This week’s episode of WWE Monday Night Raw will emanate live from the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. With WrestleMania 40 just around the corner, the WWE superstars will look to make an impact in their journey to the Grandest Stage Of Them All.

Advertised for this week:

1. Becky Lynch seeks retribution for the vicious beatdown she endured at the hands of Nia Jax last week as she battles The Irresistible Force in a Last Woman Standing Match.

2. Six teams will battle to earn the opportunity to compete in the Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder Match at WrestleMania for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships. Awesome Truth will battle Indus Sher, DIY will take on The Creed Brother, and The Alpha Academy will go head-to-head with The New Day.

Along with this, we will also witness Cody Rhodes’ response to The Rock Concert on last week’s episode of SmackDown and the latest developments in Drew McIntyre’s road to WrestleMania 40 after Seth “Freakin” Rollins stated that McIntyre was the least of his concerns heading into The Showcase Of The Immortals.

We could also witness Main Event Jey Uso’s response to his brother Jimmy accepting his challenge for a Uso vs. Uso match and how WWE books the Intercontinental Championship storyline with Sami Zayn becoming the No.1 contender to Gunther’s title.

Stay tuned as we bring new live updates as Monday Night Raw unfolds tonight.

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The Then Now Forever video package is shown.

Michael Cole welcomes us to Monday Night Raw and cameras cut to Cody Rhodes arriving at the arena with his dog Pharoah.

Segment 1: Jey Uso Addresses His Brother

Jey Uso mentions that he’s aware that The Bloodline are on the building and calls them out, and out comes Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa.

Jimmy enters the ring as Solo stays on the sidelines. The two Usos have a staredown in the middle of the ring.

The crown erupts in Uso chants. Jey Uso surprisingly asks Jimmy Uso to come back to him. Jimmy says that he never left him and that it was Jey’s idea to lead The Bloodline. Jimmy then says that Jey abandoned him and went on to become a main eventer, top merch seller, and a tag team champion with Cody Rhodes instead of him.

Jimmy says the biggest moment in Jey’s career was because of him. Jey says the biggest moment in his career will be his dream match at WrestleMania 40, The Uso vs. Uso match where he’ll knock the yeet out of him. Jey Uso tries to attack Jimmy but the tables turn with Solo Sikoa’s distraction.

The crowd calls for Cody Rhodes and out comes the American Nightmare. He takes out Jimmy Uso and hits Solo Sikoa with a Cody Cutter. Jimmy and Solo retreat as Cody helps Jey Uso up in the ring.

Rating – 2/5 – Not much was accomplished and could lead to a tag team match later on.

Michael Cole and Pat MacAfee build up the main event Last Woman Standing match between Nia Jax and Becky Lynch as WWE shows a video package of the two women’s history.

Cameras show Becky Lynch arriving at the arena.

Match 1: DIY Vs. The Creed Brothers – WrestleMania 40 Six-Pack Tag Team Championship Ladder Match Qualification

DIY makes their way out to the ring as we cut to commercials.

Backstage segment shows Adam Pearce arguing with Nick Aldis on his phone as Paul Heyman approaches him and apologizes for The Bloodline’s behavior and states that it wasn’t approved by “The Final Boss” The Rock or “The Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns. He mentions that Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa are gone from the arena and he too would be on his way if he was not doing his business. He states that he is there to do some business and that it’s going to catch everyone off guard.

Back to the match as The Creed Brothers make their entrance and Julius Creed and Tommaso Ciampa start things off. Julius takes down Ciampa and locks him in an ankle rock, but the latter reaches for the ropes. He exits the ring to catch a breather before entering again.

Julius Creed takes Ciampa out with a fireman’s carry takedown and tags in Brutus, who enters and has Ciampa down with his offense. Ciampa retaliates with a punch, but Brutus Creed hits him with a punch of his own.

Johnny Gargano steals a tag as Ciampa runs between the ropes and they double-team Brutus. They perform a suicide dive out of the ring onto their opponents as we go into commercials.

As we return Ciampa and Julius Creed are in the ring, and after a bit of action Julius tags in Brutus, who takes out both DIY members, He attempts a double pin on DIY but they kick out.

Julius tags in and attempts a pin on Ciampa for a kickout. Julius showcases his power by picking up Ciampa in suplex position on his knees and gets back on his feet as both Creed Brothers hit suplexes on DIY and later standing moonsaults for a near count.

They make multiple tags and double-team Ciampa, and look for their finisher but Gargano makes the save. Julius plants Gargano inside the ring as Brutus sends Ciampa over the announce table and celebrates with Pat MacAfee as we head into another commercial break.

Back to the action as Julius and Ciampa are in the ring and the latter tries to make a tag. Ciampa creates an opening and Gargano gets the hot tag and runs through The Creed Brothers.

He hits a slingshot spear on Julius for a near count and then chops him in the corner. Tag to Ciampa, who hits a White Noise on Julius from the second rope only for a two count. Ciampa chops Julius and the latter gets back on his feet and the two exchange punches.

Ciampa gets the momentary upper hand but Julius takes him down and locks in the ankle lock. Julius picks Gargano with one arm and hits him with a powerbomb. The Creed Brothers lock DIY with the ankle lock but the latter reverses into their submission moves.

But The Creed Brothers reverse and try moonsaults on Ciampa for a near fall. They attempt their finisher but Ciampa reverses. After a series of roll-up attempts, Ciampa gets the pin and DIY advances to the Six-Pack ladder match.

Winners – DIY

Rating – 3.5/5

We cut to Andrade and Judgment Day backstage. Dominick Mysterio and Rhea Ripley state that they don’t just let anyone in the group and that it’s an exclusive club, but tells Andrade to impress them for a chance to get in. Finn Balor says they’ll keep an eye on Andrade in his match next week and Andrade has a brief moment with Damian Priest.

Priest and Ripley talk about how JD McDonagh failed to take out Ricochet last week in the gauntlet match and give the task to Dirty Dom, as we go into commercials.

Michael Cole announces Thunderbolt Patterson’s induction into the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame and then shows the entire list of inductees.

Match 2: Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell Vs. Kayden Carter & Katana Chance

LeRae and Carter start off and go for multiple roll-up attempts. Indi Hartwell tags in and takes out Carter and then tags in LeRae.

A double tag in as Katana Chance looks to take out Indi Hartwell. It looks like Katana Chance hurt her leg, but Candice LeRae tags in and shows no remorse and targets the injured leg, and picks up the submission victory as Indi Hartwell looks on surprised.

Winners – Indi Hartwell & Candice LeRae

Rating – 1/5 Not much action but shows LeRae’s character development.

Michael Cole takes us on a recap of The Rock Concert from last week’s SmackDown.

Cameras cut to Cody Rhodes who’s on his way to the ring next to address The Rock.

Segment 2 – Cody Rhodes’ Response To The Rock Concert

We get a video package for the new Bray Wyatt documentary.

Cody Rhodes makes his entrance.

He starts off by building up how he’ll stand toe-to-toe with Roman Reigns for the second year in a row and hails Reigns for being the greatest champion. He states that he’ll be having a conversation with Reigns this week on SmackDown. He then addresses The Rock and talks about how he claims he’s everyone’s favorite heel. Rhodes says that he doesn’t think Rock’s a heel but that he’s an A**hole.

Cody reacts to The Rock taking shots at him shedding tears last week and claims that The Rock has been crying backstage to the TKO board and his PR team. Rhodes states that The Rock is a Mount Rushmore wrestler, but also states that he’s a whiny b***h.

Cody then talks about The Rock mentioning his mother and talks about The Rock’s mother in return. Rhodes states that he respects The Rock’s mother and that The Rock should replicate the same. He also states that his mother is not afraid of The Rock.

He then asks The Rock what happens when the bell rings at WrestleMania 40 as he hasn’t been in a match for a while. He asks if The Rock would bring Big Dwayne Energy to WrestleMania or is it going to be LDS (Little D*** Syndrome) and the crown erupts in LDS chants. He states that The Rock is not going to be The Final Boss at WrestleMania but will be Roman’s side chick.

Paul Heyman interrupts the segment and does his usual introduction. Heyman states that he’s there to offer Rhodes an apology for having NYPD officials attack Rhodes. He states that he has a message from Roman Reigns and builds up the face-to-face confrontation between Reigns and Rhodes on this week’s SmackDown.

He states that no member of The Bloodline will be present in the ring except him during the confrontation. Rhodes accepts the deal, but Heyman states that he forgot one little crucial detail. He says that if Roman Reigns shows up alone on SmackDown, Rhodes should also show up alone and not bring any backup. Rhodes accepts the deal and shakes hands with Heyman.

Rating – 4/5 – A profanity-filled response to The Rock and a perfect build-up to the upcoming face-to-face confrontation. A good segment overall.

We cut to Nia Jax backstage who states that Becky Lynch has never beaten her and claims to break her face once again and take her place at WrestleMania 40.

Match 3 – Ricochet Vs. “Dirty” Dominick Mysterio

Ricochet makes his entrance as we cut to commercials.

We see Cody Rhodes walking backstage and running into Jey Uso. Uso states that Rhodes shouldn’t go alone to SmackDown and that he’ll be there for him if he needs him.

Ricochet tries to take Dominick down but the latter responds with an elbow. Ricochet hits Mysterio with a springboard elbow and looks to hit a suicide dive onto Mysterio but JD moves him out of the way. But Ricochet eventually hits the dive and JD tries to grab his feet as he attempts to get inside the ring. He takes out Mysterio outside the ring as we head to commercials.

Dominick has Ricochet on the top rope, but the latter retaliates with a knee. But Dominick takes out Ricochet with a facebuster inside the ring for a near fall. Dominick attempts the Three Amigos but Ricochet reverses it for a near fall.

Dominick tries a roll up but Ricochet kicks out. Ricochet has Dominick in position for a 450 splash but Dominick moves out the way. After Ricochet takes out McDonagh, he hits his finisher on Mysterio to get the pin and goes 2-0 against The Judgment Day. He escapes an attack by McDonagh and celebrates outside the ring.

Winner – Ricochet

Rating – 2/5 A short match but contributes to long-term booking with Ricochet having the edge against The Judgment Day.

Sami Zayn talks to Chad Gable backstage and says it was an honor competing against him last week. But Gable is not in the mood for pleasantries, and states that last week’s opportunity meant more for him. Zayn says that it’s not fair and mentions he has a family too who looks up to him. But Gable says that was not the issue and claims Zayn can’t beat Gunther.

Segment 3 – Contract Signing For The Intercontinental Championship Match At WrestleMania 40 Between Gunther & Sami Zayn

Adam Pearce is in the ring and welcomes Zayn and Gunther to the segment.

Gunther and Zayn take their seats and when Pearce tries to start the proceedings, Gunther interrupts and questions Zayn’s dressing choice for the most important contract signing of all time.

Zayn retaliates and talks about how nobody ever believed in him throughout his career, and states that he ended the longest tag team title reign and vows to end the longest Intercontinental title reign at WrestleMania.

Gunther says Zayn should listen to Chad Gable and says everyone knows that Zayn can’t beat him and that even Zayn himself believes that he can’t beat Gunther. Gunther tells Zayn to keep on dreaming and believing and states at WrestleMania his dream will meet reality and signs the contract.

He proceeds to leave the ring but Zayn stops him and tells him to look him in his eyes and states that he’s looking into the eyes of the man who’s going to take him down at WrestleMania. Zayn walks out of the ring and heads backstage and walks past Awesome Truth and DIY.

Awesome Truth have a stare-down with Indus Sher backstage before they walk out for their match. But Truth had no idea they were his opponents for the night.

Rating – 3.5/5

Match 4: Awesome Truth Vs. Indus Sher – WrestleMania 40 Six-Pack Tag Team Championship Ladder Match Qualification

The Miz and R-Truth make their entrances singing their theme as we cut to commercials.

Indus Sher makes their way out. Sanga and Truth looked to start things off but Truth tags in The Miz instead. Sanga takes The Miz to his corner and tags in Veer.

The Miz takes some punishment in the ring, but he tries to get back to his feet with the crowd chanting for him. He fights to make the tag to Truth and Truth takes down Veer with John Cena’s shoulder tackles and proceeds to hit the Five Knuckle Shuffle.

Truth locks in the STF on Veer, but Sanga breaks it up. Miz and Truth try to double-team and hit Veer with their finisher combo. After a series of back-and-forths, R-Truth picks up the pin over a downed Veer after Sanga accidentally knocks him on top of his partner.

Winners – Awesome Truth

Rating – 2/5

Cameras show Drew McIntyre walking towards the ring backstage as we go into commercials.

Segment 4 – Drew McIntyre Addresses Seth “Freakin” Rollins

We see Sami Zayn talking to Chad Gable backstage and questioning him why he thinks he can’t beat Gunther. Gable says Zayn has to change his mentality if he looks to beat Gunther as the latter would look to take him down mentally and physically.

We see a video package of CM Punk announcing he’ll be at WrestleMania 40 and his appearance on next week’s episode of Raw.

Drew McIntyre makes his way out to the ring. But World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin” Rollins cuts him off before he could even reach the ring.

McIntyre doesn’t look happy as he’s being subjected to mind games by Rollins for the second straight week.

Rollins says he didn’t see McIntyre there as he was too busy soaking up the spotlight. McIntyre retaliates by saying after WrestleMania the spotlight will be all his.

Rollins calls himself a spotlight junkie and the crowd erupts in spotlight junkie chants. McIntyre asks if everything was a joke to Rollins and says he became a parody of himself. McIntyre states that he only cares about their world title match at WrestleMania.

He then tries to talk trash about CM Punk but Rollins interrupts and says it wasn’t a joke to him. Rollins says he’ll take down The Rock and his side chick Roman Reigns at Night 1 and the next night he and McIntyre will have the biggest spotlight during their world title match.

McIntyre asks why his and Rollins’ legacy and journey are not the reason for their match having the biggest spotlight. Rollins states that McIntyre wants the spotlight as much as he wants it and mentions his WrestleMania 36 main event in an empty warehouse and how McIntyre was not satisfied with it.

Rollins states that McIntyre will find out at WrestleMania that he’s not as good as he thinks he is and walks out of the ring.

Rating – 2.5/5

We see Becky Lynch building up her Last Woman Standing match against Nia Jax in the main event.

Match 5: The New Day Vs. Alpha Academy – WrestleMania 40 Six-Pack Tag Team Championship Ladder Match Qualification

The New Day makes their way out to the ring followed by Akira Tozawa and Otis. Let’s see where WWE is going with Chad Gable not being a part of this match.

Otis and Xavier Woods start things off, and Otis knocks Woods down with a shoulder tackle. Otis punishes Woods in the ring and tags in Tozawa. Woods gets the upper hand and tags in Kingston and they try to double team, but Tozawa fights them off.

Tozawa performs a suicide dive onto The New Day outside the ring and poses with Otis in the ring as we head to commercials.

Tozawa tags in Otis and Woods tags in Kingston. Otis takes Kingston down with clotheslines and a back elbow and then clotheslines Woods. He hits a World’s Strongest Slam on Kingston and goes for the Caterpillar and the elbow for a near fall.

Tozawa tags in and hits a top rope splash on Kingston for a near fall but Woods tags in and takes down Tozawa only for a two-count. Tozawa has Woods on the top rope and tries to perform a superplex but Woods fights him off but Tozawa reverses into a hurricanrana.

He performs a senton from the top rope onto Woods but Kingston breaks up the pin. Kingston takes out Otis outside the ring with a tornado DDT. Woods hits Tozawa with a sit-down powerbomb and goes to the top rope and hits a flying elbow for the pin.

Winners – The New Day

Rating – 2.5/5

Match 6: Last Woman Standing – Becky Lynch Vs. Nia Jax

We see Liv Morgan talking to Becky Lynch backstage and Morgan tells Lynch to watch out and that she can have Jax all to herself tonight.

Cody Rhodes is seen walking backstage with his dog and runs into Seth Rollins. They share a brief conversation about Rhodes’ one-on-one confrontation with Roman Reigns next week.

Becky Lynch makes her way to the ring followed by Nia Jax.

The commentators reiterate the fact that Becky Lynch has never defeated Nia Jax before and run down the rules of the match.

Lynch goes right after Jax with a drop kick and sends her to the corner. She then performs a diving drop kick onto Jax and sends her outside the ring. Jax then picks up Lynch on her shoulder and drives her onto the ring post and the barricade.

The referee starts the count but Lynch gets on her feet. Lynch tries to fight back outside the ring as we head to commercials.

The action continues and Lynch introduces a table to the match. Jax sends Lynch into the ring and takes out multiple steel chairs from underneath the ring. Lynch hits Jax with a steel chair and looks to hit a manhandle slam but Jax reverses it into a Samoan drop into the steel chairs. The referee starts the count but Lynch gets back on her feet.

Lynch has a sleeper hold on Jax and then bulldogs Jax onto a steel chair. Lynch looked to perform a top rope move but Jax hit her with a chair and went outside to bring in kendo sticks. Jax uses the kendo stick to target Lynch’s back and then bodyslams Lynch onto the steel chairs.

She then performs a leg drop on Lynch but The Man beats the count. Jax looks to lock Lynch by sitting on a steel chair over her, but Lynch fights her off with a Kendo Stick. Jax then hits her with the steel step but Lynch retaliates.

Jax beats the count and Lynch struggles her way to bring a table inside the ring as they cut to commercials.

The match continues and now there’s a ladder set up near the commentary table. Jax places Lynch on a table and climbs the ladder. Lynch falls down and then sprays a fire extinguisher onto Jax. The action heads inside the ring and Jax performs a Samoan drop on Lynch onto a table. Jax didn’t let the referee finish the count and perform a splash on Lynch, but Lynch wisely rolled out of the ring to beat the count.

Jax has Lynch on her shoulder, walks on the apron, and looks to Samoan drop Lynch outside the ring, but Lynch reverses it into a manhandle slam onto a table outside the ring. The referee starts the count but Jax beats it at nine.

Lynch climbs the ladder as Jax fumbles herself onto the announce table allowing Lynch to perform a leg drop on Jax through the table. The referee finishes the ten count and Lynch finally overcomes her Nia Jax kryptonite.

Winner – Becky Lynch

Rating – 3.75/5

Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley comes out to the ring and tries to trash-talk Lynch. Lynch gets on her feet and stands face-to-face with her WrestleMania 40 opponent as the show comes to an end.

Comments:

It was a decent show with WWE focusing on every single detail in all the rivalries as they head toward WrestleMania 40 in 19-days. Cody Rhodes delivered a scathing promo in response to The Rock Concert and didn’t hold anything back. He’s apparently walking into a trap on this week’s SmackDown as he agreed to meet Roman Reigns face-to-face, alone, with no backup.

Becky Lynch got one roadblock out of her way as she scored her first victory against Nia Jax and has her sights set on Rhea Ripley and the Women’s World Championship.

The WrestleMania 40 six-pack tag team championship ladder match is beginning to take place as The New Day, Awesome Truth, and DIY took their spot as the three teams from Raw. The final two teams will be decided on the upcoming episode of SmackDown.

Seth Rollins continued to play mind games with Drew McIntyre for the second consecutive week and it will be interesting to see how McIntyre redeems himself next week, especially with CM Punk making an appearance.

WWE did well to justify Sami Zayn becoming the No.1 contender to Gunther’s Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 40. But looking at how Chad Gable wasn’t a part of the tag team qualifying match tonight, makes one wonder if he’s not done with his quest to capture the Intercontinental Championship.

We’ll get more answers as the action unfolds in the upcoming weeks as we’re almost at the end of the road to WrestleMania 40.