We’re less than a week away from WrestleMania 40. Wild, right? You know we’re getting quite close because The Rock and Roman Reigns will on on WWE Raw tonight from Brooklyn, which isn’t something that happens every week.
OK, in fairness, The Rock has been around an awful lot as of late. He’s really jumped headfirst into this Final Boss heel run, regardless of whether it was originally in the cards or not.
Before you try to get any jokes off about Reigns, he typically isn’t even on Raw, so Monday nights aren’t really his domain. But it’s WrestleMania week, and now all bets are off.
Ah, but there might be the rub. See, last time we saw The Bloodline, the entire group minus Reigns was ruining last week’s episode of Raw for Cody Rhodes. Things got so bad for the American Nightmare that he ended up taking an extended beating from The Rock, one that was so one-sided that Rhodes could neither fight back nor object to hearing “look at you now” about 75 times.
Was that worse than being bloodied? You decide!
Seriously, though, it seems a bit unlikely that Rhodes would just let The Bloodline flaunt what they did without attempting to get some measure of revenge. Cody has sufficient backup in the form of Seth Rollins and Jey Uso, both of whom had his back last week, so … let’s just say it would be strange indeed if he didn’t show up trying to settle the score in Brooklyn.
There is indeed other stuff advertised for this show, including a Sami Zayn-Bronson Reed rematch, a women’s tag team match that will likely feature Candice LeRae acting horrible again, and The New Day teaming with #DIY against The Judgment Day. But Rock and Roman are where it’s at, and they might want to keep their guard up.
Let’s head to Barclays Center and see what’s what.
WWE Raw results from Brooklyn:
(please scroll down for more details on any match or segment in bold)
- As one might expect, the show begins with a recap of the stuff between The Rock and Cody Rhodes from last week’s episode of Raw
- The Rock is in Brooklyn and he’s not alone, but does Seth Rollins bite off more than he can chew?
- Footage is shown on Becky Lynch confronting Rhea Ripley on “The MMA Hour” earlier today; afterward, Cathy Kelley asks Lynch about it, and The Man says she’ll be in the ring later if Rhea wants to do something about it
- The Judgment Day def. The New Day and #DIY by pinfall
- The Rock says goodbye to Reigns, who is off to write his speech … because he’ll be inducting Paul Heyman into the WWE Hall of Fame Friday night
- A classic training montage is shown of Sami Zayn training with Chad Gable and Alpha Academy to prepare him for Gunther
- The Judgment Day gets a visit from Legado Del Fantasma, and Dom’s teammates aren’t crazy about him inviting Santos Escobar and company into their clubhouse
- Sami Zayn vs. Bronson Reed ends suddenly as Gunther attacks Gable, then Sami
- Jey Uso runs into Lil Wayne backstage, and Weezy says he’s going to premier a new single at WrestleMania
- Ivy Nile and Maxxine Dupri def. Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell by pinfall after Dupri dropkicks Hartwell into LeRae on the apron while the two are bickering (though only after Candice looks like she’s up to her dirty tricks again)
- Jey tells Seth he has his back the same way Seth had his last week; they take a walk and talk strategy
- A video promo by Drew McIntyre has the Scottish Warrior delivering what appears to be a eulogy for Seth Rollins’ career while also getting in some shots at CM Punk
LOOK IN MY EYES. WHAT DO YOU SEE?#DrewMcIntyre just held a eulogy… pic.twitter.com/HSypxuinDV
— WWE (@WWE) April 2, 2024
- Ricochet def. Ivar by pinfall, somehow hitting the big man with a fallaway slam along the way, hot damn
- Damian Priest is upset that Ricochet hasn’t been handled yet, so JD McDonagh says he’ll take care of him during the Andre the Giant Battle Royal, and Dom says Andrade can handle it, offering him full membership if he does
- Becky Lynch is looking for a fight, and she gets a brief one from Rhea Ripley
- Dakota Kai and Damage CTRL say they’ll prove at WrestleMania that they are the future while also proving something in the ring tonight
- Pearce is still struggling to get the Lynch-Ripley fracas under control backstage
- Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai and Kabuki Warriors) def. Shayna Baszler, Tegan Nox and Zoey Stark by pinfall
- Michael Cole and Pat McAfee run down the WrestleMania XL card; we do the same thing here
- Kelley asks Rollins why he’d take on this match tonight so close to double duty at WrestleMania, and along with saying he only knows one speed, he says he always has a plan B; on his way to the ring, though, he runs into McIntyre, and says “I ain’t dead yet” while heading for the curtain
- Seth Rollins vs. Solo Sikoa ends in a no contest in a Bloodline Rules match, as The Rock and Reigns end up beating the heck out of Cody and Seth to end the show
The Rock is in Brooklyn and so is Roman Reigns, but neither of them are fighting Seth Rollins tonight
The Rock is a man of his word: He told Cody Rhodes he’d make him bleed, and that’s exactly what he did. And all the Cody Crybabies didn’t like that.
Though he mocks grown adults for crying about it, there were some reactions that stopped The Rock in his tracks. Namely, little kids crying on social media. Stuff like that breaks The Rock’s heart, however … there are moments in life when a man’s gotta to what a man’s gotta do.
Uncle Rock has a message for all the kids out there after last week's attack on @CodyRhodes!#WWERaw @TheRock pic.twitter.com/wJaSZbVG6t
— WWE (@WWE) April 2, 2024
The Rock repeats his assertion that professional wrestling is cool again and ratings have skyrocketed because of The Rock. Finally, The Final Boss has come back to Brooklyn, which gets most of the fans chanting “Rocky.”
But he didn’t come alone, as the rest of The Bloodline arrives. Roman Reigns gets Brooklyn to acknowledge him, then talks about the motto on his hoodie: “Family Above All.” He says it’s how he’s always operated, and he came to Raw to acknowledge his family.
“No yeet,” he says to the the chorus of “Yeet” chants, threatening to leave if the fans continue. Reigns says he wants to thank his cousin for making this the easiest WrestleMania of his life. He says they’re going to smash Rhodes and Seth Rollins in the tag team match and then have their way with Cody on Sunday.
But The Rock went above and beyond, making Cody bleed. Reigns insists that Rhodes only wanted to be part of WWE once he saw it was becoming cool again, but while they allowed him to be involved, this is far enough.
We’ll never know what Reigns intended to say next, as Seth Rollins’ music hits and the World Heavyweight Champion descends from the crowd like he did in The Shield era. Rollins says he’s not stupid enough to fall into their trap in the ring, and if they want a piece of him, they’ll have to come up in the crowd and fight the whole city of Brooklyn.
Rollins says the time for talk is over and he wants a fight — and tonight, not five days from now. Specifically, he asks for the biggest main event of all time and challenges The Rock to a match tonight. Or Reigns, he doesn’t care, nor does he mind if they set a stipulation. Who’s got the balls, he wonders.
The fans chant for Rocky again, and he’s incredulous, saying Seth doesn’t want any of that. Rollins isn’t going to fight The Rock or Reigns, as you expected, but since they always have a plan, they step aside and let Solo Sikoa step up.
Sikoa says he’s fighting Rollins, and Seth agrees, but The Rock says it’s Bloodline Rules.
Becky Lynch and Rhea Ripley ignore the GM, start a brief scrap
No more talking for The Man. She wants a fight with Rhea Ripley right now. But General Manager Adam Pearce isn’t about that life, saying he needs to save that for WrestleMania and respectfully asks her to leave the ring.
Ripley comes out right after that, and Pearce tries to calm her down too. Rhea tosses her title belt to Pearce, powers through some security guards and heads to the ring.
The two WrestleMania opponents scrap, breaking free from security guards until Lynch dives from the top rope onto Ripley and a bunch of the guards on the floor. They’re eventually pulled apart just by sheer numbers.
Seth Rollins can’t defeat Solo Sikoa, as Bloodline Rules turns out to be literal
Rollins hits a suicide dive as soon as the bell rings, clearly not sitting back and letting Sikoa settle in. The fans challenge the record for least time passed before chanting for tables as Sikoa is hurled into the steel steps.
Heading behind the timekeeper’s area, Rollins starts chucking chair after chair at Solo, then DDTs him on a chair as well. The rest of The Bloodline might want to check on their boy.
A big cheer erupts from the fans as Rollins goes under the ring for a table setting it up in the ring. That backfires, however, when Sikoa meets him on the top turnbuckle and treats him to an Avalanche Samoan Drop to smash through it.
After commercials, Rollins has rebounded nicely, getting out a second table. Seth looks like he might go through that one too, with Solo looking for the same move. This time, Rollins pulls off the sunset flip, powerbombing Sikoa through the table. He wants a Stomp but is attacked by Jimmy Uso, who soon has to leave to deal with the incoming Jey Uso.
Unfortunately, Jey runs into The Rock, who quickly chucks Jey into the video board. The Final Boss heads for the ring and menaces Rollins. But Seth simply smiles, because Cody Rhodes’ music hits and the American Nightmare runs to the ring.
Rhodes unleashes on The Rock, then joins Rollins in clearing off the announce table. Cody looks for a Rock Bottom but is wiped out by Roman Reigns (who came out from beneath the ring), and now it’s a proper four-man melee.
The fans chant for CM Punk, but Reigns lays out Rollins with a Superman punch and spears Rhodes. Roman yells “this is it, this is everything” at Cody, then hugs The Rock. Reigns looks at his watch and The Rock takes off Cody’s belt, lashing both Rhodes and Rollins before tossing it to Reigns to do the same.
Sikoa is then ordered to hold Rhodes in place so The Rock can lash him again. The Rock holds up Cody’s belt and Roman raises his title belt as boos rain down on them. The Rock lays into Cody one more time as the show goes off the air.
