Monday Night Raw Review - June 10, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Judgment Day Confronted Drew McIntyre

McIntyre and Damian Priest have had some solid exchanges on the mic over the last month, but the material hasn't been anything super strong and the build for their bout at Clash at the Castle has suffered as a result. It doesn't help that they're both currently heels, so the crowd doesn't have an incentive to cheer for either of them in these segments. If nothing else, this established that Judgment Day would be barred from ringside during Priest vs. McIntyre on Saturday if McIntyre beat Finn Balor later in the night.

IYO SKY def. Lyra Valkyria

This was a rematch from their encounter in the Queen of the Ring semifinals and they once again worked really well together. It's a shame the crowd was as quiet as could be. It was very competitive to where Valkyria looked credible in defeat and the indecisive finish (which included Dakota Kai interference) creates the need for a third match. Until then, we'll be getting a six-woman tag team matchup as Katana Chance and Kayden Carter made the save for Valkyria afterward. Interestingly, SKY teased changes within Damage CTRL a little later on, but I'm not sure what those changes would entail exactly.

Braun Strowman and The LWO (Dragon Lee and Rey Mysterio) def. Carlito and The Judgment Day ("Dirty" Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh)

Priest acted like Carlito was a full-fledged member of Judgment Day a little later in the show, but they have yet to make it official the same way they did with JD McDonagh late last year. Nonetheless, this was a nice six-man tag team match and the crowd was probably at their loudest all night when Strowman was on offense. Lee picking up the pinfall win for his team was cool to see. Hopefully he's going to get showcased a bit more with Ricochet set to leave the company.

Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn def. Otis (Non-Title)

There really wasn't much to the match at all. It was actually incredibly brief. The focus was largely on the pre-match promos from Zayn and Chad Gable as well as Otis laying out Zayn afterward. We've definitely reached that point in the program where it's time to have Otis snap on Gable. It'll make for a big reaction, but if it happens at Clash at the Castle like I think it will, that all but guarantees Gable isn't winning the Intercontinental Championship, which is unfortunate.

Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark def. Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn

I suppose this was a logical match to do after Fyre and Dawn interfered in Baszler and Stark's WWE Women's Tag Team Championship opportunity against Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill last week, but it wasn't logical to have Fyre and Dawn lose clean to further establish that they don't belong in that Triple Threat tag team title match at Clash at the Castle beyond them being Scottish. These were two heel teams and the crowd couldn't have cared less. I don't blame them.

Bron Breakker def. Ilja Dragunov

I loved the video packages that aired for both guys coming into this contest. This was terrific stuff and easily the best thing on the entire episode. I almost understood the crowd being quiet for most of the other matches on this show, but the fact they sat on their hands for a majority of this match was simply egregious. These two deserved better, but I give them credit for killing it, regardless. Breakker went on to practically murder Ricochet in a backstage attack later on in the show to write him off ahead of his reported departure. It was an excellent angle.

World Tag Team Champions Awesome Truth def. Authors of Pain

AOP won their last two matches on Raw, so it was logical for them to receive a title shot despite not winning a formal number one contender's match (which I had no issue with because we've seen enough of those lately). Unfortunately, as soon as this was announced earlier in the episode, it was obvious AOP weren't winning due to interference from The New Day and that's exactly what happened. I was actually hoping they would because the Awesome Truth reign has run its course. The match was fine what for what it was.

Drew McIntyre def. Finn Balor

This should've felt like a hotter main event than it did considering the level of talent involved, but it was yet another heel vs. heel match, so who was the crowd supposed to cheer for? At least there was the stipulation that Judgement Day would be barred from ringside during McIntyre vs. Priest at Clash at the Castle if he won. CM Punk is still going to get involved and cost McIntyre, isn't he? This was a good way to close the show.

Overall Show

I've mostly enjoyed Raw since WrestleMania 40, but this had to have been the dullest edition we've gotten in some time. The crowd was awful all night, but it wasn't completely their fault in some situations. Granted, they should have been louder for Breakker vs. Dragunov, but we got multiple matches and segments pitting heels against each other and that's part of the problem with Raw right now. The lack of top-tier babyfaces is apparent. On the whole, the show was decent and I'm looking forward to Clash at the Castle, but the build for the pay-per-view has been subpar, to say the least. 

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