WWE Monday Night Raw Review: 01/09

Jey Uso Starts the Show, The Judgment Day VS The Kabuki Warriors

After CM Punk told Adam Pearce that he’s waiting for Seth “Freakin” Rollins to arrive at the arena, Jey Uso came out to start this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw, making it crystal clear that he has his eyes firmly set on The Vision after they took out Roman Reigns! However, LA Knight then showed up to make it clear to Jey that he won’t let anyone get in his way of finally becoming a World Champion! Eventually, The Vision showed up, with Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed getting into a war of words with the Babyfaces before a Tag Team match was made for the show’s Main Event! This was pretty straightforward stuff, not much to add!

Grade: C+

After Asuka told Iyo Sky that she doesn’t need her help, we headed into the first match of the night as The Kabuki Warriors clashed with The Judgment Day! There were parts of this match I liked; all four women are former NXT Women’s Champions, and that means they’re all talented in-ring competitors! Unfortunately, there were certain parts of this match that didn’t quite work, just a lack of cohesion from the performers! Like, the ending was so weird because Asuka went to pin Roxanne Perez, but for some reason, the referee didn’t count before Asuka locked Perez in the Asuka Lock to score the submission victory!

Grade: C

Finn Balor VS Dragon Lee, The New Day and Grayson Waller VS The War Raiders and Penta

Adam Pearce announced that Stephanie Vaquer will face Iyo Sky for the vacant Women’s World Championship at Wrestlepalooza before Finn Balor went one-on-one with Dragon Lee! This was a good match; both guys are supremely talented, and it was also very simple, they just had a good wrestling match! As always, Dragon Lee couldn’t deal with JD McDonagh being on the outside, and whilst he did take out JD with a hurricanrana, this just opened the door for Balor to deliver a Coup de Grace to score the win!

Grade: B-

Asuka made it clear to Iyo Sky that they’re all going to become Champions soon, before we went straight into a 6-Man Tag Team Match as The New Day and Grayson Waller took on Penta and The War Raiders! The combination of Penta and The War Raiders was definitely an odd one, but they worked well together, and I was happy to see Grayson Waller competing again! As expected, Penta was able to score the win following a terrific Mexican Destroyer to Xavier Woods, and that tells me that their petition didn’t exactly go down well!

Grade: B-

Intercontinental Championship: Dominik Mysterio VS AJ Styles, Becky Lynch Interrupts CM Punk

Credit: Forbes

Rhea Ripley talked about her desire to become Women’s World Champion again before Asuka once again talked nonsense! Roxanne Perez was then annoyed with Adam Pearce for not putting her in the Women’s World Championship match, resulting in a confrontation with Lyra Valkyria, before it was time for the big match of the night as AJ Styles looked to dethrone Dominik Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship! The crowd was amazing here; they absolutely adore AJ Styles, and Dominik is so good at what he does! I was honestly surprised this match didn’t take place in the Main Event, it felt like it should’ve, but I ultimately think that comes down to the finish! Now, I wasn’t sure who was going to win here heading into the show, but the positioning of this match on the card made it a little clearer! So, whilst The Judgment Day may have been banned from ringside, that didn’t stop El Grande Americano from getting involved, nailing AJ with his loaded headbutt before Mysterio delivered a Frog Splash to score the successful retention! It was a shame that AJ didn’t win here, but I also made sense for Dom to retain!

Grade: B

LA Knight and Jey Uso still weren’t getting on backstage before Adam Pearce told CM Punk that Seth “Freakin” Rollins was already in the building (what a waste of two hours)! After a Rusev promo, CM Punk headed down to the ring to call out Seth “Freakin” Rollins, only to get interrupted by Becky Lynch! We then got a great back-and-forth promo segment between Becky and Punk, with both of them firing shots at both one another and their families! Eventually, Seth Rollins did arrive on the stage to try and get under the skin of Punk even more, but it was Lynch who truly mastered that, slapping The Best in the World continuously! I thought this was a really good segment; I thought Becky was excellent!

Credit: WWE on YouTube

Grade: B+

Jey Uso and LA Knight VS The Vision

It was then Main Event time in Paris as Jey Uso and LA Knight had to work together to try and take down The Vision! This was a totally acceptable Main Event, I still think it should’ve been AJ-Dom, but they did do a decent job! My biggest concern with this match was that I thought WWE were going to give the win to Jey and LA, just to give the crowd something to cheer for, but thankfully, they didn’t, as Bron Breakker nailed Uso with a Spear to get the win! After the match, LA Knight tried to make the save, but he too was taken out with a Spear before Bronson Reed hit a Tsunami on “Main Event” Jey Uso! The show then ended with Jimmy Uso running down to check on his Twin, and Jey saying the words “I can’t do it” is definitely something to keep an eye on!

Grade: B-