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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (April 24, 2023) from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Backlash Premium Live Event scheduled for early next month in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Advertised for tonight: Bad Bunny makes his return to “seek payback against The Judgment Day,” Rey Mysterio takes on Damian Priest in singles action, Cody Rhodes seems to be hinting at doing something special for his return to “The Windy City,” we’re still waiting on anything from Becky Lynch after the Trish Stratus turn, and a whole lot more!
Come right back here at 8 pm ET when the Raw live blog will kick off once the show starts on USA Network. It will be below this line here. Reminder: GIFs and pics allowed, but no links to illegal streams, please.
WWE RAW RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR APRIL 24
Hey girl let’s run away, we’ll set the skies on fire tonight. It’s you and me, we’ll run away to Hollywood but first, I’m going to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for these folks.
The show opens with Cody Rhodes making his entrance.
He gets on the mic and asks the crowd if they want to talk about the WWE Draft. He says he could end up on SmackDown but moves right to talking about how Brock Lesnar attacked him three weeks ago and starts taking his shirt off, telling us he has something he wants us to see.
He throws his tie into the crowd to great applause and gets his shirt unbuttoned and also throws it, to the same result. He shows us the scar where his pectoral muscle was repaired and notes that it’s his first time back in that arena since Hell in a Cell. He says the match resonated with people, but he’s never watched it back.
He tells Brock to pick a spot and put another scar on him, because it means he hasn’t learned the lesson from the first one. With that injury he was able to defeat one of the best to ever do it right here inside of Hell in a Cell, and the reason he doesn’t give it a heroic spin is because he didn’t do anything that night.
He had a sold-out arena prop him up on their shoulders and carry him to the finish line. He was in the most pain of his entire life and we’ve had many milestones but if he never gets another chance to say it he wanted to say here and now, from the bottom of his heart, “thank you.”
Finn Balor makes his entrance.
He tells Cody we’ve all got scars but that’s not why he’s here, he saw what happened to Rhodes at WrestleMania and that he had Roman Reigns beat and that he got screwed, and he knows how that feels, but he got screwed because he had no one there to have his back.
He says Rhodes has to be smarter, like him, because he’s fighting the Beast battered and bruised and this is a match he can’t win, not on his own. Cody says Brock is the only thing he’s focused on so, respectfully, whatever Finn’s selling, he’s not buying.
Balor says if he respects him he’ll hear him out, and we all know that Cody Rhodes in the Judgment Day would be unstoppable. Think about it— Rhea Ripley, SmackDown Women’s Champion. Damian Priest put the biggest star in the music industry straight through a table. And Dominik Mysterio has already proven that he’s far greater than his legendary father ever was, which is perhaps something Cody should try.
He tells Rhodes to not make the same mistake again, and let them have his back. Cody says he couldn’t quite hear because the crowd was talking over Finn and he’s done a lot for him but respectfully he must decline, he will not be joining Judgment Day. Balor says that’s a real pity, because you’re either with the Judgment Day or against the Judgment Day, so watch your back.
Cody says he must be smiling because he’s under the impression that he’s not medically cleared tonight because of what happened three weeks ago, but a few hours ago he was cleared to compete and he can’t think of a better message to send to Brock Lesnar than to fight Finn tonight.
Commentary hypes tonight’s show up.
The Bloodline makes their entrance and we go to break.
Latino World Order (Cruz Del Toro, Joaquin Wilde, & Santos Escobar) vs. the Bloodline (Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, & Solo Sikoa)
Wilde and Jey to start, Joaquin throwing dropkicks, armbar blocked, into the corner, tag to Jimmy. Working Wilde over, quick tags, LWO turn the tide and nail the Bloodline with dives in triplicate to stand tall as we go to break!
Back from commercial, Sikoa is in control on Wilde, he gets a tornado DDT for separation, tags made! Escobar in hot, back elbow lays Jimmy out, clear the apron, duck a lariat, off the ropes, flying forearms! Enzuigiri staggers Solo, Jimmy lights him up with strikes, off the ropes and right into a jumping knee from Santos!
Back body drop to the apron, enzuigiri connects, up top... DIVING CROSSBODY FOR TWO! Enzuigiri from Uso, tag to Del Toro, springboard dropkick and he goes up top, Phoenix Splash... JEY BREAKS IT UP! Santos takes Uso to the floor and brawls with him, but Jey posts him!
Sikoa with a Rock Bottom that puts Joaquin into the apron! Cruz with a running enzuigiri for Jimmy, down and out, Del Toro up top, he dives... SOLO CUTS HIM OUT OF MIDAIR WITH THE SAMOAN SPIKE! Tag to Jey...
The Bloodline win by pinfall with 1D from the Usos on Cruz Del Toro.
Post-match, the Usos get on the mic and they say they had one bad night and lost the tag titles and let the Tribal Chief down, but this week on Friday it’s not gonna be a bad night and they’re gonna be nine-time tag champions and dedicate this win to Roman Reigns.
Bianca Belair is interviewed backstage.
She’s excited to defend her title against IYO SKY at Backlash and she stays ready so she doesn’t—
Damage CTRL roll up and Bayley mocks her and IYO challenges her to a match tonight. Bianca is game but Bayley sticks her nose in and turns it into a trios challenge over SKY’s clear but nonverbal objections.
Commentary hypes up Bad Bunny’s return and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Jey Uso is talking on the phone about handling business and getting the W when he runs into Sami Zayn and hangs up in a hurry.
He asks Sami what he wants and Zayn says he’s not here for a fight and he heart what he had to say tonight and asks if he really wants to dedicate his match to Roman Reigns? He doesn’t think that’s a little weird? They’re not gonna lose the titles and what happens when he comes up short after putting Roman’s name on the match?
Whatever happens, it’s not gonna be good and he doesn’t deserve that. Jey asks why he cares, and Sami says he feels bad. Jey tells him not to feel bad ‘cause they’re gonna win the tag titles back and choices have been made whether we like it or not.
We get a recap of Trish Stratus’ heel turn and explainer promo.
Trish is interviewed backstage.
She says she has a little secret, Becky Lynch got close to her and she opened up and said the pressure of being the top woman in the division is getting to her. Stratus says she can see her cracking and she just decided to take her out of her misery and she should be thanking her for it.
Street Profits make their entrance and we go to break.
Hurt Business (Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin) vs. Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford)
Ford and Benjamin to start, Shelton gets the advantage and quick tags and Montez is on the wrong side of town. Dawkins tags in, almost gets it off the Drill Bit, Shelton breaks it up but gets steamrolled with slaps! Alexander with a schoolboy, Angelo hits the spinebuster, Ford off the top...
Street Profits win by pinfall with a frog splash from Montez Ford on Cedric Alexander.
We go to break on the promise that Triple H will be here with his announcement next.
Back from commercial, Triple H makes his entrance and gets on the mic.
He says he had the privilege of competing at the highest level as a WWE Superstar, of being in this ring at this arena at WrestleMania 22 to defend the WWE Championship against one of the greatest of all time, John Cena. And now he has the privilege of ensuring WWE is all it can be for generations going forward.
And that’s why he’s out here to talk about Roman Reigns tonight. The Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, coming up on a thousand days as champion. It’s incredible, it’s unheard of in the modern era, he’s defended that title against everybody and he can say after seeing them all for thirty years, he can’t name too many that can hang with Roman, he’s that damn good.
Along the way in those thousand days, Reigns did something very smart, something he would have done, and he negotiated himself into a position where he didn’t have to defend that title as frequently. He can’t blame Roman for that, but it’s not great for WWE.
WWE deserves more and we deserve more, and that’s why a few weeks ago when he talked about the Draft he said it’d change WWE at its very core, because when Roman is drafted to whatever brand he is drafted to, he’ll take his title with him and he will stay on that show.
The other brand will determine a new champion, and on Saturday May 27, at Night of Champions, we’ll crown a new World Heavyweight Champion, and he unveils the title, a riff on the old Big Gold Belt with the WWE logo front and center. He says it’ll be a champion that will defend the title anywhere, anyplace, any time, all over the world, who won’t have to demand you acknowledge him.
Judgment Day are interviewed backstage.
Finn Balor goes off to get ready for his match and Damian Priest says Bad Bunny being her tonight is awesome, he’s a megastar with success everywhere he’s gone, but if he’s looking to get in their business again, he’ll just get put through a table again. He doesn’t go to Bad Bunny’s job to get in his business, after all.
Dominik is excited to see Damian beat his dad up, and Priest says he’s going to exterminate Rey Mysterio.
Damage CTRL make their entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a Bronson Reed hype reel.
The Bloodline are chilling backstage and Jimmy Uso is talking strategy, saying he’s the right hand man and he’s gonna throw a superkick party and whatnot, but Jey is distracted and his brother calls him on it. Jey asks if he’s thought about what happens if they don’t win the titles back.
Uso admits he ran into Sami and Jim unloads on him until Solo Sikoa puts a hand on his shoulder to calm him. Jimmy shifts gears and gives Jey a pep talk about how they’re gonna win but it doesn’t really work and he storms off.
Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai, & IYO SKY)
Belair and SKY to start, collar and elbow, Bianca in control via her strength, off the ropes, sidestep a handspring, stalemate! Belair with a handspring of her own, dropkick connects, Kai tags in and eats a delayed vertical suplex! Tags made, tag champs staking Kai and Bayley up in the corner and wailing on them!
IYO knocks Morgan to the floor and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Morgan and Kai trading right hands, Damage CTRL still in control, Liv opens a path and crawls but IYO pulls Bianca off the apron and throws her into the steel steps! Morgan gets a lungblower on Dakota for some breathing room, tag to Rodriguez!
Powering Bayley down, fallaway slam sets up the corkscrew Vader Bomb, cover... KAI BREAKS IT UP! Bianca tags in, KOD blocked, smashing SKY into the post, Bayley trips her up but eats the KOD herself...
Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, & Raquel Rodriguez win by pinfall with KOD from Belair on Bayley.
Austin Theory makes his entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Austin Theory gets on the mic to talk about his opponents for Backlash, Bronson Reed and Bobby Lashley.
He says he’s the greatest United States Champion of all time but he gets no respect and had no say in his opponents for this match. He calls out the new World Heavyweight Championship and says it shouldn’t be on that pedestal, it should be around his waist.
But instead of being handed that title, he’s in a triple threat where he doesn’t even have to lose his title to lose his title. He says he’s living his dream—
Enter Bobby Lashley.
He gets in the ring and on the mic to confront Theory, saying the only problem he has with Austin is that he’s holding his title. He asks when he’s gonna stop running away from obstacles he should be running towards, and he knows how tough he is but he doesn’t think Theory knows how tough he is.
What is it, is he lazy, does he not want to work, or is he scared? He should be welcoming every opportunity to fight for that title, because he would, and Bob says he requested the triple threat. Theory says if he’s that good at requesting matches, where was his match at WrestleMania?
Lashley laughs it off before saying he should knock Austin’s teeth down his throat. Theory agrees and tries for a cheap shot but Bob ducks it and double legs him and they brawl out to the floor! Lashley puts him into the barricade and beats him down!
Bronson Reed appears to beat Bob up and he and Austin work together to take the All Mighty down! They sandwich him into the post, take him inside, and Theory hits A-Town Down while Reed laughs! He turns around and Bronson freight trains him and follows it with a senton!
Up top.. 747 SPLASH! Reed holds the United States Championship over his head.
We see footage from earlier of Elias trying to whip Rick Boogz into shape with a little help from Chad Gable, who explains the rules of the draft, that there are two draft pools this year and pledges that Alpha Academy will remain intact.
Maxxine Dupri rolls up to say she’s made sure Otis goes where she goes, and Mustafa Ali appears to say we all need to have a more positive mentality. He says maybe Gable could reach his full potential and become World Heavyweight Champion but tonight he’s gonna be a loser in their match.
Otis tells Ali that Chad is gonna show him a shakedown.
We see social media footage of Bad Bunny driving in the vicinity.
American Alpha and Maxxine Dupri make their entrance and we go to break.
Chad Gable vs. Mustafa Ali
Fast-paced feeling out, ducking and dodging arm drags, Ali taunts, headlock, shot off, drop down, big overhead belly-to-belly suplex connects and Gable follows it up by chopping him down a few times! Hard whip into the turnbuckles, kick from the corner, rolling thunder countered into a Dragon suplex... SO CLOSE!
Chaos Theory attempt, reversed...
Mustafa Ali wins by pinfall with a victory roll!
Jimmy Uso confronts Sami Zayn backstage, and Sami says he’s just telling the truth. Uso asks what Zayn thinks is gonna happen if HE loses, does he really think Kevin Owens has forgiven him? Nah, he’s just using him to get the tag titles, and when he loses, Kevin is gonna turn on him and he’s goonna deserve every bit of it.
So don’t worry about the Usos, worry about that.
Finn Balor makes his entrance and we go to break.
Cody Rhodes vs. Finn Balor
Balor with a wristlock, Rhodes reverses, test of strength, Finn with a side headlock, shot off, hip toss, upkick, Cody with a headlock now. Takeover, grounding Balor, off the ropes, fireman’s carry gutbuster drop, cover for two! Chop for punch, a little Flip Flop and Fly but Finn rolls to the apron!
Delayed vertical gourdbuster, cover for two, jockeying for position, Balor shoots him off, Cody ducks lariats, goes for a crossbody and crashes hard into the ropes, falling to the floor clutching his torso. Finn poses in front of the World Heavyweight Championship and we go to break.
Back from commercial, trading punches, off the ropes, flying forearm from Rhodes, drop down slap, up and over, snap scoop powerslam connects! Beautiful Disaster... SO CLOSE! Balor with an inverted facelock, Cody blocks, Cody Cutter reversed, inverted headlock elbow drop connects this time for a nearfall!
Finn putting boots to Rhodes in the ropes, Sling Blade follows, lining him up, Balor runs into a superkick, Cody Cutter connects! Cover... NOPE! Rhodes goes for a powerbomb, blocked, double stomp, shotgun dropkick, Finn goes up top, nobody home on Coup de Grace!
Inverted facelock reversed, inside cradle for two! Front kick, underhooks, Pedigree! Inverted facelock...
Cody Rhodes wins by pinfall with Cross Rhodes.
Seth Rollins makes his entrance wearing a completely ridiculous open-back zebra print jumpsuit to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Seth Rollins gets on the mic.
He welcomes the crowd to Monday Night Rollins and does his usual schtick. He says he was gonna come out here tonight and see how people were feeling about his match at Backlash against Omos, but if you can believe it something bigger has caught his eye, and he looks meaningfully at the new World Heavyweight Championship.
He heads out to the floor to “You deserve it!” chants and says truth be told HHH came out here and said some very nice things about Roman Reigns and do you know who isn’t on the list of men who Roman has beaten during this title reign? Reigns would like you to believe that everyone wants what he has, but the truth is, some of us still want to fight.
He says this is about more than politics and part-timers, this is a chance to have a title that is for us, and if we’re gonna crown a new World Heavyweight Champion, well he’ll give us one guess who he’d put his money on.
Enter Omos, flanked by Montel Vontavious Porter.
MVP asks Seth to forgive the interruption and he sincerely means no disrespect and in fact respects Rollins immensely and thinks he is without question one of the most impressive superstars to ever grace a WWE ring. He’s accomplished virtually everything there is to accomplish and he’s absolutely brilliant, with the exception of his fashion choices.
It’s because of those accolades that Montel pursued this matches, because it’s his job to get the giant some giant matches, and a win over Seth Rollins would be... huge.
He cautions Seth against making predictions of his future, because he might not have much of one after Backlash. Rollins thanks him and the crowd sings along while he and Omos stare each other down. Seth says MVP’s words are kind but he kind of undersold his giant, he’s not just huge, he’s the tallest man Rollins has ever seen.
The strongest and most powerful force in WWE, Omos is once in a generation... because he was born that way. Seth Rollins is once in a generation because he made himself that way. He should be afraid but he’s not, and at Backlash he’s gonna do what he does best, he’s gonna make Omos’ ass famous and bounce his big head off the canvas.
He’ll wake up from his three-second nap and an arena full of people are gonna be singing Seth’s song.
We see Rey Mysterio working out backstage and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get some hype for WWE’s efforts with Make-A-Wish.
Matt Riddle is in the locker room rambling at Kevin Owens when Sami Zayn rolls up.
Kev pops up to ask where Sami’s been and Zayn says he hasn’t had a great night. He admits he was speaking to the Usos and Owens is confused as to what he could possibly have to tell them and he says they deserve whatever Roman is going to do to them and he’s mostly concerned about retaining the titles and that’s what Sami should be worried about too.
KO storms off and Riddle tells Zayn he knows exactly what he’s going through. Sami is skeptical and Matt explains how his experience in RK-Bro relates to Sami and Kevin’s team. Zayn thanks him.
Commentary hypes up the Backlash card and gives us an update on Bad Bunny’s Instagram, informing us that he’s arrived at the arena.
Rey Mysterio makes his entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we’re informed that Brock Lesnar will return next week.
Damian Priest vs. Rey Mysterio
Mysterio lighting him up with punches to the point where referee Chad Patton has to back him off, Priest with a cheap shot and a big boot before putting boots to him in the ropes. slide under, right hands, whip blocked. Damian standing tall, we see Bad Bunny arrive picture-in-picture!
Up top, fireman’s carry, Rey fighting out with elbows, electric chair... AVALANCHE DRAGONRANA FOR TWO! Big elbow, Priest poses in the turnbuckles and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Priest boxes Mysterio’s ears, whip across, big charging back elbow, lining him up, Rey rolls away and Damian goes hard into the post! Asai moonsault follows, back inside, seated senton connects! Shoulder block, slingshot tijeras sets him up, off the ropes but Priest recovers and takes him out with a superkick!
Getting Rey up for the Razor’s Edge, he slips out, chop block, quebrada caught and Priest hits the reverse STO... NOPE! Damian goes to the timekeeper’s area for a chair but Mysterio blasts him back down with a dropkick! Rey goes for the chair but Priest beats him to it and grabs a goozle!
Mysterio gets him on the second and hits the 619, up top, Priest throws a chair at him and Patton has to call it...
Rey Mysterio wins by disqualification.
Post-match, Damian hits South of Heaven for good measure! He goes to pull Mysterio out to the floor—
BAD BUNNY IS HERE AND HE’S GOT A KENDO STICK! He advances on the ring and stares Priest down! In the ring, squaring up, Bunny hammers him with the kendo stick! Sending Damian packing over the announce table, Priest cuts him off ON the table but Bad slips out and takes his leg out of his leg with a hard shot from the kendo stick!
Chasing after him, Priest runs away as Bunny hammers him with the kendo stick! Bad gets on the table and on the mic and calls Damian out. He doesn’t know if he knows but he’s not hosting Backlash anymore. Now he’s going to Puerto Rico to kick Priest’s ass!
May 6, Backlash, in his home of Puerto Rico, it’s gonna be Damian Priest vs. Bad Bunny in a street fight!
Priest says he’ll kill him in Puerto Rico!
That’s the show, folks.
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