WWE RAW Live Coverage - November 27th, 2023

[Kemo]

CM Punk is set to return to Monday Night Raw

At Survivor Series: WarGames, CM Punk shocked the world when he emerged in WWE for the first time in nearly 10 years! In the post-Survivor Series Press Conference, Chief Content Officer Triple H talked about how having Punk back “home” was exciting for the company and that he is anxious to see what the Superstar will do to kick off his return. Tonight, Punk will be back on Monday Night Raw. What will The Second City Saint have to say about his WWE return?

– The "WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together." opener narrated by John Cena flashes on the screen and then we shoot into an in-depth video recap of WWE Survivor Series 2023, including the returns of Randy Orton and CM Punk.

– A new RAW intro video and theme song plays and then we shoot inside the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN. where pyro erupts and Michael Cole and Wade Barrett welcome us to the show.

– Randy Orton's theme hits. "The Viper" emerges and slaps hands with fans on the way to the ring as the crowd in Nashville roars. He stops and signs an autograph of an action figure for a lucky kid named Frankie. He makes his way into the ring and the sustained roar grows as he does his out-stretched arms pose on the ropes.

The theme music dies down and the "Randy! Randy!" chants grow louder. He soaks in the moment and begins by saying it sounds like a fan of the fans missed him. The fans cheer. He says he's back for as long as he can stay here. Without any further adieu, he welcomes us to Monday Night Raw. He says he was gone a while and the fans break out in a "Welcome Back!" chant.

Orton says while he was gone for so long he had a lot of time to think. He says he thought about his accomplishments, but we've heard them before and there's a lot of them so he won't bore us. He then talks about how he realized he had not done one thing and that was compete in WarGames.

So when he got a call from his friend Cody Rhodes to be a part of the match created by Dusty Rhodes, was a chance for him to be a part of pro wrestling history. He says he got to make a moment and that's what this is all about. He says he also has some unfinished business to deal with and that business is with The Bloodline.

He says he gets where they come from because he too made a career of putting people on the shelf. He says he can forgive but he can't forget and he has a bag of receipts for every single member of The Bloodline. When he says every single member, he means every single member, which of course, that means "Main Event" Jey Uso.

He asks Nashville if they know what form those receipts are going to come in. He says it's the three most dangerous letters in WWE and all of sports entertainment -- RKO. The fans respond with a loud "RKO! RKO!" chant and then Rhea Ripley's theme hits. "Mami" comes out by herself wearing her WWE Women's Championship and joins "The Viper" in the ring.

She immediately stirs the pot, saying she didn't know he was in the business of doing favors for people, or by sharing a team with someone who tried to end his career, or by being upstaged, referring to CM Punk's return overshadowing his own. She tells him he doesn't seem to realize the landscape has changed. The Bloodline has fallen and The Judgment Day has risen.

Ripley brags about The Judgment Day holding all the gold, including the tag titles that Orton almost lost everything trying to get. She says if it wasn't for Orton, Damian Priest would be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. She says he's come in and made a ton of enemies who can make his life a living nightmare already.

She warns him to quit focusing on The Bloodline, because unlike them, The Judgment Day get the job done. The fans chant "RKO! RKO!" as Orton looks around at both sides of the arena. He says he watched the show while he was gone and every week it was "Mami" this and "Mami" that. "Well guess what Mami ... Daddy's back!" The fans chant "Daddy's back!" and then "Who's Your Daddy?!"

Orton says the one thing that hasn't changed since he's been gone and come back is that no one tells Randy Orton what to do. Ripley laughs and says then Orton made his bed and now he has made The Judgment Day his enemy. JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio attack Orton from behind. Orton ends up fighting back and taking McDonagh, who is wearing a neck brace, out with an RKO.

Dom scrambles and runs. Orton grabs the mic and paces around. He tells Dom not to go too far and not to leave the arena. He says as soon as he leaves this ring he's gonna find Adam Pearce and he's gonna make damn sure he gets Dom in this ring one on one tonight. The crowd cheers and Orton's theme hits to end an entertaining opening segment.

– We shoot backstage and we see all the tag-teams involved in the tag-team turmoil number one contender bout for tonight talking when up walks Ivy Nile and Maxxine Dupri.

They introduce Jelly Roll, who appears with them. Jelly Roll and Otis have a funny moment and then up comes R-Truth interrupting him. He tells him his sweet tooth has a sweet tooth. He's confused and mentions wanting to find some jelly rolls to eat. He tells Akira Tozawa to hit him with the jelly roll and Akira does some goofy dance.

Tag-Team Turmoil Match: Akira Tozawa & Otis vs. Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa

Back in the arena, Jelly Roll is shown in another cameo appearance in the crowd in the front row. Alpha Academy's theme hits and out they come as the first team in the tag-team turmoil number one contender match. It will be Akira Tozawa and Otis instead of Otis and Chad Gable. They settle in the ring and then the DIY duo of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa come out next.

Tozawa and Ciampa kick things off for their respective teams as the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running. This one doesn't last long at all, as outside of one spot with Otis, the Alpha Academy makeshift duo of Tozawa and Otis are easily beaten and eliminated.

Winners: DIY

Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa vs. Veer & Sanga

Now the theme for Indus Sher hits and out comes the massive duo of Sheer and Vanga accompanied by former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal. The enormous tag-team settles in the ring with an already worn out DIY for our second match in the tag-team turmoil.

This one doesn't last much longer than the first, as outside of a dominant start with the worn down DIY duo, Gargano and Ciampa fight back into the offensive lead and steal the win with a pin out of nowhere.

Winners: DIY

Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa vs. Julius & Brutus Creed

The Creed Brothers' theme hits and out comes Julius and Brutus Creed for our next match in the tag-team turmoil gauntlet. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with our third bout in the gauntlet. Julius Creed and Tommaso Ciampa kick things off.

Julius quickly suplexes Ciampa down and establishes the early lead. Ciampa fights back and hits a suplex of his own before crawling to make the tag to Gargano. Brutus Creed also tags in but it is Johnny who jumps into the early offensive lead.

Brutus and Julius hit a cool double-team spot. Gargano hits a high spot from the ring to the floor but then when the action returns in the ring, The Creed Brothers score the pin after a Brutus Ball off the top-rope. DIY heads to the back and The Creed Brothers continue in the gauntlet now.

Winners: The Creed Brothers

Julius & Brutus Creed vs. Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods

The New Day's theme hits and out comes fan-favorites Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods as the next team in the tag-team turmoil gauntlet. They settle into the ring and the bell sounds. Xavier Woods and Julius Creed kick things off for their respective teams.

Woods establishes the offensive control and then he tags in Kingston. The New Day continue to dominate things but then Julius takes over and tags in Brutus. Brutus picks up where he left off and continues taking it to the decorated tag-team veterans.

The New Day fires up for another comeback but then The Creed Brothers take over and finish things off with another double-team Brutus Ball spot off the top-rope for the pin fall victory. With the win, The Creed Brothers continue on and The New Day are eliminated.

Winners: The Creed Brothers

Julius & Brutus Creed vs. Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci

Now the final team in tag-team turmoil comes out as the theme for Imperium hits and the duo of Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci make their way to the ring to a ton of boos. They hit the ring and immediately double team Julius.

Imperium controls the offense for a prolonged period of time as the crowd quiets down in Nashville. Vinci and Kaiser take turns tagging in and out to keep a fresh man on Brutus at all times.

Julius finally tags back in and after taking the hot tag, he helps shift the offensive momentum back in his team's favor. They once again finish things off for the third time with a top-rope Brutus Ball for the pin fall victory. Ivy Nile helps celebrate their victory, as they now have a future title shot at The Judgment Day.

Winners and NEW No. 1 Contenders: The Creed Brothers

– We head backstage and we see The Judgment Day hanging together. Up walks Finn Balor telling Damian Priest that The Creed Brothers look to be for real, and that they can't take them easy.

Damian Priest's head is elsewhere, as he tells them he knows they want to say something about him being appointed leader and still coming up short for the team at Men's WarGames. They tell him they're a family and that's not the case. We head to a commercial break.

– After we return from our first commercial break of the evening, we get a look inside the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN. when we hear the thump to start the familiar sounds of Cody Rhodes' entrance theme. "The American Nightmare" emerges and makes his way to the ring in a suit for our next segment of the evening.

He settles in the ring and his theme dies down. He talks about getting the victory at WarGames and thanks all of his teammates, starting with Sami Zayn, "The Yeet-Master" Jey Uso, their champion on Monday Night Raw Seth Rollins, which he says with a somber tone. The fans then break out singing his tune and he lets that spread throughout the building a bit.

Cody then says lets not forget the other member of their team, the man that come through for him, "The Legend Killer" Randy Orton. He calls Orton a mentor to him early on and someone he considers to still be one to this day. He also talks about the WWE return of CM Punk and how it's big news. He says he'd like to make some news himself.

Rhodes says there's only one destination for him and then declares himself as the first participant in the 2024 Royal Rumble. The lights in the building go down and then Shinsuke Nakamura appears on the screen and delivers another one of his ominous messages.

He talks about needing to be set free and awaken and evolved. He says he's been patient with Cody week after week but now he's done waiting. He vows to bring chaos to him. He appears in the ring behind Cody as the lights come back on and he sprays red mist in Cody's eyes as the fans in the building collectively gasp.

Bronson Reed vs. Ivar

We head to another commercial break after the Cody-Nakamura segment. When we return, the theme for Bronson Reed hits and out comes "Big" Bronson for our next match of the evening. He settles in the ring and his music dies down.

Now the sirens / horns for The Viking Raiders play and out comes Ivar accompanied by Valhalla for our next match of the evening.

The action spills out to the floor where Ivar sends Reed into the steel ring steps with authority. He lets out a roar as we head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see Ivar hit a big moonsault off the top-rope in the ring.

Reed fights back and as he heads up to the top-rope for the Tsunami, Valhalla hits the apron for the distraction. The referee ends up seeing this and ejected her from ringside. On the floor, Ivar dives onto Reed who catches him, but then drops him. He slams Ivar on the timekeepers table.

Ivar climbs up on top of the guard rail and looks for a splash, but Reed stops him. They both get counted out. Reed hoists Ivar up and hits a death valley driver that puts him through the commentary table. Ivar recovers and beats Reed down with a steel chair. The two continue to brawl through the crowd.

Double Count Out

– We head backstage and see Zoey Stark talking to Shayna Baszler about how close she came to beating Rhea Ripley for the WWE Women's World Championship at Survivor Series this past Saturday night.

In walks Nia Jax, who talks enough trash that Baszler loses her cool. Stark and Jax end up going face-to-face and a match is made between the two.

Zoey Stark vs. Nia Jax

Back in the arena, Nia Jax's theme hits and she makes her way out for the next match of the evening. As she settles inside the squared circle for women's singles action, we shift gears and head into a pre-match commercial break.

When we return, we see a video package hyping CM Punk's return at Survivor Series being the most-watched social moment in WWE history. We also see webcam fan videos of their reactions to his surprise return.

Backstage we see R-Truth with powdered sugar all over his face eating a tray of "jelly rolls" in The Judgment Day locker room, when The Judgment Day walks in. They banter with him and then he leaves. JD McDonagh says he'll handle him.

Back in the ring, Jax is shown waiting for her opponent. Zoey Stark's theme hits and out she comes. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. We head to a mid-match commercial with Jax in the offensive lead.

As we settle back from the break, we see Jax continuing to beat Stark down. Stark gets a hope spot with a pin attempt and then starts working on the leg of Jax. She hits a missile drop kick off the top for a close near fall attempt. Moments later, Jax gets the win.

Winner: Nia Jax

– We see highlights of GUNTHER's victory over The Miz at Survivor Series and then we see Imperium backstage bickering with each other when GUNTHER walks up. He demands they go to Adam Pearce and sort out the DIY issue. They promise they will.

GUNTHER turns around and sees The Miz. The Miz says he caught GUNTHER's post-show press conference after their match at Survivor Series and heard him say his next I-C challenger is going to have to challenge him to his face. He says so here he is.

They bicker back-and-forth about whether or not Miz proved he can beat "The Ring General" with his performance at Survivor Series. GUNTHER gives him credit for standing up for himself and proving he belongs in the ring, just not with him.

– Back inside the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, we hear the familiar sounds of Seth Rollins' theme and out comes the WWE World Heavyweight Champion as the fans sing along with his entrance tune. As he settles in the ring, we shift gears and head into a commercial break.

Rollins settles in the ring when we return from the break and his theme dies down but the fans keep singing. He welcomes us to Monday Night Rollins. They sing some more but then the singing transitions into "CM Punk!" chants. Rollins says, "Come on, come on ... get it out of your system."

He says he doesn't want to spend one more second or one more ounce of energy on that hypocrite, CM Punk. He says instead of talking about someone who doesn't matter at all, let's talk about the thing that matters the most, the title that he has built into the most important championship in this entire industry.

Seth says two days removed from WarGames, he's getting the itch to be a fighting champion again. As he continues talking about his meeting with Adam Pearce earlier today, he is interrupted by the theme music for Drew McIntyre.

"The Scottish Warrior" storms to the ring as Michael Cole talks about him being "in a mood and it didn't get any better at WarGames." He says it's been a busy 48 hours. He shakes Rollins hand for a good performance at WarGames.

He talks about his issues with Jey Uso and how he needs to put them on the back-burner in favor of what's importamt, which is the title around Rollins' waist. He brings up what Rollins said to him before their match. Rollins says he mentioned how he'd have no one to blame but himself when he loses and it would be the best thing that ever happened to him.

Rollins asks if he was right. Drew says he was. He then brings up one point in the match where Rollins was down and out and done. He says he felt sympathy and compassion picturing him with his little girl backstage. He says he took him by the face to tell him it's over and Rollins slapped him across the face. He says he deserved that slap and that loss is on him.

He says he realized that to swim with sharks, he's gotta become the biggest shark himself. No more compassion, no more sympathy. He wants a rematch. Rollins says he always respects Drew's honesty and he tells him he believes he deserves a rematch. He says the problem is there are some people who deserve a title opportunity more than him.

Rollins says that's why he came out here tonight. He says he met with Adam Pearce and right here next week he will be defending the WWE World Heavyweight Championship live on Monday Night Raw. Drew asks who the match is with. Rollins tells him he's defending it against Jey Uso. The fans chant "Yeet! Yeet! Yeet!" Drew decks Rollins.

He gets cut by headbutting Rollins. Drew picks Rollins up and continues to beat him down. He grabs Rollins and asks if it's personal. He says he beat him two weeks ago and he knows he's ahead of him in line. Jey Uso's theme hits and out comes "Main Event" Jey running down to the ring.

He and Drew duke it out in the ring. He gets the better of it. Rollins recovers and helps Jey hit a double super kick that knocks Drew out to the floor. Jey picks up Rollins' title and looks at it and then hand it to Seth. Jey's theme hits to end the segment.

We head to a break. When we return, Sami Zayn confronts Drew for not being a man about his issues lately. He says he's gonna go get a match for next week -- against Sami.

Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Championships: Chelsea Green & Piper Niven (C) vs. Natalya & Tegan Nox

The team of Natalya and Tegan Nox made their way to the ring for our next match of the evening before the McIntyre/Zayn backstage segment. When it wrapped up, we see them still waiting in the ring.

Chelsea Green's "Hot Mess" theme hits and out she comes with Piper Niven for their scheduled defense of the Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Championships. They settle in the ring and Samantha Irvin handles their formal pre-match ring introductions for this title tilt.

The bell sounds and now we're officially off-and-running with this one. Green and Nattie kick things off for their respective teams. Green doesn't do well with Nattie early on, so she tags in Niven. Niven does better but ends up spearing the ring post in the corner after Nattie moves.

Nattie tags in Tegan Nox, who stuns Niven and blasts her with a big kick before tagging Nattie back in. Nattie hits a cross body splash off the top-rope. She stops to pose for the fans as we head into a mid-match commercial break as this championship clash continues.

When we return, we see the match still in progress. Nox starts to scream and fight her way back into the offensive lead for her team, taking it to Green. Moments later, Niven and Green take over and pick up the win to retain.

Winners and STILL Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Champions: Chelsea Green & Piper Niven

– Backstage, we see Randy Orton stretching for his main event match when up walks "Main Event" Jey Uso. He tells him he heard about receipts earlier tonight and for what it's worth, he's trying to leave the past in the past and he's sorry for how things went down in the past with him.

Orton tells him he sees him having Cody Rhodes' back for months and many other guys and that means something to him. He says he's not done with The Bloodline and as long as Jey's not in The Bloodline, they're cool. Jey walks off. Orton continues stretching.

Randy Orton vs. Dominik Mysterio

Back inside the arena, Dominik Mysterio's theme hits and out comes "Dirty" Dom accompanied by JD McDonagh of The Judgment Day. He settles in the ring for our main event match of the evening and we head into a pre-match commercial break.

When we return, Sami Zayn vs. Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins vs. Jey Uso for the title is announced for next week's show. We then shoot backstage to Jackie Redmond, who is standing by with "The Man" Becky Lynch.

She talks about being sore after WarGames and mentions The Man coming back around to Nashville. She talks about there being a thin line between love and hate. She says there's a couple of fights on the horizon, one more pressing than the other. She walks off on that ominous note.

In the arena, Randy Orton's iconic theme hits and out comes "The Viper" for our final match of the evening here on the post-Survivor Series episode of Monday Night Raw. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. The fans immediately break out in a loud "Randy! Randy!" chant.

Orton and Dom lock-up and "The Viper" immediately jumps into the early offensive lead. As Dom-Dom regroups on the floor at ringside with JD McDonagh, Orton stands tall in the ring glaring at him as we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break.

When we return, we see Orton still dominating the action as the fans break out in a loud "Who's Your Daddy?" chant. Dom capitalizes on Orton's one mistake and takes his knee out from behind. He then runs him into the steel steps on the floor. Back in the ring he goes for the cover, but Orton kicks out at two.

"The Viper" catches Dom-Dom coming off the ropes with the most beautiful powerslam in sports entertainment, as Michael Cole mentions on commentary. He does the draping-DDT spot to Dom-Dom off the middle ropes and then he drops down and pounds the mat as he goes into Viper mode. JD pulls Dom out of the ring to save him.

JD McDonagh sees Jelly Roll sitting in the crowd behind the commentators. He gets in his face and Jelly Roll pushes him down hard. Dom gets in his face and Jelly Roll pushes him, too. Orton shakes his hand and jokes about Jelly Roll smelling like weed before dumping Dom on the commentary desk, which doesn't break.

The fans chant "One More Time" and Orton obliges, dumping Dom on the desk again even harder, and it still doesn't break. Back in the ring, Orton hits JD on the apron with a draping DDT and then blasts Dom with an RKO out of nowhere for the win. We see Jelly Roll celebrating his victory from the first row.

Winner: Randy Orton

– After the Orton-Dom main event match wraps up, we shoot to the locker room where we see CM Punk's dressing room door closed with his logo and name plate on the door. Michael Cole says CM Punk is up next when we return. On that note, we head to another commercial break.

When we return from the break, we hear the radio screech and then the first note for Living Colour's Cult of Personality plays and out comes CM Punk to a roar from the Nashville crowd. They chant "CM Punk! CM Punk!" as "The Best in the World" makes his way to the ring in his new WWE t-shirt with his lightning fist logo on it.

His theme dies down and the loud "CM Punk! CM Punk!" chants grow even louder. He begins, "Looks like hell froze over." He says when he says that he means this is him standing in the ring with a live microphone. He jokes about how a Blackhawks fan is being cheered in Nashville.

Punk says he's been thinking about how to describe how he's feeling now that he's back. He says he's changed. He mentions it sounds corny but it's true. "I'm home." The fans chant "Welcome back!" and "CM Punk!" in response to that. Punk says he didn't know how he was gonna react but he's feeling like his old self. He says this is where he belongs.

He says it's been over ten years and the WWE Universe never forgot him. He says it's powerful. He tells the fans that they are all powerful. He says the people watching at home and the fans who come to the buildings never stopped chanting his name. He says the voiceless found their voice. He says he heard them and that's why he's back because he loves and misses all you fans.

CM Punk says a wise man once told him for him to get everything he needs out of this place, he has to leave and come back. He says he hates to admit it but the wise man was right. Obviously "The Wise Man" is Paul Heyman. He talks about how in front of the camera and behind it, it's been nothing but love. He says everyone is happy to see him, and even a few kissed him on the mouth.

He says some have asked about AJ Lee and he says she's doing well and she sends her regards. He says everyone has welcomed him back with open arms. Well, almost everybody. He says some people are afraid. They're afraid of the truth and what they don't understand. He says everything he always wanted is here. The best in the world is here but he hasn't been here for 10 years.

Punk says he understands being afraid. He says they're afraid the bar is set to an unreachable level. That he's got the brass ring in his back pocket. He says some people are going to have to come to terms with the fact that in this ring, on this microphone and even on commentary, the best in the world is back and his name is CM Punk.

His theme hits again and he glares into the camera with a smirk and yells off mic one final time, "I'm back! I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to make money!" The show goes off the air.

[Kemo]

My phone takes shitty pictures....