Monday Night RAW in San Antonio offered several matches with massive implications for WrestleMania XL. Most revolved around the Intercontinental Championship. Not only did Gunther defeat Dominik Mysterio handedly, setting JD McDonagh up for the gauntlet match next week, but Sami Zayn also earned a massive win over Ivar, giving him victories in back-to-back weeks heading into the gauntlet.
The IC title wasn’t the only championship with a lot on the line this week though. The Women’s Tag Team Championship, Women’s World Championship, and Universal Heavyweight Championship all saw developments during the show as well. Whether it was a brewing feud between Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan, a long-awaited shot at a title for Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler, or Seth “Freakin” Rollins and Cody Rhodes confirming that they’d have each other’s backs through thick and thin, San Antonio constantly had WWE fans on their feet.
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Here are some of the highlights.
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Drew McIntyre squares off against “Main Event” Jey Uso
Early on during the night, USA Network offered this awesome promo for their main event.
Hearing the crowd echo “YEET” after every sentence from Uso’s mouth was enough to get anyone hyped for the fight. The fight itself delivered on every front.
Obviously, McIntyre is fresh off one of the biggest wins of the year at Elimination Chamber, so he was the favorite coming into this fight, and he was cooking, tossing Uso into the announcer’s table. McIntyre followed that up by mocking Uso’s catchphrase right in front of the announcers.
Luckily, Michael Cole had McIntyre’s back.
As expected, other parties started to get involved toward the end of the fight. Both Solo Sikoa and Cody Rhodes came in later to defend McIntyre and Uso respectively. That wasn’t the end of the surprise appearances though. As usual, Jey’s brother Jimmy had to ruin his brother’s chances at another big win.
After the pin, Jimmy Uso wandered into the ring with a steel chair, looking to destroy his brother, but Seth Rollins came in at the last moment, blowing right past McIntyre to defend Jey. McIntyre wasn’t very pleased at Rollins’ dismissal of him though, and it’s clear that act has only added more fuel to the fire between those two.
Sami Zayn takes on Ivar
This match was introduced earlier in the night as Zayn was interrupted during a backstage interview where he tried to mention that his path to WrestleMania lied through Gunther and the Intercontinental Championship. Ivar, alongside Valhalla, disrupted the interview to inform Zayn that he is not good enough to challenge Gunther for the IC title, but Ivar is.
Zayn clapped back, claiming that he could beat Ivar, which would prove Ivar’s statement wrong. That was all it took for the match to get underway.
Despite Zayn being arguably the most likable superstar in WWE right now, Ivar and Valhalla stole the hearts of the crowd and Michael Cole before the match even started when Valhalla planted her antler crown on commentator Michael Cole.
Even with the crowd chanting “Ivar” early on, Sami Zayn was solid from the get-go, knocking Ivar over the ropes at one point.
Ivar landed more than a few blows of his own though, and it turned into a very back-and-forth match. Even the crowd turned back to Zayn halfway through.
Zayn had an opportunity to finish Ivar off with a Helluva Kick, but Ivar stopped that in its tracks with a blow to Zayn’s chest. Unfortunately for Ivar, the match didn’t last much longer. Zayn would come out victorious, setting himself up for a big showdown in a gauntlet match against Ricochet, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bronson Reed, JD McDonagh, and Chad Gable next week for a chance against Gunther and the Intercontinental Championship.
Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci vs. Finn Balor and Damian Priest
After Dirty Dom’s humiliating defeat at the hands of Gunther, the two strongest male members of The Judgment Day took matters into their own hands, taking on Gunther’s Imperium lackeys in Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser. This all came after Priest volunteered wannabe Judgment Day member, JD McDonagh to “make things right” with Gunther. McDonagh asked Raw general manager Adam Pearce to put him in the ring against The Ring General, but that promo was hilariously cut short by USA Network.
As for the match itself, the Tag Team Champions proved too much for Imperium. Balor delivered a devastating scissor kick to Kaiser at one point.
With each move that The Judgment Day doled out, Imperium kept bouncing back up. As always though, Giovanni Vinci would end up taking the pin. Señor Money in the Bank clotheslined Vinci before delivering a South of Heaven that even Brock Lesnar would have a tough time recovering from. The Judgment Day wins.
Andrade vs. Apollo Crews:
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The long awaited debut of Andrade in WWE kicked off immaculately as he entered the ring with a new theme song. Fans loved it.
Everyone is expecting Andrade to be a star in WWE, and his first match was nothing short of spectacular. The crowd in San Antonio was going nuts all throughout.
In a surprise to no one, Andrade massacred Crews in the match, and we can expect to see more of him in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania.
WWE announcers thank wrestler Sting during RAW
Arguably the most shocking development of the night was hearing announcer Michael Cole offer a thank you to former WWE wrestler Sting, who announced his retirement from professional wrestling on Sunday.
The thank you came during the matchup between Gunther and Dominik Mysterio. Sting had not worked with WWE since 2015 and had competed for AEW since 2020. He’d spent nearly 40 years as a professional wrestler and is a WWE Hall of Famer, having been inducted in 2016.
Becky Lynch and Nia Jax tried to settle their grudge
Jax got off to a quick start against Lynch, but with the San Antonio crowd backing her, Lynch was able to crawl back into the fight. Early on, every effort Lynch made to damage Jax fell flat. Arguably the most devastating moment came when Nia Jax landed a Samoan drop on Lynch outside the ring.
The hits just kept coming from Jax though. A monstrous leg drop from the second rope nearly took Lynch out of the match.
Becky Lynch started to climb back afterwards holding Jax in a disarmer at one point, which turned into an arm bar. Just as Lynch was finding her footing though, Liv Morgan came to interfere just as Lynch interfered in Morgan’s match against Jax a week ago.
Morgan’s involvement gave Jax the win via disqualification. Despite both Lynch and Morgan have a common enemy in Jax, the two could not stop bickering, which led to Jax getting a few licks in on both superstars after the match had finished.
Lynch and Morgan continued fighting backstage after the match. Lynch claimed her interference was more acceptable as she was retaliating against Jax, while Morgan was retaliating against Lynch. Regardless, their dispute led to the pair agreeing to fight next week. Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley watched the entire situation unfold with a smile on her face, knowing that Lynch was losing track of her ultimate goal.
Tag Team Match: Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark vs. Katana Chance and Kayden Carter
With an opportunity to face Asuka and Kairi Sane for the Tag Team Women’s Championship on the line, Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark made quick work of their opponents Katana Chance and Kayden Carter while Damage CTRL was watching ringside.
That’s not to say there weren’t any close calls. Zoey Stark endured a double Spanish Fly from Chance and Carter and still somehow managed to kick out.
Ultimately, Stark and Baszler were able to come out victorious, finally earning their chance at the Women’s Tag Team Championship. Damage CTRL was obviously unimpressed with the victory and even threatened Stark and Baszler before the pair left, claiming that they were going to make Stark and Baszler cry “just as [they] did to Bayley.”
Dominik Mysterio takes on Gunther:
After the Judgment Day made it clear they were coming after the Intercontinental Championship, a match between Gunther and Dominik Mysterio was going to happen sooner rather than later.
Shockingly, neither Gunther nor Mysterio entered the ring with their faction in tow. No members of Judgment Day were ringside, and neither Giovanni Vinci nor Ludwig Kaiser were in attendance to defend their Ring General.
Gunther got off to a quick start with a massive chop on Mysterio.
The chops didn’t stop. Gunther kept delivering painful blow after painful blow. At one point, Dom even tried to chop Gunther, which ended about as well as you would expect. Later on, Gunther had the opportunity to finish Mysterio off, but didn’t allow the count to finish. He was not done punishing Dirty Dom.
Mysterio bounced back with a few covers of his own afterwards, even connecting a 619 on Gunther at one point. However, Gunther stayed alive and soon after delivered a drop kick and power bomb to Mysterio in quick succession that immediately led to his victory via submission.
Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins address The Rock’s challenge:
The show kicked off with Rhodes entering the arena to talk about how The Rock and Roman Reigns have antagonized him ever since he won the Royal Rumble in late January. Rhodes even addressed the comments The Rock made regarding Cody Rhodes’ dog, Pharoah.
It didn’t take long for him to bring out Rollins though, and the two of them got down to business right away.
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Rhodes graciously offered an out to Rollins claiming that he would understand if Rollins did not want to accept The Rock’s challenge and focus entirely on maintaining the World Heavyweight Championship against Drew McIntyre.
Rollins wasn’t having it though. He told Rhodes that he wanted to take down the Bloodline just as much as Rhodes did, claiming that just like Rhodes, Rollins needed to finish his story as well. Rollins continued that taking down the Bloodline would be the most impactful move he could make regardless of his World Heavyweight title.
Rollins then mirrored Rhodes’ question back to him. “Will you [Cody Rhodes] have my back?” Rhodes did not give a definite answer but heavily implied that he will be there. Rhodes ended the segment saying he would give an answer at SmackDown this upcoming Friday.
How to watch Monday Night RAW:
- When: Monday, March 4, 2024
- Where: Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, TX
- Time: 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
- TV: USA Network
- Stream: FuboTV
Watch RAW:Stream WWE RAW with Fubo
Match Card for WWE RAW, March 4:
Here are tonight’s confirmed matches.
- Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax
- Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso
Highlights from most recent RAW:
Feb. 26 at SAP Center saw a myriad of impactful events, a few of which had ramifications that we will see tonight. For one, Becky Lynch’s attack on Nia Jax during her match with Liv Morgan. After Jax blindsided Lynch during her meeting with Rhea Ripley, Lynch went on the offensive, ending the Jax-Morgan showdown in a DQ, and fracturing the relationship between Lynch and Morgan.
On the men’s side, the showdown between Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura finally saw Zayn take down the man who’d been pestering him for weeks.
After the fact, Zayn made it known that he was coming for “The Ring General” Gunther and the Intercontinental Championship. However, he wasn’t the only one interested in that belt.
With so many people gunning for Gunther, it seems that a match should happen tonight to determine who will get to face the longtime IC champion at WrestleMania, although no such match has been confirmed.
Predictions for tonight’s matches:
Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax:
As great as Nia Jax has been as of late, it is Lynch’s time to shine as her march toward Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania continues. The Man will need to pick up some momentum prior to the big event, and a win against someone who has been a constant thorn in her side would be a great start. If Jax is to win, some interference from Ripley could be in the cards.
Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso
After their altercation a week ago, this match had to happen, but it likely won’t end well for “Main Event” Jey Uso. It just wouldn’t make much sense if McIntyre built up his resume to take on Seth Rollins with a win at Elimination Chamber, just to lose to Uso less than ten days later. McIntyre’s heel run has built him up as a devastating challenge for Seth Rollins, and Uso could merely be another method of proving McIntyre’s strength, building anticipation for WrestleMania.
What to expect from Cody Rhodes and Seth “Freakin” Rollins:
On Friday, the Rock offered a challenge to Rhodes and Rollins, asking the pair to take on himself and Roman Reigns in a tag team match on Night 1 of WrestleMania. The Great One added that if Rhodes and Rollins were able to defeat him and The Tribal Chief, the rest of the Bloodline would not interfere during Rhodes’ official title match against Reigns.
While it would make a lot of sense for Rhodes to accept this match, seeing as how there is virtually no downside for him, Rollins may want to focus solely on his title defense against Drew McIntyre. If he gets beat down by The Rock and Roman Reigns, he may not be able to defend the World Heavyweight Championship. That said, it seems likely the pair will accept. Not only would this be the easiest way to get The Rock involved in the ring during WrestleMania, but it would also be a fantastic way to get the Jey Uso-Jimmy Uso storyline back up if the Bloodline were to go back on their word and remain in attendance for the Universal title match even after a loss the first night.
Jey Uso now has a history of fighting alongside both Rhodes and Rollins. In fact, Uso is fighting Rollins’ World Heavyweight title match opponent tonight. Given his history with the Bloodline as well, it would make sense for him to get involved in the match that could finally see Roman Reigns’ title run end.
When is WrestleMania XL:
WrestleMania XL (or 40) is set to begin on April 6, 2024 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.
What matches have been announced for WrestleMania XL?
- WWE Women’s Championship Match – Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bayley
- WWE Women’s World Heavyweight Championship Match – Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch
- WWE World Heavyweight Title Match – Seth Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre
- WWE Universal Heavyweight Championship Match – Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes
What caused the backstage fight between McIntyre and Jey Uso?
During a heartfelt interview with Jackie Redmond, Uso told Redmond that he felt he kept coming ups short in his endeavors and that something was holding him back. McIntyre interrupted the interview to tell Uso that he deserves all the pain he’s feeling. That started a massive brawl backstage, which we will see the end result of tonight.
How did Cody Rhodes first shot at Roman Reigns go?
WrestleMania 40 won’t be Rhodes’ first opportunity to seize the Universal Heavyweight title away from Roman Reigns. In fact, as 2023’s Royal Rumble winner as well, Rhodes had a shot at Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39. Obviously, Rhodes lost, but not until after Bloodline enforcer Solo Sikoa interjected himself in the match to seal Reigns’ victory. Rhodes has been waiting all year for another shot at Reigns. Should he and Rollins accept The Rock’s challenge and win during Night 1 of WrestleMania, no such interjection from the Bloodline would be allowed to keep Reigns at the top of WWE.
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