The Triple H era of wrestling is in full swing and he has changed the outlook on professional wrestling for the better. Vince McMahon is out of creative control after he announced he would be stepping down, late last year but he is now officially done with the WWE after he received a bombshell lawsuit from a former WWE employee, accusing the former chairman of sexual abuse and trafficking. As a big fan of wrestling since I was a kid, I am very pleased that he is out, not just because of his dirty and disgusting behavior behind the scenes, but his terrible decision making when it comes to giving superstars a push to the main event, or just releasing stars that had no business being let go. The Triple H era of WWE has changed everything for the better.
The April 23rd edition of Monday Night Raw was a banger, and Triple H delivered big time. Whether it was one of the four tag teams/factions that split up or had a moment, the new WWE Women’s Champion, the return of the ring general Gunther, and even a World Tag Team Championship match, it was a great episode of Raw. It has only been two weeks since Wrestlemania in Philadelphia concluded and it left fans in awe. Now we get to see all the aftermath that falls out after this historic event. This edition of Raw was also the final episode with their current roster, as the long awaited WWE Draft returns this Friday on April 26th to Friday Night Smackdown. Could these tag team/faction mishaps or breaks up, alter their relationship at the draft by being sent to different shows? I don’t know about you but the draft is one of those things that will always pull me in, so you know I will be tuned in this Friday.
During an appearance on IMPAULSIVE, Triple H confirmed that the WWE Draft will take place in about ‘a month or so’. pic.twitter.com/jZ6ezu3v9e
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) April 5, 2024
Starting off in reverse order, as I will tell you about the main event which was the battle royale for the vacant Women’s World Championship and if you haven’t watched WWE in recent times, then you may be wondering why the championship is currently vacant, and I’ll tell you why. Liv Morgan had a backstage segment two weeks ago, where she began the Liv Morgan revenge tour. She found the current champion at the time, Rhea Ripley, and attacked her, injuring her shoulder in the process. Her plan was in motion and all she needed to do was win the battle royale in the main event of Raw.
The favourites heading into the match were Nia Jax, Liv Morgan, and Becky Lynch. The women began to eliminate one another by tossing them over the top rope until only one remained. The final three were standing in the ring, and you guessed it, it was the three favourites. Nia Jax is the irresistible force and one of the strongest competitors today, so Lynch and Morgan plotted together and combine their strengths in order to toss Jax out of there, and they did. It was now the final two and Morgan looked to be inching towards winning the title. They battled it out on the ring apron and Morgan even looked to have won it after she hit the codebreaker, knocking Lynch backwards until Lynch caught Morgan with an up-handle slam, as Morgan hit the floor. There it was, Becky Lynch is now a seven time champion and she looks to keep the title warm, before Rhea Ripley eventually returns.
Becky Lynch was supposed to take a break from WWE and spend time with family.
However, Rhea Ripley got injured, leaving a major space vacant in the women’s division on RAW.
Becky answered the call and canceled her break to become the Women’s World Champion and ensure that the… pic.twitter.com/M5XlXXKvLw
— Wrestle Tracker (@wrestletracker1) April 23, 2024
Now a quick rapid fire section, highlighting some of the smaller events on such a huge card. Sheamus came out with his original theme song to confront the Scottish sociopath Drew McIntyre. It was a mic battle for the ages, as Sheamus would berate Drew with insults, until Drew would start poking fun at Sheamus and his weight gain since his return. That followed with Shinsuke Nakamura coming out to battle the Irishman Sheamus. It was a grueling match that saw Sheamus come out on top as Drew would watch from ringside. It seems like Sheamus versus Drew is the direction they’re heading in.
World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest would come out to confront the hype energy superstar in Jey Uso. They would battle on the mic for a while until it was announced that it would be Priest vs Uso at Backlash in France for the World Heavyweight Championship and that looks to be a slobberknocker. That wasn’t the only time we saw Priest that night, as he would come out to attack Andrade and Ricochet, stating that he does not need the Judgement Day, but they need him.
The theme of the night was tag teams turning on eachother. After the championship match between D.I.Y. and Awesome Truth was over, Gargano would shake the hands of their allies congratulating them on their win, but Ciampa had other plans as he would shake his head, and not even acknowledge the champions and walk out of the ring. Are we really about to see Ciampa turn on Gargano for what seems to be like the 100th time? Time will tell I guess…
It gets better though, as after Chad Gable’s heel turn on Sami Zayn last week, he looked to address the WWE universe on why he did what he did. He got in the ring with Alpha Academy and one by one would berate them. He would call Tozawa a loser letting him know he is worthless. Shifting his attention to Maxxine Dupri, letting her know she is pretty as a princess. How nice, right? Yeah no. He would go on to call her dumber than a bag of rocks, ouch. Even his loyal tag team partner was a target of his verbal attacks, giving him the title of the biggest disappointment of them all. They all took the verbal beating and would pledge to the olympian. I honestly like the direction they are taking with a heel Gable, if executed properly, this could be huge.
Gunther and imperium would make their return after suffering a heartbreaking and historic loss to Sami Zayn at Wrestlemania a couple of weeks ago, and it felt weird seeing Gunther without any gold around his waist. The New Day would serenade them with a little diss track, reminding Gunther that he is no longer a champion. They would have a quick match which resulted in The New Day coming out on top, as imperium would fall down and down faster then they ever could of thought Gunther would snap and attack his fellow members of imperium leaving everyone in a state of shock. Ludwig Kaiser would console Giovanni Vinci in the ring for a while, but the moment was getting a little too long, something was going to happen and I knew it. Kaiser would throw Vinci into the barricade and attack him. Another faction or tag team has lost itself.
This all seems to be a slight set up for the upcoming WWE draft and we will just have to wait and see how everything unfolds. We are also getting closer and closer to another international premium live event which will be Backlash in France. Some matches have already been announced, but we will wait and see if any other announcements come out.