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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (April 9, 2018) from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, featuring the fallout show from the WrestleMania 34 pay-per-view (PPV) extravaganza that went down just last night at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in the same city.
Advertised for tonight: It’s the post-WrestleMania episode of Raw, the biggest of the year, and more!
Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the Raw live blog kicks off once the show starts on USA. It will be below this line here. (REMINDER: NO GIFS OR PICS ARE ALLOWED IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. OFFENDERS WILL BE BANNED.)
WWE RAW RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR APRIL 9
The King in Crimson, crimson comes. He knows the weakness that you can’t fight, the stone of night that weighs you down. If only you could see the visions, his hand is death if you take it now. As you scream into the web of silence, there is nothing that can save you now, but me, I’m going to liveblog this here pro wrestling show, folks.
The show opens with Stephanie McMahon making her entrance, arm in a sling from her mixed tag with Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania.
She gets on the microphone and says she expected more from the crowd, and she knows the night after WrestleMania the crowd has a certain international flavor and she smelled it on the way down, but she didn’t expect this. Any other crowd would have at least some sympathy. When you consider... A “You tapped out!” chant cuts her off and she continues, saying they might say that but they have to admit that last night they were surprised by the performance of one woman in particular.
Could she do it, could she make that transition, and by god Steph says she made the transition and deserves our accolades. She knew exactly what she was doing, that if she challenged Ronda Rousey in her world she could bring out the best in her, show the world what she’s really made of, and that’s what she did last night and she deserves that pat on the back.
She knows the crowd wants Ronda to come out right now and she couldn’t be more proud of her and what she accomplished, so she introduces her. Rousey obliges and comes out, slapping hands with the front row. Steph admits that the better woman won and she was spectacular and showed her heart and passion and how she’s a role model for young girls and people everywhere.
She got beat by the best in the world and she doesn’t feel bad, and together there’s nowhere they can’t go, to blaze new trails together. McMahon can put the entire WWE machine behind her, and with Steph in her corner they’ll all support her and their message... “Bullshit!” chants go up and Steph tries to say she paid the price for handling everything wrong and she asks the crowd to give it up for her friend Ronda.
She goes in for a hug and Rousey seemingly accepts... BEFORE TAKING HER DOWN AND INTO A KNEELING ARMBAR! SHE RIPS THE SLING OFF AND FALLS BACK INTO THE OMOPLATA TO DO MORE DAMAGE!
EMTs hit the ring to tend to McMahon as Ronda leaves, slapping hands with the front row again.
The EMTs walk her out and we get an announcement to have a little respect for Steph as she sobs and clutches her arm.
Commentary promises an update on Stephanie later as well as appearances from Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, but first, Nia Jax will be up. We get a hype video for the Superstar Shake-Up next week and head to break.
Back from commercial we get a still picture recap of WrestleMania.
Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax makes her entrance for a tag team match.
Alexa Bliss and Mickie James come out as her opponents and Bliss says Ronda is the biggest bully in WWE... next to Nia Jax. She says Jax loves to throw her weight around and she’s twice the size of Mickie and three times her size. “Asshole!” chants go up in response to that one and Bliss carries on, saying she was distraught at Nia beating James down and that’s why she lost.
She lost because she’s a compassionate woman and when she saw Jax decimate her friend she was competing under emotional distress. And Nia loved every second of it because deep down she’s cold as ice and everyone knows it, and that’s why she doesn’t have a partner tonight. Jax tells her to shut up and doubles down when Bliss tries to cut her off.
She says Alexa was right, she enjoyed every second of what she did last night and she’s the new Raw Women’s Champion. But she’s wrong about tonight, because she does have a partner, and her name is...
EMBER MOON!
The match will wait until after the break, however.
Alexa Bliss & Mickie James vs. Ember Moon & Nia Jax
Nia and Mickie to start, huge biel, Stinger splash, toss to the corner, sidestep another, kick to the back of the knee, stomps to the leg, Alexa tags in, more kicks, quick tag back, whip-assisted forearm but Jax shrugs it off, goozles, headbutt for Bliss and she drags James over to tag Ember in on her. In with a forearm, neckbreaker swung into a butterfly suplex!
Whip across, James holds herself up, kick to the face, tag to Bliss, Moon with a kick rush, handspring forearm in the corner, springboard crossbody, only two and she clears Mickie from the apron with a kick! Arm wringer, whip to the corner, legsweep when Alexa comes charging out, head up top...
Ember Moon & Nia Jax win by pinfall with Eclipse from Moon on Alexa Bliss.
Jax holds her title up at Alexa and she and Ember slap hands.
Kurt Angle is in his office on his phone putting Moon over and says Ember isn’t the only one before noticing that Braun rolled up.
He congratulates Strowman on his win and asks where Nicholas is. He was standing behind Braun, and the monster says it pains him to say it but they’re relinquishing the tag titles. They hand them over and Strowman explains that Nicholas has a scheduling conflict since he’s still in the fourth grade, but when he’s done, they’re coming back for the titles. Nicholas adds that someone is gonna get these hands and it closes our segment out.
We get a hype video for No Way Jose, so he’s coming to Raw, and that sends us to break.
Back from commercial, we get another still picture recap of WrestleMania.
No Way Jose makes his entrance, complete with conga line. He’s set to wrestle former PWX World Heavyweight Champion John Skyler!
John Skyler vs. No Way Jose
Wristlock, ripcord into a hip toss, Jose takes his elbow pad off, winds up...
No Way Jose wins by pinfall with a pop-up elbow strike to the face.
Kurt Angle is watching backstage on a monitor when the Bar roll up.
They bring up the vacant titles and ask if they can get them back right here or if he’d rather do a more formal presentation. Angle says he’s not giving them back since they lost to a ten-year-old, but they’ll get their rematch in three weeks at Greatest Royal Rumble against three other teams, and those teams will be determined in matches coming up as part of something he’s calling the Tag Team Eliminator.
On that note, we go to break.
Back from commercial and we have a match!
Balor Club (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) vs. the Revival (Tag Team Eliminator Match)
Gallows on Dawson, back body drop into an abdominal stretch, Wilder tries for the save, back body drop into a slam for Scott, pummeling him in the corner, clothesline Dash over the ropes to the floor but Dawson gets the chop block! Shoulder kneebar, taking the pants up, smashing his leg, stomping, tag to Wilder, deathlock fallback into a kneeling toehold but Big Hoot kicks him off into the corner.
Tag to Scott, catching the leg, mocking the Too Sweet, Luke gets a few boots in and Dawson tags Dash. Off the ropes, kick to the face, tags all around! Anderson throwing uppercuts, a lariat, clear the apron, sidestep the charge and the pump kick hits in the corner! Diving neckbreaker, a plancha takes Wilder out, Karl heads up top and hits a diving crossbody... DAWSON ROLLS THROUGH WITH A HANDFUL OF TIGHTS FOR TWO!
Spinning spinebuster, Wilder breaks it up, Gallows runs him off but Dash puts his bad knee into the barricade. Machine Gun O’Connor roll, atomic drop, blind tag, Scott sidesteps the pump kick...
The Revival win by pinfall with Shatter Machine on Karl Anderson, advancing to a deciding match next week.
We get a Make-a-Wish video package and commentary promises Seth Rollins, after the break.
Back from commercial, Seth Rollins makes his entrance.
He takes in the nigh-obligatory “You deserve it!” chants for a second before beginning, saying there’s been ups and downs but that was the longest “Burn it down!” he’s ever heard. After last night, he can finally say Seth freakin’ Rollins is back, baby! And he has to admit, “Grand Slam Rollins” has kind of a nice ring to it. He finally caught up to Roman and Dean and now every member of the Shield is a Grand Slam Champion and that’s pretty cool.
But what makes it special for him is that he got to win the last leg of his on the grandest stage of them all at WrestleMania. The fans made the whole week special--
Enter Finn Balor. He’s sorry to interrupt but there’s something he’s been thinking about all day and he has to get it off his chest. Rollins is all for it and Finn continues in the ring, congratulating Seth on his victory. He says Rollins was the better man last night, but it was a triple threat, so there was a winner, a loser, and this guy, left wanting more.
So he came out here to tell Seth he wanted to be the first person to step up and challenge him for his title! Rollins shakes his hand, it’s on!
Enter Miz, flanked by the Miztourage. He says he’s more than happy to interrupt the celebration and he wants to be the first to say that Seth doesn’t deserve it, he does. He made that title the most prestigious and relevant title in all of WWE, and last night he walked down the ramp by himself because he knew that if the Miztourage came with him he’d never hear the end of complaining when he won.
Seth asks if he’s saying he can’t win without the Miztourage, but Miz won’t admit, saying that he wanted no excuses, no asterisks when he became the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time, and two weeks ago he became a father-- Rollins and Balor congratulate him and a “He’s got kids!” chant goes up-- and last night his little angel watched his match.
And what did Maryse say about that? When Monroe saw Rollins steal the title, it made her cry. Seth made his little princess cry, and that made his wife cry, and when he heard that happened, he’s man enough to admit it, he cried too. Rollins steps up and says he’s proud of Miz to admit that he cried, because that’s what everyone does when they watch him try to wrestle.
If he wants the title back, he’s not getting it because Miz isn’t fit to lace his boots. Miz says Finn isn’t owed anything, but he’s owed his rematch, and Rollins says he hasn’t forgotten, and if he’d like to invoke his rematch clause, why not do it right here, right now? (Van Halen’s kicking ass in America?) Miz declines, pointing out that he’s wearing a custom-made suit, and he’d like to invoke his rematch clause at Backlash.
The A-Lister has a lesson for them, they need to negotiate from a position of strength, and he offers a handicap match between the two sides. They’re down and take their shirts off, ready to fight--
JEFF HARDY’S BACK! WE GOT A TRIOS MATCH! The Miztourage take their jackets off... and they bail and run off.
Commentary promises us Roman Reigns and Sasha Banks vs. Mandy Rose, and we go to break.
Back from commercial we get another still picture recap of WrestleMania and are informed that the six-man tag set up in the last segment has been made official.
Mandy Rose vs. Sasha Banks
Before the bell can ring, Bayley comes down to “support” Sasha.
Banks dumps Rose to the floor, baseball slide, back in, off the ropes, Lou Thesz Press into mounted punches! Into the corner, choking away, straight suplex gets one and the Boss grabs a kneeling armbar. Hard whip, Mandy gets an elbow up, mat slam, smashing her face into the turnbuckles, Sasha returns the favor repeatedly but Rose turns it around and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Mandy’s still in control with an abdominal stretch but the Boss hip tosses her out of it and starts throwing forearms. Off the ropes, leaping lariats, a dropkick, up and over to the apron, pop up top... METEORA! Only good for two and Rose rolls out of the ring but she’s got a forearm when Banks comes to meet her. She shoves Bayley, sidesteps... AND BAYLEY CLOBBERS SASHA WITH AN ELBOW!
Banks rolls Mandy back in the ring and confronts Bayley before heading back in. Rose is ready for her...
Mandy Rose wins by pinfall with a running knee strike.
Bayley heads to the back shocked and Banks follows.
Paige gets on the mic and says some of us may know and some don’t, but she has to come clean to us. It was hard to stay on the sidelines at WrestleMania and this ring is her heart, her soul, and her blood... but unfortunately due to neck injuries she can no longer perform as an in-ring competitor. This is one of the hardest things she’ll have to say in her entire career.
She thanks every female superstar in the back and says she’s proud to be a part of the division they’ve all built to be huge, to be something they didn’t imagine it could be. Obviously she wants to thank her family, but she wants to thank Daniel Bryan, who came back from a career-ending injury and had his first match back yesterday and that gives her hope.
And she wants to thank Edge, who’s here today and spoke to her backstage and showed her his life outside of WWE, his wife, kids, acting career, and as much as it hurts, she’s going to have to find something else. She thanks WWE for letting her entertain us for the last four years, and New Orleans four years ago is where she debuted and now New Orleans is where she wants to retire.
She thanks every single one of us, she loves us all, and this will always be her house. She sets a t-shirt down in the ring and takes her leave.
Commentary mentions the Undertaker and we go to break.
Back from commercial, commentary recaps the whole John Cena / Elias / Undertaker situation from WrestleMania.
Elias is in the ring to sing us a song. He does his usual intro and gets a big response on the “Walk With Elias” part before saying he’s become the biggest musical act on the planet. He runs down the crowd as being largely the same unappreciative scumbags from last night, but he’s gonna launch into his song anyway.
Of course, it’s about how he wants to punch all the fans in their face.
BOBBY LASHLEY IS HERE TO INTERRUPT HIM!
He gets in the ring and stares Elias down, catches a punch, swinging neckbreaker, kick to the midsection, delayed vertical suplex lift, one-armed, letting him think about it, spinning around... THE SUPLEX CONNECTS!
We go backstage with Kurt Angle, on the phone putting Lashley over when Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens roll up asking for a moment of his time.
Owens says they had a falling out with management and Kurt asks if they came here looking for a job and they say they did. Angle says that’s rough and asks if they got fired for attacking the commissioner and the general manager but Sami begs off and says that was different and they’ve learned they need to be team players.
Kurt says his tag division is full but TNA is hiring, OH SHIT! KO says they’re not a team and he doesn’t have to hire both of them, and Zayn takes offense. They both say they’re just asking for an opportunity and Angle says they have one spot and they can wrestle each other for it tonight, take it or leave it. They take it!
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get another still picture recap of WrestleMania.
Beauty and the Man-Beast are in the ring and Heath Slater issues an open challenge for the sake of his children... THE AUTHORS OF PAIN ANSWER WITH PAUL ELLERING IN TOW!
Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar) vs. Beauty and the Man-Beast (Heath Slater & Rhyno)
Slater and Akam to start, Heath throwing punches, duck a lariat, leg lariat but Akam takes him down for the ground and pound! Front chancery, tag to Rezar, stomp-assisted side slam, clear the apron, a second shot, tag back, off the ropes...
Authors of Pain win by pinfall with Last Chapter on Heath Slater.
Paul Ellering lets his boys walk up the ramp by themselves and we go to break.
Back from commercial we get some press clippings about Brock Lesnar re-signing to WWE and the announcement of the steel cage rematch between him and Roman Reigns at the Greatest Royal Rumble.
Roman Reigns makes his entrance, limping and slow.
He gets in the ring and takes a minute to compose himself before beginning, saying he got his ass kicked last night, but he’s here tonight and Brock Lesnar isn’t. To be honest, he still doesn’t know what happened yesterday, everything was off and Vince McMahon couldn’t look him in the eye and smarten him up. But Brock is a hell of a businessman, because on Wednesday word got out he was going back to UFC and today it comes out that he’s signed a new deal and they got a steel cage match that he had to read about on the internet.
He doesn’t know what the story is, but if they keep putting him in matches with Lesnar, the story ends with him being Universal Champion. He goes to leave--
ENTER SAMOA JOE! He wants to break out the tinfoil hats because Roman thinks there’s a conspiracy. He’ll bring you back to reality though, because last night, Brock didn’t just beat him, he exposed him. For over a year he’s been coming out here week after week saying he was the only one who could beat Lesnar and the reality is no matter how many whispers he heard, he failed.
That makes him a failure. And a liar, lying to himself, his friends, his family, because he can’t stand that every time he gets into the ring with Brock he gets jacked up. Put through tables, carted out on a stretcher, broken as Brock Lesnar gets richer! No matter how many times you tell the story, it’s the same thing-- when the Big Dog meets the Beast, he gets conquered and comes out here making excuses.
But Joe bears good tidings and good news, because the vicious cycle will end after Lesnar ragdolls him around the cage, Samoa will be waiting at Backlash to put him to sleep!
Commmentary hypes up our six-man tag from earlier as well as Owens vs. Zayn and another Tag Team Eliminator as we go to break.
Back from commercial in time to go backstage with Broken Matt Hardy.
He says they must commence upon the Expedition of Gold and we pan to Bray Wyatt, laughing.
Bray Wyatt & Matt Hardy vs. Titus Worldwide (Apollo & Titus O’Neil) (Tag Team Eliminator)
Hardy and O’Neil to start, trading catchphrases and hand signs, collar and elbow, Matt goes behind, thrown aside, blind tag, Wyatt from behind with a side headlock into a boot from Hardy as Corey Graves talks about having a PREMONITION. Tag to Apollo, Bray lying in wait, circling, collar and elbow, Crews throwing punches in the corner, whip reversed, up and over into a flip!
Stereo WONDERFULs from the Woken Warriors, Wyatt with a boot, off the ropes for a senton, mounted forearms to the back of the head and Matt demands a tag, taking over where he left off! Apollo with a few punches, Hardy cuts him off, whip to a dropkick, he deletes Crews in the turnbuckles, another tag made and Wyatt picks right back up where he left off before clobbering Apollo with a right!
Another tag, assisted Stinger splash into the Side Effect... TITUS BREAKS IT UP! Bray with a leaping forearm to run O’Neil off, tag made, kick to the gut, Crews blocks, dropkick connects, tag back to Wyatt. Enzuigiri from Apollo, he comes off the top right into the huge Rock Bottom! In the corner, hanging back, another tag, Sister Abigail clutch, Bray spins him out...
Bray Wyatt & Matt Hardy win by pinfall with a Twist of Fate from Hardy on Apollo.
Commentary does a press roundup on Ronda Rousey’s debut and we get a recap of the opening segment because Raw is three hours long. We’re told Owens/Zayn is up next and we go to break.
Back from commercial in time for entrances.
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
Zayn right in with the Helluva Kick, he comes up empty, block the pop-up powerbomb but Owens gets him caught in the ropes and beats on him. He sends Kev to the floor, KO back in, shoulder block, kick to the ribs, Sami passes him to the floor... TOPE CON GIRO! Springboarding back in, Owens cuts him off with a forearm to the face, heads out to the floor, apron powerbomb denied and Zayn catapults him into the post!
Back in, kick to the face, knucklelock, stepping up the ropes and KO cuts him off and crotches him on the ropes! Vader Bomb elbow drop gets two! More covers and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Owens in control, superkick, leapfrog the powerbomb and Zayn gets the Blue Thunder Driver... NOPE! To the floor, the suicide dive tornado DDT is countered with a superkick... CANNONBALL WITH SAMI ON THE APRON! Headed up top, Frog Splash... NOPE! Corner lariats, Zayn explodes out... HELLUVA KICK BUT KO FALLS TO THE APRON! Waistlock, drawing him up but Kev holds onto the ropes and breaks with a back elbow.
Pop-up powerbomb... BUT THE EFFORT SENDS OWENS TO THE FLOOR! KO headed up top, another Helluva Kick pips him on the jaw! Sami climbs up with him, maybe thinking brainbuster... AVALANCHE FISHERMAN BUSTER COUNTERS! Referee Rod Zapata counting...
The match ends in a double count-out when neither man gets to their feet to answer the standing ten count, so neither man earns a contract.
Our babyface team is walking backstage when Jeff Hardy runs into his brother Matt. He’s glad Jeff overcame his broken CONDITION and Jeff speaks to him in his own parlance before Matt introduces him to the new and improved Bray Wyatt, who calls him Brother Nero. Bray says he feels wonderful now that Sister Abigail has been DELETED and they move on.
Finn asks what that was about and Jeff shrugs.
Miz and the Miztourage make their entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, commentary hypes up the Superstar Shake-Up, the final of the Tag Team Eliminator and Bayley vs. Sasha Banks for next week.
Finn Balor, Jeff Hardy, & Seth Rollins vs. Miz & the Miztourage (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel)
Miz and Rollins to start, but the A-Lister backs off and tags Axel in. Side headlock, shot off, shoulder block, Curtis with a side headlock, shot off, drop down, leapfrog, arm drag into an armbar but Axel gets away and tags Dallas in. Seth fights them off one-on-two, drops a leg on Bo and tags Finn in. Hardy comes in, Poetry in Motion on both sides! The babyfaces stand tall and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Dallas has Rollins locked down with a reverse chinlock but Seth fights to his feet and floats over. Back elbow, tag to Balor, kick to the head, charging forearm, clear the apron, duck a lariat, double leg into the double stomp, hard chop in the corner, inverted headlock elbow drop... nope! Miz tags in, putting boots to Finn, off the ropes, boot to the face, only two and he grabs a reverse chinlock to grind him down.
Inverted facelock backbreaker / neckbreaker combo, only a nearfall and the A-Lister takes Balor into his corner and tags Axel in. Running neck snap, reverse chinlock, trying to deny the tag, off the ropes, a dropkick and Curtis is very pleased with himself. Tag to Bo, body slam, off the ropes with a fist drop and repeated knees to the face... NOPE!
Reverse chinlock applied, shot off, back suplex connects but Bo tags Miz in. Sunset flip, trying to block the tag, Finn rolls through and hits a dropkick... tag to Hardy! He comes in hot, lariat, Manhattan Drop, double leg drop to the midsection, big splash but the Miztourage are able to cut him off and get a tag... WHISPER IN THE WIND!
Tag to Rollins, in hot, boot to the face, diving blockbuster, lariat to the floor, fired up... SUICIDE DIVE WIPES ‘EM OUT! Back in, Miz perches up top, Seth meets him, superplex rolled into the Falcon Arrow and Bo breaks it up! Finn in with a Sling Blade, lariat Curtis to the floor, off the ropes... TOPE CON GIRO! Rollins rolls Miz through...
Finn Balor, Jeff Hardy, & the Miz win by pinfall with Blackout from Rollins on the Miz.
Just for good measure, the babyfaces hit a Coup de Grace and a Swanton Bomb on Axel after. BLACKOUT!
The babyfaces stand tall as commentary explains the concept of the Superstar Shake-Up.
That’s the show, folks.