Wrestling On FanNation

CM Punk’s Return Marked The Highlight of Raw

The Top 10 Takeaways from Raw

Justin Barrasso

Here are the top 10 takeaways from last night’s Raw:

10.) Liv Morgan accepts Nia Jax’s challenge

The new Women’s World Champion Becky Lynch opened the show to celebrate last week’s victory in the battle royal for the title vacated by Rhea Ripley.

Lynch discussed her vision for her title reign, including the question of who her first challenger will be. Liv Morgan interrupted to make her case for the spot. Morgan argued that Lynch owed her a favor, as the only reason she was able to win the title is because Ripley was forced to vacate it after Morgan injured her.

The conversation was cut off by Nia Jax, who was drafted to SmackDown on Friday. The new rosters determined by the draft do not go into effect until May 6, making this Jax’s last night on Raw. She told Lynch and Morgan that if she was leaving, she’d be taking one of them with her. Morgan responded by drop kicking Jax, and accepting her challenge for a match later that night.

9.) First round of WWE Draft Night Two

In the first round of the draft, Stephanie McMahon announced the picks for both Raw and SmackDown.

Raw first selected Imperium, Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser. Notably missing was Giovanni Vinci, who would be drafted separately after being excommunicated from Imperium last week.

SmackDown first selected Jade Cargill, who has already proven herself to be a star despite debuting in WWE only four months ago.

Raw’s next pick was Damage CTRL; Iyo Sky, Dakota Kai, and Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka and Kairi Sane. The team moved to Raw from SmackDown, and therefore away from their former leader and current WWE Women’s Champion, Bayley.

Smackdown finished off the first round by selecting Kevin Owens, who was traded to the blue brand in exchange for Jey Uso last fall.

8.) Gunther defeats a former King of the Ring

Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser, the two remaining members of Imperium and Raw’s first round draft pick, headed to the ring for the first match of the night.

Last week, Giovanni Vinci was kicked out of the group by way of being brutalized by Kaiser at Gunther’s orders, after costing himself and Kaiser a victory against The New Day. This week, Gunther faced Xavier Woods of The New Day one-on-one, with Kaiser and Kofi Kingston at ringside to accompany their respective teammates. Prior to the match last week, Gunther declared himself for the upcoming King of the Ring tournament, as did Woods, a former King of the Ring tournament winner.

After injuring Woods’s knee during the match, Gunther continued to target it throughout the match. He put Woods in a half crab, putting immense pressure on the weak knee, and while Woods was unable to break the hold and looked to be in immense pain, he refused to tap out. Kingston ran to grab a towel and throw it in to save his partner, but Woods insisted he could continue to fight. He inched towards the ring ropes in an attempt to break the hold, but Gunther dragged him back to the middle of the ring and switched the hold into a modified STF, leaving Woods with no choice but to tap out. Gunther’s victory against a former King of the Ring was a massive momentum builder heading towards this year’s tournament.

7.) Patrick Mahomes assists Logan Paul, Braun Strowman returns

Logan Paul and iShowSpeed presented the second round of draft picks. When the two arrived at the arena earlier in the night, they were accompanied by Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The three of them were welcomed by The Judgment Day, led by World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest. Priest will be defending his title for the first time at Backlash this Saturday against Jey Uso, who was Raw’s first pick in the draft on Friday. Paul made it abundantly clear that the defending champion was his pick to win the match.

In the second round of the night’s draft, Raw selected CM Punk and Braun Strowman. SmackDown selected The Pride; Bobby Lashley, Angelo Dawkins, Montez Ford and B-Fab, and Tiffany Stratton. Strowman had yet to return from an injury that kept him out of action for several months, but the rest of those selected in this round remained on the brand they appeared on pre-draft.

After announcing the draft picks, Paul responded to Jey Uso’s comments made during an interview with Cathy Kelley earlier in the night. Uso had been asked about Paul’s comments at the top of the show, and replied by implying he was the lesser of the two Paul brothers. Paul did not get much out before Uso interrupted him. He invited the crowd to help refute Paul’s claims, and they enthusiastically supported him. JD McDonagh and Finn Balor approached, surrounding Uso with adversaries. Sensing an attack was imminent, Uso struck McDonagh first, but he was outnumbered. Paul sought additional assistance from Mahomes, who sat in the front row and offered Paul his three Super Bowl rings to wear and use as a weapon against Uso. McDonagh held Uso steady so that Paul could punch him in the face, but not steady enough. Uso ducked out of the way and Paul’s ring-adorned fist connected with McDonagh’s very square face, much to Uso’s delight. He used the opportunity to attack Balor, but was still outnumbered two-to-one. Uso was not outnumbered for long, as the returning Strowman came to his aid.

Balor and Paul were no threat to the Monster of all Monsters, and he quickly sent them packing. Strowman began to approach Mahomes and his Chiefs teammates, Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith, before Uso convinced him to back off.

6.) Bronson Reed and Chad Gable shoot for the Intercontinental Title

Bronson Reed finally got the Intercontinental Championship match he wanted after attacking Sami Zayn for weeks.

Reed put up a hell of a fight, but Zayn delivered a helluva kick which likely would have won him the match. However, before the referee could count to three, Chad Gable appeared and lifted Zayn from the pinfall to deliver him a German suplex. This ended the match via disqualification, but Gable was not done. He continued to rain hell on Zayn until he was pulled off by officials. There would be no respite for Zayn, however, as Reed immediately climbed to the top rope and hit him with a tsunami while the Intercontinental Champion rolled around in pain.

Gable picked up the title to hold it over Zayn, but Reed picked Gable up to deliver a Death Valley Driver that sent the belt flying, before going to lift it in the air himself. With two men willing to take any means necessary to win that championship, Sami Zayn may be in serious trouble.

5.) CM Punk sends McIntyre on a wild chase

In the third round of the draft, Raw selected LWO; Rey Mysterio, Dragon Lee, Zelina Vega, Cruz Del Toro, Joaquin Wilde, and Carlito, and Drew McIntyre, while SmackDown selected Legado Del Fantasma; Santos Escobar, Angel, Berto, and Elektra Lopez, and Shinsuke Nakamura.

McIntyre was offended about being selected in the third round of the draft, especially since his adversary, CM Punk, was drafted in the second. While he bemoaned this decision, Punk interrupted from a suite in the arena, taunting him. McIntyre turned around to hunt him down, but when he arrived in the suite, it was empty. Punk had already made his way down to the ring, forcing McIntyre to watch him speak from the box. Punk explained that he was drafted first simply because he is better than McIntyre. While both men are injured, that has not stopped them from doing everything they can to drive each other mad.

4.) Maxxine Dupri fails to meet Coach Gable’s expectations

Ivy Nile and Maxxine Dupri faced Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae after Dupri eliminated both Hartwell and LeRae in last week’s battle Royal for the Women’s World Championship.

Maxxine Dupri with an ankle lock
Maxxine Dupri with an ankle lock / Courtesy WWE

Dupri took her frustrations out on LeRae and Hartwell after being bullied by not only them, but her coach Chad Gable as well. Gable has adopted a “tough love” method of coaching that has yielded questionable results. While Dupri showed impressive improvement and passion, it wasn’t enough to thwart LeRae and Hartwell. Dupri had LeRae in an ankle lock, but was distracted when Hartwell shoved Nile into the ringpost, and she broke the hold. LeRae used the opportunity to turn the match around and pick up the win in what would be her and Hartwell’s final match on Raw.

3.) Chaos ensues in Liv Morgan vs Nia Jax match

Following their confrontation at the top of the show, Liv Morgan faced Nia Jax.

Morgan seemed like the clear underdog in the match against the powerhouse Jax, as she is significantly smaller, and it took both Morgan and Becky Lynch to eliminate Jax in last week’s battle royal. Despite appearances, Morgan more than held her own against Jax.

From the audience, SmackDown’s Tiffany Stratton took in the action. On Friday, Jax interfered in Stratton’s match against Naomi, forcing a disqualification. She was unable to watch the match in peace, however, as she was attacked by Naomi, who she will face at Backlash, along with WWE Women’s Champion Bayley in a triple threat match. Frustrated by the two fighting at ringside, Jax knocked Naomi off the apron, and Morgan used the distraction to take Jax off guard and secure the victory.

2.) The Draft continues

The final three rounds of the draft saw several interesting developments, including exciting newcomers called up from NXT.

In the fourth round of the draft, Raw selected The Judgment Day; Finn Balor, “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh, and Ilja Dragunov from NXT. While Damian Priest did not appreciate the rest of his group being picked so late in the draft, he wasn’t particularly surprised given their recent track record. After Dragunov’s astounding main roster debut on the Raw after WrestleMania earlier this month, his call-up should come as no surprise either. Over on the blue brand, Smackdown selected Naomi, as well as Chelsea Green and Piper Niven, surely to the delight of Raw general manager Adam Pearce.

The NXT callups added a new element to the draft
The NXT callups added a new element to the draft / Courtesy WWE

In the fifth round, Raw selected The New Day; Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, and Lyra Valkyria from NXT. Valkyria had an impressive career in NXT, defeating Becky Lynch for the NXT Women’s Championship and holding it for 164 days before dropping it to the current champion, Roxanne Perez. It may not be long until she holds gold on the main roster as well. SmackDown retained Pretty Deadly, and acquired Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell, freeing Maxxine Dupri from their torment.

In the sixth and final draft round of the night, Raw retained The Final Testament; Karrion Kross, Scarlett, Paul Ellering, Akam and Rezar, and “Big” Bronson Reed. The Final Testament had been feuding with The Pride on SmackDown, but now that they are on Raw, Kross’s faction has a whole new roster to terrorize. Smackdown’s final selections were DIY; Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, and Blair Davenport from NXT. Davenport tore through the women’s roster in NXT and won the Iron Survivor Challenge at last year’s Deadline. On SmackDown, Davenport has access to a whole new roster of opponents to destroy.

1.) Jey Uso back in the main event

The exciting night was capped off with a six man tag team match, pitting The Judgment Day’s Damian Priest, Finn Balor, and JD McDonagh against Jey Uso, Ricochet, and Andrade; a team bound by their disdain for The Judgment Day. Uso will challenge Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship on Saturday at Backlash, and Ricochet and Andrade have been the target of The Judgment Day for weeks, though the team had yet to defeat them in competition.

The Judgment Day had been coming up short in competition recently due to a lack of communication, and this match was no exception. As the de facto leader of the group, Priest tried to wrangle his teammates, but it was like herding cats. Dominik Mysterio distracted the referee to allow for some questionable offense, and Priest had Uso in position to chokeslam him from the top rope. McDonagh thought he was helping when he pushed Uso off, but that only allowed him to escape Priest’s grip.

Jey Uso and Damian Priest
Jey Uso and Damian Priest / Courtesy WWE

The blunder caused a momentary argument, allowing Uso to recover and superkick Priest into Balor, knocking him off the ring apron. Uso was able to single-handedly neutralize every opponent and pin Balor for the win, a significant victory as he heads into his match against Priest at Backlash.

Published |Modified
Justin Barrasso

JUSTIN BARRASSO

Justin Barrasso has been writing for Sports Illustrated since 2014. While his primary focus is pro wrestling and MMA, he has also covered MLB, NBA, and the NFL. He can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com and followed on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.