Cody Rhodes finished his story and defeated Roman Reigns at WWE WrestleMania 40.
WWE Raw after WrestleMania 40 advertised a celebration for Cody Rhodes after finally finishing his story in the greatest WrestleMania main event of all time.
Raw also advertised a Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match between Ricochet, Bronson Reed, Jey Uso and Drew McIntyre. The winner would become No. 1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Last week’s broadcast of WWE Raw garnered 1.784 million viewers.
WWE Raw Results on April 8, 2024
- Ilja Dragunov def. Shinsuke Nakamura
- The Awesome Truth and John Cena def. The Judgment Day
- Roxanne Perez def. Indi Hartwell
- Sami Zayn and Chad Gable def. IMPERIUM
- Jade Cargill def. Chelsea Green
- Jey Uso def. Ricochet, Drew McIntyre and Bronson Reed | No. 1 Contender for WWE World Heavyweight Championship
WWE Raw Ratings
- April 1, 2024 | 1.784 million
- March 25, 2024 | 1.729 million
- March 18, 2024 | 1.790 million
- March 11, 2024 | 1.751 million
- March 4, 2024 | 1.649 million
WWE Raw Ticket Sales
- WWE Raw Venue: Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia, Penn.)
- WWE Raw Tickets Distributed: 20,248
- WWE Raw Tickets Available: 0
CM Punk Vs. Jack Perry And AEW | PWB
WWE Raw Winners And Grades
Triple H And Cody Rhodes Kick Off WWE Raw
Michael Cole announced WWE’s television sellout streak (now at 17) continued with an announced attendance of 20,248 in the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Penn.
The stage was very narrow as opposed to the giant screen WWE Raw usually has. This was likely to fit as many people in the building as possible coming off WrestleMania 40.
Fans exploded in cheers with chants of “Triple H” and “thank you Hunter” before Triple H could even say a word.
Triple H thanked the crowd and admitted last night was the greatest WrestleMania of all time and the biggest WrestleMania ever.
Cody received an enormous reaction, with inevitable chants of “you deserve it.” Hunter confirmed WWE didn’t have its usual stage because it wanted to fit more people in the building. He then aired a beautiful video package dedicated to Rhodes’ story scored by “Rise Up” by Andra Day. Rhodes immediately became emotional.
Rhodes addressed Samantha Irvin, who famously delivered a tearful ring announcement last night for Cody’s big win. Fans chanted “Samantha” as she again announced Rhodes as the new Undisputed WWE champion.
A Roman Reigns reference garnered chants of “thank you Roman.”
Rhodes showed a clip of his daughter Liberty saying “papa, finish the story.”
The Rock Interrupts Cody Rhodes
The undesirable, undeniable and undisputed Cody Rhodes was interrupted by The Rock, whose music now includes a Brahma Bull roaring.
Fans in Philly eviscerated The Rock with chants of “Rocky sucks!” “Undertaker” and “shut the f—k up!”
Pat McAfee played heel commentator as he supported The Rock over the Philadelphia fans.
The Rock responded to negative chants by calling back to a line he used when he first turned heel: “The Rock is a lot of things, but sucks isn’t one of them.”
Rock continued to battle the crowd, even to the point where Dwayne had to be censored for some of his insults.
Rock congratulated Cody, insisted his People’s Championship was real and kindly asked Cody if The Rock could hold the belt. Afterall, Rocky has never held the Undisputed WWE Championship.
Cody obliged as Rock held the WWE Championship while Cody held the People’s Championship. Fans chanted “this is awkward.”
Rock said he has to leave for a while, prompting “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” chants. The Rock finished by saying when he comes back he’s coming for Rhodes. Rhodes said he’s looking forward to it.
Rock put something in Cody’s hand and told Cody to never break his heart again. The plot thickens and the story continues. The segment went almost an hour.
Opening Segment Grade: A
Ilja Dragunov Def. Shinsuke Nakamura
Ilja Dragunov was the first surprise debut of the night. Fans went crazy for it. After a few years of disappointing Raw After Mania shows, this show took on the feel of a vintage Raw After Mania.
WWE NXT
T
XT
Ilja Dragunov vs. Shinsuke Nakamura Grade: B
The Awesome Truth And John Cena Def. Judgment Day
Damian Priest (“you deserve it!”) already has new theme music. The Judgment Day brought out Ripley and Priest individually for the celebration. As they raised their titles, R-Truth came out of nowhere and joined them by raising his WWE Raw Tag Team Championship.
Finn Balor challenged R-Truth to a Tag Team Title Match. Truth answered by challenging them to a six-man tag match between Judgment Day, Miz, Truth and “the guy you can’t see.” Miz assumed this was Lil’ Jimmy. The crowd assumed it was John Cena.
When WWE Raw came back from break, the match was a two-on-three handicap match (for now).
Pat McAfee called Dominik a Dude Wipe after you wipe.
Late in the match, John Cena hit the ring to a huge pop and the three-man team hit a Triple “You Can’t See Me” (15 Knuckle Shuffle) on Judgment Day. This is already the best Raw After Mania in years.
Awesome Truth and Cena vs. The Judgment Day Grade: A
Roxanne Perez Def. Indi Hartwell
Liv Morgan attacked Rhea Ripley backstage, and Morgan’s revenge tour could legitimately end in Morgan beating Ripley. For what it’s worth, Morgan is the last person to pin Rhea.
Roxanne Perez was the second NXT Superstar to make an appearance on the main roster. Michael Cole really put over her new heel turn, her current NXT storyline and the fact that she was trained by Booker T.
Indi Hartwell argued with Candice LeRae as Candice compelled Hartwell to cheat. This led to Roxy hitting the Pop Rox for the win.
Backstage, Perez and Nataly had a segment to promote tomorrow’s WWE NXT.
Roxanne Perez vs. Indi Hartwell Grade: B-
Sami Zayn And Chad Gable Def. IMPERIUM
Sami Zayn cut an awesome heartfelt promo thanking his fans, friends and family for supporting him amid his historic upset of GUNTHER.
IMPERIUM (Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci) interrupted Sami, but Gable came to Sami’s aid, setting up a tag team match.
It’s funny that Gable is considered Zayn’s mentor even though Zayn is one year older.
This continued to feel like a vintage Raw After Mania as fans chanted “we want beach balls.”
The babyface comeback between two of the best babyfaces in WWE was awesome, ending with Gable winning the match with a Chaos Theory. Sadly, I feel like it’s only a matter of time before Gable turns on Zayn. It could happen as early as next week in Montreal—when the two will have an IC Title match.
Sheamus is set to make his return to WWE, which is great news for WWE and Pat McAfee.
Sami Zayn and Chad Gable vs. IMPERIUM Grade: B
Jade Cargill Def. Chelsea Green
Chelsea Green wanted her moment after not getting a WrestleMania moment. Raw and SmackDown GM’s Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis sent her to the ring for a surprise opponent, which was Jade Cargill.
Jade Cargill won this squash match with a pump kick and Jaded after fans chanted “you f—ked up!”
Jade Cargill vs. Chelsea Green Grade: B
Jey Uso Def. Drew McIntyre, Bronson Reed and Ricochet
Drew McIntyre called Damian Priest a “Bondage Undertaker” as opposed to the “Bisexual Undertaker” nickname that Twitter uses. McIntyre then said wanted Priest’s arse “but he’d probably like it.”
A heated McIntyre, showing shades of Bret Hart’s heel turn inside of the blue cage in 1997, called CM Punk a prick.
Pat McAfee stood on the table and danced for Jey’s entrance, but McIntyre furiously stalked the outside of the ring for being cut off. Michael Cole, who tried to tell McAfee to sit down, confirmed McAfee ran to the back in fear of McIntyre during the commercial break.
Michael Cole announced this as an Elimination Fatal 4-Way Match, but it turned out to be one fall to the finish.
The field ganged up on McIntyre with a series of superkicks, including a triple superkick.
The final minutes of this match came off like an AEW match with one spot after another in short over. And it really got over.
Ricochet hit a spectacular spot when he hit a springboard 450 splash on Bronson Reed through an announce table. Of course, he apologized to his fiance Samantha Irvin before doing so.
Jey Uso and McIntyre were the final two combatants left in the match. CM Punk made a surprise appearance to grab McIntyre’s leg, opening the door to a Jey Uso win.
WWE Fatal 4-Way Grade: B+
