Our WWE Raw results for tonight include Roman Reigns kicking off the Raw Crown Jewel go-home show, CM Punk returning, Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch taking on Maxxine Dupri, and Lyra Valkyria clashing with The Judgement Day’s Roxanne Perez. Here’s our review and grades for tonight’s show, live from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
WWE Raw Card:
- Roman Reigns to kick off the Crown Jewel go-home show
- CM Punk returns to Raw
- Becky Lynch vs. Maxxine Dupri
- Lyra Valkyria vs. Roxanne Perez
WWE Raw Results:
The OTC has Arrived
The OTC Roman Reigns stands in the ring while being showered in chants. Reigns tells the Dallas crowd to acknowledge him. The crowd obliges. Bronson Reed‘s music hits. Reed walks out on the stage with Paul Heyman. Heyman tells the crowd to acknowledge their Tribal Thief and the one man Reigns fears, Bronson Reed. After a chorus of boos, Heyman reminds Reigns that the only time Reigns was left on a stretcher was after an encounter with Reed. Reed brings up Reigns’ father. Reigns says Heyman knew his dad, but Reed didn’t. Reigns asks Heyman if he knows what his father would say right now. He’d say: Fight him now.
Heyman holds Reed back. Reigns tries to goad Reed into a fight. Heyman challenges Reigns to face Reed in an Australian Street Fight at WWE Crown Jewel. Reigns accepts. Heyman says goodnight and starts to walk away. Reigns quips that they walked in here like some tough guys, but they are leaving like a bunch of b*tches. Reed stomps back to the ring. Reigns and Reed brawl. Reigns clears off the commentary desk. Security breaks it up. Reigns blasts Reed with a Superman Punch that sends Reed into the timekeeper’s area.
Grade: B
Solid opening segment to set up a gimmick match at the next PLE. Reigns is most likely taking an L here. If he beats Reed again, they might as well just toss Reed back down to NXT. If the goal is to make Reed, he needs a signature win. This will definitely be that.
Becky Lynch vs. Maxxine Dupri
Dupri lands a few strikes. Lynch isn’t taking Dupri seriously. After a few shots, Lynch takes Dupri down. Lynch floors Dupri with a shoulder block. Lynch mushes Dupri. Dupri tries to fire back, but Lynch clotheslines Dupri. Dupri fires up. The fight spills out of the ring. Apron senton by Dupri. Dupri celebrates and gets tossed into the barricade. An angry Lynch launches Dupri into the barricade with an exploder. After the break, Lynch runs into a pump knee strike. Dupri lands a flurry. Fisherman’s suplex by Dupri. Dupri kips up and pulls down the straps. Lynch blocks a spin kick. Dupri rolls Lynch into an ankle lock. Lynch trips Dupri into the corner and nails her with a running knee.
Dupri counters Lynch’s corner ten punches with a walking powerbomb for a near fall. Dupri goes up top. Lynch cuts Dupri off. Superplex by Lynch. Dupri kicks out. Lynch transitions into an armbar. After a series of reversals, Dupri lands a German suplex and a spin kick. Lynch kicks out at 2.9! Dupri lands a crossbody. Lynch rolls through with a handful of tights. Dupri kicks out. Dupri rolls up Lynch and puts her feet on the ropes. Lynch kicks out! The fight spills to the floor. Lynch beats down Dupri. During the count, Lynch keeps getting in the referee’s face. Lynch stands on the commentary desk, playing to the crowd. Dupri rolls in, and the referee (MAY) have sped up her count to get to ten to count Lynch out.
Winner- Maxxine Dupri
Grade: B-
This was Dupri’s best match ever. The way it was constructed built to a heck of a fun finish. Normally, count-out victories are flat and uninteresting. Not this one. Lynch gave Dupri just enough to sell Dupri, getting the three count. As each near fall happened, this writer and most of the crowd were on the edge of their seats, thinking the impossible was about to happen. This was a good piece of business.
Lyra Valkyria w/Bayley vs. Roxanne Perez w/Raquel Rodriguez
Valkyria lands a flurry of strikes. Perez slams Valkyria to the mat. After a distraction from Rodriguez, Perez snaps Valkyria against the ring post. After the break, Valkyria fires up and lands a series of big moves… Valkyria’s arm is too injured for her to hook Perez’s leg during a fisherman’s suplex. Valkyria goes up top. Rodriguez distracts the referee.
Read More: Roxanne Perez Reacts To Facing Pressure Of Waiting For WWE Main Roster Call-Up
Perez sneak attacks Valkyria. Bayley grabs Valkyria’s arm, to hold her in place while Perez tries a suplex. After Perez crashes to the mat, Valkyria lands a moonsault for a near fall. Rodriguez takes out Bayley. Valkyria takes out Rodriguez. Perez dives through the ropes and blasts Valkyria with a tornado DDT. Perez pins Valkyria with Pop Rocks.
Winner- Roxanne Perez
A livid Bayley drags Valkyria up the ramp so they can get their lick back.
Grade: B
Fun match TV. Perez and Valkyria have meshed well since NXT. Raw needs more matches like this one. Not too much gaga, just enough to make the match, and the angle accompanying it more depth. Also, Perex getting a win is NEVER a bad thing.
Punk Returns
Punk has a sing-along with the crowd and asks if they missed him. After cheers from the crowd, Punk has a few things to address. The crowd cheers as Punk thanks them for the warm welcome they gave his wife, AJ Lee. Punk notes that he promised Cody Rhodes he would stay out of his business with Seth Rollins. He started the year beating Rollins, and he’s going to end it that way. Punk proclaims he has earned a rematch for his World Heavyweight Championship. LA Knight interrupts. Knight gets in Punk’s face and asks him to look in his eyes and tell him what he sees. Punk says a guy who interrupted him. Knight claims he is next in line for Rollins.
Knight puts Punk over for being a good husband, but a trash champion. He only had the championship for five minutes. Rollins has beaten Punk over and over again. Knight asks Punk if he knows who has never been pinned by Rollins. Punk says, let me guess: the guy who’s never been world champion. Knight brushes that hilarious comeback off and says he’s the last person to beat Rollins, and he’ll be the next. Jey Uso interrupts.
Jey says he’s going to stop them right here. He’s the one, and he’s up next for the championship. Yeet. Knight says Jey isn’t quite Roman enough to win out here and he should focus on the tag team division. Jimmy Uso walks down the ramp. Jey superkicks Knight. Punk says he thinks Jey came out to interrupt Knight, so he thinks they are still cool. With that, Knight may have a point. Maybe Jey should focus on being a tag team instead of being ‘Little Roman’. Jey and Punk get into it. Jimmy stops Jey from superkicking Punk. Punk pushes Jimmy out of the way to deck Jey. Jimmy superkicks Punk.
Grade: B
This was going well until Jey came out. Jey is a good promo, and in most cases, less is more, but this didn’t land the way they thought it did. This one dragged a bit after Punk gagged Knight with the one who had never been champion line, but it picked up once Jimmy appeared and Knight had gotten his head kicked off. This one is going to lead to a tag match (duh), but this angle is three or four angles intersecting at once. Nothing that happens on this show should happen in a vacuum, so layered angles like this are amazing when done well.
IYO SKY vs. Kairi Sane w/Asuka
Before the bell rings, SKY dives through the ropes into Asuka. SKY stomps Asuka outside the ring. Sane breaks it up. After a series of reversals, both women attempt a dropkick at the same time, leading to a stalemate. Asuka barks out orders to Sane. A dropkick from SKY sends Sane out of the ring. Asai moonsault by SKY.
After the break, Sane hesitates before dropping an InSANE elbow, which leads to SKY getting her boots up. SKY sets up her finish. Asuka hops on the apron and gets beats down by SKY. Sane traps SKY in a prawn hold. Asuka holds Sane’s hands for leverage, leading to a three-count for Sane.
Winner- Kairi Sane
After the match, Asuka and Sane hit their finish on SKY. Sane is crying because, of course, she is.
Grade: B
Good match, taken down a few notches by Sane’s questionable acting. However, considering that, compared to SKY, Sane is like Robert De Niro, the aftermath of this could have been way worse.
Penta, AJ Styles, and Dragon Lee vs. The Judgement Day
Styles grabs a mic, but before he can speak, The Judgment Day’s music hits. Styles and his team clear the ring and land dives. Lee, Penta, and Styles hit the Smooth Operator walk at the same time. After the break, Lee leaps off the top into a dropkick from McDonagh. The Judgement Day takes turns working over Lee. Lee eventually manages to tag in Penta. Penta clears the ring after a slingshot double DDT.
McDonagh counters the Mexican Destroyer with a standing Spanish fly! Both men are down. After simultaneous tags, Dominik and Styles are in. Styles lands a spinning powerbomb for a near fall on Dominik. Rusev powerwalks down to the ring. Dominik tries to leave. Rusev grabs Dominik by the shirt. Penta accidentally superkicks Rusev. Back in the ring, Styles flattens McDonagh with the Styles Clash for the win.
Winners- Penta, AJ Styles, and Dragon Lee
After the match, Styles grabs a mic and says his match against John Cena at Crown Jewel is going to kick @$$.
Grade: B
This was a fast-paced match with lots of close near-falls and big moments. Penta continues to impress, and McDonagh is the most underrated guy on the main roster. Rusev getting involved was a nice touch, but with Penta accidentally laying him out, that doesn’t bode well for Rusev’s IC title hopes. Rusev’s focus may be shifting to revenge against the Smooth Operator, Penta.
CM Punk and LA Knight vs. The Usos
Knight and Punk jump on the Usos before the bell rings. As things calm down, Knight and Punk take turns trying to one-up each other. Jey launches Knight into the ring steps. The Usos work over Knight. Knight manages to tag in Punk. Everyone lands a big move. Jey gets distracted by Knight. GTS by Punk. Knight tags himself in and steals the pin.
Winners- CM Punk and LA Knight
Grade: C
This whole thing seemed rushed. There wasn’t much time left in the show when this match started. Considering all of the feelings involved here, going with a longer match would have served the narrative here exponentially better. We didn’t get to see enough of Punk and Knight going back and forth to drive home their growing hatred of each other. Also, not enough was done here to tease the tension between Jimmy and Jey. Beyond a sideeye from Jimmy when Jey sent Knight into the steps, there wasn’t much here. Tons of missed opportunities here.
WWE Raw Review:
Tonight’s show featured solid in-ring action, but the promos were a bit of a mixed back. For a PLE go-home show, this one wasn’t half bad. Generally, go-home shows are promo-heavy, with matches that just run in place. Beyond the main event falling a bit flat, the IYO SKY vs. Kairi Sane, and amazingly, Becky Lynch vs. Maxxine Dupri were solid contests that elevated this show to slightly above average. What did you think of the show? Are you excited for WWE Crown Jewel? Let us know in the comments!
Rating: B-
This event is ongoing. This information will be updated as the event progresses.
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