WWE RAW Live Coverage - April 15th, 2024
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Sami Zayn returns to Montreal to defend the IC Title against Chad Gable
New Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn will defend his title against the man who helped him defeat Gunther at WrestleMania XL, Chad Gable. Gable and Zayn teamed up to defeat Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser on the Raw after WrestleMania as Gable mentioned he would need a favor from Zayn since Zayn won the title Gable had desperately fought for last year. The two clashed in the Gauntlet Match to determine The Ring General’s opponent at WrestleMania XL a few weeks ago, with Zayn coming out on top in an immense battle. Can Zayn make his homecoming a successful one or will Gable cut Zayn’s reign as Intercontinental Champion short?
:raw:
– Michael Cole welcome us to the show as we see live shots of Sami Zayn and Chad Gable arriving for their Intercontinental Championship showdown, WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes, as well as WWE World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest.
– We then hear the sounds of Rhea Ripley's theme song and out comes the WWE Women's World Champion with her arm in a sling. She heads to the ring as Pat McAfee joins Cole on commentary to welcome us to the show. The two bring up the rumors surrounding Ripley heading into tonight's show. Cole points out tonight marks the 380th day of her reign as champion.
WWE Raw G.M. Adam Pearce is already in the ring. Ripley says she assumes we all know what's going on. Ripley says she has an injury that is going to keep her out for months. She says she's out here to vacate the thing that means the most to her. Fans chant "Bullsh*t!" She says she agrees, it is. She then lays the title down in the ring and talks about how painful this is for her to do.
Ripley begins breaking down as fans break out in a "Thank you, Mami!" chant. Ripley says this all happened because of Liv Morgan's Revenge Tour. She says she could have had respect for her had she done it face-to-face, but she did it like the coward she is, from behind. This led to Liv Morgan coming out, but she is stopped by security. Ripley headbutts one of them. We head to a commercial break after we see Sheamus warming up backstage.
When we return from the break, we see a down-looking Ripley walking the halls. She meets up with the other members of The Judgment Day, who all huddle up for a group hug. They give her some words of encouragement before we move on. She tells them to keep The Judgment Day on top and tells them to "look out for this one," pointing to Dominik Mysterio. "I love you, Mami!" he says. "Yeah, I know," she replies as she walks off.
Sheamus vs. Ivar
Back inside the arena, we hear the familiar sounds of Sheamus' old theme song and out comes "The Celtic Warrior" for his first in-ring action for WWE since August of 2023, as he returns from a lengthy injury time out due to neck issues. Cole and McAfee proclaim it "FIGHT NIGHT!" on commentary as Sheamus yells "FELLA!" as he heads to the ring.
Sheamus settles inside the ring and his music dies down. The sounds of The Viking Raiders theme hits next and out comes Ivar. He settles in the ring and the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running. Sheamus and Ivar collide early on. Ivar takes the early lead, but Sheamus takes over as Ivar heads to the top-rope. He joins him up there and holds him upside down on his back, where he hits an insane top-rope White Noise on the big fella.
We shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as the action continues. We return from the break to see the action still in progress. Ivar gains the upper-hand again and beats Sheamus down in the corner. Sheamus yells "C'mon fella, is that all you've got?!" and then pops up and hits a big knee-pad-less "Knee Cap" that lays out the big man. He hits his Brogue Kick for the win.
Winner: Sheamus
– When we return from the break, we see the ring decked out with a podium and red carpet. The theme for Paul "Triple H" Levesque hits and out comes the WWE Chief Content Officer. He joins Raw G.M. Adam Pearce in the ring. He talks about this being a new era.
Pearce mentions how we went into WrestleMania XL with one set of tag champs and came out with two. They bring out Awesome Truth and present them with the new tag team title belts for the Raw brand, which will be known as the World Tag-Team Champions going forward.
Truth goes on a comedic rampage, confusing the podium with the new title belts and a cloth covering them to a magic trick that a magician would perform when cutting a lady in half. By the end, we learn there will be a three-way tag match right now to determine their first contenders and challengers for the new belts.
World Tag-Team Championship Eliminator: New Day vs. DIY vs. The Creed Brothers
As we settle back in from the commercial break, the team of DIY make their way out. Out next are The Creed Brothers and The New Day. These are the three teams that will be competing to determine who will be the first to challenge Awesome Truth for the newly introduced World Tag-Team Championships.
The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. We see some good, fast-paced back-and-forth action to get things started and then we head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see each team get a moment to shine, with DIY ultimately hitting their finishers to pick up the victory. They will now challenge Awesome Truth, who are at ringside, for their newly introduced title belts.
Winners and No. 1 Contenders: DIY
– Backstage, we see a member of the WWE broadcast team attempt to catch up with Drew McIntyre after footage is shown of CM Punk costing him the number one contender match last week on Raw. McIntyre has a big smile on his face. He is told this is not the reaction people expected after last week. He continues smiling but then drops the smile and loses it, kicking over a big TV. We head to another break.
Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell vs. Ivy Nile & Maxxine Dupri
When we return from the break, the team of Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell make their way to the ring. Already in the ring is the team of Ivy Nile and Maxxine Dupri. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one.
Early on we see some back-and-forth action, and then it is LeRae working over Dupri for several minutes, dominating the offense and showcasing her new heel persona. In the end, Hartwell hits a cheap shot behind the ref's back and helps keep Nile from breaking up the pin that LeRae scores on Durpi for the win.
Winners: Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell
– We shoot to a video package that shows Damian Priest as the first Puerto Rican WWE Champion in over 50 years, including footage from his WrestleMania XL Weekend and last week's Raw. We then shoot backstage where The Judgment Day look down in the dumps. Priest gives them a pep talk. Dom is fired up. Finn Balor thinks they should focus on regaining the tag titles. Balor ends up getting on board.
Andrade vs. Dominik Mysterio
– Back inside the arena, the theme for Andrade hits and out he comes with his entrance mask on. He heads to the ring for our next match of the evening, as we head into a quick pre-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, Dominik Mysterio makes his way down to the ring accompanied by JD McDonagh after quick "earlier today" footage of Chad Gable training with The Creed Brothers for his I-C title match tonight is shown. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one.
Dom teases shaking hands to start things off, but ends up blasting Andrade with a chop across the chest that leaves a giant hand print. After some early back-and-forth action, we head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, Dom hits a Canadian Destroyer on Andrade on the hard part of the apron.
Moments later, Andrade fires up for a comeback, knocks JD off the apron and hits his finisher on Dom for the win. After the match, Dom and JD attack Andrade until Ricochet runs out to make the save.
Winner: Andrade
– We see highlights from SmackDown of Tama Tonga making his WWE debut alongside Solo Sikoa, who went rogue on The Bloodline and savagely attacked Jimmy Uso. Back live backstage, Cathy Kelley talks to "Main Event" Jey Uso. He says he told Jimmy to come with him, but says he has to focus on Finn Balor tonight. We head to another commercial break.
Chelsea Green & Piper Niven vs. Kayden Carter & Katana Chance
Back from the break, we hear the familiar sounds of the "Hot Mess" theme song as Piper Niven and Chelsea Green, who gets the special custom ring introduction from Samantha Irvin, make their way down to the ring for our next match of the evening.
After they settle inside the ring, their music dies down and the entrance tune for their opponents plays. Out comes Katana Chance and Kayden Carter. They settle in the ring and the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running.
We see some back-and-forth action, which wraps up with Niven catching her opposition as she soared off the top-rope. After she rag-dolls her, we see the pin fall for the victory for the Complaint Department duo. We head to a post-match commercial break after seeing Cody Rhodes walking the halls.
Winners: Chelsea Green & Piper Niven
– When we return from the break, we see Liv Morgan backstage after highlights of the top of the show are shown of Rhea Ripley relinquishing the WWE Women's World Championship. Morgan says where was the sympathy for her when Ripley injured her shoulder and kept her on the sidelines for months. She says a shoulder for a shoulder.
– Back inside the arena, the theme for Cody Rhodes hits and out comes "The American Nightmare" to a huge pop. The WWE Universal Champion heads to the ring for our next segment of the week. He asks what we want to talk about in French, which gets a big pop. He says we should all thank Adam Pearce for letting him hang around Raw since he's technically a SmackDown Superstar.
Cody goes on to bring up Seth "Freakin'" Rollins vowing to be his Shield, and delivering on that promise at WrestleMania XL. He thanks him for that. The fans chant "Thank you, Seth!" He then brings up recent comments from The Rock, who spoke about his WrestleMania XL Weekend. He says he doesn't think The Rock has one more match left in him. He thinks he's got a lot more than that.
Rhodes then brings out "Main Event" Jey Uso as someone else he wants to thank. He makes his way to the ring. The two have some fun and then Cody brings up Uso about to fight with Finn Balor. He tells him he'll have his back. Uso says he needs to do this alone. Cody says he understands. Cody hugs him and says, "Until we YEET! again..." as we head into another commercial break.
– As we settle in from the break, Cathy Kelley catches up with Nia Jax backstage. She is asked about the Rhea Ripley situation. She says she doesn't feel sorry for Ripley one bit. She says now she's going to take over the women's title. She says there are two types of people, those who fear Nia Jax, and those who learn to fear Nia Jax.
"Main Event" Jey Uso vs. Finn Balor
Back inside the arena, we hear Jey Uso's theme still playing. It cuts off and then the entrance tune for "The Prince" Finn Balor hits. He comes into the ring from behind and attacks Uso before the match officially begins. A few moments later, the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running. Balor takes the early offensive lead over Uso after the cheap-shot start.
We see some more back-and-forth offense and then we head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see Balor go on a big offensive run, which Uso stops dead in its' tracks. We see WWE World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest grab his title backstage and storm off while watching this on a monitor. Moments later, Uso hits a Uso Splash for the win.
After the match, Priest comes down to the ring and stares down his first title challenger heading into WWE Backlash: France. From behind, JD McDonagh, Dominik Mysterio and Finn Balor attack him. Uso scrambles free and escapes through the crowd to the back. He heads through fans buying drinks, etc., even pushing one fan out of the way that walked in front of him not realizing it was him, for a big laugh from the crowd. He yells dueces and walks out.
Winner: "Main Event" Jey Uso
– Jey Uso stops and sees Sami Zayn staring up at the building. Uso asks what he's doing. Zayn mentions how so many years ago he stood outside this building as a fan. Uso says go get'm, Uce. Zayn heads into the building and tells the camera man, want to see the best wrestling city in the world? He says watch this and then takes the same path Uso took to exit the building, to enter the arena through the crowd.
The Goodfellas kitchen single camera shot follows him all the way through, where he emerges in a sea of fans loudly singing along as his theme hits. A fan hands him a Canadian flag, which he takes, wraps around himself and begins the long walk down through the crowd to the ring for our main event of the evening. He gets all the way to the bottom and says let's go again! He walks back up the other side of the crowd as we head into a commercial break.
:ic:
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Sami Zayn (C) vs. Chad Gable
When we return, we see Zayn wrapping up his entrance. It is announced that a new WWE Women's World Champion will be crowned on next week's episode of WWE Monday Night Raw. Also scheduled for the show next week is Awesome Truth vs. DIY for the new WWE World Tag-Team Championships, as well as Ricochet & Andrade vs. Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh in tag-team action.
Backstage, we see "Big" Bronson Reed confront Chad Gable right before he is about to head out to the ring. Reed delivers a warning to Gable, who ignores him as his "SHOOSH!" plays in the arena and his theme gets going. Out he comes for our final match of the evening. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. We see some intense back-and-forth action as things get started. The two get in a fiery nose-to-nose stare down as we head into a mid-match break.
Upon returning from the break, we hear loud "Ole! Ole!" chants as Zayn gets some time in the offensive spotlight. After he hits some big spots, Gable starts to take over in front of this very one-sided, pro-Zayn crowd in Montreal. After Gable hits an impressive athletic high spot, we shift gears and head into yet another mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see Gable hit a modified Angle Slam off the top-rope on Zayn. Ouch. Sami's wife is shown reacting to this in the crowd.
Gable continues to dominate the majority of the offense in the final minutes of this main event title tilt. He slaps the ankle lock on the leg of Zayn's that he has been working on throughout the match. Zayn is stuck in the hold forever, but he eventually escapes to keep this one going. Zayn hits a big exploder suplex on Gable into the turnbuckles in the corner of the ring. He backs up and sprints forward, connecting with a Helluva Kick for the pin fall victory for the win. With the win, Zayn retains the I-C title to a huge hometown pop.
Winner and STILL WWE Intercontinental Champion: Sami Zayn
– After the match, we see Sami's wife celebrating his win in the crowd. Zayn poses with his title in the middle of the ring as we see some blood on his dome from the match. He lays the title down and looks over at an upset Gable in the corner. He heads over to console him. Gable isn't interested, but ends up letting him help him up. He holds back tears, raises Zayn's hand in victory and exits the ring. Zayn heads over to hug his dad and wife in the crowd, but as he does, he is attacked from behind by Gable.
Gable takes him out with a German suplex on the floor and then runs him into the steel ring post. He throws him on the commentary desk and then back into the ring. He slaps the ankle lock on Zayn's bad leg through the ropes as officials try and pull him off. That's how this week's show goes off the air.
