4 Winners & 3 Loser From Last Night’s Monday Night Raw (November 18th, 2024)

Monday Night Raw saw WWE take another leap towards Survivor Series with a second show taped at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The five-on-five match for the Women’s WarGames match was confirmed as Rhea Ripley made a shocking return to action after an injury was expected to keep her off TV for the rest of the year. The Wyatt Sicks and The Final Testament both had video messages for one another, and The Judgment Day’s woes continued with another loss to the War Raiders.

Ludwig Kaiser caused a double DQ by attacking Sheamus and Bron Breakker in their Intercontinental Championship match, as Damian Priest again got the upper hand on Gunther. LWO defeated American Made in a mixed-gender tag match, and Bronson Reed pinned Seth Rollins after a distraction from Solo Sikoa to keep his hot streak burning bright.

Big Bronson Reed

It Is The Monster’s Era On Raw

Bronson Reed first took Seth Rollins out of the game in August with an unexpected attack and an avalanche of Tsunamis. Since that moment, Reed has been one of WWE’s highlights in the second half of 2024. Be it smashing Braun Strowman through walls in their Last Monster Standing match, or going full Bebop And Rocksteady with Jacob Fatu, everything Bronson Reed is touching is turning to gold.

This win over Seth Rollins is the latest sign that the company believes in the Australian monster in the biggest of ways. Bronson Reed has earned a spot in WWE’s marquee storyline. Nobody has taken their shot this year across WWE, and arguably professional wrestling, like Bronson Reed has. As we head into one of the biggest years in WWE history, Bronson Reed is starting to feel like a modern-day Vader and is positioned to make a real name for himself as one of the most believable brutes in the game.

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Rhea Ripley

A Shocking, Swift Return For The Eradicator

With The Bloodline showing no regard for the brand split, the men’s WarGames match at Survivor Series is 90% locked. Opening the show, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez invited Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton, and Candice LeRae to make a five-piece neatly. Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Naomi then arrived on Raw and called upon Iyo Sky. Fans of mathematics will know five on four is not great odds, but then Rhea Ripley had one of the most surprising returns of the year at the start of Monday Night Raw.

The orbital bone injury that she suffered just weeks ago came with an ominous “indefinite” time schedule, and fans were not expecting her to return until the new year. Now that she’s back, the big question is will Rhea Ripley end this year with the WWE Women’s Championship? Liv Morgan will not go quietly into the night, but it feels like the final chapter in their 2024 is yet to be written.

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The Miz and Karrion Kross Point To The Future Of Promos

Last week’s Monday Night Raw was arguably the highest main roster moment in Karrion Kross’s career and The Miz’s best moment in quite some time too, as the pair turned the tables of deception on The Wyatt Sicks. This very column remarked that momentum would be key to making this more than a glitch in the matrix. This week saw the dastardly duo embarking on a cinematic promo that feels like a new way to present a feud.

Flitting between black and white and color and granted a high-end production, this promo had the pomp of an Attitude Era montage and highlighted what an odd coupling this is. The Miz’s adaptability continues to be overlooked by the masses. This was an innovative spot that worked to build intrigue for The Final Testament, and audiences can expect to see more of this kind of thing when Raw comes to Netflix in January.

Ludwig Kaiser

Making An Impact At Gunther’s Insistence

When stepping up to defend the honor of the World Heavyweight Champion last week, Ludwig Kaiser was shut down by Gunther to avoid further ticking off Damien Priest. This week, Gunther was emphatic in telling Ludwig Kaiser to forge his own path. Taking The Ring General’s advice, Kaiser picked a fight with two of the most violent men on Raw.

It takes grapefruits to break up the intensity of an Intercontinental Championship match, but as Sheamus and Bron Breakker were in the middle of their hard-hitting bout, Kaiser took out the champion during his trademark spear outside of the ring. Not content to finish there, Sheamus also suffered at the hands of Kaiser’s wrath. If it’s hard to see where he fits in Raw’s hierarchy, Ludwig Kaiser is doing plenty to grab people’s attention.

War Raiders

For Yet Another Week, Raw Is War

The Tag Team division has been the topic of much conversation this year. One of the few complaints from fans in one of the most creatively rich and satisfying years in company history has centered around the Tag Team titles being little more than trinkets for dominant factions to hold instead of defend. SmackDown has been enjoying a huge upheaval of their Tag Team scene, and The War Raiders are trying to change the game on Monday Night Raw.

Since Erik returned from injury and he and Ivar became active for the first time in over a year, The War Raiders have won five straight matches on Raw to make themselves the new contenders for the Tag Team Championship. There may not be the depth of SmackDown’s tag team roster, but Erik and Ivar are doing their bit to continue WWE’s current tag team revolution.

American Made

What Is Going On With This Stable?

Did Chad Gable spit in the creative team’s coffee? Did he smash every mirror and walk under every ladder? After a stellar feud with Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental Champion and a surprisingly emotional program splitting with Otis and Alpha Academy, Chad Gable is on an awful run of form that shows absolutely no sign of slowing down, after his and Ivy Nile’s latest loss to Rey Mysterio and Zelina Vega of the LWO.

In theory, the pure wrestling team of Gable, The Creed Brothers, and Ivy Nile should have momentum with the side of WWE’s audience who yearn for mat-based technical excellence. After being on everyone’s lips for the first half of 2024, the audience’s and the online reaction for Chad Gable and his group has flatlined. American Made’s goofy antics after the match made them look stupid at worst, and lacking any teamwork at best. An optimist would hope that the reaction for Otis and Gable is something that is being kept for WrestleMania season, but the chances of that happening seem slim at best.

Gunther

The Champ Shows Vulnerability For The First Time

Formidable in all situations, Gunther has proven to be a man who rises to all occasions and will live in the upper echelons of all cards he is on for the foreseeable future (and on merit). However, locked in his second feud this year with Damian Priest, Gunther is currently being shown as weak as we build to a Survivor Series match that feels difficult to believe that he will lose. It is a bizarre thing to comprehend, given the evidence at hand.

​​​​​​​This is a man who has spent 773 of the last 891 days as either the Intercontinental or World Heavyweight Champion. In the 118 days in between losing the IC belt at Wrestlemania and winning the World title at SummerSlam, he won this year’s King Of The Ring. Gunther is not a man who is accustomed to looking feeble, but Damian Priest beating him down backstage after belittling him last week is an interesting angle for one of wrestling’s most dominant forces. Just don’t get used to it.

• Rhea Ripley is giving William Regal a run for his money when it comes to shouting “WAR GAMES!”
• Travis Scott has been confirmed for the January 6th, 2025 Raw debut of Monday Night Raw.
• Who had The Miz calling out Timothee Chalamet on their Monday Night Raw bingo card?
• Chad Gable has two wins since May 25th this year. Unless he wins on next week’s Raw, that’ll be two wins in exactly six months.
• Sheamus first challenged for the Intercontinental on the 27th September 2011 episode of SmackDown against champion Cody Rhodes.
• Bianca Belair vs Nia Jax for WarGames advantage and Alpha Academy vs The New Day has been announced for next week’s Raw.
• Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, Naomi, Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley vs Liv Morgan, Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton, Raquel Rodriguez and Candice LeRae is now official for Survivor Series WarGames.