WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the XL Center in Hartford, CT.
Fallout from Backlash
2024 Draft roster changes take effect
“The Monster Among Men” has returned to WWE after being on the shelf for almost a year, due to a serious neck injury that required fusion surgery. Braun Strowman was drafted to “WWE Raw” during Night Two of the WWE Draft, going to the red brand in the second round. Strowman was last seen on WWE television at the beginning of May 2023, when he was seemingly being poised for a tag team push alongside Ricochet.
Strowman was not just drafted on “Raw,” but also appeared to help Jey Uso against United States Champion Logan Paul and The Judgment Day’s Finn Balor and JD McDonagh. Paul and friend and streamer IShowSpeed announced the second round picks before Paul headed to the ring, cutting a promo on Uso before Balor and McDonagh showed up, entering the ring while Uso’s back was turned. As The Judgment Day’s Irish contingent beat down Uso, Paul headed ringside to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who had been seen greeting Paul at the beginning of the show. Paul took Mahomes’ three Super Bowl rings and tried to attack Uso while wearing them, but hit McDonagh instead.
As the men looked at each other in the ring following Paul’s mistake, Paul and Balor looked to team up on Uso. Strowman’s music then hit and he stormed down to the ring. The former Wyatt Family member chased Paul out of the ring and delivered a chokeslam to Balor. He then got in the face of Mahomes at ringside, who was flanked by two Chiefs linemen, but was calmed down by Uso before things got physical.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Another week, another set of clues on “WWE Raw,” seemingly teasing the return or debut of a mysterious figure or figures. While most predictions center around Uncle Howdy (Taylor Rotunda, FKA Bo Dallas) perhaps in some sort of new stable, there haven’t been any clear-cut giveaways to that end just yet.
Tonight, as Chad Gable took the ring to address his actions after an Intercontinental Championship match with Sami Zayn last week, similar images to others we’ve seen in previous weeks — the glyph of Pluto and, an image of a raven — hit the screen, followed by a QR code. That link led to an interactive landing page at the wwe.com/55555, where the text “You will bear witness. Begin the endless crawl. Type the number of sense organs. And you shall behold all.” Entering the number five renders more text, “Preparing your invitation,” and the a call-to-action to “Proceed.” That button takes the user to another page, wwe.com/invitation, where a video is hosted.
The video leads with various old school graphics saying, “Coming soon,” before cutting to a shot of a creepy house, where a figure throws a note on the front porch that says, “Remember who you are.” The figure (seemingly holding the camera) then retreats before another series of images — different variations of the glyph and the raven, plus a shrouded figure and a lot else that is difficult to see clearly. In numerology, the number five, prominent on that first landing page and the answer to the question leading to the second page, often represents freedom, curiosity, and change but beyond that, the clues don’t seem to be meant to be too revealing at this point, all still very reminiscent of the buildup to the late Bray Wyatt’s 2022 return.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s WWE Monday Night RAW live on USA Network from the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, OH.
While the company is still riding a wave of momentum from WWE WrestleMania 40, last night’s “WWE Raw” opened with Rhea Ripley making the unfortunate announcement that she was vacating the Women’s World Championship due to injury. Many speculated that the injury came about during last week’s angle with Liv Morgan, with the latest “Wrestling Observer Radio” offering some insight into what may have occurred.
“She suffered [an] AC joint sprain in the brawl with Liv Morgan last week on ‘Raw,'” Bryan Alvarez said. “She was thrown into the wall and boom — there goes the shoulder. An injury like that, [it will take] probably four to six weeks to gain mobility and then usually about three months to be back in action.”
Alvarez and co-host Dave Meltzer interpreted last night’s segment as a double-turn, with Morgan becoming a heel while Ripley was turned into a babyface due to the circumstances. It’s not clear if this was the definitive intent of the segment, but it’s undeniable that the crowd was behind Ripley last night and keeping her as a villain upon her return would likely be a difficult task.
“She suffered [an] AC joint sprain in the brawl with Liv Morgan last week on ‘Raw,'” Bryan Alvarez said. “She was thrown into the wall and boom — there goes the shoulder. An injury like that, [it will take] probably four to six weeks to gain mobility and then usually about three months to be back in action.”
Source: Wrestling Inc.
A series of cryptic symbols and a QR code leading to hidden messages, and ultimately, a mysterious video appeared on “WWE Raw” as The New Day made their entrance for the Triple Threat number one contenders’ tag team match. It’s hard not to be reminded of 2022’s “white rabbit” teases that led to Bray Wyatt’s eventual return with the uptick in these types of Easter eggs of late, especially amid speculation that the Uncle Howdy character could soon make a return.
As Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods made their way down the ramp, the screen glitched before showing what appeared to be the glyph representing Pluto, followed by an image of a raven, followed by the QR code, which led to a puzzle of its own at the WWE-hosted URL wwe.com/qrisme. Laying those two images over each other revealed another URL, wwe.com/UEDNJ51A, where another image is found depicting the raven held by a hand in front of a flame, and behind a man, who appears to be looking toward the shadowed projection of the bird in front of him. There is also a video below the image, in the style of an old VCR tape, broadcasting the messages, “Time to wake up,” “Take my hand,” and “Things will be better,” before ending with “Trust me,” and repeating the glyph and the bird images.
Wyatt’s real life brother Taylor Rotunda, FKA Bo Dallas, has been rumored to make an eventual return as the Uncle Howdy character who ran alongside Wyatt in his final WWE run and the conjecture has only heated up since the release of the Wyatt documentary “Becoming Immortal” on Peacock, which ended with a tease of its own. Soon after on another episode of “Raw,” hidden messages and social media takeovers furthered speculation even more and it continued again tonight.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Sometimes it’s best to get the bad news out of the way first. Such was the case for the Rhea Ripley tonight, as the WWE Women’s World Champion kicked off “WWE Raw” by confirming rumors that swirled all day saying she was dealing with a serious injury and may need to vacate her title. That indeed turned out to be the case, with Ripley blaming the backstage attack from Liv Morgan last week as the reason for her now having to miss “quite a few months” and being forced to relinquish the title she has held since
Ripley entered with her right arm in a sling and though she raised her title to show the crowd, her entrance was otherwise devoid of its usual flair. Her face told the story even further, carrying a scowl all the way down the ramp. And when she took the ring, immediately, she addressed the issue at hand. “So, obviously, you guys know what’s going on right now, yeah?” she asked. “I’m angry right now. I’m pissed off. You know why? Because I’ve been told that I need to vacate the one thing that means the most to me: my Women’s World Championship.”
With the crowd chanting “bulls***,” Ripley concurred, saying, “Yeah, it is,” before laying down her belt and calling out Morgan, saying this was all because of her “stupid revenge tour.” Morgan took the stage, surrounded by security, and Ripley was soon flanked as well, with officials doing enough to keep the two apart, despite Ripley headbutting one guard and staring off another. In a backstage segment to follow, Ripley was embraced by the rest of The Judgment Day and she told them to keep the group on top before parting with a “Te amo” toward her stablemates.
PWInsider reports that Ripley was injured last week during a backstage segment between her and Liv Morgan, where Morgan attacked Ripley with a chair. No details were provided on the type of injury Ripley suffered, but it is believed to be severe enough that it could lead to Ripley being forced to vacate the Women’s World Championship on tonight’s episode of “Raw.” It’s unclear what direction WWE would take should Ripley be forced to vacate.
Though Ripley’s focus had largely been on Lynch over the past several months, the Judgment Day star has had issues with Morgan throughout 2024, since Morgan returned during the Women’s Royal Rumble match back in January. Morgan had missed six months of action before returning due to a shoulder injury, and was written off of TV after being brutally attacked by Ripley with a chair prior to a scheduled match between them on “SmackDown.”
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s WWE Monday Night Raw live on the USA Network from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Strange things were afoot ahead of Monday’s episode of “WWE Raw.” Prior to the show, a fan posted a video to social media of lights flickering, along with a quick musical tease. Later, during the broadcast itself, 2024 Andre the Giant Battle Royale winner Bronson Reed was cutting a promo backstage when the bottom of the screen scrambled in a familiar static pattern. In the lower right corner of the screen, the word “hello” appeared.
Fightful Select has confirmed that these teases are meant to herald the on-screen return of WWE star Bo Dallas, who portrayed the Uncle Howdy character as part of his late brother Bray Wyatt’s storyline after both made their way back to WWE in late 2022. Dallas — who has remained under WWE contract despite Uncle Howdy being removed from WWE programming due to Wyatt’s illness, which ultimately resulted in his tragic death — was recently featured in a WWE-produced Peacock documentary on Wyatt. In the documentary, Dallas talked about needing to create something to make his brother proud, and an Uncle Howdy tease was shown at the end of the film. Following the documentary’s release, Fightful Select reported that a comeback for Dallas was planned, though they aren’t certain whether he will return as Bo Dallas, Uncle Howdy, Taylor Rotunda (his real name), or some other character.
Dallas was first signed to a developmental deal in 2008, working in Florida Championship Wrestling before that promotion transitioned into “WWE NXT.” He enjoyed a lengthy reign as “NXT” Champion in 2013 and 2014, losing the title on the very first premium live event to be broadcast via the WWE Network, but his subsequent main roster run faltered and he was released in 2021, eventually returning alongside Wyatt the following year.
A few hours after the teases on “Raw,” Dallas, as Uncle Howdy, took to Twitter to pour some gasoline into the simmering fire. While Howdy wasn’t a chatterbox in his response, he got people’s attention by posting the emoji of a rabbit, a callback to when Wyatt and Dallas returned to the WWE in the fall of 2020, as part of the viral “White Rabbit” campaign.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
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