WWE RAW Live Coverage - April 8th, 2024
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Brace yourself for WrestleMania XL Fallout!
A legendary WrestleMania XL saw Cody Rhodes outlast Roman Reigns to claim the Undisputed WWE Universal Title in an emotional roller coaster of a championship match, Damian Priest cash in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight Title, and much more. With WWE seemingly entering a new era at The Showcase of the Immortals, what surprises and action can we expect on a rowdy Raw after WrestleMania?
:raw:
– The new Paul "Triple H" Levesque-narrated "WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together." opening signature airs to get us started. We shoot inside the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. where we hear the sounds of "The Game" by Motorhead.
Out comes the WWE Chief Content Officer as introduced by Samantha Irvin, as Michael Cole and Pat McAfee welcome us to the show on commentary. Cole mentions this is the "Triple H Era" and says the streak of consecutive sell-outs for WWE continues tonight, with 20,248 fans in attendance.
The theme for Levesque wraps up and a loud "Triple H! Triple H!" chant breaks out. A "Thank you, Hunter!" chant, which is even louder, follows. "Here's the thing, I came out here to thank you," Levesque starts. He then talks about how 24 hours ago the fans made something very special happen. He can now really tell us that was the greatest WrestleMania of all-time. He says so for that he really did just come out to say thank you.
He says and now it's time to introduce the man who is going to lead the new era of WWE, the new WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. We hear the familiar sounds of the theme song for "The American Nightmare" and out in a suit with his newly won WWE Universal Championship belt, is Cody Rhodes.
We hear the theme song for "The American Nightmare" and out in a suit with his newly won WWE Universal Championship belt, is Cody Rhodes. He makes his way to the ring as the fans sing along with his theme song. He settles inside the squared circle, where Triple H is still standing and clapping.
Triple H and Cody stand in the middle of the ring in front of the hard camera. Triple H raises Cody's hands and Cody poses with him and the title as the fan roar grows even louder. Triple H says he stayed in the ring just to say congratulations and to commend him on ending the most legendary title run ever and by setting a record in his first appearance tonight.
He says before he goes, he got a call last night before WrestleMania finished from a couple of guys from our studio that you've known for a long time. He says they made something speciall for Cody. He says they asked him if they could share it with him. He says he told them hell no, I'm gonna share it with him -- in front of everyone.
He explains why there's a bunch of monitors around the ring for the live crowd to be able to see it. The very touching video airs now. The video shows old footage of Cody's first run in WWE as a youngster with brown hair and the versions his career went through with Stardust, Dashing Cody, meeting Brandi Rhodes during her run as Eden, etc.
A beautiful song "Rise Up" plays as the footage is shown and builds up to him returning to WWE and "finishing his story" at WrestleMania XL. It was very well done, as you'd expect. Cody tears up live in the ring, which is shown in split-screen fashion as the video continues.
The video ends with footage of Dusty Rhodes posing with his NWA World's Heavyweight Championship after his first title reign, which transitions to a similar shot of Cody Rhodes posing with the WWE Universal Championship on Sunday night.
We return live and an emotional Cody shares a tight hug with Triple H while the camera shows close up shots of him fighting back tears. A loud "You deserve it!" chant breaks out throughout the sold out crowd inside the Wells Fargo Center.
Triple H exits the ring. Cody kneels down and lays the belt out long-ways on the mat. He kisses it. He gets back up and collects himself before starting, "So, Raw After WrestleMania, Philadelphia .... What do you wanna talk about?"
Rhodes then brings up something he heard. He leans over the top-rope to Samantha Irvin and asks her, "You know what I'm gonna ask you ... just one more time, please?" She stands up and emphatically and passionately announces Cody Rhodes the new WWE Universal Champion.
From there, Cody goes on to acknowledge the title run that Roman Reigns had, calling him arguably the greatest of his generation. He says he was destined to be the one to beat Roman Reigns and end his historical title run. As he continues to talk, he is cut off by the familiar sounds of The Rock's theme song.
"The Final Boss" emerges as the music transitions to his classic Hollywood Rock heel tune. He heads to the ring with The People's Championship title belt over his shoulder. He settles in the ring and poses on the ropes in the corner. As his music dies down a "Rocky! Rocky!" chant breaks out and then some boos.
A loud "Undertaker! Undertaker!" chant breaks out, which The Rock subtly acknowledges as we hear Pat McAfee break the silence on commentary by chiming in with, "Too soon, too soon!" As The Rock milks the moment, a loud "Rocky Sucks! Rocky Sucks!" chant breaks out and spreads like wildfire.
The Rock talks about how Cody Rhodes did it. He finally finished his story. He tells Cody he came out here to give him his flowers. He asks Cody if he can hold his title. Cody looks confused. The Rock says he's a lifelong fan like Cody and has held every belt, but not that one.
Cody says he can hold it if he can hold Rock's belt. Rock says he can. They let each other hold the others titles. The Rock puts the WWE Universal Championship over his shoulder. He says "This just feels right." He gives it back to Cody and thanks him.
He says now we all know The Rock has gotta go away for a bit now. The fans sing "Nana nana hey hey hey, goodbye!" at him loudly. The Rock tells Cody he beat Roman Reigns and finished his story. He says but The Rock beat Cody at night one and their story isn't finished.
He says when he comes back whether Cody is champ or not, he's coming for him. Cody says he's looking forward to it. Cody asks if The Rock is his boss. He says he is. Cody says he's his champion. The Rock says Cody is his champion. The world's champion.
He says before he goes, he's got something to give Cody. He puts something in Cody's hand but doesn't say what it is, and we don't see what it is. He tells Cody he doesn't even have to open his hand to know what this is.
"Don't you ever break my heart again, if you smell what 'The Final Boss' is cookin'," he calmly says with a serious look on his face. His music hits and he walks off as Cody has an intense look on his face.
– We cut to footage of Damian Priest with his newly won WWE World Heavyweight Championship accompanied by the rest of The Judgment Day, as they arrive to the building for tonight's show.
– We also see footage of Sami Zayn with his newly won WWE Intercontinental Championship and his wife by his side arriving to the arena. Back live, Cole and McAfee introduce the Spanish commentary team to their side.
They make a brief cameo appearance. Cole and McAfee take back over as we hear the familiar sounds of rock violins. "The King of Strong Style" heads to the ring for our opening match on the Raw After WrestleMania show.
Ilja Dragunov vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
He settles in the ring and his music dies down. The theme for his opponent hits. Out comes WWE NXT World Champion "The Mad Dragon" Ilja Dragunov. He heads to the ring to a big pop. The bell sounds and off we go with our opening contest.
Cole informs us on commentary that the 2024 WWE Draft will take place on the April 26 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, as well as the April 29 episode of Monday Night Raw. Dragunov will be among those drafted this year.
Dragunov starts off strong, dominating the early offense as the commentary duo of Cole and McAfee sing his praises and talk about his successful title defense during WrestleMania XL Weekend at the WWE NXT Stand & Deliver 2024 premium live event.
As the action continues, we see Nakamura start to take over and hit some of his trademark spots. McAfee says Dragunov is finally seeing first hand why Nakamura is "The King of Strong Style." Dragunov takes over, however, and hits his finisher to pick up the big win.
Winner: Ilja Dragunov
– Cole and McAfee introduce footage of what went down in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XL Sunday, with Drew McIntyre defeating Seth "Freakin'" Rollins to capture the title, only to rub it in CM Punk's face too much that it cost him.
"Senor Money In The Bank" Damian Priest of The Judgment Day would cash-in his briefcase and quickly defeat "The Scottish Warrior" to become leave WrestleMania as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. We see a live shot of Damian Priest with the WWE World Hreavyweight Championship and the rest of The Judgment Day with him backstage.
– We shift gears and head into a quick commercial break. When we return, we see a highlight package for night two of WrestleMania XL. Back live, Finn Balor, JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio are in the ring. Balor says for anyone who said Damian Priest couldn't do it eat your words.
Dominik Mysterio then takes the mic and introduces his "Mami," who is still the WWE Women's World Champion. On that note, Rhea Ripley's theme hits and out she comes to a big pop to join the rest of The Judgment Day members, minus Damian Priest, in the ring. Ripley gets on the mic.
Ripley says WrestleMania XL Weekend was almost perfect. Two things did come out though, one being that "Mami is always on top!" She says the other one is that this is a new era for The Judgment Day. Balor gets back on the mic and says without further hesitation, let him present to us our new WWE World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest.
"All Rise!" we hear as the individual theme for Damian Priest plays. Out he comes with his newly won WWE World Heavyweight Championship to join the rest of The Judgment Day in the ring. As Priest begins gloating, out of nowhere we see R-Truth enter the ring. Priest says they're not doing this again.
Priest tells Truth to get out of the ring. Truth tells him to calm down. He says he brought the WWE Tag-Team Championships back to The Judgment Day. He begins making a case for how they need to let his partner into The Judgment Day. The Miz's theme hits and out comes the other half of the new Raw Tag-Team Champions, Awesome-Truth.
John Cena & Awesome Truth vs. The Judgment Day
Miz tells Truth he doesn't want to be in The Judgment Day. Balor asks Miz if he thinks he's funny. He says what he thinks is funny is Awesome Truth having the shortest Raw Tag-Team Championship reign in WWE history. He challenges them to defend the titles right here, right now. Truth says that sounds like fun but they can't because there's only three of us.
Miz says you're talking about a real person and not Lil Jimmy, right? Truth says right. He says they can have a six-man tag-team match against he, Miz "and the guy you can't see." McDonagh clarifies if he's saying he wants Truth, Miz "and the guy you can't see" in a six-man bout against himself, Dominik Mysterio and Finn Balor.
The Miz insists he be able to see this person Truth is referencing. Truth says he just asked this person to celebrate with them, but he much preferred being in a six-man bout. Before anything else can happen, The Judgment Day attack Truth and Miz. As they begin beating them down we head into a commercial break. When we return, we see the match in progress.
It is being dubbed a two-on-three handicap bout now, with Raw Tag-Team Champions Awesome Truth against the three-man team from The Judgment Day of Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh. The Judgment Day beat down Truth and Miz for a few minutes and as the beat down continues on the floor at ringside, we head into a mid-match commercial.
When we return from the break, we see Truth and Miz start to fire up. The Judgment Day take out Truth and go to work on Miz in the ring. Out of nowhere, the theme for John Cena hits and out comes "The Greatest Of All-Time" to a super-loud crowd reaction. He hops on the apron, takes his shirt and hat off and throws them into the crowd and reaches for the tag.
Miz runs over and leaps to make the tag to Cena. Cena takes the hot tag and hits the ring like a man possessed as the crowd goes insane. He hits his trademark spots and then Miz and Truth join him, and all three hit Attitude Adjustments at the same time. All three go for the cover at the same time and the ref counts to three, giving them the win.
Winners: John Cena & Awesome Truth
– After the match, we shoot backstage to "Big" Bronson Reed, who is standing next to the 2024 Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal trophy. He talks about why he is going to win in tonight's four-way title eliminator main event. We head to a commercial break after this wraps up.
– When we return from the break, we see Rhea Ripley walking backstage with Dominik Mysterio when out of nowhere, she is ambushed and attacked by Liv Morgan. Morgan beats her down and leaves her laying as Michael Cole talks about the Liv Morgan Revenge Tour being back on in a big way.
Roxanne Perez vs. Indi Hartwell
Back inside the arena, the theme for Indi Hartwell hits and out she comes to the ring for our next match of the evening. The theme for her opponent hits and in another surprise appearance by a reigning world title-holder from WWE NXT, the reigning WWE NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez makes her way out.
The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Perez slaps Hartwell to start this one off, prompting Cole to talk on commentary about her new attitude as of late. We see some back-and-forth action and then issues with Hartwell and Candice LeRae lead to Perez hitting Pop-Rox for the win.
Winner: Roxanne Perez
– Backstage, we see the new WWE Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn run into "Main Event" Jey Uso. They talk about how they both saw the other do well at WrestleMania XL. For old times sake they do their old, goofy Bloodline secret handshake. We head to another commercial break.
– When we return live, we see WWE NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez walking the halls after her big win over Indi Hartwell in her Raw in-ring debut. She is confronted by Natalya, who says she'll see her tomorrow night. Perez says she'll see her on her show tomorrow night and walks off.
Inside the arena, Sami Zayn's theme hits and out comes the man who ended the record 666-day reign of GUNTHER's run as WWE Intercontinental Champion, the longest in company history. Zayn settles in the ring with the I-C title as fans sing along with his catchy-ass entrance tune.
Zayn talks about how GUNTHER had an impressive reign, and boasts being the one to end it. He talks about some people that helped him do that. He says the fans helped because they believed in him at times when he didn't believe in himself. He says seeing his wife and kid before going to the ring hepled.
Seeing his brother Kevin Owens before going to the ring helped. He goes to thank one other person that helped, but before he can, he is cut off the by theme music for Imperium. Out comes Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci. Kaiser talks trash about Zayn being an I-C champ that looks like a bum.
He says he and Vinci are out here to rectify what happened on behalf of "The Ring General." As a brawl gets ready to break out, the theme for Chad Gable hits and out comes the Alpha Academy member. As he comes out, we head to a commercial break.
Sami Zayn & Chad Gable vs. Imperium
When we return, we see an impromptu tag-team match in progress, Vinci with a wrist lock to Gable and with a chop. Gable with a bridge and reversal into a drop toe hold and arm bar. Vinci with a chop and he goes for a slam but Gable escapes and he tries for Chaos Theory but Vinci blocks it and gets a near fall. Gable with a cross body and arm drag into an arm bar. Gable floats over and Vinci with a cross body after Gable runs under a clothesline. Vinci with a European uppercut and Kaiser tags in. Kaiser sends Gable into the corner and Kaiser blocks a kick and connects with the Nein punch. Kaiser with forearms to the back of the head and a springboard boot to the back. Gable with a slam and Sami tags in. Sami with a double sledge to the ribs off the turnbuckles. Sami with an elbow off the turnbuckles. Sami with a chop after blocking a kick. Kaiser backs Sami into the corner and Vinci tags in.
Vinci with kicks and a European uppercut. Sami with punches to Vinci and Kaiser. Vinci with a side head lock and Kaiser tags in before Sami sends Vinci to the floor. Sami sends Kaiser to the floor. Chad tags in and hits a cross body off the turnbuckles. Chad with a cross body to VInci for a near fall. Sami tags in and Sami goes for a Blue Thunder Bomb but Vinci with a side head lock. Kaiser with a forearm to the back of the head when the referee deals with Vinci. Kaiser tags in and they hit the double drop kick combination. Kaiser with a kick to the chest and punches. Sami punches back and Kaiser with a drop toe hold and a rear chin lock. Kaiser with an elbow to the nose.
Vinci tags in and he kicks Sami. Vinci with a snap mare and reverse chin lock into a sleeper. Sami with punches but Vinci with a slam and he knocks Gable off the apron. Vinci with a kick to the chest. Vinci chokes Sami in the ropes. Kaiser with a punch when the referee deals with Vinci. Vinci gets a near fall. Vinci with a front face lock and Kaiser tags in and punches Sami in the ribs. Kaiser with a sleeper. Kaiser gets on Sami's back but Sami tries to get to his corner. Sami with a Blue Thunder Bomb and both men are down. Vinci tags in and so does Gable. Gable with foerarms, knees, and European uppercuts. Gable with a back heel kick and a swinging neck breaker. Gable with a reverse atomic drop and exploder to Kaiser. Gable with an exploder to Vinci. Gable with a Mick Foley cross body over the top rope and then Gable with a cannonball to Kaiser on the floor. Gable goes up top and hits a diving head butt on Vinci for a near fall.
Gable goes up top and he misses a monsault but lands on his feet. VInci goes for a brainbuster but Chad escapes. Kaiser tags in and Vinci with a belly-to-back suplex. They set for Imperium Bomb for a near fall when Sami breaks up the cover. Vinci tags in and they set for an Imperium Bom but Chad with a back drop to Vinci and a German suplex to Kaiser. Gable goes for a German suplex on Vinci but Kaiser holds on. Sami comes in and they hit stereo Three Rivers German suplex combinations.
Sami tags in and he goes for an ankle lock on Vinci. Kaiser pulls Gable off the apron and Kaiser with a flying boot to Sami. Gable hits Kaiser from behind and punches him. Kaiser sends Gable to the floor and Sami clotheslines Kaiser over the top rope. Sami blocks a clothesline and hits an exploder into the turnbuckles on Vinci. Sami sets for the Helluva kick but he tags in Gable. Sami with a Helluva Kick and Gable with Chaos Theory for the three count.
Winners: Sami Zayn & Chad Gable
– After more highlights from WrestleMania XL Saturday and WrestleMania XL Sunday are shown, we shoot backstage to "Main Event" Jey Uso. He cuts a promo directly into the camera, ending as always with "YEET!" We see Ricochet doing some shadow-boxing in his locker room.
– Now we head into the Raw G.M. Adam Pearce's office. We see he, SmackDown G.M. Nick Aldis and NXT G.M. Ava talking with Andrade. As he walks off, the three jaw back-and-forth about what they're going to do in the 2024 WWE Draft. In comes Chelsea Green, who complains about being left off of WrestleMania XL.
Green threatens to go to top management to complain if things aren't made right. Pearce says they know, they got the e-mails, the texts and the DMs. He says she's going to have a special match right now on the Raw After WrestleMania show. He tells her to head to the ring now as a matter of fact. As she does, we head into a pre-match commercial break.
Chelsea Green vs. Jade Cargill
When we return from the break, we see Chelsea Green making her way to the ring to the custom whiney ring introduction by Samantha Irvin. She settles in the ring and awaits the announcement regarding who her opponent will be.
With that said, we hear the familiar sounds of Jade Cargill's theme music. Out comes the new dominant force in the women's landscape of WWE to a big pop from the Raw After WrestleMania crowd in Philadelphia. She settles in the ring. The bell sounds, she decks Green, hits her finisher and pins her for the squash match win.
Winner: Jade Cargill
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Eliminator: Drew McIntyre vs. "Main Event" Jey Uso vs. "Big" Bronson Reed vs. Ricochet
The theme for Drew McIntyre hits and out comes "The Scottish Warrior" to the ring for our main event of the evening, which is a four-way eliminator bout to determine the first challenger for new WWE World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest. "The Scottish Warrior" settles in the ring and looks pissed.
McIntyre talks about how he had the shortest reign as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and he's pissed. He says he did what he said he was going to do, which was win the title at WrestleMania, with CM Punk forced to sit ringside and watch. He said Punk put his hands on him afterwards and cost him the title to Damian Priest, who cashed in.
"The Scottish Warrior" makes it clear he's out for "The Best in the World" and the reigning WWE World Heavyweight Championship to get back what is rightfully his. He tells Priest he's only going to be a transitional champion and that after tonight, he's getting back what belongs to him. We head to a commercial break.
When we return, Cole and McAfee announce Sami Zayn vs. Chad Gable for the WWE Intercontinental Championship for next week's Raw in Zayn's hometown of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Also announced for the show next week is Andrade vs. "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio in one-on-one action.
Back inside the arena, "Main Event" Jey Uso, "Big" Bronson Reed and Ricochet make their respective entrances to the ring. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this high stakes four-way title eliminator showdown. After some back-and-forth action, we see Reed put Uso through a table as we head into a mid-match commercial break.
As we settle back in from the final commercial break here on the special Raw After WrestleMania show in Philadelphia, we see the match still in progress, with all four guys battling it out. Uso blasts Reed with multiple kicks and goes for a cover, but McIntyre hits Uso on his taped up ribs to prevent this one from being over.
McIntyre is hung upside down in the tree of woe in the corner. We see a bunch of cool spots, including Ricochet landing a diving basement dropkick, and Reed hitting a buckle bomb on Ricochet onto the legs of McIntyre wrapped up in the turnbuckles. Reed follows that up with a big slam for a close pin attempt.
On the floor, McIntyre connects with a Glasgow Kiss to Reed and then sends him into the steel ring post. Uso and Ricochet enter the picture, and everyone ends up laid out except "Main Event" Jey Uso. Uso begins heading to the top-rope, but Ricochet cuts him off and knocks him off.
With Reed laid out on the commentary desk, Ricochet hits a slingshot flipping splash onto Reed, putting him through the commentary desk and eliciting an insanely loud "Holy sh*t! Holy sh*t!" chant from the Philly crowd. It's down to McIntyre and Uso trading shots in the ring as fans chant "This is Awesome!"
Fans chant "YEET!" as each shot from Uso lands. McIntyre lays Uso out and backs into a corner, stalking him and looking for the Claymore Kick. When he gets ready to charge over for it, we see someone holding McIntyre's foot from under the bottom rope. It's CM Punk! Punk has a big smile on his face as Drew realizes it's him.
This leads to Uso hitting an Uso Splash off the top-rope for the pin fall and the victory. With the win, "Main Event" Jey Uso earns the next shot at the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest. The special Raw After WrestleMania XL show goes off the air.
Winner and NEW No. 1 Contender to WWE World Heavyweight Championship: "Main Event" Jey Uso
