WWE Raw Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights Before Crown Jewel
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE Raw on October 30 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.
This week's show was the Halloween episode, so WWE kept up its annual tradition of having a Trick or Treat Street Fight on the show, with this year's combatants being Natalya and Chelsea Green.
DIY was in action against Imperium, Seth Rollins battled JD McDonagh, Dominik Mysterio faced Ricochet in a non-title match, and Xia Li finally got some screen time against Candice LeRae.
WWE usually doesn't lean too heavily into costumes but with this year's show taking place the day before Halloween, a few Superstars may have had some surprises in store for us.
Let's take a look at everything that happened on Monday's Raw.
Dominik Mysterio vs. Ricochet
1 of 8Raw opened with Rhea Ripley's music and her coming out with Dominik Mysterio and McDonagh. She welcomed the crowd and touted The Judgment Day's recent success.
Sami Zayn interrupted her and said he is sick of hearing about the group and he has been fighting people like them his entire career. Ricochet joined Zayn before the faction could attack him. This led into Ricochet and Dominik Mysterio's scheduled match.
We returned from a break to see the match already in progress. The Highlight of the Night was taking it to Dirty Dom as Ripley yelled instructions from ringside. He was able to take control with some cheap tactics but only temporarily.
The match took up two segments, so with the promo that opened the show, The Judgment Day took up most of the first half-hour of the show. The promo segment was decent but the match was even better.
Dom has shown real improvements in recent months, and this bout put a lot of the things he has learned on display.
Ricochet being as good and versatile as he is almost forces his opponents to get better to even come close to being on his level, but he is also great at making his rivals look good.
Dom scored the win by rolling Ricochet up with a handful of tights following a distraction from McDonagh.
Result: Dominik Mysterio pinned Ricochet
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- The crowd gave Ripley a great reaction during her entrance. WWE may be forced to turn her face at some point because she might be too popular to remain a heel.
- Zayn quickly turned this into a passionate promo after it started relatively normal.
- The way McDonagh flew over the top rope when Ricochet avoided him was hilarious.
- Dom has a lot of things he needs to work on, but his dropkick has gotten pretty good.
- Zayn must not like Ricochet enough to stay at ringside for his match even though he was outnumbered by The Judgment Day.
Alpha Academy vs. Creed Brothers
2 of 8Akira Tozawa and Maxxine Dupri accompanied Chad Gable and Otis to the ring for their match against Julius and Brutus Creed, who were making their Raw debut.
For those who do not watch NXT, the Creed Brothers have been one of the best tag teams in the developmental system for the past couple of years. They favor a technical powerhouse style similar to that of The Steiner Brothers in the 1990s. Ivy Nile accompanied them to the ring, so she may have been called up with them.
Gable and Julius started off with a nice exchange of takedowns and counters. You could see the amateur wrestling background of both men on full display. When Brutus and Otis tagged in, we got a standoff between the powerhouses of their respective teams.
While this match did show the inexperience these two teams have working together, it was also a fun showdown between rivals with more in common than meets the eye.
The Creeds still have some growing to do, but pairing them with Otis and Gable for their Raw debut helped put their best skills in front of a lot of fans who have never seen them in NXT.
The second half was a lot better than the first. After Julius managed to get Otis on his shoulders, Brutus hit him with their finisher for an upset victory. All four men shook hands and celebrated together as the crowd cheered.
Result: The Creed Brothers defeated Alpha Academy
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- WWE played a nice little video package for the reunited DIY before this match.
- The mid-match handshake between two babyfaces who impress each other is always a nice moment.
- It cannot be overstated how impressive it is that Julius was able to stand up from the mat while holding Gable up in a suplex.
- Nile suplexing Tozawa at ringside was kind of funny.
DIY vs. Imperium
3 of 8The Miz hosted an episode of his talk show with Gunther as his special guest, or at least he tried. When he attempted to bring him out for the interview, nothing happened. Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci came out to insult The A-Lister.
Gunther finally decided to make an appearance as they were arguing. He told The Miz that he was not his guest and didn't respect him at all. They traded insults for a bit until the intercontinental champion had Kaiser crush a pumpkin bearing The A-Lister's logo.
The Miz tried to put up a fight, but the numbers game caught up to him right away. Not only does it look like WWE might be turning him into a babyface, but he might be the next challenger for the IC title. As he left the arena, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa came out to face Kaiser and Vinci in tag team action.
Vinci and Gargano started for their teams with a simple lock-up but quickly picked up the pace. These two teams have fought many times in NXT, so they picked right back up where they left off.
This was a solid one-two punch with Miz TV setting up Gunther vs. The Miz and this match following that segment. Everyone was on point and gave us our second entertaining tag team match of the night.
DIY scored the win when Gargano pinned Vinci following their finisher.
Result: DIY defeated Imperium
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- There was a lot of tension between Vinci and Kaiser in this segment.
- The Miz was shown approaching Adam Pearce backstage before the match got going. He asked for an IC title shot and the Raw general manager gave him a chance to earn one against Bronson Reed.
- It's always great when tag teams have matching gear.
- Vinci's missed moonsault was perfect.
Candice LeRae vs. Xia Li
4 of 8The next match saw LeRae take on a woman who has finally been getting some screen time recently, Li.
When Li was brought to the main roster, WWE gave her a fancy entrance and looked set to give her a big push, but it seemed to stop out of nowhere and never picked up again until now.
After attacking LeRae backstage last week, Li entered this match as the heel. The Poison Pixie went right after her as soon as the bell rang. Li quickly turned the tables and took control.
She nailed LeRae with a brutal kick to the head, and the ref called for the bell citing LeRae's inability to continue. Some trainers came down to check on her as Li celebrated the win.
The way this looked, it could well be a legitimate injury. If that is the case, let's hope LeRae is OK and recovers quickly.
Result: Xia Li defeated Candice LeRae by referee decsion
Grade: Since the match appeared to end in a legitimate injury, no grade and we wish LeRae the best.
Notable Moments and Observations
- Michael Cole messed up LeRae's name and then made a joke about how getting old sucks.
- The brief video package they played for Li was good.
- They should bring the lightning back for Li's entrance.
Seth Rollins vs. JD McDonagh
5 of 8We got a special video highlighting Drew McIntyre before Seth Rollins danced his way out to the ring for his match against McDonagh.
The Visionary gave a long promo before the bout about his upcoming match at Crown Jewel against McIntyre. He said he doesn't care if the Scot didn't get to win the WWE title the way he wanted and feels no pity for him.
When the match started, McDonagh found a way to take control and began punishing Rollins with his signature brand of targeted offense.
Rollins had a big size and power advantage, but the Irishman used his speed, skill and a few dirty tricks to keep himself from being a total underdog.
This was a competitive match between two guys who are at the top of their game. As Rollins was preparing to win, Priest walked toward the ring with his MITB briefcase and a referee by his side. He settled in near the announce table to watch what happened.
The Visionary hit a Pedigree and Stomp to get the win. He kept an eye on Priest the whole time just to make sure he didn't try to cash in.
Result: Seth Rollins pinned JD McDonagh
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- The video for McIntyre was excellent. It made him look more dedicated and dangerous than any of the other segments have in this storyline.
- McDonagh's slingshot corkscrew looked really good.
- The bump McDonagh took when Rollins launched him over the top rope was wild, and so was the dive the world heavyweight champion used to send him over the announce table.
Natalya vs. Chelsea Green
6 of 8The annual tradition of a Trick or Treat Street Fight continued this year when Natalya stepped into the ring with Green.
Green and Piper Niven came out dressed as The Hart Foundation to play some mind games with The Queen of Harts.
A few seconds into the contest, Green hit Natalya in the face with a pie but then immediately started slamming her head into the mat. Green started throwing candy and weapons into the ring while Niven helped.
Natalya tried to put both women into a Sharpshooter, but they kicked her into the ring post to counter. Nikki Cross was revealed to be hiding under a table with her head in a pumpkin. Her face was motionless and expressionless.
This match was never going to be a classic five-star encounter because it wasn't designed to be that. It was a holiday-themed comedy bout and that's exactly what we got.
This was decent enough but felt a bit out of place on a show that was pretty great from an in-ring perspective leading up to this. Green scored the win with some help from Niven.
Result: Chelsea Green pinned Natalya
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
- Natalya's costume looked good, but it was an odd choice of attire for a Street Fight.
- Niven dressing as Jim Neidhart was amazing. She even had chest hair applied as part of the costume.
- A powerbomb onto candy corn might hurt more than people think .That stuff gets stale fast.
Damian Priest vs. Sami Zayn
7 of 8The main event of this week's show saw Priest and Zayn square off in a singles match. Unlike most weeks, The Archer of Infamy was running solo on this occasion.
The bout started with a clean lockup, but Priest took a cheap shot in the corner when the ref was trying to separate them. The Great Liberator fired right back with some chops.
Zayn is a natural at playing the underdog, but he's also good at making himself look like a threat against much bigger competitors because he is so great.
The Archer of Infamy had some late-match help from Dom and Finn Bálor until Jey Uso came out to help. He ended up getting Zayn disqualified when he superkicked Priest. Cody Rhodes made it a three-on-three fight.
The match was good up until the overbooked ending that seems to plague every Judgment Day match these days.
Result: Damian Priest defeated Sami Zayn by disqualification
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Priest was all over this week's show. He was featured in segments during every hour.
- Cole made a big deal about The Archer of Infamy using his old finisher, which looks exactly like Cross Rhodes.
- The crowd singing along to a wrestler's entrance music will always be fun.
- The way McDonagh sold the Helluva Kick from Zayn was awesome.
The Final Word
8 of 8This week's Raw may have had a few notable low points, but as a whole, this was one of the stronger shows we have seen in recent months.
Most of the matches were good, but the heavy emphasis on the tag team division during the first half of the show allowed WWE to highlight several great young talents.
The Creeds had a great debut against Alpha Academy, DIY being back together has made a lot of fans happy, Chelsea Green is the comedic Superstar WWE has been waiting for, and The Judgment Day continues to dominate Monday nights.
With Crown Jewel coming up Saturday, it was surprising to get such a packed show instead of one filled with video packages and promos.
Grade: B+
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