WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Mar. 18, 2024) from the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, featuring the latest build to the WrestleMania 40 extravaganza early next month in Philadelphia.
Advertised for tonight: Becky Lynch and Nia Jax finally settle their differences once and for all (or at least that seems to be the idea) in a Last Woman Standing match. Elsewhere, Awesome Truth takes on Indus Sher for the right to move on to the Six-Pack Challenge Ladder match while The Alpha Academy and The New Day collide for the same purposes. Plus, DIY vs. The Creed Brothers, and more!
Come right back here at 8 pm ET when the Raw live blog will kick off once the show starts on USA Network. It will be below this line here. Reminder: GIFs and pics allowed, but no links to illegal streams, please.
WWE RAW RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR MAR. 18
The river’s a bed of sweet berries and flowers, banks of thirsty lies, please be careful. The stream is an eyeglass of heroes, bridged with bright replies, but me? I’m just here to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with a montage of talent arriving at the arena earlier today, including Cody Rhodes and his stupid dog.
“Main Event” Jey Uso makes his entrance and gets on the mic.
He immediately calls “Big” Jim Uso out.
After a moment, Jim Uso comes to the ring and they square up. Jey says this feels different and regardless of the bad blood, he misses him. They don’t ride together and he doesn’t see him anymore and he asks him to come back to the Usos, but Jim insists that he never left and he’s been protecting him this entire time.
It was Jey’s idea to leave the Bloodline and he helped him because he’s his brother, and talks about all of Jey’s success on Raw, including winning the tag titles without him. He tells Jey to listen loud and clear when he says the biggest moment in his career is because of him.
Jey offers simply that the biggest moment of his career is gonna be in his dream match at WrestleMania XL, just the two of them, when he knocks the yeet out of his ass. Jey cuts him down but Solo Sikoa is right there and the heel brothers quickly overwhelm the babyface... CODY RHODES MAKES THE SAVE! CODY CUTTER ON SOLO!
A video package for Nia Jax vs. Becky Lynch follows.
We see footage of Becky arriving at the arena.
#DIY make their entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Paul Heyman interrupts Adam Pearce on the phone with Nick Aldis to tell him to get his roster in order.
Heyman says the Bloodline weren’t here on his recognizance and begs off saying they arrived ahead of him and Roman Reigns is a man of his word and Jim and Solo are already gone for the night. He tells Pearce to call his bluff and says he’s here on official business and once he’s done, he’ll be gone.
#DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) vs. Creed Brothers (Brutus & Julius Creed) (WWE Unified Tag Team Championship Qualifying Match)
Ciampa and Julius to start, a little back and forth, Creed has an ankle lock and Tom gets the ropes! Gargano tags in, #DIY running hot, stereo planchas and they’re firmly in control as we go to break!
Back from commercial, Creeds tossing each other at Ciampa, stereo delayed verticals on both of them, stereo moonsaults, no pin! Johnny saves Tom from the Brutus Bomb, back elbow sets up an Asai DDT that gets countered into a double-team! A pounce sends somebody over the table and we go to break in the chaos!
Back from commercial, Gargano with a hot tag, corner knee on Brutus, bulldog / lariat combo on the brothers! Charging at Julius, back body drop to the apron, enzuigiri, superkick to Brutus, Superman Spear connects... SO CLOSE! Ciampa in, avalanche Air Raid Crash... NOPE!
Trading elbows on a postage stamp, Creed blocks a rolling elbow, ankle lock applied! Powerbomb on a running-in Johnny, ankle lock reapplied, Brutus has one on Gargano... REVERSED INTO STEREO BORDER CITY STRETCHES! BOTH CREEDS POST UP AND COUNTER BY THROWING #DIY INTO EACH OTHER!
Julius with a moonsault, Brutus with one too... TOMMASO CIAMPA WILL NOT STAY DOWN! Electric chair setup, no Brutus Bomb, victory roll, Creed breaks it up! Superkick form Johnny...
#DIY win by pinfall with a victory roll pin from Tommaso Ciampa on Julius Creed, qualifying for the tag title match at WrestleMania.
Judgment Day chat with Andrade el Idolo.
They talk about what an exclusive club Judgment Dat is and that they’ll make things happen if he keeps trying to be impressive. Finn Balor and his bucket hat say they’ll be watching his match, and Andrade says he’ll see them before turning to see Damian Priest.
They exchange greetings and move on.
Priest says he was scouting #DIY and whatever, they can handle them, before excoriating JD McDonagh for failing to win the gauntlet. JD defends himself and Rhea Ripley says tonight Dominik Mysterio is going to make things right by wrestling Ricochet.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get some hype for Thunderbolt Patterson joining the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2024.
Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell vs. Katana Chance & Kayden Carter
LeRae and Carter to start, Candice on the wrong side of town but a tag to Indi saves it. Big boot, quick tags, cutting Kayden off, Chance tags in, her knee goes out and referee Eddie Orengo backs Indi off. Candice tags in and isn’t having it, posting her leg and falling back into a torture half-crab...
Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell win by submission with a torture half-crab from LeRae on Katana Chance.
Post-match, LeRae tries to celebrate but Indi is conflicted.
A recap of the Rock’s appearance on SmackDown follows.
We see Cody Rhodes walking backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial, “American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes makes his entrance and gets on the mic.
He says in less than three weeks he will be in the main event of WrestleMania again, challenging for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship against the greatest champion in all of sports, the Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns. This Friday they’re going to have a little conversation, if you will, but there are complications.
Combustible elements, namely the Rock. He rattles off a list of heels he’s known from “Superstar” Billy Graham to “Nature Boy” Ric Flair and says he doesn’t think the Rock is a heel, he’s just an asshole. And he doesn’t want him to get upset or emotional, because he knows how he feels about emotion and he gets it that there’s no crying in wrestling, but hasn’t Dwayne been crying behind the scenes this entire time?
He went and cried to his buddies on the TKO team about how he needed to save WWE! Cody says Rock is the only guy he’s stood across from who is a Mount Rushmore wrestler, but he’s also a terrible salesman, a carny succubus, and a whiny bitch. And Rock wants to talk about his mom? He’ll talk about Rock’s mom.
She’s a lovely lady who once helped him chop Kevin Owens in a dark match! Class act! Rock thinks his mom would tremble and cower in front of Dwayne? His mom ain’t scared of nothing, she beat up an undercover cop at a Willie Nelson concert! He comes back around to WrestleMania and admits he doesn’t know if it’ll be a fair fight or if he’ll finish the story.
But Dwayne, how can you be so sure of your own self? He keeps forgetting that he hasn’t been in the ring in years in realtime action, and what happens when the bell rings? Will he bring the Great One, will it be Big Dwayne Energy or LDS— Little Dick Syndrome? Rock has called himself the Final Boss and maybe he literally is, but at WrestleMania, he’s just going to be Roman’s side chick.
Enter Paul Heyman.
He says the ideals he and Cody share are much greater than the gap between them, and he’s going to offer an apology. He came out here a few weeks ago with some friends from the NYPD and he apologizes, saying for a wiseman, that was pretty stupid of him. It didn’t work and it was just plain dumb, and for that he apologizes to Cody Rhodes and the entire audience.
Cody says he didn’t ask for an apology and tells him he doesn’t need permission to step in the ring. Paul says he has a message from the Tribal Chief, and says Cody can think of him however he likes but Roman is a Tribal Chief of his word. On Friday, live on SmackDown, Roman is going to go face-to-face with Cody.
And when he does so, there won’t be a single other member of the Bloodline in sight, except for Heyman, and he’s no physical threat. Cody says that’s a deal but Paul has one little crucial point he forgot... which is that Cody also has to show up alone on Friday.
Rhodes steps up to Heyman, who cowers, and tells him it’s a deal and shakes his hand.
Nia Jax cuts a promo about how she’s going to beat Becky Lynch tonight and hurt her so bad that she’s going to go to WrestleMania and win the title instead.
Ricochet makes his entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Cody Rhodes runs into Jey Uso.
Uso offers to go to SmackDown with him but Cody says he said he’s going alone. Jey says he knows the Bloodline are gonna cheat and he’ll be there if Rhodes needs him, but Cody says he’s going alone.
Dominik Mysterio vs. Ricochet
Ricochet sending Mysterio to the floor early, McDonagh shoves Dom out of the way of a dive but Rick gets him with a tornillo anyway! The One and Only gets caught up arguing with JD, Mysterio blasts him, and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Mysterio in control, Ricochet turns him around, Benadryller connects... SO CLOSE! Folding press gets Dominik two, Rick cuts him off with a superkick and goes up top, nobody home on the 450 splash! Another superkick, JD runs interference, Mysterio sets Ricochet up for the 619, nobody home...
Ricochet wins by pinfall with Recoil.
Sami Zayn chats with Chad Gable backstage.
Gable is upset and Sami pries until Chad tells him the WrestleMania title shot meant more to him. Zayn says that’s unfair and he’s not the only one that this matters to and he’s not the only one whose children cry when he loses. Gable raises his voice and says it’s not about any of that, it’s just that he doesn’t think Sami can beat GUNTHER.
On that note, we go to break.
Back from commercial, general manager Adam Pearce is in the ring for an Intercontinental Championship contract signing.
Sami Zayn and GUNTHER take their places at the table and the Ring General interrupts by talking about what an important this match is and telling Sami he’s dressed like a bum. Zayn fires back and talks about everyone he’s surprised in his career and says he’s going to make history by ending the longest Intercontinental Championship reign of all time and he immediately signs the contract.
GUNTHER tells Sami to listen to Chad Gable because he doesn’t think Zayn can beat him, the crowds that love him don’t think Zayn can beat him, and if he’s being honest with himself, Sami doesn’t think he can beat him either. So he’s standing on his doorstep and begging GUNTHER for the beating of a lifetime, so whatever he needs to do, keep doing it.
At WrestleMania, his dreams will meet reality. GUNTHER signs the contract and goes to leave. Sami cuts him off and tells him to look deep into his eyes, into the eyes of the man who’s going to take him down at WrestleMania.
The camera follows Zayn as he exits, all the way to where #DIY are hanging out with Awesome Truth, which credit where it’s due was a very cool take.
Miz says Sami’s got the attitude they need, Indus Sher walk by all intimidating, and we follow Awesome Truth back out to the stage.
They make their entrance and we go to break.
Awesome Truth (R-Truth & the Miz) vs. Indus Sher (Sanga & Veer Mahaan) (WWE Unified Tag Team Championship Qualifying Match)
Sanga and Truth to start but Ron immediately tags Miz in. The A-Lister immediately gets run over, scoop, tag to Mahaan, big slam and an elbow drop and they’re fired up! Miz gets away, Truth tags in hot, shoulder block, shoulder block, fall-forward Blue Thunder Driver, “You can’t see me” Five Knuckle Shuffle connects!
Fireman’s carry, Veer slips out, drop toehold into the STF! Assisted Skull-Crushing Finale, Miz sent to the floor, running interference as Truth literally falls onto Mahaan...
Awesome Truth win by pinfall with a lateral press from R-Truth on Veer Mahaan, qualifying for the tag title match at WrestleMania.
Drew McIntyre is shown walking backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Sami Zayn confronts Chad Gable over why he thinks he can’t beat GUNTHER.
Gable says Sami’s built his whole career around being the underdog and waiting for an opportunity, but that won’t happen with GUNTHER and if he doesn’t change his mentality, he can’t beat him.
We get a vignette for CM Punk’s comeback where he says he’s going to be at WrestleMania.
Drew McIntyre makes his entrance and is interrupted halfway down the ramp by Seth Rollins.
They both get in the ring and Drew leans in the corner sullen while Seth welcomes us to Monday Night Rollins, etc. McIntyre tells him to get it out of his system because after WrestleMania, the spotlight will be all his. Rollins says he came out here to admit that one thing Drew said was absolutely correct.
The first step on the road to recovery is hardest and this is going to be difficult for him, and he puts his hand up and tearfull admits that he’s a spotlight junkie. McIntyre asks if everything is a joke to him and says he’s becoming a parody of himself but he doesn’t care about the BS anymore.
At this point he literally only cares about their match and the world title, and the punchline is when he beats him for that title at WrestleMania. Seth tells him he’s being dead serious and he wants that spotlight and he knows Drew is trying to entertain people on the internet, but night one of WrestleMania he takes the biggest star in Hollywood and his side chick and he makes them his bitches.
Night two, the spotlight is on them and the World Heavyweight Championship, and he’s also going to win. Drew says he wants that passion and he had him to the finish. They’ve both done this for 20 years and given their lives to the industry and it’s the workhorse championship, and he had him until he mentioned the big spotlight.
He tells Rollins his priorities are backwards and all he cares about is Seth making it to the ring on night two even if he has to carry him bodily to the ring, because he’s not going to get the moment he deserves, he’s going to get the moment he has earned. Rollins laughs about it and says Drew wants the spotlight just as bad as he does.
He’s an addict just like he is, and he’s been begging for the spotlight, but under those lights Drew is going to find out he isn’t as good as he thinks he is.
Becky Lynch cuts a promo down the barrel of the camera about how all she knows is taking risks.
New Day make their entrance and we go to break.
Alpha Academy (Akira Tozawa & Otis Dozovic) vs. New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) (WWE Unified Tag Team Championship Qualifying Match)
Dozovic and Woods to start, big man with some headbutts, off the ropes, casual lariat into hip swivels. Tozawa tags in, double whip, big boot gets a kick, Kingston throws him into the corner, boot up, diving tijeras sends Kofi to the floor and us to break!
Back from commercial, Tozawa rocks Woods with an enzuigiri! Tags made, Dozer in with lariats on Kingston! Off the ropes, big back elbow, clobbering Xavier with a lariat, catching Kofi into a World’s Strongest Slam! Caterpillar follows it up... NOT ENOUGH! Kingston rolls away from a Vader Bomb, Akira tags in, crossbody for two!
Superkick, Woods tags in, springboard DDT connects... NOPE! Up top, jockeying for position, Tozawa gets an avalanche Frankensteiner out of the deal! Back up top, diving senton connects... KOFI KINGSTON BREAKS IT UP! Kick sends him packing, Xavier blocks a Frankensteiner... REVOLUTION LIGER BOMB!
Woods fired up, he goes up top and walks the ropes... LIMIT BREAKER! IT’S OVER!
New Day win by pinfall with Limit Breaker from Xavier Woods on Akira Tozawa, qualifying for the tag title match at WrestleMania.
Becky Lynch is warming up backstage when Liv Morgan approaches to wish her luck and bid her punch Nia in the face.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Cody Rhodes is walking his stupid dog backstage when Seth Rollins rolls up to ask “one-on-one?” and Cody says “one-on-one” clearly referring to the deal to show up to SmackDown alone.
Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax (Last Woman Standing Match)
Lynch sending her to the floor immediately, baseball slide puts her into the barricade, diving forearm, Jax ducks another and fireman’s carries her into the post and then a Samoan drop into the barricade! They trade blows on the floor and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Becky is setting a table up on the floor when Jax comes over to smash her into the apron a few times and throw her back inside! Nia finishes setting the table up but one side collapses! Throwing chairs into the ring, slam on the chairs, no good!
Becky with a sleeper hold and then a running bulldog into the chair, the count... NOPE! Off the top, nobody home, Nia wallops her with a chair over and over! Back under the ring, Jax comes up with a pair of kendo sticks and goes back in the ring, cracking one over Lynch’s back!
Chair shots, setting a chair up and sitting atop of Lynch but she wallops Nia with a kendo stick until she stands up! Keeping the shots coming, sending Jax packing to the floor! On the floor, Nia picks up the steel steps and donks Becky in the dome with them! Back inside, leg drop, nobody home!
Lynch with a DDT on the steel steps! Jax beats the count and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Becky cuts her off with a stream of CO2 from a fire extinguisher before walloping Nia over the back with the steel drum! Back inside, charging in, Samoan drop through a table leaned in the corner! Banzai Drop connects but Lynch rolls to the floor to beat the count!
Nia with a fireman’s carry, up on the apron, Becky fights out, elbows on elbows... MANHANDLE SLAM OFF THE APRON AND THROUGH A TABLE! They both get back up, Nia on the table, Becky climbs a ladder... LEG DROP OFF THE TOP OF THE LADDER AND THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE! LYNCH GETS TO HER FEET BUT JAX STAYS DOWN! IT’S OVER!
Becky Lynch wins by answering the referee’s ten count.
Post-match, Rhea Ripley comes to the ring to confront Becky. Lynch straightens up, ramrod steel, to go face-to-face with her.
That’s the show, folks.
