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WWE RAW TV REPORT
APRIL 15, 2024
MONTREAL, QUEBEC AT BELL CENTRE
AIRED LIVE ON USA
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee
Ring Announcer: Samantha Irvin
Attendance: WrestleTix reported earlier today that 11,480 tickets had been distributed; arena set up for 12,189.
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[HOUR ONE]
-They showed the exterior of the arena as Michael Cole introduced the show. They showed Sami Zayn backstage. Cole said he grew up 45 minutes from there. He said Sami would defend his Intercontinental Title against Chad Gable They showed Damien Priest arriving, then Cody Rhodes, and finally Jey Uso. Cole said they’d look back at the big Bloodline angle from last Friday’s Smackdown.
-Rhea Ripley made her ring entrance, carrying her Women’s Title belt with her left arm with her right arm in a sling. Cole said there was speculation that she was injured last week from the Liv Morgan attack. She wasn’t smiling. Fans were cheering and chanting for her after her music stopped.
Ripley said she has been told that she is stuck on the bench for quite a few months thanks to the attack by Liv. She said she’s flustered, angry, and pissed off. She said she has to vacate the Women’s Title. Fans chanted “No! No!” and then “Bullshit!” She said, “Yeah, it is.” She looked at the belt and said it means the most to her. She lay the belt in front of her and hung her head. Fans chanted “Thank you, Mami!” She lifted her head and said it’s all because of Liv’s stupid little revenge tour. She said she could’ve actually had respect for her, but instead she blindsided her.
She issued a warning to whomever wins her title. “When I come back, I’m coming back for blood.” She said she isn’t going to be gone just because of an injury, but she’s going after Liv when she sees her so hard she’ll have to be locked in a local jail. Liv walked out to her music. Morgan yelled for security holding her back to let her go. Adam Pearce got between them in the aisle wyilethey were still 15 feet apart. She headbutted a security guard in the chest.
-They showed a shadow silhouette of Sheamus backstage. [c]
-They replayed Ripley relinquishing her title.
-Backstage, The Judgment Day were waiting for Ripley. Priest told Ripley when she returns, she’ll be more badass than she is now and they love her and she’ll make Liv pay. Ripley walked away. Dominik said, “We love you, Mami.”
(Keller’s Analysis: That a big bummer. Everyone seemed pretty down about it. The injury did happen in the attack last week, seemingly when Liv threw her into the wall. It is considered a fluke thing.)
(1) SHEAMUS vs. VIKING RAIDER IVAR
Sheamus made his ring entrance. Cole said it’s his first match since last August because he’s been out with neck issues. The bell rang 17 minutes into the hour. Cole said Ivar made his main roster debut five years ago to the day in Montreal as part of The Viking Experience. Cole noted that Sheamus will have been in WWE for 17 years as of this September. Sheamus landed White Noise at 2:00 and then they cut to a break. [c]
Sheamus pounded away at Ivar’s chest against the ropes after the break. Ivar made a comeback with a boot to the face and a spin wheel kick. He followed with a top rope splash for a two count. Sheamus caught a flying Ivar with a knee to the chin and he followed with a running knee to the head. He pounded his chest and hit the Brogue Kick.
WINNER: Sheamus in 8:00.
-They showed the announcers at ringside. A smiling, celebrating Sheamus came over wrapped his arms around the necks of Cole and McAfee. Cole shifted to noting that Sheamus hasn’t held the IC Title, and that will be defended later.
-A video package previewed Sami vs. Chad Gable.
-They showed Gable arriving backstage with his luggage. Cole said he’s never held a singles title in WWE. [c]
-They replayed Sheamus “hugging” McAfee and Cole. Cole was into talking about wearing a Men’s Warehouse suit.
-Paul “Triple H” Levesque made his way to the ring. Cole touted “15,000 strong” cheering Levesque. Levesque said the fans are on fire. He reflected on a whole new era starting at WrestleMania. Adam Pearce was in the ring with Triple H standing in front of a table with presumably belts covered by a velvet cloth. Pearce said they entered WrestleMania with one set of tag champs and left with two. He introduced the Raw tag champs, Awesome Truth, Miz and R-Truth.
They arrived in the ring with the red belts. Fans chanted, “You deserve it!” Truth did a leaping splits. Levesque asked, “What’s up?” Triple H said they will now be known as the World Tag Team Champions (rather than tied to the Raw brand). He revealed the new belts. Truth flipped out and thought it was a magic trick. He said he hasn’t trusted magicians because people used to be able to see Little Jimmy. They went into a bit where Truth thought that Triple H was actually Johnny Gargano. Fans sang “Olé!” Miz said they’re ready for Sami. Miz tried to explain to Truth that those were their belts. Triple H asked if he could leave and then he presented them with the new belts. Pearce then gave Truth a hard time about driving Triple H out of the ring. Truth denied Triple H was even in the ring. Pearce then announced it was time for the triple threat match to determine the no. 1 contenders to their belts.
-Johnny Gargano & Tomasso Ciampa made their entrance as Miz and Truth stood in the ring. They cut to a break. [c]
(2) THE CREED BROTHERS vs. DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) vs. THE NEW DAY (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods)
The Creeds made their entrance. Then New Day. As New Day came out, they showed a barcode quickly that took over the screen which led to a secret image on WWE.com. They cut to a break at 2:00 after dives by New Day. [c]
[HOUR TWO]
Chaos broke out after the break. Cole said, “Bodies everywhere.” Gargano leaped onto a crowd at ringside as Ciampa landed his Project Ciampa finisher on Kofi in the ring for a near fall. They continued with chaotic action ending with DIY hitting Xavier with a Meet in the Middle for the win.
WINNERS: DIY in 11:00.
(Keller’s Analysis: This was a spotfest which will appeal to some.)
-They went to Cole and McAfee at ringside who threw a clip of C.M. Punk grabbing Drew McIntyre’s leg last week, costing him his no. 1 contendership match.
-Jackie Redmond interviewed Drew backstage who was all smiles. She said she was expecting that reaction. Drew then dropped the smile and snapped and kicked over a TV, then left. A “C.M. Punk!” chant broke out. [c]
(3) MAXXINE DUPRI & IVY NILE vs. CANDICE LERAE & INDI HARTWELL
The bell rang 13 minutes into the hour. Dupri tagged in and landed a top rope crossbody press followed by a fisherman suplex for a near fall. Cole said she was “extremely impressive” tonight. Candice tagged in and pounded on Ivy. McAfee said Candice was calling Ivy “a stupid hot dog.” Cole said he wasn’t sure that’s what she was saying. Candice taunted Nile and then beat up Dupri in the corner. Dupri crawled over and tagged in Nile, but the ref didn’t see the tag thanks to a Hartwell distraction. Hartwell kicked Dupri and dragged Candice onto her. The ref counted to three. McAfee said Hartwell was “willing to be the badguy” in front of the fans.
WINNERS: LeRae & Hartwell in 3:00.
-They went to Cole and McAfee at ringside. Cole said Priest is the first Puerto Rican World Champion in over 5o years in WWE. They showed aphoto of Priest and Aaron Judge at Yankees Stadium.
-A rieset video package aired with Priest saying he wants his name to live forever. He said ten years ago he was homeless and no one thought he’d make it to this stage. He said he busted his ass. Then clips aired of big WWE moments for him.
(Keller’s Analysis: That whole thing felt like a babyface turn via video package. Either way, it’s good to see him get some special attention since certainly last week he was lost in the mix with Cody Rhodes getting so much attention.)
-Backstage Priest told the rest of The Judgment Day emphatically that they still run the place. He got Dominik Mysterio and J.D. McDonagh fired up. Finn Balor said their focus should be on getting the tag titles back, so why is he wrestling Jey Uso. Priest said he needs him to teach Jey the meaning of the word loss. He asked Balor if he’s good with that. Balor uncomfortably smiled and said, “Of course I’m good with that, brother.” Priest told him to go take care of business.
-Andrade began his ring entrance. [c]
-A clip aired from earlier in the afternoon with Redmond interviewing Chad Gable in the midst of a workout in the ring in an empty arena. He said a win tonight would validate and vindicate him. He said he’s excited for a big night. She asked about dealing with a crowd favoring their hometown champion Sami. Gable said he had to qualify for the Olympic team, he had to wrestle representing Minnesota in Iowa, so he’s used to that. He said when he trained with Sami, he learned his weakness.
(4) ANDRADE vs. DOMINIK MYSTEIRO (w/J.D. McDonagh)
The bell rang 29 minutes into the hour. Dom got in some early offense. Andrade climbed to the top rope. McDonagh knocked him off the top rope. McAfee called them “Judgment Day dummies.” They cut to a break at 2:00. [c]
Dom gave Andrade a Canadian Destroyer on the ring apron and then scored a near fall in the ring. “How the hell did he kick out?” asked Cole. Andrade came back with his finisher a minute later after fending off McDonagh interference.
WINNER: Andrade in 8:00.
-McDonagh attacked Andrade from behind after the match as Andrade began to celebrate. Ricochet ran out for the save. McDonagh and Dom fled to ringside.
-Cole threw to a video package on the big Bloodline developments on Friday’s Smackdown.
-Cathy Kelly interviewed Jey Uso backstage for his reaction to what happened to his brother Jimmy. He as in a more serious mood than usual. He said as far as Jimmy goes, he said he told hm to come with him. He said needed to focus on Balor, though. [c]
(5) CHELSEA GREEN & PIPER NIVEN vs. KATANA CHANCE & KAYDEN CARTER
Green & Niven made their entrance first. Then Chance & Carter. The bell rang 48 minutes into the hour. Cole said Chelsea is rubbing off on Niven a bit. Cole said Green might be the most annoying person on the planet. Green leveraged Carter’s shoulders down after Niven broke up a cover on her.
WINNERS: Green & Niven in 2:30.
-Cole said Cody would be out next. [c]
-A clip aired of the Ripley-Liv situation earlier. Cole said Liv sent out a tweet saying “LMRT,” meaning Liv Morgan Revenge Tour.
-Kelly interviewed Liv backstage and asked if her revenge tour is over. She said everyone seems mad at her. She asked where the sympathy was for her when Ripley tore her shoulder and put her out for eight months. “A shoulder for a shoulder,” she giggled. “Rhea got exactly what she deserved.” She said this is just the begging of her revenge tour and it end with her as champion. “Watch me,” she said.
-Cody’s ring entrance took place.
[HOUR THREE]
-Cody entered the ring. Fans sang “Olé!” and then chanted “Cody!” He asked Montreal what they wanted to talk about, but in French. He thanked Pearce for letting him hang out on Raw even though he’s now technically a Smackdown Superstar. He said he’ll either be facing L.A. Knight or A.J. Styles at Backlash later this month. He brought up Seth Rollins saying he would be his shield. Fans chanted “Thank you, Seth.” He said another friend of theirs did some reflecting yesterday, speaking of The Rock. A “Rocky sucks!” chant started. He said it was news to him that Rock did a ten week training program to spar with and guide his training. He said he doesn’t think Rock has one more match in him. “I think he’s got a lot more than that,” he said. He said “in typical Rock manic fashion, he said he was going to make me bleed again.” Cody said he might bleed, but no amount of training or preparation can stop him for making Rock bleed with him.
Cody talked about The Bloodline. He said Tama Tonga showed up, but Roman Reigns was nowhere to be found. He said he wanted to call a friend of his to the ring, “Main Event Jey Uso!” Cody said when Jey comes out, you can feel it from your head to your Yeet. He called it a dad joke. McAfee said he can feel it in his Yeet. Cole told him not to Yeet all over himself. McAfee stood and did the Jey dance. McAfee said he just Yeeted himself.
Cody said when you wrestle one member of The Judgment Day, more are nearby, so he’d like to have Jey’s back the way Jey had his. Jey said he appreciated it, but he wanted to do it on his own, the Yeet Master. Jey said he’d like to be the World Champion. Cody said he understands and he hugged him. Cody said, “Oh, one more thing. Until we Yeet again.”
-They showed Finn Balor backstage. [c]
-Kathy Kelly interviewed Nia Jax who said she doesn’t care about what happened to Ripley. She asked who is going to stop her from taking the title. She talked about the draft in two weeks adding new potential opponents. She said the title will be hers. Balor attacked Jey from behind before the bell. The ref checked on Jey and then quickly called for the bell 15 minutes into the hour.
(6) JEY USO vs. FINN BALOR
After some back and forth action, they cut to a break at 3:00. [c]
They showed Priest watching on a monitor backstage. He said he was going to go say hello. Balor avoided a top rope splash and then set up a Coup de Grace. Jey moved and speraed Balor. Jey then landed a top rope splash for the win. Cole said that’s a big win for Jey as he aims for Priest in two weeks at Backlash.
WINNER: Jey in 10:00.
-Priest stepped onto the ring apron and eyed Jey. He entered with his World Hvt. Title belt. Jey stared at the belt. Priest held it up high. Fans booed. McDonagh and Dom attacked Jey.Balor had some intense words for Priest before joining in the attack on Jey. Jey superkicked Dom out of mid-air at ringside and then leaped over the ring barricade. Jey threw McDonagh into Balor and then made his way up the steps and was surrounded by fans. A camera just happened to be waiting for him in the concourse tunnel as he walked into the hallway with a lkine-up of fans waiting to slap hands with him. One fan kinda stepped in front of hm for a selfie and Jey shoved him aside, seeming to be irked. The crowd seemed to react with an “ohhh” and the guy shot him a look. Jey then saw Sami Zayn who was looking up. Sami said the first show he ever saw over 25 years ago was in this arena and now he’s returning as a champion. He said he walked in the front door tonight the same way he did back then as a fan. Sami then made his way through teh concourse, fired up and slapping hands with fans.
Sami then made his way into the crowd as fans sang his entrance theme. [c]
-Cole said they’ll crown a new World Women’s Champion next week on Raw, plus Miz & Truth vs. DIY and Ricochet & Andrade vs. Dom & McDonagh.
-Bronson Reed walked up to Gable and said whoever wins tonight won’t be IC Champ for long because the winner will have to answer to him.
(7) SAMI ZAYN vs. CHAD GABLE – Intercontinental Title match
Gable made his entrance. Formal ring introduction were made. Fans booed Gable and then cheered Sami loudly. The bell rang 40 minutes into the hour. They cut to an early break at 2:00. [c]
Gable worked over Sami’s leg for a while. Sami sent Gable through the ropes to ringside. Sami then landed an Arabian moonsault onto Gable at ringside. They cut to another break at 9:00. [c]
Sami countered Gable suplexed by back suplexing Gable onto his head. They replayed the head-first thud landing in slo-mo. They stood and exchanged strikes. Sami tossed Gable into the corner and then set up a Helluva Kick. Gable countered into an anklelock. Sami sent Gable to the floor. Gable leaped off the top rope into the ring. Sami blocked him and then went for a sharpshooter. Sami’s ankle gave out, though. Gable tossed Sami into the corner turnbuckle and then applied an anklelock. He torqued Sami’s ankle. Sami cried out in pain. Gable pulled Sami to mid-ring. Sami rolled up Gable for a two count. He then landed an Xploder into the corner. He followed with a Helluva Kick and scored a three count. They cut to his smiling wife. Sami was bleeding a bit from his forehead.
WINNER: Sami in 18:00 to retain the IC Title.
-A dejected Gable sat up in the corner as Sami’s music played. Sami offered to help him stand. Gavle accepted the offer. Gable raised Sami’s arm, then left the ring promptly. Sami rolled to the floor and met with friends and family in the front row. Gable then came up behind Sami and gave him a German suplex at ringside. He threw Sami into the ringpost and then into the announce desk.
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