WWE Raw live results: Sami Zayn vs. Chad Gable IC title match
Date: April 15, 2024
Location: Bell Centre in Montréal, QC
Show Recap —
Sami Zayn, Damian Priest, Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso were shown arriving throughout the day.
Rhea Ripley relinquishes the Women’s World Championship
Ripley entered with her right arm in a sling and a sour look on her face. Adam Pearce was in the ring too. Ripley announced she would be stuck on the bench for quite a few months after Liv Morgan’s attack last week.
Ripley was pissed because she was told she would have to vacate the world championship. The crowd chanted “Bullsh*t” and Ripley agreed. Ripley said the title meant the most to her which is what made this so painful. She laid the belt down on the mat. The crowd chanted, “Thank you, Mami,” as she looked angrily at the camera.
Ripley blamed this on Morgan’s stupid little revenge tour. Ripley might’ve had respect for Morgan if she attacked her face-to-face but instead, she did it like a coward. Ripley had a warning for whoever held her title when she returned: she was coming back for blood. Ripley said they’d have to lock her up in Montréal jail if she saw Morgan tonight.
Morgan entered with a smile on her face as about six security guards tried stopping her from going to the ring. Ripley wanted them to let her go but security got between them. Morgan left and Ripley headbutted a guard to the ground.
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The WWE Draft will begin on the April 26th Smackdown and continue on the April 29th Raw.
Judgment Day embraced Ripley in the back. The crowd applauded. Damian Priest said Ripley would come back and make Morgan regret what she did and she’d come back more badass than ever. Ripley thanked them and left.
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Michael Cole announced an attendance of 15,118. He also spoke about Ivar’s appearance on NXT.
Sheamus defeated Ivar (8:17)
There were chants of “Welcome back” and “Let’s go Sheamus.” Sheamus hit a big White Noise off the middle rope which popped the crowd. He didn’t go for a cover because this led to an early commercial break instead.
Sheamus hit a powerslam and Ten Beats of the Bodhrán but Ivar dropped him with a roundhouse kick and a splash off the top for two. Ivar tried a springboard crossbody but Sheamus hit a knee strike. Sheamus hit another knee and a Brogue Kick for the pinfall win.
The crowd popped for the win. A sweaty Sheamus put his arms around Cole and Pat McAfee in celebration.
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There was a video package for tonight’s IC title match.
Truth and Miz segment with Triple H
Paul “Triple H” Levesque entered to a big reaction with Pearce already in the ring. This gave Cole another opportunity to talk about the “Triple H Era.” McAfee said Triple H was “terrorizing” (Terra Ryzing) the record books. The ring was carpeted and there were a pair of title belts under a cover. HHH spoke about WrestleMania before Pearce called out the new Raw tag team champions.
R-Truth and Miz entered and we got ourselves another “You deserve it” chant. The crowd chanted for Truth who did the splits. HHH congratulated them and said it was awesome seeing Truth get a WrestleMania moment.
HHH said it was a new era and they needed to represent the tag division appropriately. He announced that they would now be known as the “World Tag Team Champions” (to match the other Raw titles). HHH revealed the new tag title belts which are gold (with a black strap) and resemble the other world titles.
Truth freaked out as if HHH just did a magic trick. There was some silly comedy with Truth thinking HHH was actually Tommaso Ciampa. Miz spoke French and explained to him that the new belts were theirs. HHH handed them belts and left. Pearce was oddly upset that Truth’s antics made HHH leave. Anyway, he announced a triple threat match to determine the next challengers.
This segment felt like it belonged in the previous era.
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The screen “glitched” as New Day entered and a QR code appeared briefly.
Triple Threat Match: Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa defeated The Creed Brothers and Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods (10:30)
New Day wiped out everyone with dives ahead of an early break.
[SECOND HOUR]
Everyone traded moves shortly after a break until Ciampa with Kingston with Project Ciampa for a nearfall. Woods tagged in and hit a tornado DDT. Woods gave Gargano the Honor Roll clothesline and knocked down Brutus Creed with a forearm.
New Day double-teamed Ciampa but Julius Creed broke up the cover and handed out suplexes to Woods, Kingston, Ciampa and Gargano. The Creeds each hit double Northern Lights suplexes for two counts. Julius gave Kingston a superplex but Woods hit Julius with a flying elbow drop. As he went for a cover, DIY hit Woods with Meet in the Middle for the pinfall win.
DIY earned a tag title match with the win.
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Jackie Redmond attempted to interview Drew McIntyre after showing a replay of CM Punk costing McIntyre his match last week. McIntyre booted the screen and stormed off.
Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell defeated Maxxine Dupri & Ivy Nile (3:35)
Hartwell cheated and is now on the same page as LeRae.
Dupri gave Hartwell a flying crossbody and a fisherman’s suplex for two. Dupri distracted herself by confronting LeRae which allowed Hartwell to drop her and tag in LeRae. Dupri fought back with a DDT.
Dupri tagged out but the referee didn’t see it because Hartwell distracted him. As the ref told Nile to get back on the apron, Hartwell (not the legal person) booted Dupri behind his back. Hartwell dragged LeRae into a cover and they picked up the win. (Hartwell also held back Nile so she couldn’t break up the cover.)
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There was a Damian Priest video package.
Judgment Day were in the back. Dominik and JD McDonagh were upset but Priest reminded them that they still ran WWE. He urged Dom to teach Andrade a lesson and told McDonagh to have his back.
Finn Bálor thought they should focus on getting the tag titles back but he had to wrestle Jey Uso tonight. Priest told him to focus on tonight and teach Jey the meaning of the word “loss.” Priest would teach Jey the meaning of the word “pain” at Backlash. Priest asked Bálor if he was good with that and Bálor agreed.
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Chad Gable was shown training with the Creed Brothers in the arena earlier this afternoon. Redmond interviewed him and asked him what it would be like to face Zayn in Montréal.
Gable said he made the Olympic team as a Minnesota guy in Iowa. Not one person in that building wanted him to win but he did and he planned on doing the same thing tonight. He knew exactly how to expose Zayn.
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Andrade defeated Dominik Mysterio (w/JD McDonagh) (8:40)
This was another match that went to an early break. Andrade fought back after a break but he missed a moonsault. Dom gave him a Canadian Destroyer on the apron which led to a two count. Dom went for a 619 but Andrade dropped him with a back elbow. Andrade knocked McDonagh off the apron and hit Dom with The Message for the pinfall win.
— McDonagh attacked Andrade after the match but Ricochet ran out to make the save.
The crowd was quiet for this. They’ve been mostly quiet for the matches tonight aside from Sheamus’ return.
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Cathy Kelley interviewed Jey Uso and asked him about Tama Tonga attacking Jimmy Uso. Jey was earnest and said he told Jimmy to come with him. However, Jey had to focus on Bálor tonight and said he would receive a Yeet-down.
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Piper Niven & Chelsea Green defeated Kayden Carter & Katana Chance (2:15)
There was a cool spot where Carter had Green on her shoulders and Chance leaped off the rope, jumped off of Green’s back and tried a flying crossbody but Niven caught her and hit a fallaway slam. Niven gave Carter a running crossbody and Green made the cover for the pinfall win.
The crowd was (understandably) quiet for this too.
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Cody Rhodes is up next.
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Kelley interviewed Liv Morgan in the back. She was booed. Morgan was confused by the reaction. Everyone in the back was mad at her but she wasn’t the bad guy. She wondered where this sympathy was for her with Ripley injured her shoulder. Morgan called it karma at its finest. Morgan said her revenge tour wasn’t over. It only ended with her as world champion.
[THIRD HOUR]
Cody Rhodes segment
The crowd woke up for Rhodes who received a very big reaction. Rhodes asked the crowd, “de quoi veux-tu parler.” They cheered. He thanked Pearce for allowing him to appear on Raw despite representing Smackdown. He mentioned his next challenger would be LA Knight (who was cheered) and AJ Styles (who was booed).
He thanked Seth Rollins for being his shield at WrestleMania. The crowd cheered and chanted, “Thank you, Seth.”
Rhodes moved on to The Rock. Rhodes said it was news to him how much training Rock did ahead of Mania. He figured Rock had more than one more match left in him. Rhodes said Rock was probably right when he said he would make him bleed again. “But if I’m going to bleed, you’re going to bleed with me.”
Rhodes spoke about the Bloodline. He found it interesting that Roman Reigns was nowhere to be found on Smackdown while supposedly making the orders to Tama Tonga.
Rhodes introduced Jey Uso who also received a big reaction. Rhodes said Jey was the number one contender. Raw was about to be his and nobody deserved it more. Jey helped him finish his story at Mania and he wanted to have Jey’s back tonight because he knew Judgment Day wouldn’t be far away.
Jey appreciated that but told Rhodes he wanted to do it on his own. Jey liked the sound of World Heavyweight Champion Main Event Jey Uso. Rhodes understood Jey wanted to do it on his own and wished him luck.
Rhodes was about to leave but couldn’t do so without saying “Yeet.”
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Kelley interviewed Nia Jax. Jax didn’t give a damn about Ripley. She didn’t think anyone in the division could stop her from winning the title. She took care of Morgan and Becky Lynch the last time she saw each of them. There were two types of people on the planet: those who fear Nia Jax and those who learn to fear Nia Jax. The title was hers.
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Jey Uso defeated Finn Bálor (9:12)
Bálor’s music hit but he attacked Jey from behind and put the boots to him. The ref quickly checked on Jey before starting the match.
This match also went to an early commercial break. Only the two women’s matches did not go to an early break, but the total time of those matches is shorter than every men’s match so far.
Jey fought back after the break. Bálor raked his eyes and set up for a dropkick but he ran into a superkick. Bálor avoided an Uso Splash and dropkicked Jey into the corner. Jey avoided a Coup de Grace and hit a spear and Uso Splash for the pinfall win.
— Priest entered the ring and had a staredown with Jey. McDonagh and Dom attacked Jey from behind and Priest was annoyed with them. Bálor got in Priest’s face and said something before joining the attack.
Jey fought them off after superkicking Dom. He chucked McDonagh into Bálor and left through the crowd. (Priest never joined the fight.)
— The camera stayed on Jey as he walked up through the concourse. He slapped hands with fans and left the arena through the front door where he ran into Sami Zayn (who got a big pop).
Zayn stood outside and was looking up at the Bell Centre. Jey asked what he was looking at. Zayn said the first show he ever saw was in this building 25 years ago and now he was returning as champion. Zayn wanted to enter the building the same way he did back then, right through the front door.
The camera followed Zayn as he marched through the concourse. He was all pumped up as the fans cheered him on. Zayn made an awesome entrance through the crowd as they went nuts and sang his songs.
I feel like this was an all-time great entrance on Raw.
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Next week on Raw:
- A new Women’s champion is crowned
- R-Truth & Miz vs. DIY for the tag titles
- Andrade & Ricochet vs. Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh
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Bronson Reed confronted Chad Gable in Gorilla before he could enter. Reed warned him that whoever won tonight wouldn’t be champion for long.
Sami Zayn defeated Chad Gable to retain the Intercontinental Championship (17:12)
Zayn had the early upper hand and the two men faced off as they went to break a minute into the match. Gable was in control after the break. He hit a dive to the outside and a diving headbutt in the ring for two. Zayn’s wife Khadijah was shown in the front row.
Gable targeted Zayn’s leg but Zayn fired back with a clothesline. Gable reversed an exploder into a cradle for two. Gable applied an ankle lock but Zayn knocked him outside the ring and followed with a springboard moonsault.
After a break, Gable hit an Angle Slam off the top. Gable followed with consecutive German suplexes but Zayn followed with two German suplexes of his own. Gable switched and hit another German so Zayn did the same. They countered each other over and over until Zayn suplexed Gable right on his head. (This looked bad but Gable continued.)
Zayn hit an exploder in the corner and went for Helluva Kick but Gable picked his leg and applied an ankle lock. Zayn countered out of it and hit a powerbomb. Zayn went for a Sharpshooter but he fell over because his ankle was hurt.
Gable avoided the Helluva Kick again and gave Zayn a German suplex into the middle rope. Gable applied the ankle lock again but Zayn eventually reversed into a cradle for two. Zayn gave Gable another exploder into the buckles and followed with Helluva Kick for the pinfall win.
— Zayn laid the title belt down and Gable was in tears. Zayn helped him to his feet and Gable lifted his arm. Gable left.
Zayn embraced his wife and his family in the front row when Gable suddenly grabbed him and hit a German suplex (outside the ring). Gable tossed Zayn around ringside and over the announce table. He shoved Zayn into the ring post and applied the ankle lock while standing on the ropes. Zayn tapped against the apron as officials tried stopping Gable. Gable held the ankle lock as the show went off the air.
The match and post-match were all really good.