FILLING OUT THE MITB CARD

JEY AND CHAD… AND THE WYATT SICK6

 

The July 1, 2024 episode of Monday Night Raw was focused on one thing: Filling out the Money in the Bank card and building some heat for the matches. 

 

The show opened up with Jey Uso coming to the ring, asserting that he is going to win this saturday’s ladder match and become the new Mr. Money in the Bank. It doesn’t take long before Chad Gable comes out to interrupt him. Gable says it’s nothing short of a miracle that he’s here. He had to survive an attack from the Wyatt Sick6 and then beat two behemoths in a triple threat match to even qualify. Like most of us, Gable is confused on why the Wyatts are targeting him. Chad thinks they should be attacking Jey, since they seem to be a family and Jey betrayed his family. 

 

Jey and Chad begin to brawl. As Gable is heading back up the ramp, the lights go out, the smoke fills the ring, the fireflies come out, and Gable gets that sinking feeling in his stomach once again. He tries to exit through the crowd, but silhouettes of the Wyatt Sick6 appear at every turn. Gable is finally able to leave, and the Sister Abigail character delivers another VHS to Michael Cole. Hopefully WWE production learned their lesson from last week and have a VCR ready to go this time. These segments have been very well produced thus far, but it’s still perplexing why Gable, who is entrenched in his own storyline, is becoming the group’s first target.

 

XAVIER WOODS VS. KARRION KROSS

 

After last week’s backstage beatdown, Xavier Woods finally gets his chance to face Karrion Kross. Kross and the Final Testament have been trying to get Woods to leave the New Day for quite some time, telling Woods that he’ll never reach his potential while in the group. The first big moment of the match comes when Kross delivers a standing powerbomb on Woods to the ring post on the outside. The impact is heavy, and the landing is even rougher. Woods gets folded up on his neck and you can almost feel Corey Graves’ PTSD coming from the announce table. 

 

Kross dominates for most of the match, but out of nowhere, Woods is able to hook an inside cradle on Kross and get the sneaky win. After the match, the Final Testament lay waste to Woods and Kingston, including Karrion putting Kofi in an armlock submission for an awkwardly long time.

 

While this does the Final Testament no favors, taking another innocuous loss, the one thing it does do for the storyline is give Xavier Woods a singles victory over a person who just got a singles victory over Kofi Kingston. If Kross’s argument to Woods is “the group is holding you back from achieving your goals,” then this plays perfectly into that argument. We’ll see where it goes, but for the time being, I’m still looking for a reason to take the Final Testament seriously. 

 

MORE UNREST FOR THE JUDGMENT DAY

 

We cut backstage to outside the Judgment Day’s clubhouse. Damian Priest is admonishing Dirty Dom over the Liv Morgan situation, saying he just spoke to Rhea and she’s pissed. When they open the door, Liv is inside with Finn Balor, Carlito, and JD Mcdonagh. After saying goodbye to “Daddy Dom” Liv exits the clubhouse and heads to the ring for her title match. 

 

Priest tells Finn he wants Liv out of the clubhouse for good. Finn says that the problem isn’t Liv, the real problem with Judgment Day is Priest, saying the Judgment Day needs him more than he needs him, and putting his spot in the group on the line in his match against Seth Rollins. Priest is confident and brushes that comment off, but Finn has a legit argument and this is going to come to a head once Rhea comes back. 

 

ZELINA VEGA VS LIV MORGAN FOR THE WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

 

With only one real week of build, it was difficult for either woman to get much heat in the beginning of the match. The crowd was pretty silent until Zelina hit an awesome 619 to take out Liv’s legs on the second rope, causing Liv to drive her head down into the top turnbuckle. That got the crowd to finally pop, and justifiably so, it was an awesome move. 

 

Once Liv starts to take control again, Dirty Dom comes out to the ring, followed quickly by his father and Vega’s LWO stablemate, Rey Mysterio. Mysterio is clearly there to keep Dom in check. 

 

Zelina continues to impress in the ring, hitting a series of incredible moves, including a picture perfect moonsault and a sunset flip powerbomb from the second rope. Vega gets a series of near falls, but Liv shows her resiliency by kicking out of every one. 

 

As things are looking bleak for Liv, Dom slides a chair in the ring, allegedly for Zelina to use against Liv, but we’ve seen this act before. This was the same stunt he pulled in Liv’s match against Becky Lynch, a move that ultimately distracted Becky and allowed Liv to become champ. Like Becky, Zelina isn’t falling for it, and uses the chair to hit Dominic instead. However, also like Becky, this causes enough of a distraction for Morgan to hit ObLIViate and get the win. Dom acts upset, but Liv is thrilled and dedicates her victory to her Daddy Dominic. 

 

ROLLINS AND PRIEST…AND FINN

 

Next, Seth Rollins comes out, doing his schtick and dressed in what can be best described as “asylum couture.” Seth says he needs to regain his title back. Being in Boston, the home to the 2024 NBA Champion Celtics, he says these people understand that he can not settle for anything less than a championship. He talks about how taking Damian Priest out of the Judgment Day is for Priest’s own good, when Finn Balor comes out to interrupt. Finn blames Rollins for things changing within the Judgment Day, but Seth fires back and says Finn isn’t mad at Seth, he’s mad at Priest for having the one thing Finn could never hold on to: a world heavyweight championship. 

 

This causes Damian Priest to come out and assert that this was an issue between him and Seth, not the Judgment Day. Finn attacks Rollins until Priest eventually breaks them up. Bedlam ensues with Priest ultimately being the last man standing. Once again, Priest comes out on top. But, once again, he requires help to do so (whether he wants it or not).

 

We then cut to a vignette for Ludwig Kaiser. He’s out with broken ribs thanks to Sheamus. He vows to come back and not only beat Sheamus, but embarrass and humiliate him and end the Celtic Warrior once and for all. 

 

DAKOTA KAI VS ZOEY STARK VS IVY NILE

 

This fast paced match saw Zoey Stark deliver a lot of stiff shots, including a baseball slide on Dakota Kai that threw her about 5 feet up the entrance ramp, and then a missile dropkick that looked like it was going to break her sternum. Meanwhile, Ivy Nile was hitting everybody with everything. Bulldogs, suplexes, and jumping kicks that would make Liu Kang jealous. Her athleticism and power were on full display here.

 

While the future might be bright for Ivy Nile, the present is a bit darker. As she was dominating Dakota Kai, Kairi Sane came out for the distraction. It worked, but Sane’s efforts are soon thwarted by Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn, who come to give a little payback for the sneak attack done by Damage CTRL last week. Among all the chaos, Zoey Stark is able to get the pinfall on Dakota Kai. The field is now set for Saturday. The Women’s Money in the Bank participants are: Zoey Stark, Naomi, Chelsea Green, Iyo Skye, Tiffany Stratton, and Lyra Valkyria.

 

THE VOICE OF THE RECKONING

 

The second VHS tape is played and we once again see Bo Dallas talking with Uncle Howdy. Howdy asks if Bo thinks he’s special. Bo insists “we were the ones everyone wanted to forget about, the ones that everyone abandoned. We made them notice us, and we’ve become a family.” During his speech, it’s impossible to ignore that his voice, vocabulary, and even cadence is all extremely reminiscent of Bray Wyatt. It could be a coincidence, but probably not. Bo says “I am the voice of the reckoning” while Uncle Howdy one ups him and says “I AM the reckoning” The two men’s faces get overlapped and spliced together, implying that the darkness inside of Uncle Howdy has taken over and is driving Bo.

 

Meanwhile, Chad Gable visits Otis in the cafeteria, which is really where all Otis segments should be taking place. The setting alone is worth a chuckle. Gable pleads for Otis to come back. Chad points to the randomness of the Wyatt Sick6 attacking him, and Otis could just as easily be next. He promises Otis that he’ll have his back if the Sick6 choose to target him, slyly laying a guilt trip on Otis for not having Gable’s back right now. Even though all this craziness is going on, Gable is still a master manipulator. 

 

REY MYSTERIO VS DOMINIC MYSTERIO

 

This match featured great in-ring action between these two. That’s no surprise for Rey Mysterio, but it’s pretty remarkable how much Dom has grown from his early tag team days with his dad. He gets his character and plays it so well. Props to Dom for making believers out of us all. 

 

Rey is in control when Liv Morgan comes out. Unlike Dominic’s previous interference, there’s nothing ambiguous about Liv's intentions. She's here to repay the favor to Daddy Dom. She pulls Dom outside of the ring to slow Rey’s momentum, but Rey hits a baseball slide on Dom, which causes him to fall over and “mount” Liv. Dom waits longer than an appropriate amount of time before he tries to dismount, but Liv likes what’s going on and tries to hold him on top of her. 

 

Eventually Rey gets Dom back in the ring, and Zelina Vega comes out and starts beating down Morgan. Liv truly brings chaos with her everywhere she goes. Through a chain of events, Liv Morgan accidentally causes Dom to rack himself on the top ropes, allowing Rey to hit a 619 similar to the one Zelina delivered to Liv in their match, and Rey gets the pin. Rey Mysterio absolutely refuses to ever put his son over, and honestly it’s kind of funny at this point. Also, there’s great irony going on here, with Dom “accidentally” helping Liv win, but Liv truly accidentally causing Dom to lose. WWE is really firing on all cylinders with this storyline. 

 

BUILDING MOMENTUM FOR SATURDAY

 

Following a commercial break, Sami Zayn comes out, confident in his ability to beat Bron Breakker and retain his IC title. Bron comes out and says he actually respects Sami for facing him head on and not running away like everybody else does. Sami says Bron is making the same mistake that everybody makes with Sami Zayn, Bron is underestimating him. Bron hits Sami with a spear and attempts a second spear on the outside, but Sami turns it around. He’s able to mount quite a bit of offense before Bron catches him with a second spear that keeps Sami down. They are really driving home the “sudden impact” that Bron Breakker has, and that he can destroy you in the blink of an eye.  

 

Next, Damage CTRL is in the back, and their confidence is clearly shaken. Dakota Kai and Kairi Sane are wincing in pain and Iyo is rolling her eyes at their incompetence. Lyra Valkyria comes over to add a little salt in Dakota’s wound, and out of nowhere, a bunch of women come out to attack Damage CTRL. I wish I could tell you who they were, but it was so fast and chaotic that they couldn’t easily be discerned. This segment felt rushed and just used as a way to let us know a lot of people dislike Damage CTRL right now.

 

ILJA DRAGUNOV VS SHEAMUS VS DREW MCINTYRE

 

The final qualifying match for the Men’s Money in the Bank match was hard hitting, as expected. Despite his size, Ilja more than held his own against these two established veterans. Late into the match, Sheamus hits a pair of Brogue kicks on Ilja that look like they’re going to give him the win, but Drew pulls Dragunov out of the ring and dumps him into the crowd, effectively making this a one on one match. 

 

After taking multiple rounds of Sheamus’ “ten beats of the bodhran”, Drew is able to avoid a Brogue kick and hits Sheamus with a Claymore Kick for the victory. Drew seemed like the only logical choice to win this match, given his current storyline. It’ll be curious to see if this leads to a short Sheamus vs Ilja program, given that Sheamus’s current feud with Ludwig Kaiser is paused. 

 

The Men’s Money in the Bank match is now complete. Drew McIntyre will join Carmello Hayes, LA Knight, Andrade, Jey Uso, and Chad Gable.