Welcome to the Wrestlepurists’ live coverage of Monday Night Raw for the October 9th, 2023 episode.
SETH ROLLINS IN-RING PROMO
Forty eight hours removed from an eventful Fastlane PLE, Monday Night Raw is live in Omaha, Nebraska. We are kicking off with the winner of Saturday’s Last Man Standing match, still the World Heavyweight Champion, Seth “Freakin” Rollins. Our champion is in one hell of an outfit (as usual) as he takes a moment to let the crowd’s singing wash over him. Seth tells the crowd that adrenaline is a powerful thing because at Fastlane, Shinsuke Nakamura took him to his absolute limit. There were moments in that match where Seth didn’t know if he’d be able to get up or keep Nakamura down, but he did. Seth says after the match the adrenaline wore off and he was reminded that his back is still very broken. Seth tells us that being our World Champion has been one of the great honors of his career but doesn’t finish his sentence. He looks like he might be delivering some bad news here? “But I want you to know…I’m just getting started baby!” Seth laughs and says he will still be our fighting champion. Seth suggests having one Raw where he isn’t fighting for his life, but that brings out Drew McIntyre. Drew comes to the ring and waves at Seth, who just grimaces at what he knows is in store for him. Seth says Drew isn’t out here to party is he? Drew shakes his head no. “You want a World Heavyweight title match don’t ya?” Drew shakes his head yes. Seth says he just wanted one night but starts to fire himself up and tells Drew to give him one minute to get ready and he is on. Drew stops Seth and says we all know that it won’t be long before someone jumps Seth from behind, but Drew is out here to say to him face to face he wants a title shot. Drew tells Seth that in fact he wants the champion at as close to one hundred percent as possible. Drew pitches Seth versus himself at Crown Jewel for the title. Seth is taken aback by his challenger not attacking him from behind lol After consulting with the crowd, Seth agrees to the match for Crown Jewel! But Damian Priest ambushes Seth from behind. He hits South of Heaven on Seth while Drew looks on. It doesn’t look like Drew is interested in helping until Dominik Mysterio comes running out with the Money in the Bank briefcase and a referee. Drew stops Dominik and headbutts him, and then tosses the briefcase up the ramp. Back in the ring Seth has recovered and runs off Priest to stand tall. I really dug this, having Drew go after the title while he is still in tweener mode is an excellent call and makes their match much more intriguing. I loved that Drew, despite saying he wanted Seth as close to one hundred percent as possible, only interfered when it was going to mess up his opportunity.
IVAR DEFEATS KOFI KINGSTON (VIKING RULES MATCH)
Kofi Kingston and Ivar had an excellent one on one match a few weeks ago, very interested to see what they produce with this stipulation added on. But hey where is the weird head of the ship part they usually have? This is ridiculous! Ivar doesn’t waste anytime with a kick to Kofi’s face. Kofi recovers and hits a series of dives. The one on the outside ended with Kofi landing on the top of his head, thank god it seems like Kofi is okay. Okay the only Viking stuff they have out here for this one is the shields and a few flags? I don’t even like the Viking gimmick and i’m outraged. Back from the break and Kofi hits a second rope Russian Leg Sweep on Ivar that looked wild. These two are picking up where they left off last month, making the most out of what weapons they do have. Ivar picks up Kofi after a Boom Drop attempt and hits a spinning slam for a two count. Ivar double under-hooks Kofi and plants him with a powerbomb but that only gets a two. Kofi avoids running into a table propped into the corner, but gets caught with Ivar’s spinning kick on the rebound. Ivar is on the top rope but Kofi cuts him off with a shield (sorry a Viking shield.) Kofi grabs the beard of Ivar and throws him off the turnbuckle onto the outside through a table!! From the crowd comes Valhalla who jumps on Kofi to take him out. She looks…wild. Xavier Woods runs down to help but she is acting strange and it’s freaked Woods out. I don’t blame you bud. She runs at Woods and he ducks which sends her over the barricade. Woods is relieved but Ivar nails him with a running crossbody to take him out. Ivar and Kofi get back into the ring and jockey for position before Ivar is able to catch Kofi off a Trouble in Paradise attempt and drive him through the table in the corner. Ivar climbs the ropes and hits the moonsault for the three count to win the Viking Rules match.
SHINSUKE NAKAMURA INTERVIEW
Byron Saxton is backstage with Shinsuke Nakamura. Byron asks Nakamura how he feels about his performance in the Last Man Standing match. Nakamura doesn’t answer. Byron follows up by asking about Nakamura’s next goals, and still nothing. Ricochet runs into frame and attacks Nakamura. Officials separate the two as Ricochet tries to get revenge for all the attacks Nakamura has launched over the last month. Glad they immediately gave Nakamura something to do post Rollins, though it’s hard to see where he is going to settle from failing to win the title twice. At least Finn Balor had the Judgment Day to fall back to after failing to beat Seth.
BACKSTAGE WITH THE JUDGMENT DAY
We are back from break and Damian Priest is choking JD McDonagh up against the wall LOL The rest of the Judgment Day pull him off and Finn tells JD he has already done enough. Rhea Ripley tells Priest that she got Finn and Priest a tag title rematch next week. She turns to JD and tells him he has his opportunity against Drew McIntyre tonight. Woof, tough night for Mr. Funko Pop.
NIA JAX VERSUS RAQUEL RODRIQUEZ (NO CONTEST)
Nia Jax has a new theme song and it’s not terrible? I’m still not over the weird change to Carlito’s theme from Saturday so maybe I’m desperate to not hate a new theme. These two start off hot with Raquel trying to take out her frustration on Jax. Raquel hammers away until Jax is just too big for Raquel to pick up. That completely changes the match, with Jax throwing Raquel into the ringpost. Jax follows Raquel outside and dominates her as we head to break. We are back from break and back in the ring with Jax trying to wear down Raquel with some submissions. Raquel is finally able to drop Jax with a clothesline followed by a big boot. Raquel tries to power Jax up on her shoulders but her back gives out. Jax jumps right back on Raquel and plants her with the Samoan Drop. She pulls Raquel in for the Vader Bomb/Annihilator but Raquel is back to her feet. Raquel uses the ropes to assist in hitting a huge powerbomb! She doesn’t have enough energy to follow up for the cover though. It won’t matter as the Women’s World Champion is down to the ring to interfere. Rhea throws Raquel out of the ring and starts attacking Jax. Raquel comes back into the ring and starts brawling with the champion. Shayna Baszler is in and what is going on?! These two argue about who is going to take out Jax, with Shayna getting the upperhand on the champion with a German suplex and running knee combo. Listen, GREAT to see Shayna stand tall in this scenario. But can we see a clean finish at some point in this division?
BACKSTAGE WITH DREW MCINTYRE
Drew McIntyre is backstage stewing, while Seth comes to tell him Adam Pearce has made their match at Crown Jewel official. Seth changes his demeanor while asking Drew what his problem was. He calls out exactly what I said early, Drew not lifting a finger until it came to the Money in the Bank briefcase. Drew says he did exactly what he said last week, he hasn’t lied at all. Seth tells Drew that he doesn’t have to worry about the Judgment Day. “They couldn’t take this title from me, and neither can you.” Great stuff, Drew is by far the most interesting character on WWE television right now and I’m really excited to see where this goes.
INTERVIEW WITH SHAYNA BASZLER
Jackie Redmond is backstage trying to get a comment from Shayna Baszler. Shayna says she doesn’t care who it is, if she is standing in that ring then she is the baddest women out there. “Nobody sneak attacks me in that ring and gets away with it.” Akira Tozawa wisely walks away as Shayna walks off lol
CODY RHODES & JEY USO IN-RING PROMO
Michael Cole is in the ring to introduce the NEW Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso. They had a great match at Fastlane, but maybe more importantly had a hilarious drunken press conference afterwards. Just from their segment walking backstage prior to the break it seems like they are going to lean into these two having fun which is absolutely the right call. Cole asks them how it feels to be the champs? Jey says they are turnt up right now! Jey says he is a two time Undisputed Tag Team Champion and his partner is Cody Rhodes! Cole asks Cody what the massive responsibility of defending the tag titles do to his original goal of “Finishing the Story.” Cole asks Cody if he is content with this. Cole asks if Cody is afraid of trying again because Cody may be afraid of letting people down. Cody says Cole is right that Fastlane one was hell of a moment. He’s right that Cody brought Jey back to the WWE. And finally he is right that Cody is excited to be a tag team champion. Cole is not having it, and pushes Cody to answer his question about the WWE Championship. Cody is taking a good amount of time to answer until Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are here! Ooh Sami has his music from his heel run, very interesting. Sami says he hasn’t heard that song in a minute “that’s alright.” Wonder if that was a mistake. Sami says everyone talks about finishing the story, but he wants to talk about Jimmy and Jey Uso. They held the Undisputed Tag Team titles longer than anyone. Then Sami and Kevin came along and beat them for the titles in the main-event of Wrestlemania. And on Saturday, Cody and Jey beat the Judgement for those titles so that is the story that Sami wants to talk about. Sami congratulates both Cody and Jey on their championship win. Sami says this is where things get a bit messy. He does believe that Jey and Cody deserve those titles, but he can’t help but think it should be him and Kevin holding those championships. Kevin grabs the mic and says he doesn’t have mixed emotions. He is not happy at all to see them with those titles. “I don’t care how hard you worked to get them, I want those titles back.” Kevin says he would love to challenge them to a tag team title match right here tonight. Kevin says they won’t accept because Jey can’t handle losing those titles to them…twice. Jey didn’t like that but Cody steps in. Cody says they are all friends here, or at least he thinks they are. But it doesn’t matter because they do accept. Cody and Sami shake hands and we have a title match tonight!
Really fun segment, the addition of Jey Uso to Monday Night Raw added so many fun story possibilities. I love that WWE has decided to go for a lot of them, and it’s turned into some really good television. Also props to Michael Cole for asking harder follow up questions than most interviewers do to any politician ever.
BACKSTAGE WITH ALPHA ACADEMY
Chad Gable is backstage with Otis and Maxxine and he is getting chopped over and over again by Otis. He says if he is going to get this title shot against GUNTHER, he needs to have his body ready. Bronson Reed comes in and says Gable isn’t getting anywhere near the Intercontinental title as Reed has already beaten Gable and Otis. Reed tells Gable to tell his daughter not to watch tonight as it will just be another disappointment.
BRONSON REED DEFEATS CHAD GABLE AND RICOCHET
Ricochet is out for the triple threat number one contenders match for the Intercontinental Championship but he is down at the ramp and Shinsuke Nakamura is behind him! Nakamura continues his assault before officials and referee’s can break things up. Back from break and Ricochet looks like he is going to give it a go in this triple threat match. On the replay it looks like Nakamura hit a GTS and my god folks…can’t believe the CM Punk teases continue. I’m going to have A LOT of thoughts if he ends up on Monday nights. But that’s for next month, Reed starts the match taking out both Gable and Ricochet. The two smaller athletes try and team up to Irish whip Reed , but Reed counters and throws both men outside the ring. Reed puts both wrestlers on his shoulders and it doesn’t look like it took any effort. My god he is strong. Reed hits a Samoan Drop on both men but only gets a two count. Ricochet hits the springboard back elbow but it only stuns Reed. Ricochet sticks and moves and hits a springboard dropkick that finally takes Reed off his feet. Gable is back in the ring and tries for a Razor’s Edge on Ricochet but he counters it with a hurricanrana. Ricochet nails a running Shooting Star Press but only gets a two count. Reed is back in the ring but immediately eats a walk up kick from Ricochet and then an impressive German suplex from Gable! Reed rolls out of the ring but Ricochet follows him with a dive. Back in the ring the fresher Gable grabs the Ankle Lock but Ricochet rolls out. He hits Gable with a nasty running knee but that doesn’t knock him out. Both men are on the top rope and and Gable tries for a top rope German! Ricochet lands on his freaking feet but may have hurt his knee. Gable pounces and hits the Chaos Theory suplex. Reed grabs Ricochet from the pinning attempt and plants him on Gable. Reed hits a running senton on the stacked pairing and then the Tsunami on Ricochet for the three count. With Hunter seemingly firmly in charge I feel a little better that Gable will get his moment. So all I will say is next week? BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPING MEAT.
BECKY LYNCH INTERVIEW
Jackie Redmond asks Becky Lynch where she is at psychically tonight? Becky says she isn’t one hundred percent but if you’re a fighting champion and you’re doing it right you are never one hundred percent. Becky plugs her book and then says tonight she will be like a wounded bear out there – so Tegan Nox better bring her best. XIA LI straight out of the witness protection program confronts Becky and asks when it will be her turn. Um girl probably when you finally show up on the show. Becky tells her she isn’t hard to find. I do really love that Becky is taking on all the forgotten wrestlers. Let her cook with as many of them as possible.
DREW MCINTYRE DEFEATS JD MCDONAGH
Let’s see how they book this one. JD is not afraid of Drew at first, meeting him with chops and a headbutt but Drew no sells it. That’s when JD wisely tries to dip. Drew chases him back in the ring and WOW. Drew hits maybe the best back body drop I’ve ever seen? Drew looks like he is going to end this one quick but Dominik is up on the ropes and that is all JD needed. JD chop blocks Drew in the knee and goes crazy on it. A leg whip and a few other attacks to the knees and all of the sudden the match has changed. They are on the outside and JD tries to follow up but Drew plants him with a clothesline. With the referee distracted, Dominik pushes Drew into the ringpost which once again gives JD the chance to get back into the match. Back in the ring JD hits a diving knee to Drew but that only gets a one count. Dominik interferes again but Drew is too powerful. JD walks into the Future Shock DDT, and then Drew hits the Claymore for the three count. You know what, couldn’t have booked that better. JD still looked competent and clearly has promise, but I love that Drew is on the level that he is (and should be) able to handle the Judgment Day young boys by himself. As Drew poses we see Priest looking on in the Judgment Day layer. Rhea tells him that before he does anything, she has a plan. Hmm, Judgment Day plans haven’t worked out the last few weeks, but let’s see.
DIY INTERVIEW
We see an interview from earlier today with Wade Barrett sitting down with Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. Ciampa says the fans are what made DIY, they made them undeniable. Gargano says they’ve always talked about what if DIY could be on Monday Night Raw. How far could they go? Before they can answer anymore questions Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci ambush DIY. They boot Ciampa out of his chair and threaten Gargano.
TEGAN NOX VIDEO PACKAGE
We get a video package for Tegan Nox. She tells us the story of tearing her ACL just days after signing her WWE contract. Then tearing it again a year later in her comeback. Ugh simple and effective. So many of the problems of WWE in the past had simple solutions – which made it that much more frustrating. Nox isn’t the best talker but she tore her ACL twice after getting her dream job. We as an audience can understand struggles and perseverance. Why make booking your wrestlers harder than it has to be?
TEGAN NOX INTERVIEW
Jackie Remond asks Nox how she has been preparing for Becky Lynch. Nox says this isn’t just a championship match for her anymore, this is to show the world exactly who the hell Tegan Nox is. Natalya comes over and tells her she meant what she said last week. She wishes her luck.
BACKSTAGE WITH RICOCHET & ADAM PEARCE
Ricochet is backstage yelling for Nakamura to show his face. Adam Pearce comes over and says he can’t have things going to hell so he asked Nakamura to leave. But next week on the season premiere of Raw, it’ll be Ricochet versus Nakamura in a Falls Count Anywhere match. Next week is shaping up to a be a good one!
BECKY LYNCH DEFEATS TEGAN NOX (NXT WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP)
After having to push this match a few weeks back, it’s finally time for Becky Lynch to defend her NXT Women’s Championship against Tegan Nox. Like I said last week, having to postpone the match has actually made it a bigger deal. These two start by trading pinfall attempts, neither getting a clear advantage. Becky goes for a quick end with the Manhandle Slam but Nox has it scouted. Nox counters Becky’s corner kick and then attacks the injured arm of Becky. Becky tries for her top rope leg drop but Nox has that scouted too. Love this, a wrestler who has been sitting in catering knowing they have their big match in a few weeks should absolutely have counters ready for all their opponents big moves. Becky keeps coming but Nox keeps ducking. Becky has turned up the intensity as she knows her championship reign is in danger. Becky has the Dis-Arm-Her locked in until Nox is able to turn out of it and send Becky’s head crashing into the bottom turnbuckle. The Man won’t stay down and meets Nox on the top rope. Nox slips through Becky and crotches the champion. Becky falls back and Nox hits a cannonball into the corner. Nox locks Becky’s own Dis-Arm-her onto the injured arm of the champion! Becky is able to barely escape. Becky hits a top rope drop kick but only gets a two count and the crowd is starting to get into this one. Becky looks for the Dis-Arm-Her but Nox counters, whips Becky off the ropes, and hits a fallaway slam for a two count. Nox jumps off the top rope and Becky has her caught with the Manhandle Slam but Nox reverses again in a pin attempt. Becky and Nox trade pinfall attempts before Becky finally is able to lock in the Dis-Arm-Her! Nox has no choice but to tap out. Becky offers a handshake to Nox and she accepts. This was a really fun match, the crowd didn’t get into it till the end because they’ve done basically nothing with Nox up until three weeks ago, but this match should do wonders. Hope Nox and Natalya further their storyline and they keep Nox on tv.
BACKSTAGE WITH ADAM PEARCE, CANDICE LERAE & INDI HARTWELL
Adam Pearce is backstage with Candice Lerae and Indi Hartwell. Pearce tells Candice that the word is Gargano is okay but they are still waiting on word with regards to Ciampa. Rhea Ripley storms into the office and tells Candice and Indi to leave the office. They protest but Pearce keeps the peace (for once.) Rhea says she needs to get her division in order, and demands a match with Shayna next week.
BACKSTAGE WITH TEGAN NOX & NATALYA
Nox is backstage licking her wounds. Natalya comes in and says that Nox did amazing. Nox says that she lost, maybe she doesn’t deserve to be here. Kayden Carter and Katana Chance come in and also say Nox did great. Chelsea Green and Piper Niven come by and insult Nox. Green tells Natalya to never interfere with her matches again or else…and Piper jumps in saying she will have to deal with her. A match is made for next week between Piper and Natalya.
BACKSTAGE WITH JEY USO
Jey is backstage getting ready while Drew comes in to tell him he sees right through him. Jey says Drew clearly still feels some kind of way so if he wants he has five minutes for him right now. Sami steps in and makes sure everything is good. Jey thanks Sami for always having his back, but tonight is go time. Sami tells Jey that he doesn’t have to tell him twice.
LUDWIG KAISER VIDEO PACKAGE
We get a baller video package for Ludwig Kaiser. Just…go watch this one. We find out Kaiser is an A+ specimen according to, well Kaiser. He steps in to take pictures with people without them knowing and they are excited lol
CODY RHODES & JEY USO DEFEAT KEVIN OWENS & SAMI ZAYN (UNDISPUTED WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS)
THANK GOODNESS Sami Zayn’s music is correct and all is right with the world. Wade Barrett makes a good point that whenever he won a championship he hoped his first title defense would be against an easier opponent, but clearly that isn’t the case for Cody and Jey tonight. Cody and Sami start off, trading chops that fire both teams up early. Kevin and Jey finally are the legal men and we do not get a clean break. Kevin pie faces Jey in the corner and it leads to both men brawling. They keep fighting on the outside with Cody and Sami trying to break things up. Instead of getting things back in the ring, Sami and Cody get into it and they start to brawl. Kevin lays into Jey on the announce table and doesn’t let up. After a brief moment back in the ring, all four men are back on the outside just throwing hands. I love it, these four “friends” have been dealing with a lot of tension lately. Now that they have chance to fight without any moral consequences, they are just going for it. Kevin hits some DX “suck it’s” on Jey and then hits a beautiful Swanton on Jey but it only gets a two count. Kevin and Jey trade superkicks, but Kevin lays Jey out with a lariat. Jey gets one more kick on Kevin and both men are able to make tags out to their partners. Cody and Sami are in but Cody has the advantage with a powerslam followed by a Cody Cutter! One…two…no! Cody wants the Crossrhodes but Sami counters with a knee. Sami goes for the Blue Thunder Bomb but Cody counters into a Crossrhodes attempt. Sami reverses that and now he hits the Blue Thunder Bomb for a two count. These four are starting to trade big shots to try and end this one. Sami catches Cody in the corner with the exploder suplex. Sami runs for the Helluva Kick but Cody recovers and plants Sami with the Crossrhodes! He would have had the three but Kevin breaks up the count just before the three. Cody and Sami are on their knees trading blows. Cody looks like he wants a pedigree but Sami hits a back body drop to escape. Kevin and Jey tag in and Kevin immediately goes for a stunner. Some clumsiness with Kevin and Jey as they trade kicks before Jey hits a superkick pin point on the chin of Kevin. Jey goes up for the Uso Splash but Kevin rolls out and nails Jey with the Stunner! And now that would have been it but Cody is in to break up the count this time. Back in the ring Sami hits a tope taking out both Cody and Jey. Kevin rolls Jey back into the ring and goes for a Swanton but Jey gets the knees up! Jey nailes Kevin with another superkick. Cody is back in the ring and he hits the Crosshrodes on Sami. A double superkick by Cody and Jey on Kevin. Jey lifts Kevin up and Cody hits the Cody Cutter/1D combo to retain! After the match Cody and Jey offer a handshake to Sami and Kevin. Sami accepts first and shakes both their hands. Kevin shakes Cody’s hand and thinks about shaking Jey’s before doing so! Aw good for him! Friendship wins?
This one was a FIGHT. I’m a little surprised (but not in a bad way) that this was a clean win for Cody and Jey. I’m wondering where Kevin and Sami go from here. I hope not a full heel turn, though they should absolutely be frustrated with the loss. Check back in with us next week as we recap the season premiere of Monday Night Raw and dissect anymore CM Punk teases!
