WWE RAW Live Coverage - March 18th, 2024

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Becky Lynch battles Nia Jax in a Last Woman Standing Match

On The Road to WrestleMania, Becky Lynch is preparing to challenge Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley. Unfortunately for her, she has become embroiled in a nasty and taxing rivalry with The Irresistible Force. And after Nia Jax viciously attacked her and Liv Morgan backstage and smashed her through a table, The Man wants retribution in a Last Woman Standing Match.


:raw:

– We see live shots of various competitors arriving to the arena tonight ahead of their tag-team tournament qualifying matches. We then shoot live inside the PNC Bank Arena in Raleigh, N.C. where "Main Event" Jey Uso's theme hits.

Out he comes to kick off this week's show. He settles in the ring and gets on the mic and says he knows his brothers are in the building. He says he knows how The Bloodline rolls and calls Jimmy Uso out to come face him in the ring.

Jimmy Uso comes through the crowd with Solo Sikoa. Jey and Jimmy stare each other down. Jey says he misses his brother. Jimmy says Jey is the one who left The Bloodline and went and became tag-team champions with someone else, not him. Jimmy says Jey's biggest career moment is because of him.

Jey says no, the biggest moment of his career will be at WrestleMania XL when he knocks the "Yeet!" out Jimmy's ass. He decks Jimmy, but then Solo Sikoa hits the ring and attacks Jey. Jimmy and Solo go for a double-team attack but Cody Rhodes runs out to make the save.

– Backstage, we see Adam Pearce on the phone yelling at someone, presumably Nick Aldis, when Paul Heyman walks up. He says he owes Pearce an apology. The attack was not authorized by The Rock or by Roman. There have been flights delayed all day.

He’s not even dressed to be here, he doesn’t even have makeup. Jimmy and Solo came on a different plane. Jimmy and Solo are gone, out for the night. He has Reigns’ word. Heyman is here on official business. He will handle that, then he will be gone for the night as well. But when he does his business, everyone will be caught off guard. And that’s a spoiler.

WrestleMania XL Six Pack Challenge Qualifying Match: DIY vs. The Creed Brothers

Inside the arena, we head down to the ring for our first match of the evening, which is our first of three scheduled WrestleMania XL Six-Pack Challenge Qualifying matches. Out comes the teams of DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) and The Creed Brothers (Julius and Brutus Creed). The bell sounds and off we go.

Ciampa and Julius kick things off for their respective teams. They get some mat wrestling then Ciampa backs him into the ropes and chops him hard. Julius shoots for the legs, picks the ankle, gets in a lock, but Ciampa gets to th ropes. Kick from Julius. Ciampa rolls outside. He comes back in, and Julius gets a quick fireman’s carry takedown.

Tag to Brutus. He arm drags Ciampa and holds on. Front fae lock, then waist lock, Ciampa gets a headlock, releases and hits a right hand. Brutus hits one of his own, lifts up, whip to the orpres, misses a right, Gargano with a tag. They go back and forth with some moves finally dropping Brutus then hitting an assisted blockbuster to the incoming Julius.

They dive over the top rope to the outside onto the brothers as we go to break. When we return, we see some more back-and-forth action, leading to another big high spot on the floor right in front of Pat McAfee, who gets all into it at the commentary desk with his reaction. After this, we head into a second mid-match commercial break as the action continues.

When we return from the second break, we see Gargano get the hot tag and fire up on offense. He hits a series of fast-paced offensive spots and tags in Ciampa again. Ciampa hits White Noise off the middle rope for a close pin fall attempt. We see wild double-team power spots from the Creed Brothers, but DIY continues to hang in there. Ciampa gets the roll up for the win to qualify.

Winners and QUALIFYING for WrestleMania XL Six Pack Challenge: DIY

– Backstage, we check in with The Judgment Day. We see Andrade talking to them. They say they hear he has a match next week and tell him they'll be watching to see if he can impress them enough to earn his way into their exclusive club. They take shots at JD McDonagh for losing to Ricochet last week. Dominik Mysterio is gonna make it right this week. We head to another break.

Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell vs. Katana Chance & Kayden Carter

When we return from the break, we see Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell and the team of Kayden Carter and Katana Chance in the ring. We see highlights of LeRae's actions humiliating Maxxine Dupri last week. Back live, the bell sounds and we're off-and-running with this one.

Kicking things off for their respective teams are Carter and LeRae. LeRae takes the early offensive lead and is still showing a more aggressive side to herself. Hartwell and Chance tag in and Chance helps take over for the former NXT and WWE women's tag champs.

Chance seems to injure herself, so Hartwell backs off and the refs checks on her. LeRae tags in, goes right to work on Chance's leg and slaps a leg submission on in ruthless fashion. She gets the win and mocks the injured Chance. Hartwell doesn't seem to like the new LeRae.

Winners: Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell

– We see a recap of The Rock Concert from last week's WWE SmackDown. We then see Cody Rhodes walking backstage. We head to another commercial break. We return from the break to a trailer for the new Bray Wyatt documentary premiering on Peacock on Monday, April 1, 2024.

– Back live inside the PNC Bank Arena, we hear the familiar sounds of Cody Rhodes' theme song. Out comes "The American Nightmare" to a big pop for our next segment of the evening. He settles in the ring to chants of "Cody! Cody!" We see a ton of yellow "#WeWantCody" signs that appeared to have been handed out.

Cody begins by talking about how we're only three weeks away from him standing across the ring from Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania XL. He says they'll go face-to-face this Friday on SmackDown, but there are some other elements, namely, The Rock.

He talks about how The Rock took to Instagram and later to The Rock Concert last week, but too bad he didn't want to be here tonight. He says The Rock referred to himself as "our favorite heel." Cody says we all know that means he's a bad guy. He names some legendary heels over the years. He says Rock isn't a heel, he's an asshole.

Rhodes brings up Rock mocking him for shedding a tear last week. He says isn't that ironic because hasn't that been what The Rock is doing behind-the-scenes for weeks. Crying about the "We Want Cody" chants and social media movement. He says he's surrounded by "Yes" men. He calls Rock a whiney bitch.

He says Rock brought up his mom, so it's fair game to bring up families in promos. He says, "I know your mom." He talks about having respect for his mom, something he should echo to his own. He says he spoke about his mom being afraid of him bringing a bloody belt to her. He says his mom isn't afraid of him, or anyone else.

He accuses Rock of "L.D.S. -- Little Dick Syndrome." He then brings up Brian Gewirtz giving him "The Final Boss" nickname, and says he's really just Roman Reigns' side-bitch. Paul Heyman then comes out and heads to confront Cody Rhodes. He says it's lame when someone demands an apology.

He then apologizes for his actions the last time he saw Cody. Cody stops Heyman before he gets in the ring. He says he didn't ask for an apology. Heyman says he carries with him a message from "The Tribal Chief" Roman Reigns. He says when he goes face-to-face with Reigns on SmackDown on Friday, no one but Heyman will be with him.

Cody says "Deal" and then shrugs as if to ask what's the point. He then outright asks him what's the point. Heyman says if Roman Reigns shows up alone this Friday on SmackDown, then Cody Rhodes, you show up to SmackDown alone, too. Cody gets in Heyman's face and says, "Deal." He then shakes his hand to end the segment.

– Backstage, we see Nia Jax talking directly into the camera. She says Becky Lynch has never defeated her and after tonight, that will still be the case. She says after she breaks Becky's face again, she'll take her spot against Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania XL and become the WWE Women's World Champion.

Ricochet vs. Dominik Mysterio

Back inside the arena, Ricochet's theme hits. As he heads to the ring, we see the match graphic for this bout, which will see Ricochet going one-on-one against "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio of The Judgment Day. As he settles in the ring, we head into a quick pre-match commercial break.

We return from the break and see Jey Uso warning Cody Rhodes backstage about promising to go to SmackDown alone. He says Roman Reigns won't be alone. He says he's got his back if he needs it. Back in the arena, we see slow-motion footage of Pat McAfee nearly blowing his ACL out doing the "YEET!" wave earlier with Jey Uso.

Dom-Dom is in the ring and the bell sounds to get this one started. Ricochet jumps off to an early offensive lead. He hits a big corkscrew plancha to Dom on the floor. Dom gets in a cheap shot behind the ref's back moments later and takes over as we head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, despite interference from JD McDonagh, Ricochet gets the win.

Winner: Ricochet

– We shoot backstage and we see an intense interaction between Sami Zayn and Chad Gable. Gable claims he's okay but Zayn can sense otherwise. When Zayn keeps pushing, Gable snaps and says it meant more for him.

Zayn takes exception to that. Gable finally yells that it's because Zayn can't beat GUNTHER. He walks off as Zayn looks stunned. We head to another break. When we return, the ring is set up for the WrestleMania XL contract signing for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

Raw General Manager introduces first, the challenger, Sami Zayn. Out he comes to a big pop. The reigning champion GUNTHER is out next to some heat. He takes exception with Zayn not dressing up for this. Zayn says GUNTHER doesn't think he has a chance.

Sami talks about how he's proven people wrong his whole career. He says no one thought he'd end The Usos' longest tag title reign at last year's WrestleMania, but he did, and this year, he's gonna end the longest I-C title reign of all time when he beats GUNTHER. GUNTHER and he each sign the contract.

WrestleMania XL Six Pack Challenge Qualifying Match: Awesome Truth vs. Indus Sher

We follow Sami all the way backstage as he walks off from the contract signing vowing to take GUNTHER down at WrestleMania XL. He walks past Re-Generation X, who talk about DIY qualifying earlier. Awesome Truth sees Indus Sher walking by and Truth says he feels sorry for who has to fight them.

Miz tells DIY, "I'll tell him." The two walk off to make their way down to the ring for our second Six Pack Challenge qualifier. R-Truth raps his way down to the ring with The Miz. They do the "What's Up?!" call-and-response routine with the crowd as we head into a pre-match commercial break.

When we return from the break, Indus Sher make their way out and the bell sounds to get this one started. Indus Sher dominate with power spots early on as Jinder Mahal cheers them on at ringside. Truth fires up and hits John Cena's big comeback spots. He ends up running into a big elbow but falls right onto his laid out opposition for the win to qualify.

Winners and QUALIFYING for WrestleMania XL Six Pack Challenge: Awesome Truth

– We see Drew McIntyre walking the hallways backstage, as he will speak when we return. On that note, we settle into another commercial break. When we return, we see Chad Gable and Sami Zayn cross paths again. Again we see Gable explain to Zayn how GUNTHER is a different beast.

– Michael Cole is announced as guest host of The Pat McAfee Show held at WWE World during WrestleMania XL Weekend featuring Paul "Triple H" Levesque. We see promotion for CM Punk on next week's Raw at AllState Arena in his hometown of Chicago. A quick video also airs where he confirms "Phil" will be at WrestleMania in "Phil-adelphia."

– Back live, the theme for Drew McIntyre hits and out comes "The Scottish Warrior" wearing a "Savior of WrestleMania" t-shirt. Before he even makes it all the way to the ring, his music cuts off and we hear "BURN IT DOWN!!!" As Seth "Freakin'" Rollins' theme hits, the WWE World Heavyweight Champion emerges and heads out behind him, walking right past him like he's not even there.

Further proof that McIntyre is the last thing Rollins is worried about heading into WrestleMania XL. Rollins settles in the ring and then an annoyed McIntyre makes his way in after him. Rollins says he came to admit to Drew's face one thing he said was true. He says he is a spotlight junkie. Drew responds, taking a quick jab at CM Punk and then vowing to take the title from Rollins.

McIntyre cuts off fans chanting "CM Punk! CM Punk!" and says CM Punk will be here next week, because he'd never get off the couch to come to a place like Raleigh, N.C. Rollins vows to make The Rock and Roman Reigns his bitches on night one of WrestleMania. He says at night two, it'll be them fighting for the richest prize in the business.

Rollins says Drew is a spotlight junkie just like him. He says for the past four years all we've heard from Drew for the past four years is that his big title winning moment was in front of no one. He says when the lights got bright again, he fumbled the ball. Seth says he is the best when the lights are shining their brightest. He vows to show Drew he's not as good as he thinks he is.

– We shoot to a message from Becky Lynch backstage, who talks about how she's risking her big WrestleMania title shot by putting it all on the line in a Last Woman Standing match against someone she's never beaten tonight. Back in the arena, The New Day theme hits as we head to another commercial break.

WrestleMania XL Six Pack Challenge Qualifying Match: The New Day vs. Alpha Academy

When we return from the break, The Rock is announced for the WrestleMania XL go-home episode of WWE Monday Night Raw on April 1 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Back live inside the PNC Bank Arena, we see The New Day duo of Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods have settled into the ring.

The theme for their opponents hits and out comes the Alpha Academy duo of Akira Tozawa and Otis. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with our third and final qualifier for the WrestleMania XL Six-Pack Challenge for the Undisputed WWE World Tag-Team Championships.

Otis hits some of his trademark comedy spots early on to jump into the early offensive lead. As the Alpha Academy duo continues to control the action, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as this high stakes tag-team tilt continues. When we return, The New Day end up pulling off the win to qualify alongside DIY and Awesome Truth.

Winners and QUALIFYING for WrestleMania XL Six Pack Challenge: The New Day

Last Woman Standing Match: Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax

We shoot backstage and see Becky Lynch gearing up for her Last Woman Standing main event showdown against Nia Jax, when Liv Morgan approaches her. The two have a quick word and then we shift gears and head into another commercial break.

Backstage, we see Cody Rhodes walking his dog Pharoah when he is approached by Seth "Freakin'" Rollins, who asks him if he's really showing up for a one-on-one face-to-face showdown with Roman Reigns on SmackDown. He says he is.

It is announced that Ricochet will be going one-on-one against JD McDonagh on next week's Raw in AllState Arena in Chicago, Ill. Also scheduled is an appearance by "The Second City Saint" himself, CM Punk.

Back inside the PNC Bank Arena, we hear the familiar sounds of Becky Lynch's theme song. Out comes "The Man" for our Last Woman Standing main event of the evening. She settles in the ring and her music dies down. Nia Jax's theme hits and out she comes. The bell sounds and off we go.

Nia Jax beats down Lynch coming out of the gate. She decks her on the floor as the fight spills out to the ringside area. She knocks Lynch down and the referee begins his count. Lynch beats the count and she and Jax exchange shots on the floor as we head into a mid-match break.

When we return from the break, we see the intensity picking up in the ring, with kendo sticks and a ton of chairs starting to get used. We see a giant pile of chairs set up and Lynch goes for the Man-Handle Slam on Jax on them, but Jax avoids it and takes back over.

Jax puts a chair over Lynch and sits on it to taunt her and the fans. Lynch tries fighting back with a kendo stick, but Jax takes over again on the floor. She beats her with half of the ring steps. She goes for a leg drop on the hard part of the ring apron, but Lynch moves and Jax crashes and burns.

On the floor again, Lynch slams Jax into the ring steps. The ref begins his count, but Lynch stops it by smashing Jax face-first into the steel steps again. The ref begins his count again as Lynch pulls a table out from under the ring. We head to another mid-match break on that note.

When we return from the break, we see Jax dominating the action on the floor when Lynch pulls out a fire extinguisher and sprays her like crazy for a big pop. Back inside the ring, Jax ends up putting Lynch through a table in the corner with a Samoan Drop. Lynch beats the count.

The two end up at ringside again, where this time it is Lynch who puts Jax through a table, using her Man-Handle Slam. Jax just barely beats the count. Lynch climbs up a ladder and puts Jax through the commentary desk with a huge leg drop off of it. The ref begins his count on both of them. Lynch beats the count. Jax doesn't.

Winner: Becky Lynch

– As Lynch celebrates her hard fought victory, her music dies down. Rhea Ripley's theme hits and out comes the WWE Women's World Champion to the ring. She stares Lynch down as the commentators promote their match at WrestleMania XL. That's how this week's show goes off the air.