Monday Night Raw Review - December 9, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Judgment Day Attacked Damian Priest and World Heavyweight Champion Gunther

Gunther vs. Balor at Saturday Night's Main Event sounded great on paper, but I was worried about how the crowd would react with both guys being heels. I speak about that bout in the past tense because Adam Pearce officially made it a Triple Threat involving Priest as soon as this segment was over. That's the right call because the title will feel more like it's in jeopardy. This was a well-done segment to set that up, and Judgment Day standing tall gives them much-needed heat.

The Final Testament (Karrion Kross and Authors of Pain) and The Miz def. The Wyatt Sicks (Uncle Howdy, Erick Rowan, Joe Gacy and Dexter Lumis)

This followed the same formula as Wyatt Sick's Street Fight against American Made a few months ago in that it had a frantic pace and was never boring. You'd think it'd have the opposite vibe considering who was involved, so this was a pleasant surprise, including the outcome. I have no issue with the heels going over so they can get a credibility boost and to keep the feud alive.

Jackie Redmond Hosted a Sit-Down Interview with CM Punk

Although Punk said last week that he isn't the slightest bit concerned with Rollins, he did a nice job of recapping his history with Rollins by bringing up how he trained Rollins (for free) back when Rollins got started in wrestling and "shielding" him from being fired before he got to the main roster. This was an excellent interview that provided more backstory to their pending program, at least from Punk's side.

Women's World Champion Liv Morgan def. Dakota Kai (Non-Title)

​I know Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez beat Damage CTRL in a tag team match on last week's show, but this was a weird match to do one week removed from Kai advancing in the Women's Intercontinental Championship Tournament. Yes, Kai was protected in defeat with the interference from Pure Fusion Collective, but the match itself was forgettable and Kai didn't have an impressive performance to justify this happening in my opinion. I also couldn't care less about Damage CTRL continuing to feud with Pure Fusion Collective.

Sami Zayn Confronted Seth "Freakin" Rollins Before Being Attacked by Drew McIntyre

​Rollins' rebuttal wasn't quite as strong as what Punk had to say, but I appreciated that he provided his side of the story by mentioning how Punk ghosted him after leaving WWE a decade ago and how he's taken exception to Punk trashing the company every chance he had before returning. Fans chanted for Punk, regardless, so there's a good chance Rollins will end up being the one who goes heel. I loved that Zayn and Rollins followed up on their heated altercation from last week before Zayn challenged McIntyre a match at Saturday Night's Main Event and McIntyre attacked Zayn. This was more stellar storytelling from these three (along with McIntyre's vignette from earlier).

Lyra Valkyria def. Ivy Nile and Zelina Vega in a Women's Intercontinental Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Triple Threat Match

This was a well-worked Triple Threat from three women who will benefit big time from the Women's Intercontinental title being around. I feel bad for Vega being bumped in the first round (you could tell from her social media posts that she desperately wanted to win it or at least get a tad further), but Valkyria was the correct choice to advance since she should be in the finals with Kai if not win the whole thing.

The New Day Attempted to Explain Their Betrayal of Big E

Man, the heat New Day received from the crowd here was tremendous. It was seriously Dominik Mysterio levels of heat. Hell, this segment reminded me of the post-WrestleMania 33 edition of Raw when Roman Reigns got booed out of the building for beating The Undertaker. They're so delusional that they think there's no reason for fans to hate them because they didn't physically attack Big E. This was a fantastic follow-up to their heel turn last week.

Rhea Ripley def. Raquel Rodriguez in an Anything Goes Match

The Anything Goes stipulation was a last-minute addition to the match, which was probably for the better considering they didn't have a ton of time to work with and the stipulation allowed them to make it complete chaos for as long as it lasted. That included logical interference from Morgan and IYO SKY, who are obviously facing each other for the Women's World Championship at Saturday Night's Main Event. This was a fun way to close the show.

Overall Show

Needless to say, this show had the tough task of following last week's edition of Raw, which was arguably the best all year. Despite that, this was still an above-average episode in my book with plenty going on that held my attention. There was an ample amount of hype for Saturday Night's Main Event as well as next week's Raw, and the bigger stuff delivered the way it needed to. Raw's on a roll right now and I hope the holiday season doesn't hinder its momentum.

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