Monday Night Raw Review - March 4, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Cody Rhodes Agreed to Join World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins in Confronting The Bloodline on SmackDown

This was a logical follow-up to Roman Reigns and The Rock's tag team challenge for WrestleMania 40 from last Friday, though I thought they'd officially accept it here and not wait until SmackDown to give The Bloodline their answer in person. This was more solid stuff from these two and the crowd was hot for them as always, but that "Diarrhea Dwayne" line was pretty bad. I'm shocked John Cena didn't say it during his rivalry with Rock all those years ago.

Intercontinental Champion Gunther def. "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio (Non-Title)

Mysterio teased challenging Gunther last week, but I didn't think we'd get a match between them. I just assumed Mysterio would be in some sort of number one contender's match, but this turned out to be a blast with Mysterio selling extremely well for Gunther's offense and the crowd eating it up. We found out later on that Gunther's WrestleMania opponent will be determined by a Gauntlet match on next week's Raw, which I'd love to see won by Chad Gable.

Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler def. Katana Chance and Kayden Carter

Have we seen Chance and Carter on Raw since they failed to get the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship back from The Kabuki Warriors last month? With how deep the division is, I don't see either of them being used much on their own, so this might be the last time we see them for a bit (until they're needed as enhancement talent again, that is). The match was fine for what it was. Damage CTRL told Stark and Baszler afterward that they'll get a shot at the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship next week on Raw. At least it's not happening at WrestleMania.

Nia Jax def. Becky Lynch by Disqualification

I was actually looking forward to this match as I thoroughly enjoyed their original encounter at Day 1 and it made sense for Lynch before she challenges Rhea Ripley for the Women's World Championship at WrestleMania. Unfortunately, this was disappointing. Lynch looked off throughout and they never seemed to click. I liked that Liv Morgan interfered and caused the contest to be thrown out because Lynch did the same thing to her last week. They'll go one-on-one on next Monday night.

Andrade def. Apollo Crews

Fun fact: Crews beat Andrade to win the United States Championship four years ago. Of course, not many people remember that because he's hardly been relevant since then. This was a simple squash to reestablish Andrade to the WWE audience. He's had a few run-ins with Dominik in recent weeks, so could that be the match at 'Mania? And did they already drop the Andrade El Idolo name they revealed in a vignette two weeks ago?

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Judgment Day (Finn Balor and Damian Priest) def. Imperium (Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci) (Non-Title)

This stemmed from Judgment Day and Imperium facing off last week. Similar to Gunther vs. Mysterio from earlier, this also had a heel vs. heel dynamic. It was very well-wrestled, though the crowd sounded quiet until they picked up the pace. I wouldn't have had Imperium lose so soon after beating The New Day in that Street Fight, but at least they looed credible in defeat. I assume we'll get an update on the status of the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship on Friday's SmackDown if not soon after.

Sami Zayn def. Ivar

It's odd that Ivar doesn't have a spot in the Intercontinental Championship number one contender's Gauntlet match but someone like JD McDonagh does. Oh well, he wouldn't have won, anyway. I like that Ivar served as another obstacle for Zayn in his quest for a match at 'Mania. This was fun. Zayn remains my pick to win that Gauntlet and him against Gunther would be undoubtedly deliver, but Chad Gable being the opponent would be tell the better story.

​​Drew McIntyre def. Jey Uso

We've seen this match a few times since late last year, but they have strong chemistry every time and this was another entertaining main event from them. McIntyre winning was the correct outcome and the interference from The Bloodline protected Uso. Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso costing Jey a win yet again should be enough to push Jey over the edge and challenge Jimmy to a match at WrestleMania. Rhodes and Rollins coming to Jey's aid afterward should see Jey join them on SmackDown when they confront The Bloodline on SmackDown.

Overall Show

While not as hot or as eventful as the last few weeks, this was a thumbs-up edition of Raw on the whole. The stuff with Rhodes, Rollins and McIntyre is the focal point as it should be, but there's plenty of other storylines in the women's, midcard and tag team divisions that have my interest at the moment. There was quality wrestling to boot as well as heavy hype for SmackDown and next week's episode, so the three hours were both effective and efficient.

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