Welcome to the Wrestlepurists’ live coverage of Monday Night Raw for the October 23rd, 2023 episode.
JUDGMENT DAY IN-RING PROMO
It’s Monday Night Raw and we are kicking things off with a Judgment Day promo! I guess one way to make sure they don’t interrupt the opening promo is to have them be the opening promo. To be fair, they are coming off a massive win last week where Damian Priest and Finn Balor regained the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships. Priest and Finn are actually the only members of the Judgment Day that come out here. Priest says the rest of the crew is in the clubhouse handling group business. He says the Judgment Day is back to running Raw. But now it’s their turn to be interrupted as the American Nightmare Cody Rhodes is here. Cody asks them how it feels to be interrupted? Cody says he has some choice words for the leader of the Judgment Day, but he can see Rhea Ripley isn’t out here. Cody knows that they are going to say there is no leader in the Judgment Day, but from Cody’s point of view Rhea is Finn and Priest’s Mami too. Cody tells Priest that if he thought the low blow Priest gave Cody last week was the final shot in their feud, he was wrong. Priest says Cody’s story has so many different people involved with it now. Last week one of those people cost Cody the tag titles. “I believe your story is that you failed.” Cody is ready to fight tonight, but Priest points out he has a match later tonight. Instead he lays the challenge out for a one on one match at Crown Jewel. Cody accepts, but asks what they are going to do right now. “Why don’t we give everyone a preview of Crown Jewel?” Priest says he likes the idea as Dominik Mysterio and Rhea come to the ring. Jey Uso runs down the ramp and cuts Dominik off! Cody takes out Finn and goes right for Priest. Cody seems to have the upper-hand until JD McDonagh appears and clips the knee of Cody. This turns ugly fast for Cody as Priest and JD prop Cody’s leg in between a chair up against the stairs. Priest connects with a chair shot and Cody is hurt!
BACKSTAGE WITH ADAM PEARCE, CODY RHODES & JEY USO
Adam Pearce and Jey Uso are backstage checking on Cody Rhodes. Pearce tells Cody he needs to go see the trainers and Jey is extremely upset. Jey helps carry Cody to the trainers room.
THE NEW DAY DEFEAT THE ALPHA ACADEMY
The Alpha Academy is in the ring with their new apprentice Akira Tozawa. This is a Tozawa stan account now. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are out to prove they are still one of the top tag teams in WWE. Gable and Woods start the match, and the two former amateur wrestlers start off on the mat. Kofi and Gable put on a clinic of reversals for the few minutes they are the legal men. I’m going to need a one on one match with those two soon. Otis misses a Vader Bomb but Kofi is able to roll out of the way. Woods and Gable tag back in and Woods gets the better of him at first with a discus elbow. Gable counters the Shining Wizard from Woods and picks the ankle for an Ankle Lock attempt. Gable wrestles like he could end any match at any time. The Olympian hits three German suplexes, finishing with a bridge that only gets a two count. Otis tags in and lifts Woods on his shoulders. Gable fly’s off and nails Woods with a bulldog off Otis’ shoulders but Kofi breaks up the pin. Otis splashes Kofi in the corner and it is Caterpillar time! Otis runs at Woods but Woods ducks and Otis rams into the post. Gable makes the tag but it doesn’t look like Woods saw it. Woods does a reverse Caterpillar (LOL) but YES Gable is in and grabs the ankle lock. Woods might tap, but he is able to reverse it into a pinfall attempt for a two. Kofi hits the Trouble in Paradise on Otis! He dives out of the ring to take out Gable and Woods hits the Limit Break to win. Really fun match and a nice win for New Day. I’m not sure if I should be worried about Gable losing again. I’m still thinking it’s part of a story they are telling of Gable needing to get ruthless to take out GUNTHER, but this is the first week where I’m just a tad worried.
BECKY LYNCH INTERVIEW
Jackie Redmond is backstage with the NXT Women’s Champion Becky Lynch. She calls Becky the definition of a fighting champion and asks why she would defend her title on back to back nights. Becky says Indi Hartwell never lost her NXT title. The NXT title is all about those who want a chance and a fight, so if Becky has to defend her title every night of the week then so be it. Becky says that Lyra Valkyria is here tonight to try and poke holes in Becky’s game. “But Lyra, tomorrow night…it’s welcome to the big time.”
IVAR VIDEO PACKAGE
We see a video package for Ivar. He walks through a bunch of weird vikings guys but it’s actually pretty badass. I’m not big on the whole Viking gimmick but this was great to show Ivar is on his own now. It anoints Ivar as the “one true warrior” who will lead them into the future. Ivar has proven he has IT, and we need that Ivar/GUNTHER match asap.
BACKSTAGE WITH SETH ROLLINS & RHEA RIPLEY
World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins is walking backstage until he sees Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley. Seth says if she is looking for her boy Drew McIntyre, she is looking in the wrong place. Rhea says she knows the Judgment Day and Seth have had problems in the past. But it was all built on respect. They tried to take the title from Seth, and he held onto it. But now Seth is dealing with Drew, and they are concerned. They think Seth needs insurance, they think he needs the Judgment Day. Seth says that Rhea must have lost confidence in Damian Priest’s ability to take the title from Seth. He asks Rhea what he could possibly want from her. Rhea says that Seth needs her, because they can switch alliances. If Seth joins them, Priest could cash in on someone else and Seth could be the World Champion. Rhea says that if Seth wants to get anywhere near Roman Reigns’ record reign, then he is going to need the Judgment Day behind him. Seth tells her “to be clear, I want to be nothing like Roman Reigns.” Rhea says that isn’t a no and tells Seth to think about it.
BACKSTAGE WITH INDI HARTWELL & CANDICE LERAE
Indi Hartwell is backstage with Candice Lerae. Indi is getting ready for her NXT title match against Becky tonight. She says tonight she wins back the title she never lost. Natalya interrupts and wishes Indi luck. Candice asks if Natalya has found a replacement partner for Tegan Nox who was hurt on NXT. Natalya said she is still weighting options and puts the focus back onto Indi. Hmm, Natalya is straight up being too nice.
BECKY LYNCH DEFEATS INDI HARTWELL (NXT WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP)
Indi charges right at Becky but the champion is ready for it. Indi is going to have to use her size advantage here to try and wear down Becky. Indi picks up and drops Becky onto the turnbuckle and then hits a powerslam for a two count. Becky goes for a baseball slide but Indi moves out of the way and then connects with a nasty Northern Lariat. Indi tosses Becky into the barricade as we head to break. Back from break and Indi hits a diving elbow to the Becky’s back for a two count. Much like her husband, Becky’s countless title defenses have to have made an impact on her body. Becky gets the crowd on their feet and attempts a Manhandle slam. Indi reverses it and connects with a big boot on Becky off the ropes. Indi goes to the top but takes a little too long, as Becky is able to meet her up there and take her over for a superlex. Becky then switches into an armbar that she has locked in, until Indi digs deep and powerbombs her way out of it. Becky runs into a spinebuster from Indi but it’s still only a two count. Indi wants a full nelson but Becky rolls that up, and then Indi rolls that up but its still only a two count on the champ. The two trade reversals before Becky drags Indi down to the mat and locks in the Dis-Arm-Her. After a good couple of seconds, Indi has no choice but to tap. A pretty good showing from Indi here. I’m really enjoying the story of Becky having to find ways to survive. Becky shakes hands with Indi and then goes to stare down with Lyra in the crowd. That’s going to be a great one, really curious to see what the finish is there.
BACKSTAGE WITH CANDICE LERAE
Candice LeRae is watching the postmatch, disappointed that Indi didn’t win. From out of nowhere Xia Li attacks her! Xia tells her that was a message for Indi too.
BACKSTAGE WITH ADAM PEARCE
Raw General Manager Adam Pearce is with two WWE Security officials and is telling them to be on high alert for the Women’s championship contract signing. Smackdown General Manager Nick Aldis comes in and apologies for having Pearce removed from Smackdown this past Friday. He chalks it up to a rookie mistake and that he was just trying to set his boundaries of power. Pearce tells him he knows what it’s like to be the new guy. Yes he thought it was out of line, but it’s water under the bridge. He tells Aldis to stay and watch the show. A referee comes in and Pearce tells him to double the amount of security they have tonight. Man it’s an hour into the show, you should have done that earlier.
FATAL FIVE WAY WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CONTRACT SIGNING
Security is surrounding the ring as Adam Pearce welcomes us to the contract signing for the Fatal Five way Championship match at Crown Jewel. Raquel Rodriquez is the first challenger out followed by the Submission Magician Shayna Baszler. Raquel signs the contract as Zoey Stark makes her way to the ring. Pearce wasn’t kidding that he wanted to get signatures quick. Shayna and Zoey sign as Nia Jax makes her way to the ring. Pearce tries to get Jax to sign but she asks where Rhea is. Pearce says Rhea has been the cause of all the chaos, so he will get her signature after this. Jax signs it and here comes Mami! Huge pop for Rhea here. She says she isn’t sorry for coming out here early. “Yeah you can chant my name” she says to the crowd lol Rhea says yes she can beat every one of these women in the ring one on one. But a five way match is a conspiracy. So the more Pearce does to try and control her, the more she is going to make his life a living hell. “All you’re going to have is four less women in this division.” Excellent promo from Rhea here. Jax grabs the mic and says Rhea is good. She is smart by not stepping all the way into the ring. Rhea wants Jax to squash all the others for Rhea. It’s a small sample size but Jax is a much better promo this time around. Jax mocks Raquel being from Texas and them’s fighting words. Security tries to separate the four challengers but the women have no problem taking them out. All four women are going at it while Rhea looks on delighted. Jax and Raquel come face to face in the ring and start throwing punches. The security boys come in and finally get these two apart. Well, they tried. Jax and Raquel clear the ring again and go right back at each other. This time Jax picks Raquel up and nails her with a Samoan Drop. Actually really good segment here, when I heard a FIVE person contract signing I was mortified. They did a really good job.
BACKSTAGE WITH LUDWIG KAISER & GIOVANNI VINCI
Ludwig Kaiser is berating Giovanni Vinci as Vinci warms up for his match. Kaiser says he needs Vinci to take out Johnny Gargano tonight for him. Bronson Reed comes in and tells Kaiser to tell his boss that whenever he wants a round two with Reed to let him know. Kaiser tells Reed to tell GUNTHER himself. Oh no Tozawa comes in and challenges Reed to a match tonight. Reed says he is feeling merciful so the answer is no. Tozawa hits Reed with a chop and that’ll do it. Maxxine runs in and yells “not him!” Clearly Reed wasn’t the ideal challenger for Tozawa to try out his Alpha Academy training on.
JOHNNY GARGANO DEFEATS GIOVANNI VINCI
Vinci starts hot as he knows he is on the Imperium hot seat. An impressive tilt-a-whirl powerslam on Gargano gets some praise from Kaiser. We get a picture in picture Five Night at Freddie’s spot where the movie trailer is bigger than the wrestling. Sigh. Gargano launches himself with the slingshot spear and that gets Johnny Wrestling right back into things. Kaiser distracts Gargano however and Vinci is right back on top. Ciampa is still out, so this is effectively a two on one match here. I spoke too soon! Tomasso Ciampa is here and he yanks Kaiser off the apron. Ciampa runs Kaiser off as Gargano hits the One Final Beat DDT on Vinci for the win! Way too short of a match, these two could have cooked up something great. But for what it was, solid angle advancement from these four. Couldn’t we have down the movie PIP thing during a match longer than two minutes?
SHINSUKE NAKAMURA VIDEO PACKAGE
We see a video package from Shinsuke Nakamura. He says a brutal beating from him is a beautiful experience. He says Ricochet was lucky to be on the other side of his beating from last week. Now Nakamura is in search of an opponent who is “worthy enough to set him free.” He is looking for someone to bring out a side of him we’ve never seen before. Hmm truly have no guess on this one but excited. In the previous creative regime Nakamura would have lost to Seth and we wouldn’t have seen him for four months.
LOGAN PAUL IN-RING PROMO
Ugh I hate that I have to say this but I call em like I see em – here comes excellent professional wrestler Logan Paul. This man is about to tear the house down with Rey Mysterio at Crown Jewel. Logan tells all his haters to run to their keyboards because when he beats Rey Mysterio for the United States championship, they’ll have nothing to say. Since he is a free agent, he teases defending the US title on Raw. Dominik Mysterio is here and Logan is psyched! Dominik says from champion to future champion, he can’t wait for Logan to beat up his deadbeat dad. Logan says Rey was right about Logan and Dominik. Yes they are both oozing with potential and swag. But Rey left out one thing. Dominik grew up with a deadbeat dad and still became a champion of an entire continent. And Logan came up from Ohio and blazed his own trail in sports and entertainment. Oh man this crowd is all over Dominik and Logan is doing a great job of egging it on. Logan says he can’t wait for the ring announcement of him being the new United States champion. He turns his attention to ring announcer Samantha Irving (referencing his feud with Ricochet) and asks her to come into the ring. He says she deserves to be given her flowers and recognition. Samantha reluctantly comes into the ring. Logan says he knows it was hard for her to announce Logan as the winner over her fiance Ricochet at Summerslam, but Samantha kept it professional. He asks Samantha to give the people a preview and announce Logan as the new United States champion. Ricochet runs in from the crowd and spears Logan! Dominik gets himself a running knee for his trouble. Ricochet goes for a Shooting Star Press but Logan pulls Dominik out of harms way. I LOVE that they tied his feud back in with Ricochet, there is definitely still meat on that bone. Good stuff. It’s the little things that have made Raw so much better lately.
CHELSEA GREEN & PIPER NIVEN DEFEAT NATALYA & NIKKI CROSS
Women’s Tag Team Champions Chelsea Green and Piper Niven are out to take on Natalya and a mystery partner. As mentioned earlier, Tegan was hurt on NXT but is excepted to be cleared soon. As for now though, Natalya needs a replacement partner. Ooh okay Nikki Cross is Natalya’s partner. Nikki comes out and is taking Undertaker levels of time to get to the ring. Natalya starts off with Green before Nikki even makes it to the apron. Why do I think this match is going to go sub three minutes? Nikki is literally not moving and looking straight ahead. Piper distracts Natalya and allows Green to grab the advantage. Big splash in the corner by Piper as she dominates the veteran. And now Nikki Cross drops off the apron and she is leaving. LOL Green yells out “thanks girl!” Natalya goes to work and hits a discus lariat on Piper on the apron and then Green in the ring for a nearfall. Green goes for the Unprettiher but Natalya fights out. Natalya goes for the Sharpshooter but they are too close to the ropes and Piper tags in. Natalya tries to get Piper in the Sharpshooter but Green hits the Unprettiher on Natalya. Piper hits her Crossbody finish and that’s all she wrote. Oookay.
BACKSTAGE WITH JEY USO
Jey Uso is backstage warming up for his match against Damian Priest. Drew McIntyre comes in and says he is sorry for what happened last week. He says he can’t imagine what it’s like to have the Bloodline cost him a championship. Oh man… “I’ve been given some great advice lately though, just get over it!” Drew then tells Jey that if Jey wasn’t on Raw then this match with Sami Zayn doesn’t happen. So whatever happens to Sami tonight is on Jey. Yup, Drew is still the best character on Raw by a country mile.
BACKSTAGE WITH ADAM PEARCE & THE MIZ
Adam Pearce is walking backstage when the Miz confronts him. Miz says it’s been weeks since he has had something worthwhile on Raw. Miz runs down his accomplishments and says Nick Aldis knows how good of a talent he is. Rhea Ripley interrupts with the contract from earlier and signs it. She gives it to Pearce and the camera follows her. The Miz is beside himself “where is the camera going?!” Rhea finds Dominik who is licking his wounds from earlier. She tells him they will deal with Ricochet next week. Yep Miz is definitely going to Smackdown at some point.
DREW MCINTYRE DEFEATS SAMI ZAYN
I am seated for this one folks. Been looking forward to it all week, this version of Drew versus a motivated singles-centric Sami? Hell yes. Drew gives Sami a clean break out of the corner to start, we will see if that respect level stays the same. Sami is trying to match the power of Drew with a running shoulder tackle. The third time Sami feigns running and then hits Drew with a chop before running the ropes. Drew is ready for it and bulldozes over Sami with a shoulder tackle. On the outside, Drew whips Sami towards the barricade but Sami is able to jump up on the barricade and hit a moonsault on Drew. Were back in the ring and the power of Drew is just too much as he catches Sami and then in one motion hoists him up for a suplex. Sami ups the intensity with a series of chops and elbows on Drew in the ropes. Sami dives to the outside but is caught by Drew. Oh no…Drew just tosses Sami aside right into the announce table as we head to break. Drew is still in control as we come back from break but Sami is not out of it. Sami blocks two suplex attempts and then reverses a third which sends Drew shoulder first into the ring-post. Off that Sami is able to lift Drew up and plant him with a suplex. Sami clotheslines Drew over the ropes as the crowd chants his name. Sami hits his patented tope and the momentum of this match has completely shifted. Drew has Sami on the top rope looking for a Super White Noise but Sami shakes out of it and hits a sunset flip powerbomb for a near-fall. Sami wants the Blue Thunder Bomb but Drew is too powerful for it. Drew counters with the Glasgow Kiss and is calling for the Claymore. Sami meets the Claymore attempt with a boot and hits the Blue Thunder Bomb but is only able to get a two. Sami catches Drew and wants the exploder suplex but Drew blocks it and hits a throw of his own. Another huge suplex from Drew that sends Sami halfway across the ring. Drew nails a neckbreaker and both men are out. Until Drew kips up and has found a second wind. Drew sets up for the Claymore but Rhea Ripley’s music hits. Drew is distracted and Sami grabs a rollup that only gets two. Sami is able to catch Drew with the exploder suplex on Drew. Sami wants the Helluva Kick but oh wait, Rhea is up on the apron to distract Sami? Sami turns around and eats a Claymore from Drew for the three! This isn’t going to do much to squash the Drew/Judgment Day rumors. Drew leaves the ring and doesn’t even acknowledge Rhea. Very very interesting. I wish I got to see this one with no commercials breaks, I think these two could put on a real classic with the right amount of time.
BACKSTAGE WITH NICK ALDIS, KADEN CARTER & KATANA CHANCE
Nick Aldis is backstage talking with Kaden Cater and Katana Chance, telling them that they would be great on Smackdown. Pearce comes in and says when he asked Aldis to stay and watch the show he didn’t mean for Aldis to talk to all of his superstars. Aldis said it was just a friendly chat, but he sees where this is headed so he is going to take off. Aldis leaves and Nikki Cross saunters in front of Pearce. LOL Pearce says he needs a drink and Michael Cole on commentary says “so do I.” You know what, if I was Carter and Chance I would be begging to sign with Smackdown. We have haven’t a match on Raw in what feels like months. I know we are all tired of the brand warfare stuff, but Aldis and Pearce are doing a good job with this and so far it hasn’t gotten to be too much.
BRONSON REED DEFEATS AKIRA TOZAWA
Maxxine is out with Akira Tozawa to take on “Big” Bronson Reed. They have Tozawa in like a XXXL shirt. Hilarious. Tozawa starts the match with a chop to Reed and is sticking and moving to avoid any hits. And one big body block stops all of that. I should note that I think Tozawa is a killer wrestler and routinely was putting on bangers on 205 Live. There is a big “Astros Suck” chant going on. Tozawa rolls out of the way from a Reed senton. Oh man Tozawa is hitting some strikes. Reed pops Tozawa up for a powerbomb but Tozawa counters into a hurricanrana. Reed catches Tozawa off a crossbody and plants him. TSUNAMI off the top and that’s it. But man, they let Tozawa get in a good chunk of offense and Reed did sell for him. It was definitely a squash, but it could have been a lot worse.
BACKSTAGE WITH THE NEW DAY & ALPHA ACADEMY
The New Day and Alpha Academy are backstage bonding over the Cowboys branded championships title. Tozawa comes in and Coach Gable tells him he will make him a great tag team wrestler. DIY comes in and says they are back together for the first time in three years. Otis gives Tozawa the Cowboys title and Gable makes him do his workouts with the titles. Wrestling man lol
BACKSTAGE WITH DREW MCINTYRE & SETH ROLLINS
Drew is walking backstage and Seth comes in to congratulate him on his first win as a member of the Judgment Day. Drew points out that Rhea almost cost him the match. He also points out that Seth talked to Rhea earlier and didn’t say no to her offer. Seth says Drew knows how he feels about the Judgment Day and he doesn’t need them to beat Drew. Drew says he doesn’t need them either. They both agree to no Judgment Day in their match. Seth says “may the best man win.” And Drew says “he will.” Awesome.
DAMIAN PRIEST DEFEATS JEY USO
It’s just him Uce! Jey Uso is out for this main-event match and has the crowd with him as he takes on Damian Priest. Michael Cole points out that with Damian Priest booked for a match against Cody Rhodes at Crown Jewel, the Money in the Bank contract will also be present at the show. I truly at this point couldn’t tell you when Priest will cash in. I thought for sure he was going to do it at Fastlane. Not that it’s a bad thing by the way, just interesting to see what the plan ends up being. Priest misses a Stinger Splash in the corner and connects face first into the top of the ringpost. That allows Jey to hit a dive onto Priest to send us to our final break of the evening. Back from break and both men are jockeying for position. They trade big shots with Jey actually getting the upper-hand on the punch exchange. Priest hits a big forearm followed by a discus lariat that takes the wind right out of Jey. Priest calls for the South of Heaven but Jey fights out. Jey hits the Samoan Drop but can only get a two count. Jey attempts a suicide dive but Priest catches Jey and plants him with a flatliner onto the announce table. Back in the ring now and both men trade kicks before Priest hits another flatliner that gets a two count. Priest calls for the Razor’s Edge and hoists him up, but Jey is able to slip out of it and hit the spear! Jey goes up and hits the Uso Splash but the ref isn’t counting? It’s because Finn is here and distracting him. Jey dives and takes out Finn but Jey absolutely had the match won. Priest takes advantage and while the referee isn’t looking Finn yanks the leg of Jey. Back in the ring Priest lands the South of Heaven on Jey and gets the win. Finn wastes no time beating down Jey, then laying him out with the Coup De Grace. Priest tells Finn to get some chairs so they can do to Jey what they did to Cody earlier tonight. Before Finn can wrap the chair around Jey’s leg, Cody is here for the save! Cody is hobbling on one leg but he is able to take out Finn on the ramp. In the ring he drops Priest and connects with a chairshot! Now Cody has the chair around the leg of Priest, but Finn drags Priest out before Cody can give the Judgment Day a receipt. Who boy Cody hobbled down as fast as he could.
Fun main-event, there have definitely been better Raw main-event’s lately but these two are so over that the crowd really lifted this to another level. The Judgment Day/Cody angle has got me interested in Cody and Priest at Crown Jewel, but my real focus is on Drew and Seth which should be excellent.
