This episode of “Raw” already had that magic built in, because it was John Cena’s final Monday night as an active competitor. That alone sold out MSG, but fans also got a big title change, a hefty Survivor Series: WarGames title match announcement and three massive unannounced names returning to make their presence felt.
It looked like Cena was having a lot of fun partnering with Sheamus and Rey Mysterio in a six-person tag match against The Judgement Day. You couldn’t wipe the smile off the trio’s faces as the hit each other’s signature moves, including a triple Five Knuckle Shuffle (that commentator Joe Tessitore brilliantly called “The 15 Knuckle Shuffle”). Come to think of it, we also got a 30 Beats of the Bodhran, and a double 619 — or 1,238 — from Mysterio.
• NXT star Je’Von Evans continued to elevate his stock in his Last Time Is Now tournament match against Gunther. Evans is already so good at just 21 years old. He seemed to be defying gravity as he flew around the ring.
It was also nice to see Gunther back. With the win over Evans, he seems poised to win the tournament and retire Cena.
• Maxxine Dupri got a terrific “MSG moment” by defeating Becky Lynch for the Intercontinental title, thanks to a distraction from AJ Lee, who seems to have a Lynch match awaiting her in the near future. Rhea Ripley asked for some time with Lee backstage, which implied Lee might join the Survivor Series mix.
• Welcome back, Dolph Ziggler! The former two-time world champion was a surprise entrant in the Last Time Is Now Tournament against Solo Sikoa, who won the match. I have never seen the Samoan Spike look so deadly as when Dolph got hit by it. Ziggler is a machine and hasn’t missed a beat. Could we see him and Zack Ryder, who joined “SmackDown” this past Friday, more in WWE?
• MSG was a stage big enough to see Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns square off to end the show. With those two rounding out the two men’s WarGames teams, the match becomes absolutely star-studded and more interesting. There are now lots of ways to go with the match, with no shortage of interesting combinations for pairings in the ring. I still feel like the team of The Vision (Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed), Logan Paul, Drew McIntyre and now Lesnar will prevail, setting up future feuds and world title challenges against the baby-faced team of CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso and Reigns.
John Cena, Rey Mysterio and Sheamus defeated The Judgement Day (Dominik Mysterio, Finn Balor and JD McDonagh)
Maxxine Dupri defeats Becky Lynch to win the Women’s Intercontinental Championship