Monday Night Raw Review - June 24, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Drew McIntyre Addressed Attacking CM Punk and Vowed to Win the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

This was the anger-filled rant I was expecting from McIntyre last week coming out of Clash at the Castle. In addition to addressing his attack on Punk on SmackDown, I'm glad he acknowledged the bracelet he took off Punk's wrist that has his wife and dog's names on it. Please tell me that means AJ Lee will soon be making a cameo on WWE TV for the first time in almost a decade! McIntyre vowing the win the Money in the Bank briefcase was an interesting twist. He has to qualify first, and if he does, perhaps Punk will show up in Toronto to cost him that, too.

Ludwig Kaiser def. Bron Breakker by Disqualification

This came about after Breakker destroyed Kaiser with that outstanding Spear on last week's show. Triple H sure does love his heel vs. heel matches, doesn't he? Breakker was basically the babyface here as he even played to the crowd at a few points. They had a quality contest before Sheamus got involved. Despite losing by disqualification for the second straight week, it was determined later on that Breakker will get an Intercontinental Championship opportunity against Sami Zayn anyway at Money in the Bank. On a side note, WrestleVotes reported during the show that Kaiser got hurt during this match, so hopefully it's nothing too serious.

Lyra Valkyria def. Kairi Sane and Shayna Baszler in a Triple Threat Match to Qualify for the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Sane and Baszler are two talented competitors, but there was no way either of them were winning here. Despite that, this was a good match with a fun finishing sequence. It's encouraging that Valkyria's push has been consistent since she debuted on the main roster. Meanwhile, Baszler and Zoey Stark are bound to go back after the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship soon, so it made sense for Sane to eat the pinfall loss here instead of Baszler.

Zelina Vega Confronted Women's World Champion Liv Morgan; Dominik Mysterio Shoved Rey Mysterio

Morgan continues to play her role exceptionally well as part of this storyline with The Judgement Day. It's easily her best character work ever. She was great again here while interacting with Vega and the Mysterios and the segment as a whole was solid. It set up two matches for next week's show in Rey vs. Dominik and Morgan vs. Vega for the Women's World Championship (which I'm surprised isn't being saved for Money in the Bank).

Chad Gable def. Bronson Reed and Braun Strowman to Qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Ilja Dragunov was announced as Gable's replacement late last week, but Gable was reinserted when it was determined (in storyline) that he could compete. I was happy he qualified for Money in the Bank because he'll be an awesome addition to that match. This was an enjoyable, well-wrestled Triple Threat. Strowman was protected in defeat with The Judgment Day interfering to cost him the victory.

WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre def. Katana Chance and Kayden Carter (Non-Title)

This was the weak point of the show, if only because the women's tag team scene means very little and the crowds don't care about the matches. Honestly, it's hard to blame them. This was okay and the women worked hard, but there was nothing out of the ordinary about it. Damage CTRL laid out the champions afterward, but I'm not sure who the crowd was supposed to cheer for with all of them being heels.

Gunther Interrupted World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest and Seth "Freakin" Rollins

I was already looking forward to Priest vs. Rollins at Money in the Bank, but I loved that they raised the stakes here with two new stipulations. They established that if Priest wins, Rollins can no longer challenge for the championship as long as Priest holds it, but if Rollins wins, Priest will have to leave Judgment Day. Rollins was my definitive pick to win prior to this segment, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe Judgment Day will intentionally cost Priest the title after his comments about how he doesn't need them? Meanwhile, Gunther's promo was short, sweet and straight to the point.

Karrion Kross def. Kofi Kingston

The fact this was thrown out there right before the main event in the third hour did them no favors, but I can't imagine the crowd was going to be too loud for this, regardless. They had a perfectly fine match in the time they were allotted. The finish played out predictably with Authors of Pain attacking Xavier Woods in the back and Kingston losing off that distraction, but at least Kross managed to win for a change.

The Judgment Day (Finn Balor and JD McDonagh) def. Awesome Truth to Win the World Tag Team Championship

Backstage earlier in the night, Morgan manipulated R-Truth into giving Balor and McDonagh another shot at the tag titles after already losing to them a few weeks ago. This was a well-worked match, but it wouldn't have been main event material had Judgment Day not gotten the belts back, which was the correct call. The stuff with Awesome Truth ran its course and it was time to move on. Morgan factoring into the finish was smart because it further endears her to Judgment Day and gives the group even more gold.

Overall Show

First and foremost, the VHS tape footage with Uncle Howdy and Bo Dallas (though I'm assuming they're still the same person in storyline and it was supposed to depict Dallas talking to himself) was fantastic. If we get more of that from The Wyatt Sicks, then this is going to be fascinating to follow. The rest of the show was strong and was on the same level as last week's excellent offering. Raw is on a roll right now with there being an abundance of storylines for fans to get invested in.

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