WWE Monday Night Raw Review: 11/08

CM Punk Starts the Show, Dominik Mysterio and El Grande Americano VS AJ Styles and Dragon Lee

After Michael Cole confirmed that Naomi isn’t medically cleared to defend her Women’s World Championship tonight against Iyo Sky, CM Punk came out to kickoff this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw as The Best in the World made his feelings crystal clear! CM Punk wants Seth “Freakin” Rollins, and he’ll do whatever it takes to reclaim the World Heavyweight Championship! This brought out LA Knight who told Punk that after what happened last week, Punk has to wait in line because he’s the one who deserves a shot at Seth Rollins! The Vision then arrived, with Paul Heyman warning Knight of what happens should he decide to start making favours with CM Punk! All of this set up the show’s Main Event, and I thought LA Knight was particularly good whilst Bron Breakker was funny!

Grade: B-

After Dominik Mysterio told Finn Balor that he’s hanging out with El Grande Americano to gain an advantage ahead of TripleMania, Dom teamed up with El Grande for the opening match of the night against the duo of AJ Styles and Dragon Lee! This was a decent Tag Team match, I enjoyed the duo of AJ and Dragon Lee; the monkey flip into the Styles Clash was awesome! On top of that, Dominik kept putting a luchador mask on, and that actually played into the finish as he put Americano’s steel plate into his mask, allowing him to nail Styles with a headbutt before El Grande Americano stole away with the roll-up victory!

Grade: C+

Rusev VS Sami Zayn, Iyo Sky VS Roxanne Perez, Becky Lynch VS Maxxine Dupri: Women’s Intercontinental Championship

Credit: MyWrestling

Sami Zayn was talking to Adam Pearce about a potential World Heavyweight Championship match at Clash in Paris before Sami asked Sheamus to please not get involved in his upcoming match with Rusev! Iyo Sky was then rightly disappointed over her Women’s World Championship opportunity no longer going ahead, but Pearce (sort of) made up for it by giving Iyo a match with Roxanne Perez! Sami Zayn then arrived to a massive Canadian homecoming as Sami was set to take on Rusev! This was a good match, it was very back-and-forth, and the crowd enjoyed it! It felt like it was only a matter of time until this match got interrupted, but surprisingly, it was actually because of MFT as Solo Sikoa and his “goon squad” beat up Zayn to cause the DQ! As expected, Sheamus then showed up to start yet another brawl with The Bulgarian Brute!

Grade: C+

Adam Pearce was furious about everything he’d just witnessed, and things didn’t get any better for him as The New Day and Grayson Waller wanted to bother him over Penta! Bronson Reed then had a video promo hyping himself up as The Tribal Thief before Iyo Sky told The Kabuki Warriors that she doesn’t want their help tonight! Iyo then made her way down to the ring as she was ready to go one-on-one with Roxanne Perez! This was another good match, I rate these two women very highly, and they showed why here! Iyo is on such a high level whilst Roxanne is on a great run, stretching back to early last year! This actually could’ve gone either way, like it wasn’t clear who was going to get the W, and it proved to be The Kabuki Warriors’ interference that accidentally cost Sky, allowing Perez to roll her up to steal the victory! A rare win for The Prodigy!

Grade: B-

After LA Knight told Jey Uso that he too needs to wait in line, Maxxine Dupri was ready for the biggest opportunity of her career as she challenged Becky Lynch for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship! As expected, Becky dominated this match, she attacked Maxxine both physically and verbally, and Dupri didn’t really do anything to fight back! Eventually, Lynch made Maxxine tap out in the Dis-arm-her before The Man attacked Natalya after the bell! This really didn’t achieve anything, unfortunately!

Grade: C-

CM Punk and LA Knight VS The Vision

After Seth “Freakin” Rollins told The Vision that he’s leaving early, Bayley had a video promo talking about feeling “lost”, and Iyo Sky telling Rhea Ripley to leave her alone, it was Main Event time as CM Punk and LA Knight teamed up to take on The Vision! This was another fine match, Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed are really good together, whilst the pairing of Punk and Knight was totally fine! Once again, this match didn’t end clean as Seth “Freakin” Rollins showed up after all to cause the disqualification before Jey Uso ran down with a steel chair to make the save! All of this angered Adam Pearce as the Raw General Manager booked a Fatal 4-Way for the World Heavyweight Championship at Clash in Paris, and this resulted in Punk, Knight, and Uso going at it, opening the door for The Vision to attack and stand tall following a Seth Rollins Stomp! Seth is so much better as a Heel!

Credit: WWE

Grade: C+