WWE RAW Hits And Misses (9/30/24)

Welcome to the latest edition of our weekly WWE RAW hits and misses series.

Last night’s RAW went down at Evansville’s Ford Center in Indiana. Featured superstars included Jey Uso, Rhea Ripley, CM Punk, The Judgment Day, and Gunther.

Here’s what went down on the final RAW before WWE Bad Blood.

Hit – New belt for Mr. MonJey Night

Jey Uso kicked off WWE RAW from the crowd. Mr. MonJey Night shared a hug with his son before entering the ring with his new Intercontinental Championship. Jey promised to be a fighting champion. He shared what his mother told him before the match with Bron Breakker. The former Intercontinental Champion interrupted the promo to show respect to the champion.

WWE brought back the blue for the Intercontinental Championship. They shouldn’t have gotten rid of it in the first place. Jey is the people’s champion. (No offense to The Rock who’ll always be the OG People’s Champ in my book.) Breakker showing respect to Jey was sweet. Let’s see what’s next for the second-gen Steiner.

Miss – Major WWE RAW superstar injured

The injury bug has struck again. Ilja Dragunov is the latest WWE superstar to be sidelined with an injury. The Mad Dragon tore his ACL during a live event outing against Gunther on September 28. The broadcast team also said that Dragunov would miss six to nine months due to the injury.

Ilja is one of my favorite superstars on the roster. He brings so much intensity and realism every time he gets in the ring. I hoped to see Ilja versus Jey for the Intercontinental Championship, but that doesn’t seem like it.

Hit – A legend unmasked

Xavier Woods took on Rey Mysterio for the first time on WWE RAW last night. The closing moments saw Woods unintentionally remove Mysterio’s mask causing a major distraction for the Hall of Famer. Xavier then capitalized on the momentum to pin Mysterio for the win.

This was a fun ending to a so-so match. The storyline at play here is that Woods is starting to realize that winning is all that matters on WWE TV. He didn’t want to unmask a legend, but didn’t mind picking up a controversial win, either.

Miss – Zoey Stark vs. Lyra Valkyria on WWE RAW

Zoey Stark and Lyra Valkyria collided in singles action. Stark nailed a missile dropkick to gain momentum. Sonya Deville caused a distraction allowing Stark to hit a Z360 for the win. The Collective ganged up on Valkyria, but they were stopped by Kayden Carter and Katana Chance.

Sometimes you’ve got to let your talent go all out in the ring. That wasn’t the case last night on WWE RAW. This match would’ve been a lot better if it weren’t for TV time restrictions. Hunter really needs to start giving more time to women’s wrestling on television.

Hit – CM Punk and Drew McIntyre talk inside hell

Adam Pearce brought security to the ring for CM Punk and Drew McIntyre. Both men cut promos on each other inside the cell. McIntyre puts over his tux. Punk said he had been living in a hotel room for the past four weeks because he didn’t want his wife AJ to see the man he’s become. He ended the promo with a reference to hell.

Lowering the cell to sell the bad blood between Punk and McIntyre was a brilliant idea. This promo didn’t need physicality. It was more about psychological warfare last night. Punk’s boogeyman line was brilliant. The man has a way with words like no other. This match needs to main event Bad Blood.

Miss – The Miz turns heel on R-Truth

Awesome Truth reunited for a tag team match against AOP. Miz got the tag and attacked his own partner instead of taking out their opponents. Karrion Kross did his job. He convinced Miz to be himself after all these months of tagging with Truth.

I can’t wrap my head around this heel turn. Miz turned heel by grazing Truth on his leg. He could’ve used a Skull Crushing Finale like he did against Logan Paul at WrestleMania two years ago. Let’s see how Miz fares as a heel under Triple H.

Hit – Last Monster Standing match on WWE RAW

Braun Strowman and Bronson Reed collided in the main event. Reed took some nasty bumps. Strowman took out multiple men with his dive. The ring imploded following a superplex. Seth Rollins returned to plant Reed with a curb stomp on the steel steps, allowing Strowman to become the Last Monster Standing.

They delivered a PLE quality match on regular TV. Strowman and Reed absolutely destroyed each other inside the ring. Even some ‘fans’ got rattle during the second barricade spot. Seeing Strowman hit a dive was absolutely nuts. Seth taking out Reed with a curb stomp has me pumped for their feud.

Honorable Mentions

• Finn Balor cut a promo on Damian Priest. Rhea Ripley and told the world Dominik was claustrophobic. Mami took on Liv and Dom on the outside while Damian tried to pick apart rest of the group. Priest, however, soon found himself outnumbered against The Judgment Day.

• Gunther versus Sami Zayn is set for next week’s WWE RAW after Zayn ‘persuaded’ the Ring General to put his world title on the line. Gunther is retaining next week, no doubt. WWE also teased Gunther versus Bron Breakker.

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