It’s WWE Raw with Cody Rhodes celebrating as WWE Champion while The Rock made a surprising appearance as well.
This week’s Raw took place at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia with Michael Cole and Pat McAfee on commentary. It was a commercial-free first hour for the second week in a row.
The WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque thanked the fans for their support. Triple H introduced the new WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. They hugged and Hunter presented a video package about Cody, which was a look back at Cody’s career and it made Cody emotional.
Cody Rhodes did a promo about how two years ago on the Raw after WrestleMania, he laid out his goals and dreamed in the open. Cody said that at WrestleMania 40, that dream became a reality. Cody said we don’t have to like Roman Reigns, but he acknowledges what he did as Undisputed WWE Universal Champion for 1,316 days. The fans chanted “Thank You Roman” for the Tribal Chief. Cody said that maybe Reigns was the most important superstar of his generation while Cody was the man destined to defeat him. Cody said he always stood in the line, but now the line is for him. He told us his name is Cody Rhodes – once undesirable, become undeniable and now Undisputed Universal WWE Champion. It’s interruption time from…The Rock!
The Rock walked out wearing one of his colorful vests along with the People’s Champion Title that was bestowed upon him by Muhammad Ali’s wife. The fans booed Rock loudly before he even said a word. The Rock told Cody that he completed his story, he faced all odds and beat Roman Reigns in the middle of that ring 1-2-3. Rock made Cody bleed, split his skin and Rock even whipped him like a belt, but Cody still won. Rock said he put a special name on that belt – Mama Rhodes. Rock said that Mama Rhodes had a big smile on her face while Cody’s daddy in heaven (Dusty Rhodes) also had a big smile on his face. Rock said that Dusty was his hero while saying that Dusty was good friends with Rock’s dad Rocky Johnson. Rock isn’t sure if his dad was proud of him due to the bad stuff that Rock did to him, but then Rock realized he didn’t care.
The Rock asked Cody if he could hold that title. Rock said he’s held so many titles, but he has never held that one. Cody told Rock he could hold this title for a moment just as long as Cody could hold Rock’s title. Rock agreed to that. Rock handed Cody his title while Cody handed the WWE Title to Rock. They gave the titles back to each other.
The Rock said that as you know and many people know, The Rock has to go away for a little while now. The Rock said that Cody Rhodes beat Roman Reigns in the ring 1-2-3 on WrestleMania Sunday. However, it was 24 hours before that when The Rock beat Cody Rhodes. Rock told Cody that his story with Roman Reigns may be over because Cody did it, but their story has just begun. Cody said that he believed that because The Rock is The Final Boss and is on the board with TKO, so Rock is his literal boss, right? Rock said that was right. Cody said that he was the champion. Cody said that he was the fan’s champion and he told “Boss” that it meant he was Rock’s champion. The Rock agreed with all that. The Rock said that he had something to give him. Rock said no fireworks. Rock put his hand in his pocket. Rock put something in Cody’s hand. Rock told Cody he didn’t have to open his hand to know what this was. The Rock told Cody to never break his heart again. Rock: “If you smell what The Final Boss is cooking.” The Rock left while we never saw what Rock put in Cody’s hand. We just saw Cody’s face as he put the object in his pocket.
Michael Cole announced on the broadcast that the April 26th Smackdown and April 29th Raw will be the WWE Draft.
Match #1: Ilja Dragunov defeated Shinsuke Nakamura by pinfall. The NXT Champion Dragunov won clean with the Torpedo Moscow running headbutt.
The Judgment Day did a promo in the ring celebrating Rhea Ripley retaining the Women’s World Title and Damian Priest becoming World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania 40. Damian Priest said that the Terror Twins are both World Champions. Priest said that you should all rise for The Judgment Day. R-Truth tried to celebrate with them since he’s a Raw Tag Team Champion with The Miz, who joined the promo. Balor wanted them to put the titles on the line right here and right now. Truth said that we can’t because there are only three of them. Miz told Truth he hoped that Truth was talking about a real person and not Little Jimmy. Truth told them they could have a 6-man tag team match with Judgment Day against Miz, Truth and the guy you can’t see.
Match #2:John Cena & The Awesome Truth – The Miz & R-Truth defeated The Judgment Day – Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh by pinfall. It started as Miz & Truth in a handicap match. John Cena made his entrance to a huge ovation and tagged in with his signature offense. Cena did the shoulder tackles to JD, the spinning slam and the Attitude Adjustment while Miz & Truth did the same moves at the same time. Cena, Miz & Truth all pinned their three opponents at the same time to get the win.
Rhea Ripley was walking down a hallway with Dominik Mysterio. After Dom walked away, Liv Morgan attacked Ripley by throwing a chair at her. Liv attacked Ripley some more until she was pulled off.
Match #3: Roxanne Perez defeated Indi Hartwell (w/Candice LeRae) by pinfall. LeRae tried to cheat for Indi, who didn’t like it. Perez did an eye gouge when the referee wasn’t looking and Perez hit Pop Rox to win. A short match that only lasted about three minutes.
Backstage after a commercial, Natalya told Roxanne Perez that she’ll see her on NXT. Perez said it was her show.
Sami Zayn did a promo thanking the fans for supporting him as the new Intercontinental Champion. There was an interruption from Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci from Imperium. They teased a double team attack, but Chad Gable saved Sami and that led to a tag team match.
Match #4: Sami Zayn & Chad Gable defeated Imperium’s Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci by pinfall. Zayn and Gable got the win after Zayn hit a Helluva Kick while Gable tagged in and hit the Chaos Theory on Vinci for the win.
Andrade was shown backstage talking to the Raw, Smackdown & NXT GMs Adam Pearce, Nick Aldis & Ava. They all talked about the WWE Draft upcoming. Chelsea Green walked up to them complaining about how she wasn’t involved in WrestleMania. Pearce told Green if she went to the ring now, her moment awaited so Green left.
Match #5: Jade Cargill defeated Chelsea Green by pinfall. Green said that this match is not happening. Cargill hit a pump kick. Cargill held up Green and hit the Jaded slam for the pinfall win after about 20 seconds.
Sami Zayn talked to Chad Gable backstage. Zayn said he knows Gable wants a shot at the Intercontinental Title so Zayn will give him that match next Monday on Raw in Montreal, which is Zayn’s hometown.
Before the four-way main event, Drew McIntyre did a promo complaining about a lot of things. Drew said that what happened at WrestleMania 40 (when Priest cashed in Money in the Bank on him to become World Champion) was complete and utter BS. Drew said that his moment lasted 5:46 at WrestleMania 40. Drew said that he respected Seth Rollins and said that they shared a moment that only warriors know about, so thank you for that. Drew called Damian Priest “Bondage Undertaker” and said he screwed it all up. Drew complained about the Money in the Bank being a joke saying it has cost him the World/WWE Title twice. Drew said that Priest is nothing but a transitional champion and that belt will belong to Drew. Drew said that the man who caused that finish was that prick CM Punk. Drew talked about how he would rub the title in Punk’s stupid face and Punk did nothing at all about it. Drew said Punk tripped up Drew when Drew wasn’t looking and then Punk took off his arm brace to bash Drew in the head with it. Drew said he knew that Punk was going into hiding, but Drew made it clear that he was going to take Punk out.
Match #6: Jey Uso defeated Drew McIntyre, Bronson Reed and Ricochet in a Fatal 4-Way #1 Contenders Match where the winner gets a World Title match against Damian Priest. Ricochet took out Reed with a springboard 450 Splash off the top through the Spanish announce table. When Drew was about to finish off Jey, CM Punk appeared at ringside to hold Drew’s foot to stop him. Jey hit Drew with a superkick and Spear. Jey went up top and hit an Uso Splash for the pinfall win. CM Punk was laughing about it on the commentary table while Jey celebrated his victory. That was the end of Raw.
Next Week On WWE Raw
* Andrade vs. Dominik Mysterio
* Intercontinental Championship: Sami Zayn vs. Chad Gable
That was all for this week’s show.