WWE Raw results, recap, grades: Survivor Series: WarGames pieces begin to snap into place
Both the men's and women's locker rooms saw an intense build toward Survivor Series at the end of the month
With Survivor Series: WarGames looming, WWE appeared to set the stage for both the men and women's WarGames matches during Raw on Monday night. Sami Zayn, Jimmy and Jey Uso were hunting for a fifth to join their team and may have landed an unexpected ally.
For the women, a tag team championship main event brought chaos and some crossover issues between top Raw and SmackDown talent to begin building toward the Nov. 30 event in Vancouver. On the title front, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill were able to retain their tag titles with a win over Judgment Day's Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez.
CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
WarGames pieces begin to snap into place
Throughout the show, Jimmy and Jey Uso, along with Sami Zayn, looked for a fifth man to join their WarGames team to take on The Bloodline. Zayn's initial plan was to make a pitch to Seth Rollins. Rollins shot down Zayn's offer, saying he would never team with Roman Reigns after trying to remove "the tyrant" from power during Reigns' run as champion. Later, Solo Sikoa made his own pitch to Rollins and was also shot down, with Rollins calling Sikoa a "wannabe Roman Reigns." Later in the show, Jimmy Uso was shown asking Bron Breakker to speak with him for a second, with Breakker accepting the offer.
Women's Tag Team Championship -- Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair def. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez via pinfall after Belair hit Morgan with a K.O.D. This seemed to be planting the seeds for a women's WarGames match as Tiffany Stratton and Nia Jax ran in to interfere on Morgan and Rodriguez's behalf. That interference first brought out Naomi and then Iyo Sky. The ensuing chaos allowed Cargill and Belair to win before running off the four other women and posing in the ring together.
The men's side needs to determine the fifth man on both sides and Breakker makes a strange degree of sense to join the "original" Bloodline members. His staredown with Jacob Fatu during his intercontinental title match with Zayn drew a huge reaction from the crowd. Breakker is something of a mercenary and getting a chance to get in WarGames would serve him well. For the women, the tag title match breaking down into chaos was actually a benefit. There aren't many reasons to have cross-brand attacks like this unless you're laying out the pieces for these women to be in their own WarGames match. Grade: B
What else happened on WWE Raw?
- Damian Priest confronted Gunther to open the show. Priest told Gunther that his aura has been fading since winning the world heavyweight championship. Gunther was flustered and couldn't manage a response, with Priest saying that was proof Gunther knows what he said was true, as was the fact Gunther wouldn't try to hit him. Ludwig Kaiser came to the ring but ended up arguing with Gunther after Gunther cut off his promo on Priest. The segment ended with Priest knocking Kaiser from the ring and Gunther leaving without another word or any physical confrontation.
- Damage CTRL def. Pure Fusion Collective via pinfall when Iyo Sky pinned Shayna Baszler after an Over The Moonsault.
- Pete Dunne def. Kofi Kingston via pinfall with The Bitter End. Kingston and Xavier Woods had a brief confrontation when Kingston was apologizing for not saving R-Truth a few weeks back. During the match, Woods took out Dunne but Kingston argued with him about the interference, allowing Dunne to recover and win the match. Woods yelled at Kingston to focus on himself instead of others, leading Kingston to shove him.
- Finn Balor confronted Dominik Mysterio backstage with Balor mentioning the group still doesn't have the world heavyweight championship after Mysterio came up short in the previous week's No. 1 contender match. Mysterio shot back that he beat Priest, which Balor didn't do. Eventually, things settled down when Mysterio agreed to make a match where he would team with Carlito against War Raiders.
- Seth Rollins and Bronson Reed had yet another pull-apart brawl where both men attacked security to keep brawling. The pair continued brawling after the show cut to commercial. Adam Pearce agreed to give Rollins and Reed one more match next Monday night.
- Damian Priest def. Ludwig Kaiser via pinfall with South of Heaven in a match that came about after their earlier confrontation. Gunther walked to the entrance ramp for a staredown with Priest.
- Final Testament took out Wyatt Sicks after the Wyatts tried to defend Miz. Miz and Final Testament had set a trap, however, and Miz attacked Erik Rowan with a chair, allowing Karrion Kross and Co. to take out the remaining members of the Wyatts and lay them out in the ring.
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