WWE Raw: McIntyre returns on an excellent episode of Raw

Thomas Starr

Drew McIntyre returns and takes out Sami Zayn
Drew McIntyre returns and takes out Sami Zayn

This was the best episode of the year. The segments at the top of both hours were excellent. They did a nice twist with Jey Uso being attacked and Sami thinking it was Seth. Which, of course, led to the big return of Drew McIntyre as the cliffhanger of the show. The one area Raw usually lacks is quality matches, but not here. Sami vs. Seth and Gunther vs. Dom were both fun to watch.

Must-see moments:

Punk-Rollins-Zayn segment

This was one of the best segments on Raw in a while. Punk was in rare form when he came out. He was effusive during his promo. The sudden change in mood when Rollins came out was perfect. These two men either really hate each other (likely) and were able to channel that into their exchange or they are tremendous actors (unlikely).

Sami’s involvement made sense since he teamed with Punk over the weekend and had asked Seth to partner with them. Rollins was borderline heelish, but he was also right. I do not know if Seth is turning heel, but they could go either way here. Sami, whose return to the Bloodline is puzzling when you think about it, did an excellent job explaining himself and pointing out what a jerk and hypocrite Rollins was being. Great segment.

The New Day Celebration

WWE added a twist to this storyline. Instead of Woods turning on Kofi, as expected, instead they both found common ground in turning on Big E. E’s eyes looked red throughout the segment and his tone was pitch perfect here. He was obviously distraught over his two friends fighting. Kofi and Woods, however, made sense in that E has been on WWE TV but not with them. Instead, he was doing preshow panels.

All three men managed to show real emotions here. Kofi and Woods, while having a point, took it too far and were the clear heels. The crowd, who had popped for the celebration, sat in stunned silence while these three men argued. When Woods and Kofi clasped hands, the crowd booed them out of the building. Another great segment.

Chronological recap:

Raw was live from the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington. After an extended recap of Survivor Series, CM Punk came out for an in-ring monologue.

Punk was in a different mood after the Wargames match than after Hell in a Cell with Drew McIntyre. He said his mood was changed because he knew exactly where he was headed. He climbed up on the middle turnbuckle and pointed to the ceiling as if the WrestleMania sign were there. Punk explained whether it is the Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, or a favor from Paul Heyman, he knows where he is going (WrestleMania).

Seth Rollins’ music hit, and Punk mouthed the “F” word as he came out. Seth was wearing a light brown snakeskin pleather suit with a reddish-brown mesh shirt underneath. His wardrobe is so weird.

Rollins said he should have knocked Punk out when he showed up in WWE. Now he wants to fix that mistake. He took his weird jacket off and was ready to fight.

Punk told Rollins that he only paid attention to him before because he had a title belt. He said he does not think about Rollins at all, because he does not have anything to gain from him. Rollins shoved Punk to the ground and Jey Uso and Sami Zayn came out to separate them.

Jey Uso was escorting Punk to the back. Rollins told Jey that he should run back to Roman. Sami told him not to talk to Jey like that. Rollins apologized to Jey, but asked Sami why he was running with Roman. He, rightly, said Sami is not related to Roman. Then he accused Sami of betraying him by teaming with Punk.

Sami told Seth that he had asked Rollins to team with them instead, which Rollins said he was not going to team with the guy he just helped take down at WrestleMania. Sami retorted that Rollins created the monster by hitting Roman in the back with a chair 10 years ago.

Seth said he must live with his decisions from the past, but he worked so hard to take down the Bloodline and Sami is helping rebuild it. He said Sami was acting stupid. Rollins was not wrong in anything he said. Sami did an excellent job explaining himself, but Seth made great points here. Sami challenged Seth to a match later tonight and Seth agreed.

They went backstage to Judgment Day. Tensions were running high as Liv pointed out that Finn said he was done with Damien, but then cost Damien the title at Survivor Series. Finn said she needs to handle her own business, because she lost the Wargames match and has to defend her title at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Damage CTRL

Joe Tessitore praised Iyo Sky’s performance at Survivor Series including doing a Moonsault from the top of the cage with a garbage can on her head. Wade Barrett said the “physics of it don’t make sense” in a way to build her up, but it also pointed out how ridiculous that spot was.

This was a short match. Liv and Iyo ended up on the outside. Raquel hit an incredible looking boot to Kairi’s face and then hit the chokeslam for the win. This worked as a spotlight for Raquel. Rhea ran out and Raquel ended up smashing her damaged eye into the ringside barrier.

Winners: Liv and Raquel

Finn interrupted a Gunther promo and said Gunther owes him a title match. Finn’s logic is that he helped Gunther beat Damien twice. Gunther said he did not ask him to do it, so he owes him nothing. Gunther points out that unlike Finn, Dominik beat Damien. So, Gunther gave Dominik the match instead.

Dakota Kai vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Katana Chance – Intercontinental Tournament

WWE has added another women’s title, and they are doing triple threat matches for the tournament. They do this often, and these matches are always a mess. The psychology was off here too, because it is two babyfaces versus one heel.

Not a good match. Dakota won with the GTS. The crowd did pop for her victory.

Winner: Dakota Kai

WWE aired a history package on The New Day. They showed Big E and Kofi winning WWE titles and Xavier winning King of the Ring. This was well done and tied in with the comments Kofi and Xavier made during their argument last week.

Top of the hour

Adam Pearce introduced The New Day’s Tenth Anniversary celebration. They had several props from the last ten years including the giant Booty O’s cereal box and Xavier’s horn.

Kofi and Xavier teased breaking up, but Big E’s music interrupted them. The crowd had been chanting “E” earlier in the segment, so they popped huge when his music hit.

Big E was somber as he entered the ring. He took both men to task for the things they said last week. E recapped what they have meant to each other including that the two men were at his bedside when he was hospitalized with the neck injury.

Big E told Kofi and Xavier that to heal the rift between the two men, he was going to be their manager. Xavier told E that he left them. Kofi said the same thing. Kofi and Xavier berated E for not being around to support them. E said he was injured, but he has also been all over the preshows for WWE.

Xavier told E to get out of the ring and go back to his desk job. He said they would call him if they needed him. There was some real venom here. E begged them to reconsider, but Kofi held him back. E reluctantly left the ring. Kofi and Xavier turned to each other and grasped hands to a chorus of boos.

A Karrion Kross promo aired recapping last week’s preposterous angle with his wife. He had good intensity here.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Gunther

Gunther came out with bruising on his chest from Saturday. Early in the match, Gunther lifted Dom over the top rope and then patted his head like a child. The crowd laughed.

Gunther slapped Dominik around for most of the match as he should. Dominik, the sneaky heel, got the advantage by using a low blow. Gunther eventually chopped Dom into next week and hit a great looking powerbomb for the win.

Winners: Gunther

Finn snuck in behind Gunther and hit the sling blade. He told Dom he was going to show him how it was done. Finn hit Gunther with three top rope double stomps to his stomach. I do not know how he does those without making people vomit.

Backstage, a Pete Dunne promo was interrupted by a commotion behind them. Jey Uso was injured in the back. No one was sure who injured him.

Pete Dunne vs. R-Truth

There was not too much to this match. Dunne was distracted when the crowd started chanting “Butch” at him. Truth took advantage with a roll up and the win.

Winners: R-Truth

Ludwig Kaiser interrupted Bron Breakker’s backstage interview. Kaiser said he took out Sheamus by injuring his ribs, which was payback for Sheamus injuring his ribs. Breakker challenged Kaiser and mocked him for being Gunther’s lackey.

Sami asked Adam Pearce who injured Jey. Pearce said he did not know, but asked Sami who he thought did it? Sami said he was going to beat up the culprit next.

Finn Balor asked Adam Pearce for a title match against Gunther. Pearce made the match for Saturday Night’s Main Event. He teased that Finn would have another title match. He is one half of the tag team champions.

Sami Zayn vs. Seth Rollins

This was a good match with both men dialing up the intensity. Sami shouted at Rollins that he knew it was him that attacked Jey. Rollins told him he did not do it. Sami even got a chair and brought it into the ring, but Seth finally convinced him not to use it. Once Sami threw the chair to ringside, Seth rolled him up in a small package and won.

Winner: Seth Rollins

After the match, Seth told Sami to use his head. He reiterated that he did not attack Jey. After he left, Drew McIntyre was behind Sami and hit him with the Claymore. The show ended with McIntyre standing over Zayn.

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