WWE Raw live results: Jey Uso vs. Drew McIntyre
Date: September 18, 2023
Location: Delta Center in Salt Lake City, UT
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Show Recap —
(The announcers ran down tonight’s card. Becky Lynch has issued an open challenge for the NXT Women’s Championship.)
Raw kicked off immediately with the entrance of Cody Rhodes. He gave his belt to a young fan in the front row.
Rhodes wanted to talk about Jey Uso last week but he was interrupted by Dominik Mysterio. Dom interrupted again before Rhodes could get to Jey. Dom was loudly booed as he explained that Jey would join Judgment Day and they would continue to be the most dominant faction in WWE.
Dom said Rhea Ripley wasn’t here because she was injured by Nia Jax but he was dedicating his victory tonight to Mami.
Rhodes asked the crowd, “Did you guys hear him?” and they collectively responded, “No!”
Rhodes was getting a Steve Urkel and Laura Winslow vibe from Dom and Ripley because he was much more into her than she was into him. (Rhodes admitted that the reference was probably before Dom’s time.) Rhodes noticed last week that Ripley seemed more interested in Jey Uso.
Dom was offended and reminded Rhodes that his family always had his back. Finn Bálor and Damian Priest entered to join Dom ringside.
— Dragon Lee was shown watching in the front row.
Cody Rhodes defeated NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio (w/Tag Team Champions Finn Bálor & Damian Priest) in a non-title match (2:09)
Dom momentarily went on offence after interference from Bálor but Rhodes came back quickly with a Cody Cutter and Cross Rhodes for the pinfall win. (They messed up a vertical suplex counter spot moments before the finish.)
— After the match, Bálor and Priest were about to get in the ring but Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn sprinted out to join Rhodes. Judgment Day bailed.
Rhodes’ music played and he was about to leave but Owens asked him to return to the ring because they needed to discuss something (after a commercial break).
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Owens wanted to understand something from Rhodes — Jey Uso was back on Raw because of him. Rhodes confirmed this was true. Owens wondered why Rhodes thought it was a good idea to bring Jey into their locker room. Owens wanted to know and so did a lot of guys in the back.
Rhodes said he’s had a lot of duties in the past and his job was to make the people happy. Rhodes asked the crowd if they liked Jey and they cheered. Rhodes has had many second chances himself and Jey deserved a second chance as well. Jey deserved a chance to show that he’s changed. Rhodes said the Bloodline was down a member and he asked Owens what was bad about that.
Zayn said it has always taken Owens a long time to trust someone. Zayn acknowledged that he may be too forgiving himself but he thought Owens should give Jey a second chance. Zayn said Owens gave him a second chance and that led to them winning the tag titles at WrestleMania. (The crowd cheered.)
Owens wasn’t buying it. Owens noted that Jey was a big reason why Zayn and Rhodes didn’t win the Universal title against Roman Reigns and why Owens himself didn’t beat Reigns several times. He also noted that Jey was one shade of eyeliner away from joining Judgment Day.
Owens said he can’t trust Jey but he does trust them and he hoped they were right. Owens walked away.
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They replayed Nia Jax’s return last week. Michael Cole said Rhea Ripley and Raquel Rodriguez were both day-to-day due to Jax’s attacks. Ripley had bruised ribs, while Rodriguez suffered whiplash.
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Cole acknowledged that there was supposed to be a 2-out-of-3 falls match between New Day and Viking Raiders but the match was changed.
They aired a clip of Adam Pearce earlier today explaining to Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods that Erik wasn’t medically cleared to compete. Pearce changed it to a singles match and New Day played Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who would have the match. Kingston won (with scissors).
(When Ivar entered for the match, Samantha Irvin announced that he was being accompanied to the ring by Erik but that wasn’t the case.)
Kofi Kingston defeated Ivar (w/Valhalla) (13:05)
Ivar splashed Kingston outside the ring. After a break, Kingston avoided a diving splash in the ring and came back with a splash of his own for two, followed by a crossbody for two and an SOS for two. Ivar ducked a Trouble in Paradise and hit a double underhook sit-out powerbomb for a close nearfall. The crowd chanted for Kofi before Ivar hit a spinning leg lariat for two.
Ivar went to the middle rope but Valhalla encouraged him to go to the top. I thought the delay would result in Kingston moving away but Ivar hit a moonsault for a nearfall.
Kingston responded with a sunset flip powerbomb and Trouble in Paradise for the pinfall win.
This wound up being a fun match and the crowd helped.
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Jackie Redmond interviewed “The Highlight of the Night” Ricochet. Ricochet warned Shinsuke Nakamura not to look past him. Nakamura made it personal by attacking him with a chair. Ricochet stated, “If it’s games you want to play, let’s go ahead and play them. Because I’m a cheat code and tonight, it’s game over.”
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Nakamura entered for the match but as he stood on the apron, Seth Rollins entered. Pearce tried to reason with him as security ran out. Rollins ran past them and after Nakamura who managed to avoid him and hide behind security. Security held Rollins back as Nakamura taunted him.
[SECOND HOUR]
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Ricochet via disqualification (13:00)
Nakamura was in control until Ricochet came back with a dive ahead of a break. Nakamura was in control anyway after the break but Ricochet quickly fought back with a handspring elbow and standing SSP for two, followed by a springboard crossbody for two.
Nakamura tried to attack Ricochet with a chair but Ricochet ducked and hit a superkick. Ricochet hit Nakamura with the chair for the DQ.
— Ricochet argued with the referee until Nakamura kicked his ankle from behind. Nakamura followed with a Kinshasa to the back of the head. Nakamura wrapped Ricochet’s leg around the ring post and hit it repeatedly with the chair.
Rollins ran down and attacked Nakamura. Rollins tried a Pedigree but Nakamura back-dropped him onto the chair.
Security ran out to get between them but Nakamura managed to drive Rollins back-first into the announce desk. Pearce and security checked on Rollins.
Nakamura grabbed a cardboard cutout of Rollins’ face and put it over his own face as he backed away up the ramp.
(Rollins limped into the trainer’s room following a break. He tried to refuse help but collapsed so a referee assisted him.)
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Byron Saxton interviewed Chelsea Green and Piper Niven. Green told “Bryan” that Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark weren’t a real team or best friends like her and Niven. Niven asked Green what her home country was and Green didn’t know. She guessed “Florida” and Niven walked off. Saxton told her it was Scotland.
Non-title match: Women’s Tag Team Champions Chelsea Green & Piper Niven defeated Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark via disqualification (3:44)
Two disqualifications in a row.
Nia Jax attacked Niven outside the ring for the DQ. Jax drove Niven into the ring post, gave Stark a Samoan drop, hit Green with a running hip attack, and gave Baszler a Banzai Drop (which they’re calling an Annihilator).
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Chad Gable approached Pearce and asked him when he could get a rematch against Gunther for the Incontinent title. Pearce said Gunther won so Gable would have to work his way back to the top.
Bronson Reed showed up and told Gable to go to the back of the line. Gable told him to shoosh and said he’s made a name suplexing big men like him. Reed didn’t think he could suplex him so Pearce put them in a match.
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They aired a clip of The Rock’s surprise appearance on Smackdown and boasted about the number of views the video has received online.
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Redmond interviewed Jey Uso. She asked about his not-so-warm welcome back to Raw. Jey talked about his history with Drew McIntyre until he was interrupted by Damian Priest.
Priest said the rest of Judgment Day wanted Jimmy Uso to join but he wanted Jey to join. Priest told Jey they were a family. Jey said he knew all about family. Priest told him the Bloodline were his relatives but Judgment Day could be the family he’s been looking for his whole life. Priest didn’t want Jey to make him look bad to the rest of Judgment Day and asked him for an answer by the end of the night.
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Bronson Reed defeated Chad Gable (w/Otis & Maxxine Dupri) (8:43)
Gable lost clean and put up much less of a fight than he ever did against Gunther.
Reed dominated most of the match but Gable fought back after a break and hit a diving headbutt for two. Reed tried a senton but Gable got his knees up. Gable sold his knee as he tried but failed to suplex Reed. Reed dropped Gable and hit a Tsunami for the somewhat surprising pinfall win.
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Tommaso Ciampa cut a backstage promo. He told himself that when he came to Raw, he should play the long game and be patient because his number would get called. But he’s waited long enough. Ciampa went after Imperium last week because Gunther had what he wanted.
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They recapped Lynch winning the NXT Women’s title over Tiffany Stratton.
Lynch was shown walking through the back and she bumped fists with Akira Tozawa.
[THIRD HOUR]
Jey approached Owens. Jey was hot and told Owens to speak to his face. Owens was hot too and figured it was a matter of time before Jey joined Judgment Day. (Owens wore a Razor Ramon “Bad Guys Last Forever” shirt).
Zayn calmed them down. Owens said he didn’t care if Jey joined Judgment Day because he didn’t trust him either way. Owens said they didn’t have a match so he was leaving and would see Zayn in the car.
Zayn told Jey that he had a big decision to make tonight and wished him luck. Jey said thanks.
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Becky Lynch promo
Becky Lynch said she didn’t have it on her bingo card that she would win the NXT Women’s Championship this year but she has learned she has to take the opportunities when she can. She didn’t go after it for the sake of winning it and calling herself a grand slam champion — although that was pretty nice.
Lynch wanted to defend the title and elevate it to new heights. NXT represented the future and represented hope, hunger, passion and progress. She wanted to test herself against the best the future has to offer which is why she’ll be at NXT tomorrow. But tonight she was in Utah and it was time for somebody new to accept her open challenge.
That brought out Natalya. Natalya said nobody has worked their ass off as much as her. She took Ripley to her limit weeks ago and has been patiently waiting for her chance. She accepted the open challenge.
Lynch said she respected Natalya and they’ve known each other a long time but she offered the open challenge because she wanted somebody new to get an opportunity. Natalya said Lynch went to NXT and stepped over everyone there. Natalya called her a hypocritical, ginger witch. Natalya shoved Lynch so Lynch accepted.
Becky Lynch defeated Natalya to retain the NXT Women’s Championship (7:06)
Natalya quickly shoved Lynch into the ring post ahead of an early break. They had a back-and-forth match following the break and traded cradles until Lynch won with a schoolboy.
Natalya looked dejected in the corner while Lynch celebrated.
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Dom busted into Pearce’s office as he spoke with Dragon Lee. Dom blamed Pearce for his loss to Rhodes. He claimed he was distracted because Ripley wasn’t by his side and she wasn’t by his side because Pearce didn’t punish Nia Jax.
Dom told Dragon Lee that he didn’t like guys with masks because they reminded him of his deadbeat dad. Dragon Lee said he would beat him to win the NXT North American Championship next week on Raw.
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Tommaso Ciampa defeated Giovanni Vinci (w/Ludwig Kaiser) (3:28)
Vinci was in control until Ciampa hit a Thesz Press and reverse DDT. Kaiser tried a distraction but it didn’t work. Vinci tried a springboard move but Ciampa caught him with a mid-air knee strike. Ciampa applied the Sicilian Stretch/Gargano Escape for the submission win.
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Saxton approached Rollins in the back as he limped around wearing stupid sunglasses. Rollins said he was trying to keep it together but he was losing his mind. He chucked his dumb glasses aside and said he would do anything to get Nakamura in the ring.
Rollins looked into the camera and told Nakamura to just name the time, place and stipulation. Rollins said their destinies were intertwined and told Nakamura to ask himself: “Will you be the one to define your legacy, or will it be me?”
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Next week on Raw in Ontario, California:
- Finn Bálor & Damian Priest vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn for the tag team titles
- Bronson Reed vs. Otis
- Shinsuke Nakamura responds to Seth Rollins
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Drew McIntyre defeated Jey Uso (14:07)
McIntyre effectively used his strength to take the early advantage but Jey came back with consecutive suicide dives. Judgment Day marched out ahead of a break.
McIntyre gave Jey a superplex following the break. They got to their feet and exchanged right hands before Jey hit a Samoan drop for two. Jey tried another dive but McIntyre punched him and hit a spinebuster.
McIntyre set up for a Claymore Kick but Dom distracted the referee and Priest grabbed McIntyre’s foot. The distraction allowed Jey to hit a superkick for a nearfall.
Judgment Day tried getting Jey on their side and Jey bumped fists with Priest. Jey then superkicked Priest, Bálor and Dom off the apron as the crowd cheered.
However, Jey turned around and McIntyre nailed him with a Claymore Kick for the pinfall win.
— Judgment Day put the boots to Jey after the match. McIntyre looked on from the aisle but turned his back and left as the crowd booed.
McIntyre stopped at the stage and looked back, perhaps having second thoughts. Before he could act, Rhodes’ music hit and he sprinted out to make the save.
Rhodes dumped Priest from the ring while Jey superkicked Bálor and Dom. Rhodes gave Dom a Cross Rhodes and Priest pulled Dom out of the ring.
Rhodes helped Jey to his feet and they shook hands. The crowd cheered.