Monday Night Raw Review - September 16, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

CM Punk Addressed Drew McIntyre

We've pretty much heard it all from Punk and McIntyre throughout their feud this year, but I appreciated Punk switching up his tone by coming across darker than normal. Yes, some of what he said was a tad dramatic, but then again, they spent the entire summer feuding over a damn bracelet. Despite that, this was strong stuff from Punk. Now it's up to him and McIntyre to live up to the hype when it matters most inside a structure that finally feels special again.

Pete Dunne def. Sheamus

These two can consistently be counted on to beat the holy hell out of each other. I enjoyed this as much as their original encounter a month ago and I'm glad Dunne is being made to look competitive in there with Sheamus. Not only that, but he also scored the win. Dunne using a cricket bat at ringside looked silly, but the end result was the right one to keep their rivalry going.

Natalya def. Zoey Stark

Natalya winning her team in Calgary last week was a nice moment, but I can't say I'm jumping for joy over her feuding with Pure Fusion Collective for the next several weeks in a string of matches that mean nothing. That was once again the case here. It was a well-wrestled match, but I don't blame for the crowd being quiet. It didn't help that half of it happened during the commercial break.

Jey Uso Attacked Intercontinental Champion Bron Breakker

Uso and Breakker have had a few run-ins backstage in recent weeks, but this was the promo exchange they needed to increase the intensity and excitement for their championship clash. Uso cut one of his better promos this year and Breakker was also very good in his delivery. I wish their match was being saved for Bad Blood and not next week, but I'm sure they'll get the main event spotlight.

World Tag Team Champions The Judgment Day (Finn Balor and JD McDonagh) def. The New Day (Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston)

New Day didn't need to do much to earn this opportunity other than beating The Final Testament in that six-man tag team match last month, but at least we got a World Tag Team Championship defense for the first time since Judgment Day won the belts three months ago. This was a solid match and Woods blaming the loss on The LWO coming down to ringside to thwart the rest of Judgment Day's interference furthers his frustration.

Bronson Reed vs. Braun Strowman Never Got Underway

Reed attempted to jump Strowman before the bell and it was complete chaos from that point forward. They attempted to top themselves with one wild spot after another and it made for a super fun segment that the crowd was into. This was an excellent way to avoid doing the rematch and perhaps building toward a Falls Count Anywhere match (or something similar) between them. Props to WWE for keeping Reed rolling since his awesome attack on Seth Rollins last month. It's been the perfect role for Strowman as well.

Sami Zayn Attacked Ludwig Kaiser After World Heavyweight Champion Gunther Again Turned Down His Challenge

I thought this would be the week Gunther vs. Zayn for the World Heavyweight Championship was made official for Bad Blood, but apparently not. Hey, I'm not complaining. They're not taking the predictable route and are instead creating more fan interest in the match. All three guys played their roles well here and effectively set up Zayn vs. Kaiser for next week's show.

IYO SKY def. WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Bianca Belair

SKY and Belair have had a number of matches against each other dating back to their NXT days and they've always had terrific chemistry together. This was another entertaining outing from them and it's cool they got as much time as they did. The final stretch or so was wonderful and the clean win for SKY was a pleasant surprise. The commentators played it up like a big deal because Belair rarely gets pinned.

Damian Priest def. "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio

We nearly got this match before Bash in Berlin, but it never got underway. Priest has bene running through all of Judgment Day since right after SummerSlam, so I don't think they'll be able to keep the feud going for too much longer (depending on what happens at Bad Blood between Balor and Priest). With all of that said, this was a hot match with a lot going on around ringside. Priest scored the decisive victory, but Judgment Day once again stood tall afterward. That Spear from Breakker to Uso out of nowhere at the end was amazingly executed, too.

Overall Show

As much as I'm looking forward to Raw returning to two hours in early October, WWE did a superb job of filling the three hours this week, specifically more with angles and promos than with matches. Belair vs. SKY was an in-ring highlight, but the best parts of the show were Punk's promo, more dissension with New Day, Strowman and Reed brawling all over the arena, and the build for Bad Blood and next week's Raw. This was easily an above-average episode.

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