Less than 24 hours after Cody Rhodes finished his story at Wrestlemania 40, Monday Night Raw took place from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here’s what happened at the popular Raw after Wrestlemania.
The Rock tells Cody Rhodes he will come after him when he returns
Paul Levesque came to the ring to start the night. If you caught Wrestlemania, you would know that this was his second time in recent days coming out and addressing a live crowd. A “Thank you Hunter” chant broke out. “Here’s the thing, I came out here to thank you,” he replied.
Levesque said last weekend was the best Wrestlemania ever. He then introduced “the man who will lead us into the new era,” Cody Rhodes. Levesque congratulated Rhodes on his win. He said that part of the WWE production team “made something special” for Rhodes. Set to Andra Day’s “Rise Up,” a video package showcasing Rhodes’ rise to the top of WWE aired. It included clips of his early years in the WWE and a photo of him at a NJPW event.
Rhodes, looking emotional while in the ring, hugged Levesque. After Levesque left the ring, Rhodes put his belt on the canvas and kissed it once. “So, Raw after Wrestlemania. Philadelphia, what do you want to talk about?
Rhodes turned to ring announcer Samantha Irvin to introduce him once again. A video of Irvin made the rounds on Sunday night where was visibly moved by the main event result while announcing Rhodes’ victory. He then gave credit to the length of Roman Reigns’ recently-concluded title reign.
Rhodes mentioned that a big motivator for his wrestling career is his child. Rhodes said that he is in a special position, as he has gone from being the challenger to the one who receives challenges. “My name is Cody Rhodes. Once undesirable, become undeniable, and now Undisputed Universal WWE Champion.”
The Rock’s music then hit. After The Rock was in the ring, the crowd mocked him by chanting “Undertaker.” He really milked the heat that he was getting, taking a couple of minutes in the ring before starting to talk.
The Rock said that he came out to give Rhodes his flowers and to also congratulate Philadelphia on breaking the record for the largest gathering of trailer trash (Disclosure: This fact has not been verified by POST Wrestling).
The Rock finally directed his attention to Rhodes. He gave him credit for winning on Sunday and said that the late Dusty Rhodes is proud of him. He says that the belt looks good on Rhodes, but asks if there’s any way The Rock can hold the title.
Rhodes offered to trade belts with The Rock. For context, The Rock was holding The People’s Championship, which Muhammad Ali’s wife gave him during the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday.
They traded belts. The crowd started chanting “This is awkward.” The Rock said the WWE title “feels right” around him, then handed it back.
The Rock then mentioned that he has to “go away for a little while now.” He then sent out a warning: “When The Rock comes back Cody, whether you’re champion or not champion, The Rock is gonna come back for you.”
Rhodes replied that he will be looking forward to it. The Rock reminded Rhodes that, even though he beat Reigns, he lost to him on Saturday night. “Our story has just begun,” he told Rhodes.
Rhodes said that The Rock is his boss since he is on the TKO Group Holdings board of directors. He then told Rock that while he is everyone’s champion, “I’m your champion.” The Rock said he had something to give Rhodes before he left.
He grabbed Rhodes’ hand and told him: “You don’t even have to open your hand to know what’s inside. Don’t you ever break my heart again. If you can smell what the final boss is cooking.”
NXT champ Ilja Dragunov faces Shinsuke Nakamura
In the first match of the night, NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov faced off against Shinsuke Nakamura. This was a surprise matchup, and Dragunov was appearing just two days after defending his title against Tony D’Angelo at NXT Stand & Deliver.
The commentary team mentioned that the next WWE Draft will happen on April 26 and 29, and that Dragunov will be part of it.
Nakamura caught Dragunov with a big boot to start the fight, although it didn’t take long for the NXT champ to fight his way back into the matchup. Dragunov scored a hard powerbomb on Nakamura and then scored with an H-Bomb. Dragunov then hit his flying headbutt finisher, Torpedo Moscow, for the win.
An opponent ‘you can’t see’ helps The Miz and R-Truth
Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh of Judgement Day were seen in the ring for the next segment.
Mysterio introduced the new WWE Women’s World Champion, Rhea Ripley. After she said that it was a new era for the Judgement Day, Balor introduced WWE World Heavyweight Champion Damien Priest.
As Judgement Day posed, R-Truth came into the ring and posed alongside them with his Raw Tag Team Championship. He bragged that he brought the tag titles back to the group. As Truth was talking, his tag partner The Miz came out.
Miz said that Truth doesn’t want to be in The Judgement Day. Priest mentioned that he isn’t anyway. Truth claimed he is.
Balor asked if Truth and Miz could put their tag titles on the line tonight. Truth said he couldn’t because there are “three of us.” Truth said he was referring to Little Jimmy, his invisible friend. As Truth was about to introduce the invisible man he was referring to, The Judgement Day jumped him and The Miz.
Once we came back from a commercial break, a two-on-three match was underway. As Miz and Truth had a disadvantage, a large part of this match was the duo receiving a beatdown from The Judgement Day. Suddenly, as it seemed like Judgement Day were cruising to a win, John Cena’s music hit and he came out. He was the tag partner that we couldn’t see, a nod to his “You Can’t See Me” catchphrase. He received a hot tag and finished the match, hitting Attitude Adjustments alongside Miz and Truth to win the match.
Shortly after the match, Liv Morgan was shown attacking Rhea Ripley backstage. She threw a chair at her head and followed up with kicks and punches before referees separated them.
Roxanne Perez defeats rival Indi Hartwell
Shortly after NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov appeared in a match, NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez faced off against Indi Hartwell. The commentary made mention of the history between these two, notably the fact that Hartwell won the women’s title in a ladder match to end Perez’s initial run with the belt.
Perez screamed “You never deserved my title” at Hartwell early in the match. Perez was able to rake the eyes of Hartwell while Candice LeRae was talking to the referee. This allowed her to hit the Pop Rox for the win just moments later. LeRae seemed frustrated with tag partner Hartwell after the match.
Sami Zayn and Chad Gable team up for win
Newly crowned WWE Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn came to the ring for the next segment. As Zayn was giving credit to everyone who helped him become champion, he was interrupted by Imperium’s Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci. Kaiser said they were there on behalf of Gunther to make things right.
Just as Imperium was about to attack Zayn, Chad Gable came in for the save. After a commercial break, a tag team match between these two groups was made. Gable and Zayn showed strong chemistry in this match, with their double-team work eventually leading to the win. Zayn intentionally allowed Gable to get the pinfall spotlight, tagging him in to hit a german suplex.
Backstage after their match, Zayn mentioned that he knows Gable wants a shot at his title. He proposed that Gable could face him on next week’s episode of Raw for the belt in Montreal. Gable accepted the challenges. The match was made official for next week later in the episode.
Chelsea Green regrettably asks for a match
Backstage, Chelsea Green complained to the general managers of Raw, Smackdown and NXT that she didn’t receive a matchup for Wrestlemania. She was told to head to the ring for a special match that they had arranged for her.
Green came to the ring and realized that Jade Cargill was her selected opponent. Green seemed incredibly mad about this matchup. After complaining to the timekeepers about the bout, Green turned around and ate a front kick to the face. Cargill then hit her finisher, Jaded, for the win.
Jey Uso earns title shot in four-way
The first challenger for Damien Priest’s World Heavyweight Championship was crowned in the main event, as Drew McIntyre, Ricochet, Bronson Reed and Jey Uso fought in a #1 contender match.
McIntyre got on the mic before the match, calling Priest a “transitional champion” and said he will regain the belt soon. He also addressed CM Punk, who caused Priest to cash in the Money In The Bank contract at Wrestlemania. While discussing how he will hurt Punk, he was cut off by Uso’s entrance.
Ricochet went flying before the first commercial break of the match, going off the top rope and diving to the outside onto the three other wrestlers. After the break, Uso was trying to spear Reed through a table set up in the ring. Reed stopped this attempt and instead sent him through the table. This match went to commercials once again right after. This show had loads of commercials taking place during matches, although this could in part be due to the first hour of the show being commercial-free.
The match hit a quicker pace once it returned from the final break. Reed was looking for a frogsplash off the top onto Ricochet, but was interrupted by McIntyre. Reed took McIntyre to the outside and hit a shoulder tackle off the apron. Reed set up a commentary table but ended up getting laid out and put on it by McIntyre.
Uso did a dive to the outside that caught McIntyre. He then tried to climb to the top rope but was taken out by a kick from Ricochet. In a moment that received a massive reaction, Ricochet then did a springboard 450 splash onto Reed, who was on a commentary desk.
Back in the ring, McIntyre and Uso started to trade blows. McIntyre hit a Future Shock DDT and was about to hit a Claymore Kick, but had his leg held back by CM Punk, who ran in through the crowd.
Punk’s distraction allowed Uso to hit a Superkick and spear. He then scored a frogsplash to pin McIntyre and win the match. One day after Punk ended McIntyre’s title reign, he stopped him from another title shot.
Quick Results:
- Ilja Dragunov def. Shinsuke Nakamura
- R-Truth, The Miz & John Cena def. Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh (Two-On-Three Match)
- Roxanne Perez def. Indi Hartwell
- Sami Zayn & Chad Gable def. Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci
- Jade Cargill def. Chelsea Green
- Jey Uso def. Drew McIntyre, Ricochet & Bronson Reed (Four-Way World Heavyweight Championship #1 Contenders)
