Top 10 Moments from the Raw After WrestleMania
WWE set up its immediate future on its famed Raw after WrestleMania
On a show that featured Cody Rhodes, The Rock, Rhea Ripley, John Cena, Jade Cargill, and CM Punk, here are the Top 10 moments from the Raw after WrestleMania 40:
10.) The Rock interrupts Cody Rhodes
Paul “Triple H” Levesque opened the Raw after WrestleMania to thank the WWE universe, who greeted him with cheers of “Thank you, Hunter”, and to usher in a new era of WWE.
Levesque welcomed the man who will lead the WWE into the future, the newly crowned Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. The night prior, in the main event of the second night of WrestleMania, Rhodes finished a story that was years in the making by ending the 1,316 day championship of Roman Reigns and capturing the title his father, Dusty Rhodes, never did. The emotion in the jam-packed arena was palpable as Rhodes stood in front of the Raw audience as champion for the first time. He described Reigns as possibly the greatest superstar of his generation, and himself as the man that was destined to defeat him. After spending the last two years chasing one goal, Rhodes has finally met it, and now looks forward to being the challenge rather than the challenger.
The Rock and Cody Rhodes
Courtesy WWE
Before he could continue, The Rock made his grand entrance, carrying the People’s Championship belt that was presented to him by Muhammed Ali’s widow at Friday’s Hall of Fame ceremony. He faced levels of disdain from the live audience, who chanted expletives at The Rock and booed him every time he lifted the microphone to speak.
The Rock gave Rhodes his metaphorical flowers, and then asked to hold Rhodes’s championship belt. Rhodes was hesitant, but when The Rock promised no shenanigans, Rhodes agreed on the condition that he get to hold The Rock’s belt. Tension hung heavy in the air as the two traded titles, and The Rock said that holding the WWE title “feels right.” He handed the title back and announced that he had to leave for a while, and the crowd responded with mixed reactions.
The Rock promised that he would return to go after Rhodes, and their story has just begun. Before he left, The Rock placed something in Rhodes’s hand, and warned him to never break his heart again. Whatever The Rock gave to Rhodes remains a mystery.
9.) Ilja Dragunov makes explosive debut
In the first match of the night, Shinsuke Nakamura faced off against NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov, making his main roster debut. The match was a hard-hitting battle, as should be expected from one man dubbed the King of Strong Style.
NXT champion Ilja Dragunov
Courtesy WWE
Dragunov quickly won the Raw audience over with his intensity, and won the match with a devastating flying headbutt, which he calls Torpedo Moskau.
8.) The Judgment Day celebrates their WrestleMania victories
The Judgment Day cut a promo about their nearly perfect WrestleMania weekend. Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, and Dominik Mysterio introduced Rhea Ripley, who successfully defended her Women’s World Championship against Becky Lynch on Saturday, and Damian Priest, who became World Heavyweight Champion after cashing in his Money in the Bank contract on a newly crowned Drew McIntyre. The one upset for the group was the loss of the Undisputed Tag Team Championships. Balor and Priest failed to retain either sets of titles, with Austin Theory and Grayson Waller winning the SmackDown championships and Awesome Truth winning the Raw championships.
The Judgment Day
Courtesy WWE
R-truth popped up to celebrate with The Judgment Day, still believing himself to be a part of the team. Unhappy with the interruption, The Judgment Day challenged R-Truth and The Miz to put their newly attained titles on the line right then and there. R-truth pointed out that they could not accept, as there were three of them. While his math did not seem to check out, Truth suggested a six-man tag team match between the team of Balor, McDonagh and Mysterio, and Awesome Truth plus “the guy you can’t see”. The Miz was wary about an invisible teammate who may or may not exist, but The Judgment Day quickly accepted, and wasted no time in attacking Awesome Truth.
7.) John Cena assists Awesome Truth
Despite The Miz’s hesitation, the match began as a two-on-three handicap match. Unsurprisingly, The Judgment Day dominated Awesome Truth for most of the match with the numbers advantage. When Awesome Truth appeared to be at their lowest, the familiar sound of trumpets rang through the arena, and John Cena, the guy you can’t see, ran out to save the match.
John Cena returned to Raw
Courtesy WWE
The Miz tagged in Cena and he immediately started clearing house. The Miz, Cena, and R-Truth simultaneously hit three five knuckle shuffles and pinned all three of their opponents to win.
6.) Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio’s next rivals
After a crushing defeat, Dominik Mysterio talked to Rhea Ripley as they walked through the halls backstage. Ripley told him not to worry about John Cena, but the bigger issue of Andrade. Dom said he had been scouting Andrade to help him take down his father, Rey Mysterio, and possibly join The Judgment Day. But on the SmackDown before WrestleMania, Andrade revealed himself to be a double agent, and teamed up with the elder Mysterio to defeat Dom and Santos Escobar at WrestleMania.
As soon as Mysterio left to talk to Raw general manager Adam Pearce about the issue, Ripley was struck in the head by a flying steel chair. The chair was thrown by Liv Morgan, who wasted no time in continuing her attack on Ripley. Last year, Morgan was injured so severely by Ripley that she was unable to compete for several months. While the physical wounds may have healed, Morgan is dead set on vengeance.
5.) Roxanne Perez exacts her revenge
Saturday at NXT Stand & Deliver, Roxanne Perez defeated Lyra Valkyria to win her second NXT Women’s championship. Last night on Raw, she faced Indi Hartwell, who held the title after Perez was forced to vacate it.
NXT champion Roxanne Perez
Courtesy WWE
Perez was ruthless, but Hartwell was accompanied by an equally ruthless Candice LeRae at ringside. LeRae attempted to help Hartwell by knocking Perez over when the official looked away, but Hartwell refused to capitalize on it. LeRae argued with Hartwell and the official, while Perez got back to her feet and raked the eyes of Hartwell. Perez used the opportunity to put Hartwell away for good.
LeRae’s unethical assist cost her partner the match, but she placed the blame on Hartwell and chastised her for not taking advantage of the assist. With the first victory of her second championship reign, Perez got back at the person she felt stole the first one from her, and impressed the Raw audience while she was at it.
4.) Sami Zayn and Chad Gable team up against Imperium
New Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn was serenaded by an arena full of fans as he entered the ring to celebrate his victory at WrestleMania.
On Saturday, Zayn defeated Gunther to end the longest Intercontinental championship reign of all time. As Zayn thanked the people who helped him accomplish the lofty task, he was interrupted by Gunther’s Imperium partners, Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci. The two vowed to make Zayn pay on behalf of Gunther. As Kaiser and Vinci closed in on Zayn in the ring, Chad Gable ran out to even the odds, leading to a tag team match.
Sami Zayn and Giovanni Vinci
Courtesy WWE
Of all the people Zayn thanked for helping him defeat Gunther, Gable may be the most important. After losing the match for the title shot to Zayn, Gable offered him his coaching services and led him to victory. Zayn and Gable made an excellent team against Imperium. In the end, Zayn had Vinci down for the count, but stepped aside to allow Gable to make the pin and secure the win as thanks for all of his help.
After the match, Zayn agreed to return the favor by putting his title on the line next week on Raw.
3.) Jade Cargill squashes Chelsea Green
Backstage, Chelsea Green approached the three general managers of Raw, SmackDown, and NXT as they discussed the upcoming draft. Green was infuriated that she was left off the WrestleMania card and threatened to speak to their higher ups. The managers told her that they’ve received her many, many complaints and that to make up for it, they had a surprise waiting for her in the ring. But once she arrived to the ring, Green was less than pleased with her surprise opponent, Jade Cargill.
Jade Cargill
Courtesy WWE
Cargill, who defeated Damage CTRL in a six-man tag at WrestleMania with her teammates Bianca Belair and Naomi, quickly put a terrified Green out of her misery in a match that lasted about thirty seconds.
2.) Drew McIntyre promises to get his title and his revenge
The night after winning–and losing–the World Heavyweight Championship in the span of a few minutes, Drew McIntyre marched to the ring completely and utterly enraged. He finally got his big moment in front of fans, but his celebration, and title reign, was cut incredibly short by Damian Priest cashing in his Money in the Bank contract and snatching the title from him.
Drew McIntyre
Courtesy WWE
McIntyre hurled several insults at Priest and vowed to take the title back from him. He also blamed CM Punk for the upset, then vowed to go after him on sight. McIntyre’s impassioned promo almost distracted from the real reason he was in the ring, a fatal four-way match to determine the number one contender to the world heavyweight championship. The audience was quickly brought back to reality when McIntyre’s longtime foe, Jey Uso, made his entrance and cut off the Scottish Warrior mid-sentence.
1.) CM Punk costs Drew McIntyre the match–again
McIntyre and Uso were joined by Ricochet and Bronson Reed for this fatal four-way. Ricochet delivered a predictably spectacular performance, Reed looked especially impressive in this match, proving why he deserved to win last Friday’s Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
Though McIntyre took a significant beating, his desire to regain the World Heavyweight Championship helped to carry him to a near victory. Uso was already in a weakened state after facing his brother Jimmy in a match on Saturday and spearing him off of the entrance ramp during the chaos of Sunday’s main event.
Jey Uso
Courtesy WWE
In the end of the main event of Raw, Uso was ripe for the picking–and McIntyre seemed intent on capitalizing. That is when Punk showed up and prevented McIntyre from nailing Uso with a Claymore. The interference allowed Uso to get back to his feet and finish off McIntyre, pinning him for the victory and the number one contender’s spot.
Jey Uso and CM Punk
Courtesy WWE
McIntyre did not need any more reasons to hate Jey Uso or CM Punk, but he certainly got one last night.
Drew McIntyre
Courtesy WWE
