to the top-rope and connects with an Uso splash.
Jey goes for the cover but Finn Balor runs down to interfere. Jey knocks him off the ring apron and then blasts him on the floor with a suicide dive through the ropes. Priest catches Jey coming back in the ring. Balor grabs his leg and Jey walks into a South of Heaven chokeslam from Priest for the win.
After the match, Balor and Priest continue beating down Jey. Balor hits his Coup de Grace off the top rope and then he grabs he and Priest some steel chairs. They go to finish off Jey with the chairs like they did to Cody earlier, but Cody's theme hits and he limps down to ringside to fight it out with Balor.
He heads into the ring after decking Balor and battles with Priest, chop-blocking his knee and then hitting him with a chair. Balor pulls Priest out of the ring to save him. Cody stands tall as this week's show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!
Winner: Damian Priest
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