WWE King of the Ring, Round 1: Sheamus vs. GUNTHER.
WWE Raw advertised several King and Queen of the Ring matchups, including Ricochet vs. Ilja Dragunov, Iyo Sky vs. Natalya, Jey Uso vs. Finn Balor and a clash of the titans between GUNTHER and Sheamus.
Last week’s WWE raw garnered 1.683 million viewers.
WWE Results on May 6, 2024
- Jey Uso def. Finn Balor | WWE King of the Ring, Round 1
- Iyo Sky vs. Natalya | WWE Queen of the Ring, Round 1
- Ilja Dragunov def. Ricochet | WWE King of the Ring, Round 1
- Zoey Stark def. Ivy Nile | WWE King of the Ring, Round 1
- Bronson Reed vs. Chad Gable Ends in a No Contest
- Lyra Valkyria def. Dakota Kai | Queen of the Ring, Round 1
- GUNTHER def. Sheamus | King of the Ring, Round 1
WWE Raw Ratings
- April 29, 2024 | 1.683 million
- April 22, 2024 | 1.597 million
- April 15, 2024 | 1.807 million
- April 8, 2024 | 2.362 million
- April 1, 2024 | 1.784 million
WWE Raw Ticket Sales
- WWE Raw Venue: XL Center (Hartford, Conn.)
- WWE Raw Tickets Distributed: 9,466
- WWE Raw Tickets Available: 239
WWE Raw Winners And Grades
Jey Uso Def. Finn Balor
This match was supposed to be Finn Balor vs. Drew McIntyre, but McIntyre was not cleared so Jey Uso was announced in his place. The Judgment Day was tossed from ringside before the match.
Pat McAfee did not make the trip to France, so apparently he spent his free time coming up with every “yeet” pun he could think of.
WWE now turns off the lights for Jey Uso’s entrance so fans could use their smartphone flashlights to vibe to his music.
Jey Uso has added 10-count yeet punches to his arsenal.
Drew McIntyre walked out to distract Uso, but Uso was still able to finesse a victory by spearing Finn Balor.
Finn Balor vs. Jey Uso Grade: B
CM Punk Appears Live
This week’s single-camera-shot moment of the week saw CM Punk pull up in an old-school muscle car right after a furious Drew McIntyre left the building in a luxury car. Punk then asked Adam Pearce to ask the truck to play his music as he walked out to a huge pop.
Instead of trying to cut a promo in under 5:46, CM Punk opted to go longer, challenging Drew McIntyre to a fight and daring him to turn his car around and pull up to Hartford.
Punk made a slick reference to Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” diss track by saying Drew “hates the way that I walk, hates the way that I talk...”
CM Punk Promo Segment: B-
Iyo Sky Def. Natalya
Iyo Sky and Natalya wrestled a very hard-hitting match out of the gate, and unsurprisingly, worked very well with one another.
Pat McAfee asked what the French chant was after the referee counted “two” (simplement deux), and Michael Cole said he had no idea. Apparently the chant was “only two!”
Natalya said she was looking to win the Queen of the Ring for Owen Hart, which is wild since she was the legit underdog in this match.
Fans really started to get into this match, especially when Natalya transitioned into an awesome sitout power bomb for a nearfall. This was a wrestling-heavy show, and these women set the bar very high in the first hour.
Iyo Sky won the match with a moonsault in the best King or Queen of the Ring match so far.
After the match, Dakota Kai announced Asuka was injured and she would be wrestling Lyra Valkyria in Asuka’s place.
Iyo Sky vs. Natalya Grade: A-
Ilja Dragunov Def. Ricochet
Given how hot Ricochet has been, including the fact that he’s the new WWE Speed champion and a fellow babyface, Ricochet was an odd choice to feed to newcomer Ilja Dragunov.
Just as quickly as Natalya and Iyo set the bar for the tournament’s best first-round match, Ilja Dragunov and Ricochet cleared it. Before going to break, Ricochet hit a brilliant dive to the outside captured by an incredible skycam shot.
Dragunov went for a Torpedo Moscow only to be countered by a Recoil. It was an awesome nearfall.
Dragunov won the match, but both stars got over, especially after a good-sportsmanship handshake.
Ilja Dragunov vs. Ricochet Grade: A
Zoey Stark Def. Ivy Nile
Zoey Stark and Ivy Nile had a tough act to follow, and did not get nearly as much time to even attempt to.
Zoey Stark made relatively quick work of Ivy Nile in a battle of the powerhouses.
Backstage, R-Truth and The Miz had a funny exchange with UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley. Bron Breakker (who received a big reaction) then confronted Adam Pearce as to why he wasn’t in the King of the Ring tournament.
Zoey Stark vs. Ivy Nile Grade: C
Bronson Reed Vs. Chad Gable Ends In A No Contest
During CM Punk’s single-camera segment, Chad Gable could be seen berating Alpha Academy, prompting Punk to advise Gable to take it easy on them.
There was a slip-up early on where Bronson Reed almost dropped Chad Gable, but he was able to reposition Gable in a fireman’s carry for a Death Valley Driver. Gable immediately followed up with a shaky overhead superplex before Sami Zayn crashed the ring and attacked both men. The brawl ended with Reed laying both men out. This is destined to be a Triple Threat match at King and Queen of the Ring in Saudi Arabia.
Bronson Reed vs. Chad Gable Grade: C
Becky Lynch Faces Off With Liv Morgan
Michael Cole and Becky Lynch discussed Becky’s outfit from the Kentucky Derby. Fans approved the bold choice of clothing this past Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Lynch put over many of the newcomers to the WWE Raw roster such as Kiana James, Alba Fyre, Isla Dawn and Lyra Valkyria.
Liv Morgan interrupted Becky Lynch, dressed in all black like a heel. But to be fair, Becky Lynch was dressed in all black too, aside from her colorful Adidas sneakers.
Liv Morgan challenged Becky Lynch to a WWE Women’s World Championship match at the King and Queen of the Ring. Liv accepted.
Damage CTRL surrounded Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan, and Heel Morgan quickly exited the ring, feeding Lynch to the wolves. Lyra Valkyria made the save, setting up her first-round Queen of the Ring matchup against Dakota Kai.
Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan Segment: B-
Lyra Valkyria Def. Dakota Kai
Lyra and Dakota had a very creative match, including an early spot where a suplex was countered by a small package.
I can already tell that Valkyria will fit right in with all the talent on the Raw women’s roster, which is quickly turning into the wrestling-heavy steak compared to SmackDown’s sizzle.
Lyra Valkyria vs. Dakota Kai Grade: B-
GUNTHER Def. Sheamus
WWE spent all night hyping up this much-anticipated main event by showing wars between these two men in the past.
WWE came back from break just in time for GUNTHER to wallop Sheamus with a brutal chop, one that saw sweat flying everywhere.
As GUNTHER continued to chop Sheamus, Sheamus fired up and begged for more. The crowd was very much behind Sheamus.
Ludwig Kaiser was yeeted from the ring after helping GUNTHER injure Sheamus’ right knee prior to Raw’s final commercial break.
There were three different times tonight where a King or Queen of the Ring match set the bar for best match of the tournament. First with Iyo vs. Natalya, then with Ricoche vs. Dragunov and finally with Sheamus vs. GUNTHER.
