WWE RAW TV REPORT
NOVEMBER 4, 2024
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA AT MOHAMMED ABDO ARENA
AIRED ON USA
REPORT BY MAURICIO POMARES, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett
Ring Announcer: Lilian Garcia
[HOUR ONE]
– The show opened with a video package filled with highlights from Crown Jewel.
– Liv Morgan made her way to the ring to gloat about her win at Crown Jewel. Liv claimed that her revenge tour was over and it was the start of her world tour. She put over how she beat Tiffany Stratton, took Rhea Ripley out of commission and won the Crown Jewel title by beating Nia Jax. Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair interrupted to dare Liv and Raquel to face them after their confrontation from a few weeks ago.
– Liv claimed that Belair and Jade both thought they were the best and the tag titles were the only thing keeping them together. Adam Pearce showed up to stop everyone from fighting, only for Belair to slap Liv. Pearce announced that Liv would have to defend her title against the winner of a battle royal starting now. Damage CTRL made their way to the ring to take part in the battle royal.
(Pomares’s Analysis: That was an okay opening promo that was there mostly to move on from the Rhea Ripley feud while she recovers from injury. After weeks of the women’s tag division getting the most consistent booking they’ve had in maybe years, it really feels lackluster to see them get stuck in the Judgment Day vortex. Hopefully, this is just a small stop and not any long-term plan.)
[Commercial Break]
(1) 15-WOMAN BATTLE ROYAL – Women’s World Championship Contender’s Match
Katana CHance and Kayden Carter crushed numerous opponents with stereo high crossbodies. Carter launched Chance into cannonballs on Natalya and Ivy Nile. Isla Dawn nailed Chance with a running Meteora, only for Chance to pull her to the apron. Carter eliminated Dawn with a dropkick, only for Shayna Baszler to choke her out with the Kirifuda Clutch.
Chance jumped at Baszler’s back while Sonya Deville eliminated Carter. Maxxine Dupri caught Baszler with a roundhouse kick and hit Deville with an elbow drop. Dupri hit Alba Fyre with a pair of strikes, only for Nile to eliminate her with a dropkick. Nile caught a high crossbody from Zelina Vega, but Vega pulled her to the apron and eliminated her with a 619, as WWE Raw went to commercials.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane attacked Damage CTRL with chops to the chest. During the commercial, Sane eliminated Vega with a backfist, Natalya eliminated Fyre and Chance did a handstand to avoid elimination, only for Sky to eliminate her. Bianca Belair clobbered Sane with a forearm strike to eliminate her. Baszler caught Natalya with a pump knee before Jade Cargill and Belair eliminated her and Deville. Sky and Lyra Valkyria faced Jade and Belair before they started exchanging strikes. Belair and Jade dropped Lyra with a double powerbomb and swung Sky’s body into the turnbuckle.
Belair and Jade threw Sky and Lyra to the apron before having a face-off. Sky and Lyra tried to attack Belair and Jade, only for them to shut them down with Jaded and the KOD. Raquel Rodriguez pulled Belair’s braid from out of the ring, but Jade pulled Belair from the other side. Liv Morgan pulled Jade’s body to eliminate her and Belair. Belair and Jade chased Liv and Raquel away from the ring. Sky nailed Lyra with a double knee strike, only for Lyra to sweep her off her feet. Sky pulled Lyra to the apron, but Lyra swept her feet again. Lyra hit Sky with a pump kick before Sky eliminated her with an uppercut and a German suplex.
WINNER: Iyo Sky at 12:42
(Pomares’s Analysis: Just an average battle royal, but I’m intrigued by the winner. Iyo Sky has been easily the stand out for in-ring competition in the women’s division despite being mostly a tag wrestler since moving to Raw. I don’t know how long Rhea Ripley will be out of action, but I’d say Sky is a great choice to win the belt, especially after losing her tag title shot at Crown Jewel.)
– Backstage, Cathy Kellwey interviewed New Day about their match against the War Raiders. Xavier Woods claimed that he got the match booked after pointing out Chad Gable’s interference to them. Kofi and Woods started arguing about who was to blame for the loss, until the video was interrupted by a tape from the Wyatt Sicks.
– The tape briefly showed footage of The Miz leading Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel in 2017. The Miz was shown tied up to a chair with tape on his mouth. Miz said that he was sorry and that he had nothing to do with the Final Testament. Dallas laughed at him and said that they didn’t care about Final Testament and only wanted him. Dallas said that they wanted to make Miz suffer before Dexter Lumis showed up to choke him out and the tape cut out.
– Footage of Goldberg announcing his retirement to take place in 2025 was shown.
[Commercial Break]
(2) WAR RAIDERS (Erik & Ivar) vs. NEW DAY (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods)
New Day took Ivar down with a Russian leg sweep, a splash and an elbow drop. Kofi knocked Erik down with a dropkick while Ivar smashed Woods’ head into the LED boards on the apron. Erik dropped Kofi with a knee strike and Ivar crushed Woods with a crossbody into the apron, as WWE Raw went to an ad break.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Ivar blasted Woods with a leg lariat, followed by a bodyslam. Erik dropped Ivar with a bodyslam on top of Woods for a two count. Woods landed on his feet off a back suplex and cracked him with an enzuigiri. Woods knocked Erik off the apron and blasted Ivar with a thrust kick, reaching Kofi for the hot tag. Kofi took Erik out with a diving clothesline and crushed Erik with a high crossbody.
Kofi countered a lariat with SOS, but Ivar broke the pinfall. Before Ivar could react, Kofi sent him out of the ring and crashed into him with a Tope con Hilo. Kofi knocked Erik down with a leaping clothesline, followed by a Boom Drop. Woods tagged himself in while Erik took Kofi out with a forearm strike. Erik planted Woods with an uranage, setting him up for the War Machine and the three count.
WINNERS: War Raiders at 9:09
(Pomares’s Analysis: Fun match while it lasted and it was another strong chapter in the New Day storyline. As for the War Raiders, I really hope that all the momentum they are getting actually results in a title win.)
[Commercial Break]
[HOUR TWO]
– It was announced that episodes of Raw and SmackDown on the road to WrestleMania would be aired from Spain, Belgium, Italy, Scotland and England.
– Sami Zayn made his way to the ring to address what happened between him and Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel. Jey Uso interrupted to ask Sami if what happened was an accident. Jimmy Uso interrupted to claim that Sami attacked Roman on purpose and he couldn’t be trusted. Sami called Jimmy out for turning on everyone and being the untrustworthy one.
– Sami told Jimmy that he was not the bad guy, but he makes bad decisions. He said that he came to Crown Jewel for Jey and talked about how he felt when they were in the ring together. Sami said that he didn’t want to be put on trial again and walked away from the ring. Jey stopped Sami and asked him to come to SmackDown to talk things out, calling him a part of his family.
(Pomares’s Analysis: Once again, Sami Zayn and Jey Uso are the highlights of the Bloodline storyline. Despite how rushed some of the OG Bloodline reunion angle has been; Sami and the Usos have made their side of the story really work as a worthy follow-up to their story in 2022 and 2023.)
– Backstage, Jackie Redmond interviewed Seth Rollins about his win at Crown Jewel and his match tonight. Rollins put over how tough Bronson Reed and put over how tough two of his opponents tonight would be.
– Dragone Lee made his way to the ring, ahead of his match against Chad Gable.
[Commercial Break]
(3) DRAGON LEE (w/Zelina Vega) vs. CHAD GABLE (w/Ivy Nile)
Gable quickly took Lee down with a German suplex before pulling his mask and putting him in a facelock. Lee avoided a clothesline and mocked him by pulling the straps of his singlet. Lee knocked Gable down with a hurracarrana and a high crossbody for a two count. Gable withstood a pump knee and floored Lee with a back body drop off the apron, as WWE Raw went to a commercial break.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Gable hit Lee with a belly-to-belly suplex into the corner, followed by a back body drop for a two count. Lee tripped Gable into the turnbuckle and pummeled him with forearm strikes. Lee caught Gable with a thrust kick, setting him up for a slingshot dropkick and a Hesitation dropkick for a two count. Gable avoided a powerbomb and started a forearm strike exchange with Lee. Lee laid Gable out with a German suplex, only for Gable to respond with one of his own.
Gable dropped Lee with two German suplexes, but Lee shut him down with a pump kick. Lee managed to plant Gable with a sitout powerbomb for a close two count. Gable launched Lee across the ring with an avalanche belly-to-belly suplex. Gable floored Lee with a Cliffhanger DDT and put his feet on the ropes, but Vega pushed them away. Nile put Vega in a dragon sleeper, until Rey Mysterio showed up to make the save. Gable tried to pull Rey’s mask, only for Rey to kick him, allowing Lee to take the win with Operation Dragon.
WINNER: Dragon Lee at 11:38
(Pomares’s Analysis: A really good match that really allowed Dragon Lee to showcase himself and even pick up a rare win. Gable was great as usual, but I’m shocked that he lost yet another match. They are clearly building to Gable vs. Rey and hopefully Gable wins that match because the man has struggled to win most of his matches throughout most of the year.)
– Backstage, Jackie Redmond interviewed Gunther about his loss at Crown Jewel. Ludwig Kaiser called Cody Rhodes lucky and undeserving, only for Gunther to tell him that Cody was the better man at Crown Jewel. Gunther put over how Seth Rollins, Damian Priest and Sheamus were tough opponents. Gunther said that both he and Kaiser had to do better.
– Damian Priest made his way to the ring, ahead of the main event.
[Commercial Break]
(4) DAMIAN PRIEST vs. DOMINIK MYSTERIO vs. SHEAMUS vs. SETH ROLLINS – World Heavyweight Championship Contender’s Match
Priest chased Dominik around the ring while Sheamus took Rollins down with a headlock takeover. Rollins and Priest chased Dominik to the apron, only for Sheamus to pummel him with the 10 Beats of Bodhran. Rollins surprised Priest with a roll-up and nailed Sheamus with a kick to the abdomen. Priest and Sheamus exchanged strikes at ringside, until Rollins took them out with a suicide dive. Rollins crashed into Sheamus, Priest and Dominik with more suicide dives, as WWE Raw went to commercials.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Dominik hit Priest with a slingshot senton and knocked Rollins and Sheamus away with sliding dropkicks. Dominik spiked Priest with a Tornado DDT for a two count. Dominik nailed Priest with a thrust kick and a neckbreaker, but he kicked out at two. Priest laid Dominik out with a pair of clotheslines and a flapjack, following them with a corner elbow strike and a flatliner. Sheamus dropped Priest, Rollins and Dominik with a series of Irish Curses. Sheamus crushed Dominik with a idiving knee strike, only for Rollins to break the pinfall with a springboard cannonball. Priest and Rollins traded enzuigiris, until Priest clocked Rollins with a lariat, as WWE Raw went to its final commercial break.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Priest cracked Rollins with a roundhouse kick and Sheamus clotheslined him out of the ring. Priest crushed Sheamus with a Bell Clap, only for Sheamus to retaliate with a pump knee and the White Noise. Dominik hit Sheamus with a dropkick to the back, but Sheamus quickly shut him down with a powerslam. Rollins caught Sheamus with a thrust kick and kicked out a roll-up from Dominik. Rollins planted Dominik with a Pedigree before Bronson Reed showed up to take Sheamus and Priest out.
Reed withstood a sliding dropkick and clobbered Rollins with a lariat. Priest and Sheamus cracked Reed with a forearm shot and a pump knee. Reed took care of Sheamus and Priest with a pair of Death Valley Drivers. Reed crushed Priest and Sheamus with Tsunamis before laying Rollins on the announce table and crushing it with a Tsunami. Dominiik immediately nailed Sheamus with a Frog Splash, but Priest broke the pinfall. Dominik hit Priest with the 619, only for Priest to counter a Frog Splash with the South of Heaven for the victory.
WINNER: Damian Priest at 17:44
– After the match, Damian Priest and Gunther had a face-off.
(Pomares’s Analysis: A strong main event to close out the show and officially set up the Priest vs. Gunther rematch. They did a really good job of making Dominik seem like a realistic option for winning and Bronson Reed’s appearance was executed perfectly, almost making up for him losing at Crown Jewel.)