SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE RAW TV REPORT
NOVEMBER 25, 2024
GLENDALE, ARIZ. AT DESERT DIAMOND ARENA
AIRED LIVE ON USA
REPORT BY MAURICIO POMARES, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett
Ring Announcer: Lilian Garcia
[HOUR ONE]
– The show opened with Gunther making his way to the ring for an in-ring interview. Jackie Redmond showed footage of Damian Priest overpowering Gunther backstage last week. Redmond asked Gunther about the idea that he was not the same after losing to Cody Rhodes. Priest interrupted to ask Redmond to give Gunther the mic, so he could speak to his face this time. Priest said that Gunther had changed because he hadn’t ever dealt with someone like him. He wondered what would happen to Gunther after losing at Survivor Series. Gunther took a cheap shot at Priest with the mic and laid him out with a lariat. Gunther cleared the announce table, only for Priest to smash his head into the ring post and put him through the table with the Razor’s Edge.
(Pomares’s Analysis: An okay opening segment to continue Gunther’s self-doubt storyline. I like the idea of seeing another side of Gunther, but this beat-down felt like more of the same from last week. At the rate they are going, I think there’s a change the match at Survivor Series could have a stipulation.)
– A recap of Jade Cargill being found injured on SmackDown was shown.
– Backstage, Bianca Belair, Naomi and Iyo Sky argued about who would replace Jade Cargill for War Games. Rhea Ripley told them to stop bickering and said that she didn’t care who the last person was, as long as she got Liv Morgan.
– LWO made their way to the ring, ahead of their match against the Creed Brothers.
[Commercial Break]
(1) LWO (Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee) vs. CREED BROTHERS (Julius Creed & Brutus Creed) – Tornado Tag Team Match
Brutus rammed Lee into the corner while Julius Irish-whipped Rey into the corner. Lee caught Brutus with a hurracarrana while Rey nailed Julius with an assisted seated seton and a Lionsault. LWO attacked Brutus with a series of kicks to the legs and basement dropkicks for a two count. Brutus laid Lee out with a clothesline and hurled Rey out of the ring. Lee blocked a superplex from Brutus, but Julius showed up to lay him out with a superplex. Lee took care of Brutus with a hurracarrana off the apron while Rey drove Julius into the ropes. Julius blocked the 619 with a lariat, as WWE Raw went to commercials.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Julius flattened Rey with a rolling senton, setting him up for a 450 SPlash and a nearfall. Lee avoided a corner splash and swept Brutus off his feet before catching him with a slingshot dropkick in the corner. Lee spiked Julius with Operation Dragon, but Brutus broke the pinfall.
The Creeds stopped Lee atop the turnbuckle, only for Rey to sweep them into a Tree of Woe position with a 619. Lee hit the Creeds with a double diving stomp, setting them up for Rey’s sliding splash and a Tope con Hilo. Julius managed to put Lee down with a suplex before Rey sent him into the ropes. Rey accidentally drove Brutus into the referee, allowing Chad Gable to save Julius from the 619. Gable twisted Rey’s mask, allowing Julius to steal the win with a roll-up.
WINNERS: Creed Brothers at 10:45
(Pomares’s Analysis: A fun opener to give American Made a win and continue this feud. The matches in the LWO and America Made rivalry have been fun, but it doesn’t feel like we are going anywhere meaningful.)
– A highlight reel of online reactions to CM Punk’s return on SmackDown was shown.
– Bron Breakker made his way to the ring, ahead of his match against Ludwig Kaiser.
[Commercial Break]
– Backstage, Finn Bálor told Liv Morgan to have faith in her teammates, only for R-Truth to interrupt. Truth said that he was hiding from Butch before Finn scared him away. Finn gave the Judgment Day a pep talk while pointing out Dominik Mysterio’s failures in the process.
(2) BRON BREAKKER vs. LUDWIG KAISER
Breakker rammed Kaiser into the corner and dropped him with a belly-to-belly suplex. Kaiser attacked Breakker with a bunch of right hands, only for Breakker to lay him out with a running clothesline. Kaiser knocked Breakker off the top turnbuckle, but Breakker shut him down with a modified gutbuster. Breakker missed a Spear and crashed into the corner of the announce table, as WWE Raw went to an ad break.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Kaiser put Breakker in an abdominal stretch and dropped him with a bodyslam. Kaiser pummeled Breakker down and kicked his chest. Breakker withstood Kiaser’s forearm strikes and knocked him down with a flying clothesline. Breakker planted Kaiser with a snap powerslam and launched him across the ring with a Frankensteiner. Kaiser blocked a Spear with an enzuigiri and prepared to go for a running dropkick at ringside. Sheamus attacked Kaiser from behind to suddenly end the match.
WINNER: Ludwig Kaiser via DQ at 8:54
(Pomares’s Analysis: Some good action, but there wasn’t ever any doubt that this match wouldn’t have an actual finish. I like the intensity between Sheamus and Breakker; and I don’t mind Kaiser being there to eat the pin. This feels like the type of match they’d put on the Raw before or after Survivor Series.)
– After the match, numerous security guards and referees showed up to stop Sheamus, Bron Breakker and Ludwig Kaiser from brawling.
[Commercial Break]
[HOUR TWO]
– Back from break, Sheamus, Ludwig Kaiser and Bron Breakker were still brawling. Adam Pearce showed up to announce that they would have a triple threat match at Survivor Series.
(Pomares’s Analysis: Nevermind, I was wrong. Wondering if Bron Breakker being at Survivor Series means there’s a chance he could get involved in War Games since that is a loose end they haven’t addressed yet.)
– A recap of Paul Heyman returning and announcing CM Punk as the final member of Roman Reigns’ team was shown.
– Backstage, Cathy Kelley interviewed Sami Zayn and the Usos about having CM Punk on their team. Sami said that Punk was a complicated man and had a complicated relationship with Roman Reigns. Sami announced that Punk and Roman would talk on SmackDown while wondering if they could trust him. Jimmy said that they could trust him since the Wiseman trusted him. Jimmy said that they only needed to focus on Jey winning his advantage match against Jacob Fatu.
(3) JUDGMENT DAY (Finn Bálor & J.D. McDonagh) vs. WAR RAIDERS (Ivar & Erik) – World Tag Team Championship
Erik knocked Finn down with a clothesline and tossed JD into the ring before taking them down with a double clothesline. Erik dropped Ivar on top of Finn before Ivar crashed into Judgment Day with a cannonball off the apron, as WWE Raw went to commercials.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Erik took Erik down with a back body drop, but missed a follow up senton. Finn hit Erik with a stomp to the chest and JD followed with an Arabian moonsault. Finn dropped Erik with a reverse DDT, but Erik avoided a corner splash from JD. Erik clobbered Finn with a forearm, reaching Ivar for the hot tag. Ivar put JD down with a back body drop and a running crossbody, setting him up for a seated senton. Ivar blasted Finn with a spinning kick, setting him up for a seated senton in the corner.
The Raiders dropped JD with a tag team powerslam, but Finn broke the pinfall. Dominik Mysterio and Carlito tried to interfere, only for the Raiders to immediately take them out. The Raiders crushed JD with the War Machine before Dominik put his foot on the ropes. The referee ejected Dominik and Carlito, only for Erik to tackle them. Finn tripped Ivar onto the top rope, allowing JD to take the win with a roll-up.
WINNERS: Judgment Day at 9:54 (Still World Tag Team Champions)
(Pomares’s Analysis: The match was good, but the ending was the same thing we get from Judgment Day every other time. Between the reign of the Awesome Truth and this run of the Judgment Day, the tag division on Raw has been through a rough patch this year.)
– It was announced that next week the New Day would celebrate their tenth year anniversary.
– Backstage, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods said that they should squash their issues and congratulated each other for the work they have done over the past decade.
– The New Day made their way to the ring, ahead of their match against Alpha Academy.
[Commercial Break]
(4) NEW DAY (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. ALPHA ACADEMY (Otis & Akira Tozawa w/Maxxine Dupri)
Woods immediately stole the tag from Kofi, only for Otis to clock him with a back elbow. Otis took Kofi down with a clothesline, setting him up for the Caterpillar. Tozawa immediately crushed Woods with a diving senton to pick up the win.
WINNERS: Alpha Academy at 1:08
– After the match, Kofi Kingsotn and Xavier Woods continued arguing while making their way to the back. Woods told Kofi that he wrestled like garbage, only for Kofi to point out how he fumbled all his recent opportunities. Kofi said that Woods doesn’t call the shots because he takes too many unnecessary risks. Woods said that Kofi was too terrified to take risks and couldn’t get a world title shot, until he came along, claiming that he was the reason Kofi became champion. Kofi said that he was already a Hall of Famer when they met and that was the reason Woods asked him to join his group.
– Kofi pointed out how Woods had not won a singles title yet and it was because he wasn’t good enough. Woods said that he was good enough to fight Kofi’s fights and believed in him to build to KofiMania. Woods said that Kofi was given an opportunity on a silver platter and pissed it away in second to Brock Lesnar. Before they could get physical, they walked away and said that they would see each other at the anniversary show.
(Pomares’s Analysis: The match itself was just an angle and I doubt Alpha Academy will get anything meaningful coming out of this. As for the post-match angle, it might just be my favorite talking segment in WWE and maybe in all wrestling of the year. Kofi and Woods finally reaching a breaking point and taking numerous personal shots felt like a moment that would take place at the anniversary show. Instead, by having it take place just a week before the show, it puts Kofi and Woods in a unique position while opening questions of how things will pan out next week. A perfect segment and one that you must go out of your way to see.)
– Backstage, The Miz warned Final Testament about the Wyatt Sicks before they left to find them. Nikki Cross showed up behind Scarlett before the screen cut to black.
– They showed footage of CM Punk backstage before his return while announcing that the full clip was on YouTube.
[Commercial Break]
– The Miz and the Final Testament returned to their locker room after not finding the Wyatt Sicks. Karrion Kross found Scarlett beaten down in the room and calmed her down. A message was written in red on a mirror that read “Everyone has someone to lose”.
– Earlier tonight, Adam Pearce announced the introduction of the WWE Women’s Intercontinental championship with tournament matches starting next week.
– The commentary team ran down the card for Survivor Series while announcing that LA Knight would defend the United States title against Shinsuke Nakamura at the show.
– Backstage, Nia Jax said that they had already won War Games while gloating about Jade Cargill being injured.
[Commercial Break]
(5) NIA JAX vs. BIANCA BELAIR – War Games Advantage Match
Jax nailed Belair with a corner splash and smashed her head into the turnbuckle. Belair blocked a powerbomb and sent Jax out of the ring with a dropkick. Jax blocked a splash off the apron and rammed Belair into the ring post twice. Jax threw Belair into the barricade, as WWE Raw went to its final commercial break.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Jax dropped Belair with a bodyslam and a senton, but missed a second one. Jax missed a shoulder thrust into the ring post, allowing Belair to take her down with a plancha. Belair missed the handspring moonsault, allowing Jax to crush her with a leg drop for a nearfall. Jax nailed Belair with a diving leg drop for a close two count. Belair stopped Jax atop the turnbuckle and laid her out with a press slam, setting her up for a handspring moonsault.
Belair managed to take Jax out with an avalanche back suplex for a close nearfall. Jax drove Belair into the corner and hit her with corner splashes before clearing the announce table. Jax dropped Belair onto the announce table with a Samoan drop and hit her into the steel steps. Bayley tripped Jax onto the exposed turnbuckle behind the referee’s back, allowing Belair to take the win with a 450 Splash.
WINNER: Bianca Belair at 11:07
(Pomares’s Analysis: Fine match while it lasted with a storyline bit at the end. The women’s War Games match is still incredibly rushed, but at the least they acknowledged the stuff between Belair and Bayley. Surprised by the lack of a post-match angle, but I guess they are saving it for SmackDown. Anyway, I see the logic, but babyfaces getting the War Games advantages usually breaks the psychology of the match throughout the majority of it, so I’m not a fan.)
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