Monday Night Raw Review - October 2, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Nia Jax vs. Shayna Baszler Ended in a No Contest; Cody Rhodes Saved Jey Uso From The Judgment Day

This was essentially two segments crammed into one. Jax and Baszler brawled to start the show and Raquel Rodriguez and Rhea Ripley returned to attack Jax, so Jax vs. Baszler never got started. That led to Ripley bringing out the rest of Judgment Day (sans Finn Balor) and going off on them for their lack of success in her absence. Rhodes saving Uso led to the announcement that they will challenge Balor and Damian Priest for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship at Fastlane.

Imperium (Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci) def. Alpha Academy

I do want Chad Gable to eventually get another opportunity at the Intercontinental Championship, but it feels too soon for him to be working with the Imperium guys again. He needs a bit of a break from them. That said, this was really good stuff and I was happy to see Imperium win a tag team match for a change. Kaiser and Vinci have had issues as of late, but they managed to remain a cohesive unit here.

Bronson Reed def. Cedric Alexander

Poor Alexander is without a tag team partner at this point with Shelton Benjamin recently being released. I'm honestly shocked Alexander wasn't cut, too, but I guess the company needs jobbers. What a waste of talent. On the bright side, I'm glad Reed is racking up wins again and this was a solid showcase for him, but the guy desperately needs direction. He hasn't had any for almost his entire run on Raw. Are there really no babyfaces he can have a real rivalry with?

Intercontinental Champion Gunther and Tommaso Ciampa's Intercontinental Championship Contract Signing Descended Into a Brawl

It was never said when their championship clash was happening, but I definitely didn't think they'd rush into it on this show instead of saving it for Fastlane or at least next week's Raw. That screams Vince McMahon decision to me, though it might be because the other matches previously announced for this episode had to be changed. At any rate, this was your average contract signing that set the stage nicely for their match later on.

Xavier Woods def. Ivar

WWE really doesn't want to let this New Day vs. Viking Raiders rivalry go until Erik is cleared to compete and we get that two-out-of-three falls match they advertised a few weeks ago. If Erik is actually injured, it might be time to forget about that and move on because we've already seen enough of New Day vs. Viking Raiders to last us a lifetime. That said, both men again had really good singles showings here and made the most of the time they had. That moonsault Ivar did afterward to both Woods and Kofi Kingston was damn impressive.

Shinsuke Nakamura Attacked World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins

This entire feud has been pretty paint-by-numbers, but WWE has done what they can to stretch this out for two pay-per-views. Nakamura has done strong work as a heel, but does anyone actually view him as a legitimate threat to the title? I'd love to see him beat Rollins and take the title, even if it was only for a brief reign, but I'm not holding my breath. This was what it needed to be with Nakamura again standing tall.

Tegan Nox def. WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Chelsea Green

Similar to Priest vs. Uso, Becky Lynch defending the NXT Women's Championship against Nox on this show also had to be bumped due to a minor injury Lynch suffered at NXT No Mercy this past weekend. She'll still get her opportunity at some point. Instead, Nox beating Green was a fine use of her in the meantime. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the match, but a win is a win for Nox and she needs the momentum. Meanwhile, the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship remain a total afterthought.

Drew McIntyre def. The Miz

McIntyre appearing on Miz TV again was also advertised for this show, but that was changed to McIntyre coming out to the ring by himself and Miz interrupted him. This was one segment I didn't mind getting changed because we did not need the same thing we got from them last week. Even the exchange we got was pretty lame. Thankfully, their impromptu match didn't last long. The best part about this was McIntyre furthering his slow-burn heel turn by hitting Miz on an exposed turnbuckle post and winning with his old finisher, Future Shock.

Jackie Redmond Interviewed Cody Rhodes

​​Rhodes will occasionally do promos from the ramp, which is a refreshing change of pace compared to what we usually get backstage and in the ring. They'll be quick promos that give the live crowd another chance to see him. This was fairly forgettable and probably didn't need to happen, but it did exist so Rhodes could announce that he'll be on Friday's SmackDown to counteract Judgment Day.

Intercontinental Champion Gunther def. Tommaso Ciampa

For a match that came together at the last minute, this was a hell of a main event and I appreciate that they received as much time as they did. The crowd was quiet early on, but Ciampa and Gunther did a terrific job getting them into the action as it progressed with their hard-hitting style. I don't know how many people actually bought into the idea of Ciampa becoming champ, but he was made to look credible in defeat and that's what mattered most. Johnny Gargano returning afterward to reunite DIY with Ciampa was a pleasant surprise and I'm super excited to see them get back in the tag team ranks.

Overall Show

WWE has largely kept Raw interesting since SummerSlam thanks to the overarching stories with Judgment Day, Rhodes, Uso and others, but I didn't think this was the most thrilling three hours in recent memory up until the main event. A lot of matches had to be changed due to unforeseen circumstances, but that main event alone salvaged this show. As for the Fastlane build, it's been weak, but I'm expecting the usual fun pay-per-view on Saturday night. It might be a short show with only five matches unless WWE adds another before then.

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