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WWE RAW TV REPORT
SEPTEMBER 16, 2024
PORTLAND, OR. AT MODA CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON USA
REPORT BY MAURICIO POMARES, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett
Ring Announcer: Samantha Irvin
Attendance: WrestleTix reported earlier that 9,693 tickets had been distributed; arena is set up for 10,295. More tickets have been sold since then. Subscribe to WrestleTix on Patreon for detailed up-to-date information. The arena has a capacity of 19,393 spectators when configured for basketball.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO OUR POST-SHOW PODCAST
JOIN US LIVE ON YOUTUBE TONIGHT FOR THE VIDEO-FORMAT OF OUR LIVE POST-SHOWS…
PWTorch editor Wade Keller is joined by PWTorch’s Kelly Wells to review WWE Raw LIVE tonight right after Dynamite. Join us and let us know your thoughts on Raw during the show.
Email our post-show at wadekellerpodcast@gmail.com with your comments and questions about Dynamite. We’ll read your emails live during the post-show.
Subscribe to all of our free podcasts by searching “wade keller” and “pwtorch” in your podcast app of choice including Spotify and Apple Podcasts and most other iOS and Android apps.
LIVE ON YOUTUBE RIGHT AFTER WWE RAW TONIGHT: CLICK HERE TO WATCH
[HOUR ONE]
– The show opened with C.M. Punk making his way to the ring. Punk said that he was at the point where people ask him how many matches he has left and claimed that he way more than one thinks. Punk said that he felt naive for thinking this was over for touching four corners. He said that Drew McIntyre’s fatal mistake was not stopping before claiming that he had zero Hell in a Cell matches left in him.
– Punk said that his sister and wife didn’t want him to do this, but he would still do it. Punk said that Drew had pushed the Devil in him and that Devil wanted to end this in Hell in a Cell. He promised that he would make Drew bleed and would have to kill him to win. Punk said that he was prepared for this to be the end of him, as long as Drew was prepared for this to be his own ending.
(Pomares’s Analysis: By far one of the promos CM Punk has cut in months, finally matching the same level of intensity and care to this feud that Drew McIntyre usually brings. Short yet incredibly effective.)
– A recap of the issues between Sheamus and Pete Dunne over the past few months was shown.
– Backstage, Cathy Kelley interviewed Sheamus about his upcoming match with Pete Dunne. Sheamus said that Dunne had hurt him personally by costing him a shot at the Intercontinental title. Sheamus told the crowd to not call him Butch because he hated it before making his way to the ring.
[Commercial Break]
(1) SHEAMUS vs. PETE DUNNE
They quickly traded forearm strikes, until Sheamus dropped Dunne with an Irish Curse. Sheamus clocked Dunne with forearms shots to the back, but couldn’t follow up with the 10 Beats of Bodhran. Dunne hyper-extended Sheamus’ elbow over his shoulder, only for Sheamus to shut him down with a swinging side slam. Dunne caught Sheamus off-guard with an enzuigiri before stomping his elbow and crushing him with a plancha. Sheamus avoided a stomp to the hand and put Dunne down with an Alabama Slam on the announce table, as WWE Raw went to commercials.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Dunne countered an avalanche White Noise with a sunset flip powerbomb for a two count. Dunne clobbered Sheamus with a forearm strike, followed by a bunch of stomps. Sheamus blocked a forearm to lay Dunne out with a series of clotheslines and a powerslam. Sheamus crushed Dunne with a diving knee drop, but he managed to kick out at two. Dunne evaded the Celtic Cross to blast Sheamus with a kick to the face.
Sheamus stopped Dunne atop the turnbuckle with an uppercut, setting him up for an avalanche powerslam and a nearfall. Sheamus pummeled Dunne with the 10 Beats of Bodhran and stopped Dunne from using a shillelagh with a pump knee. The referee stopped Sheamus from using the shillelagh, only for Dunne to whack Sheamus with a cricket bat behind the referee’s back. Dunne immediately clocked Sheamus with a pump kick to score the win.
WINNER: Pete Dunne at 10:37
(Pomares’s Analysis: Pretty fun match with an ending I wasn’t a huge fan of. I like seeing Pete Dunne get a win on TV, but it feels kind of lazy to see him not being able to win a match on this feud on his own. This will likely lead to a rematch and based on all the weapons used over the past weeks, I expect them to book that Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook match they’ve done in the past.)
– A recap of Judgment Day assaulting Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley last week was shown.
– Backstage, Xavier Woods met Damian Priest, Rhea Ripley and Jey Uso to ask them to let them fight for the tag titles on their own. Priest agreed, as long as Woods and Kofi whooped Judgment Day’s asses.
[Commercial Break]
– Backstage, The Miz wished Braun Strowman luck ahead of his match and asked him what he meant when he said that he couldn’t handle Bronson Reed. Strowman claimed that he simply meant that it took a monster to beat another monster.
(2) NATALYA (w/Lyra Valkyria & Zelina Vega) vs. ZOEY STARK (w/Sonya Deville & Shayna Baszler)
Natalya nailed Stark with a punch to the gut and nearly put her in the Sharpshooter. Stark pulled Natalya’s head into the ropes and blasted her away with a springboard dropkick, as WWE Raw went to an ad break.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Natalya avoided a springboard dropkick and launched Stark away with a German suplex. Natalya put Stark down with a clothesline and nailed her with a kick to the face for a two count. Stark missed a corner splash, but was still able to hit Natalya with a rolling senton and a thrust kick. Natalya avoidied the Z-360 and started a quick pinning exchange with Stark, until she got the win with a roll-up.
WINNER: Natalya at 7:03
(Pomares’s Analysis: A decent match while it lasted, though still not a great look for the women’s division. At least, this time the crowd seemed to be more invested, but as usual, this feud doesn’t seem to be going anywhere meaningful.)
– Backstage, Cathy Kelley interviewed Rhea Ripley about her status, ahead of her match with Liv Morgan. Finn Bálor immediately interrupted to complain that everything that went wrong with Judgment Day was hers and Damian Priest’s fault. Ripley called Finn out for lying and said that she cared about her family. Finn claimed that he was the one that convinced Dominik to turn on Ripley before Jey Uso showed up to scare him away.
[Commercial Break]
[HOUR TWO]
– Jey Uso made his way to the ring to talk about finally getting the shot to take the Intercontinental title. Bron Breakker interrupted to tell Jey that it was inspiring to see him get to this point. Breakker pointed out how he has achieved more as a singles wrestler than Jey has in over a decade. Breakker said that he did it without his family name and told Jey that he would expose how he was nothing without his family. Jey told Breakker that he would dog walk him next week and that it would be short and sweet as his NFL career. Breakker took a cheap shot at Jey, only for Jey to shut him down with a Spear.
(Pomares’s Analysis: A solid final stop before this title match next week to add some intensity between these two. Bron’s promo work continues to improve while Jey’s second half of his promo was the most I’ve enjoyed of his since he started yelling ‘Yeet’ at every given chance.)
– Backstage, Iyo Sky called Bianca Belair out for challenging Kairi Sane to a match while she was injured. Belair said that she didn’t make the challenge and dared Sky to face her instead.
– The New Day made their way to the ring, ahead of their match against Judgment Day.
[Commercial Break]
(3) JUDGMENT DAY (Finn Bálor & JD McDonagh) vs. NEW DAY (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) – World Tag Team Championship
Kofi knocked JD down with a diving hurracarrana, followed by a running forearm shot. New Day hit JD with a Penalty, a sliding elbow, a splash and an elbow drop for a two count. Woods dropped Kofi on top of JD, but he kicked out at two. New Day smashed Finn’s head into the turnbuckle and sent Judgment Day out of the ring with stereo thrust kicks, as WWE Raw went to a commercial break.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Kofi nailed Finn with an SOS, reaching Woods for the hot tag. Woods knocked JD down with a series of clotheslines and a discus forearm. Woods pummeled JD with a flurry of right hands and knocked Finn off the apron. JD tried to go for a back suplex, only for Woods to shut him down with a Russian leg sweep. Kofi took care of Finn with a springboard clothesline, followed by a dropkick from Woods. Kofi crashed into Finn with a Tope con Hilo while Woods planted JD with a sitout powerbomb for a nearfall.
The rest of Judgment Day showed up on the ramp, only for LWO to attack them from behind. JD took Woods down with a roll-up, but Woods quickly retaliated with a thrust kick. Kofi crashed into everyone with a thrust fall while Woods crushed JD with the Limit Break elbow. The referee argued with Liv Morgan while Woods made the pinfall. Woods brought the referee back into the ring, but Judgment Day caught him off-guard with the Coup de Grace for the win.
WINNERS: Judgment Day at 8:29 (Still World Tag Team Champion)
(Pomares’s Analysis: A pretty good match with the expected interference at the end. They had no real shot, but I really hoped New Day would have won that because I really don’t care for Judgment Day as tag champs. On a more positive note, Xavier Woods keeps on killing it with his acting of frustration, as the split of the New Day seems more inevitable with each passing week.)
– After the match, Xavier Woods refused to accept Kofi Kingston’s help and walked away.
– A video package from the Wyatt Sicks was shown, featuring a message that said “You Speak, We Follow” and a QR Code.
[Commercial Break]
– Backstage, Cathy Kelley tried to interview Kofi Kingston, but he walked away to look for Xavier Woods. Kofi found Woods arguing with the LWO before revealing that he asked them to have their backs. Woods called Kofi out for not telling him about the plan and for not believing that they could win the titles on their own.
– A video package was shown, recapping Bronson Reed’s attack of Braun Strowman.
– Bronson Reed made his way to the ring, ahead of his match against Braun Strowman.
[Commercial Break]
– Braun Strowman made his way to the ring, ahead of his match against Bronson Reed. Reed immediately missed a corner splash, accidentally snapping the top turnbuckle and loosening the ropes. Strowman sent Reed out of the ring, only for Reed to block a shoulder tackle by throwing a fan at him. Strowman quickly got up and put Reed through the barricade with a shoulder tackle. Referees helped Strowman walk away, but Strowman chased after him and tackled him into a storage case. Strowman shoved a bunch of referees away and flipped over a golf cart before receiving a splash through a couple of tables. Strowman got up and tackled Reed through a wall, as referees showed up to check on them.
(Pomares’s Analysis: A really well-executed follow-up to the first attack from a few weeks ago. This was by far the strongest Strowman has been booked since returning to WWE and has effectively elevated this feud even more. At the rate they are going, there is a case for giving them a PPV match to blow off the feud.)
[Commercial Break]
– Backstage, Ludwig Kaiser met Adam Pearce to ask for an adequate opponent for Gunther. Pearce told Kaiser that he is working on it since Gunther doesn’t want to face Sami Zayn. Kaiser complained about Sami being considered, only for Pearce to tell him that next time Gunther should come to talk to him himself.
– Sami Zayn made his way to the ring to talk about meeting Bret Hart last week. Sami said that after hearing Bret talk, it fired him up and he wants to be the type of champion that he is. He said that Gunther was lying when he said that he wasn’t on his level and that he was scared of what happened at WrestleMania. Ludwig Kaiser interrupted to claim that Gunther wasn’t scared and was simply protecting him from embarrassment. Kaiser said that Sami finally got the biggest moment of his career at WrestleMania and it wouldn’t happen again. Sami told Kaiser that Gunther doesn’t need him and he doesn’t need Gunther either.
– Sami said that Kaiser looks to prove himself and he should have the balls to come out and speak for himself, instead of being Gunther’s mouthpiece. Gunther interrupted to ask Kaiser if he had anything to tell him. Kaiser said that he had something to get out of his chest for a long time before laying Sami out with a clothesline. Kaiser spiked Sami with a modified DDT while Gunther once again refused to face him. Gunther walked away while Sami shocked Kaiser with a Xploder and a Helluva Kick.
(Pomares’s Analysis: The stuff between Gunther and Sami was fine, but ultimately the story didn’t further that much. However, the angle between Sami and Kaiser was a really intriguing addition. I highly doubt Kaiser would turn on Gunther any time soon, but it’s good to keep it as a possibility for the future.)
– Backstage, Cathy Kelley tried to interview Damian Priest, only for Liv Morgan to interrupt him. Liv made fun of Priest, only for Priest to tell her that she should say Dominik goodbye before he finishes him tonight.
– Bianca Belair made her way to the ring, ahead of her match against Iyo Sky.
[Commercial Break]
[HOUR THREE]
(4) BIANCA BELAIR (w/Jade Cargill) vs. IYO SKY (w/Kairi Sane)
Belair swept Sky off her feet before they both went for dropkicks at the same time. Belair blocked a hurracarrana, only for Sky to get a two count with a sunset flip. Sky missed a corner strike, allowing Belair to plant her with a vertical suplex. Sky avoided a handspring moonsault and knocked her down with an arm drag, as WWE Raw went to commercials.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Belair broke a headlock and knocked Sky away with a dropkick. Belair nailed Sky with a corner shoulder thrust and started pummeling her in the corner. Sky caught Belair with an uppercut and a dropkick, followed by a corner strike. Sky landed on her feet off a back body drop, only for Belair to hit her with a gutbuster. Belair missed a strike in the corner, allowing Sky to blast her away with a missile dropkick. They traded right hands, until Sky caught her with a sunset flip.
Belair dropped Sky face-first onto the turnbuckle and floored her with a spinebuster, setting her up for a handspring moonsault. Sky avoided a press slam and put Belair down with a German suplex, but she kicked out at two. Sky blocked a vertical suplex and pulled Belair’s head into the ropes, setting her up for a suicide dive. Belair lifted Sky in a vertical suplex position and dumped her back into the ring. Sky blocked a 450 Splash with her knees, only for Belair to stop her atop the turnbuckle. Sky countered the KOD with an inside cradle for the victory.
WINNER: Iyo Sky at 11:55
(Pomares’s Analysis: A great match that lived up to the hype and the quality of their previous matches. Bianca rarely loses singles matches, so giving Iyo the win cleanly was a bit of a statement. Don’t know when the match will take place, but this title defense is more than big enough for a PPV.)
– Backstage, Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley discussed Priest’s match against Dominik Mysterio.
[Commercial Break]
– A video package was shown, featuring American Made claiming that they couldn’t be killed.
– Backstage, Cathy Kelley tried to interview Ludwig Kaiser, but he immediately declared that he would face him next week. Kaiser said that he would expose Sami for being a jealous man that would never be a world champion.
– It was announced that Sami Zayn would take on Ludwig Kaiser; Drew McIntyre would return; and Bron Breakker would defend his title against Jey Uso.
– Backstage, Ilja Dragunov wished Jey Uso luck in his title match. Judgment Day confronted Dragunov and warned him not to get involved with Jey, Priest and Ripley. Dragunov said that he respected them, but didn’t respect any of Judgment Day.
– Dominik Mysterio made his way to the ring, ahead of his match against Damian Priest.
[Commercial Break]
– The commentary team ran down the match card for Bad Blood.
(5) DAMIAN PRIEST (w/Rhea Ripley) vs. DOMINIK MYSTERIO (w/Finn Bálor & Liv Morgan & JD McDonagh & Carlito)
Priest immediately knocked Dominik down with a clothesline, followed by a pair of right hands. Priest nailed Dominik with shoulder tackles and a leaping back elbow for a two count. Dominik caught Priest with a dropkick to the knee, only for Priest to shut him down with a flapjack. Priest blocked a pair of body shots and knocked him off his feet with a single strike. Finn distracted Priest, allowing Dominik to roll out of the ring.
Priest smashed Dominik’s head into the announce table and clobbered him with an uppercut. Priest took care of Carlito with an uppercut, only for Finn to ram him into the ring post behind the referee’s back. Dominik sent Priest over the announce table with a suicide dive, as WWE Raw went to its final commercial break.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Priest caught Dominik with a back elbow, but missed a corner splash. Dominik spiked Priest with a Tornado DDT, but Priest managed to knock him down. Priest cracked Dominik with a roundhouse kick and planted him with a Broken Arrow, only for Liv to put his boot on the ropes. Ripley tackled Liv over the announce table while Priest knocked all of Judgment Day down. Dominik hit Priest with a thrust kick and 619, but Priest blocked the follow-up splash with a lariat. Priest dropped Dominik with South of Heaven for the victory.
WINNER: Damian Priest at 11:27
– After the match, Judgment Day assaulted Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley, until Jey Uso showed up to make the save. Bron Breakker nailed Jey with a Spear before he could help. Finn hit Priest with a series of Coup de Graces to stand tall.
(Pomares’s Analysis: A decent match and a solid beat-down, but after a show where nearly every story was furthered in an interesting and meaningful way. This felt very lackbuster and more of the same we have seen from this feud.)
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO OUR POST-SHOW PODCAST
JOIN US LIVE ON YOUTUBE TONIGHT FOR THE VIDEO-FORMAT OF OUR LIVE POST-SHOWS…
PWTorch editor Wade Keller is joined by PWTorch’s Kelly Wells to review WWE Raw LIVE tonight right after Dynamite. Join us and let us know your thoughts on Raw during the show.
Email our post-show at wadekellerpodcast@gmail.com with your comments and questions about Dynamite. We’ll read your emails live during the post-show.
Subscribe to all of our free podcasts by searching “wade keller” and “pwtorch” in your podcast app of choice including Spotify and Apple Podcasts and most other iOS and Android apps.
LIVE ON YOUTUBE RIGHT AFTER WWE RAW TONIGHT: CLICK HERE TO WATCH
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