JM: Is WWE RAW Better Than Sleep? (September 23rd 2024)

It’s 1am.

That can only mean one thing: I’m awake far earlier than I should be. Will it be worth it? That depends on the men and women of Monday Night Raw. Here we go! (CONTAINS SPOILERS).

Dom & Liv

As Dom & Liv make their way to the ring we get a delightful nod back to last week with Reed & Strowman throwing each other through a table… And that’s it? Interesting. I hope that becomes a thing for every backstage segment tonight but getting more and more ridiculous each time. Raw’s resident power couple make their way to the ring, and I can do without hearing Wade Barrett ever say “raw, sexual magnetism” ever again. Nothing against the Preston accent but I’m not sure the word “sexual” has ever been said in that town.

As expected the heat is nuclear. If you’d said to me a couple of years ago these two would be the most hated heels in the company I’d have said you were crazy, and yet here we are. Feels like a rare misstep in the modern era that Rhea Ripley interrupts to deliver the “bombshell” that Dominik Mysterio will be in a shark cage for their title match at Bad Blood… which was revealed on-screen less than 5 minutes earlier. Although Dominik’s reaction is outstanding, it’s not the strongest start to a Raw ever. Unless we’re supposed to believe Adam Pearce waited until Dom & Liv had already got to the ring before making that decision, and then had the creative department on speed dial to design the graphic.

Sami Zayn vs Ludwig Kaiser

Sami Zayn continues to be over and his ring work is always excellent, but seeing him in a relatively 50/50 match with Ludwig Kaiser doesn’t convince me he’s the one to beat Gunther. I don’t know if there’s something funky going on with the sound in the UK stream but the commentary is a few seconds ahead of the action. This is a) somewhat disorientating and b) means every single move is choreographed before it actually happens. Please fix this immediately WWE / TNT, it’s making the show unwatchable.

I get that Sami is meant to be an underdog and there’s an argument to protecting Ludwig Kaiser; he’s got a great look, he’s good on the mic, and he’s starting to get over independent of Gunther. But I don’t understand the logic of Zayn taking such punishment during the middle section of the match. I know, I know, he overcomes adversary with his never-say-die attitude, but Kaiser isn’t on the same level as Gunther and he’s still struggling to get the win. If you’re the champ, would that convince you to give him a title shot? Nothing wrong with the match itself, they’re both excellent at their craft and the action is flawless, but the story continues to baffle me. I’m just not bought in.

Post-match Gunther comes out to announce that he’s similarly unconvinced. I don’t blame him!

Long run of backstage segments

I don’t normally comment on each backstage segment but it’s a solid ten/fifteen minutes before we get back to the ring so I suppose here goes! The New Day set up a match with American Made while also reminding us it’ll be their ten-year anniversary in November. Do they break up before that or will we get a classic WWE celebration ceremony disaster? My money’s on the latter. A Jey Uso video package is followed by a super-awkward Judgement Day interaction with Ilja Dragunov before Carlito makes his way to the ring.

I know wrestling is a soap opera for men, but we don’t normally get soap opera acting from the performers. With the Creed’s awkward interaction and high-school scoff at the New Day followed by some truly cringe-worthy ‘walking’ from the Judgement Day… I dunno, maybe I’m being too harsh but it’s not like I’m expecting Emmy-winning performances here. Just something a little better than school drama class.

Carlito vs Dragon Lee

Finally some in-ring action to write about… It’s remarkable how different the reactions for Judgement Day are. Despite being accompanied by Dirty Dom, the crowd doesn’t sound that fussed about Carlito. Honestly there’s not a lot to write about this match. It was fine, it continued the simmering heat between Judgement Day and LWO, but they weren’t given the time to make much of an impact.

Miz vs Bronson Reed

We’re  an hour in and frankly, I’m regretting this idea. The only thing worth staying up for so far has been Dom’s reaction to being told he’s going behind bars. Braun Strowman interrupts Bronson Reed’s entrance and we’re back in brawl territory, so maybe hour two will be an improvement. I don’t know what trouble they were expecting but there’s a lot more backstage security guards than I would’ve expected tonight… And honestly, they should all be fired. Strowman and Reed continue to shrug them off as if they’re made of paper. It might not hit the heights of last week but the crowd reaction alone tells you these two are doing something right. It won’t be a 5-star Meltzer classic but I’m excited to see them officially clash.

Drew McIntyre

This rivalry continues to deliver absolute, top-tier quality. McIntyre continues the emphasis on how significant Hell in a Cell matches are, how much this particular feud is impacting their families, and delivers an excellent less-is-more promo. I cannot wait for Hell in a Cell, I fully expect McIntyre and Punk to smash it out of the park and deliver one of the best HiaC matches in a long time, if not ever.

Unholy Union vs Damage Ctrl

What can I say? This was a very good match and the crowd were into it, which I wouldn’t necessarily have predicted. It’s a testament to both teams but particularly Damage Ctrl, who do an excellent job of drawing the audience in. The action is smooth (if you can ignore the clear daylight between Iyo Sky’s punches and their targets) and the stakes feel real. Iyo Sky picks up the pin for her team and “Damage Control” are on a Damage Win-Roll”… I’ll pack my things.

New Day vs American Made

New Day continue to be over despite their dissolution being teased. Even their mismatching ring gear tells a story, with Kingston in shiny green and Woods in black and grey. It’s a little touch but clearly shows they’re not on the same page. That being said, they’re pulling the teamwork out in this one and looking strong. Ridiculously strong, in fact, with Xavier Woods no-selling chops like he’s Undertaker against Santino Marella. I’m loving the character work, with Xavier finding another level of intensity now that he’s the ‘leader’ of New Day.

We’re back from the break and American Made are having a good spell on top. Generally speaking I’d say modern WWE is great at making both competitors (or sets of competitors) look good in any given match. Kofi gets the hot tag and is really emphasising his high-flying offence, a sharp contrast to the more no-nonsense, aggressive style we’ve seen from Xavier Woods. Speaking of aggressive, he pulls Chad Gable into the ring for approximately 4,693 stomps and that’s what costs New Day the match.

Shortly after the match we get a Xavier Woods / Rey Mysterio confrontation that I’m totally here for. Woods being jealous of all the former world champions is another nice touch for his eventual turn on Kofi and I’m interested to see what happens next week.

Jey Uso vs Bron Breakker

The Intercontinental Championship is on the line, the crowd is loud, and it looks like they’re being given plenty of time to put on something special… Does that mean we’re getting a new champion or that there’ll be another segment after the main event? Place your bets folks.

They’ve done a good job of giving this a big-fight feel and the action is solid throughout. Uso has such a connection with the crowd and Breakker is doing a great job of stopping him in his tracks whenever momentum appears to be building. Both men seem close to the top of their game and the crowd is always hot for Uso. Bron Breakker is one hell of a specimen; I’m beginning to think he’s losing tonight but that doesn’t take away from the bright future he has with WWE. I suspect we’ll be discussing his first world title win sometime in the next 5 years, and at just 26 years old he’s only going to get better.

The big moves are coming out and the clock is ticking. A huge superkick from Uso is followed by a spear through the barrier, a spear in the middle of the ring, and finally an Uso splash from the top rope. Is this his moment? Yes it is! And the crowd goes absolutely crazy for it. We get pyro as we go off air, and I’ll give some additional credit to Joe Tessitore; commentary makes a big difference to title moments and he nailed that. Excellent work.

It felt like quite a random episode of Monday Night Raw for Jey Uso to finally get his moment, but you have to say it’s been coming for a long time. Similar to LA Knight and the US title, Jey Uso gets his reward for connecting with the crowd in the form of gold around his waist. The Bloodline story continues to cement itself as the greatest ever, turning a tag team specialist into a legitimate singles star and now singles champion. Full credit to Jey Uso for taking us on this journey and congratulations on a well-deserved place in the illustrious lineage of Intercontinental champions.

Final Thoughts

A few weeks ago I would never have thought I’d be looking forward to a ‘Last Monster Standing’ match between Braun Strowman and Bronson Reed, but here we are! I’d even go as far as to say I’m hoping for some sort of shenanigans so they can have a payoff match at a PLE. The TV they’ve produced over the last couple of weeks has been excellent, with a nice dose of silliness in it for good measure.

I’m intrigued by the New Day storyline, impressed by Damage Ctrl, and fully invested in Punk/McIntyre… but outside of that, it didn’t feel like there was a huge amount to get excited about this week. Dom/Liv and Finn Balor are telling good solo stories but I struggle to find the new Judgement Day interesting as a collective. If felt like there were a lot of backstage segments and vignettes, and while they all served a purpose it didn’t lead to the most coherent show.

Maybe I’m being too harsh and it’s all part of Triple H’s master plan to show the execs at Netflix “hey, we’d be an incredible show if you cut an hour from the runtime.” Time will tell I guess. But for this week:

Was Raw worth staying up for?

Not this week I’m afraid. For me, that was a rare miss.