WWE Monday Night Raw Highlights Today 27 November 2023 | WWE Raw 27/11/2023 Full Highlights Today

WWE Monday Night Raw Highlights Today 27 November 2023 | WWE Raw 27/11/2023 Full Highlights Today

 

WWE Monday night Raw highlights HD Today 27 November 2023|WWE  Raw 27/11/2023

Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre

Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyreWWE

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage and recap of WWE Crown Jewel on November 4 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Here is a look at the card for Saturday's show:

Roman Reigns vs. LA Knight (Undisputed WWE Universal Championship)

Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre (World Heavyweight Championship)

Iyo Sky vs. Bianca Belair (WWE Women's Championship)

Rhea Ripley vs. Nia Jax vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Zoey Stark (Women's World Championship)

Rey Mysterio vs. Logan Paul (U.S. Championship)

Cody Rhodes vs. Damian Priest

John Cena vs. Solo Sikoa

Sami Zayn vs. JD McDonagh

Let's look at what went down at this year's Crown Jewel PPV.

JD McDonagh vs. Sami Zayn

1 OF 9

When the show went live in the stadium, Zayn came out to a huge ovation. This was the third match between him and McDonagh, and both men held a win over the other heading into this, so commentator Michael Cole hyped this up as a rubber match in their feud.

Zayn played to the crowd as they chanted for him before the action got underway. The Irishman was giving up some size, but his speed and technical ability allowed him to appear less like an underdog.

They was exactly the kind of fight you would expect given their history and the venue. Zayn was the heavy crowd favorite, so he controlled the pace for the most part, even when McDonagh appeared to be in control.

The middle portion of the bout was a little on the slow side after McDonagh took a nasty bump into the bottom rope, but once he appeared to regain his composure, they picked right back up again.

The Underdog From the Underground was able to pin McDonagh with a huge Blue Thunder Bomb. The crowd was hyped for this match and both men gave a good performance.

Result: Sami Zayn defeated JD McDonagh

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

McDonagh is finally wearing ring jackets that don't hang down lower than his trunks. 

The smile on Zayn's face during his entrance was huge. You could tell the response he was getting meant a lot to him. 

When Zayn attempted to flip McDonagh, he didn't rotate all the way and his neck ended up hitting the bottom rope in an awkward way. He appeared to be OK, but that could not have felt good. 

Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre (World Heavyweight Championship)

2 OF 9

After several minutes of video packages hyping the show and this match, Rollins made his way out to a chorus of fans singing along to his music.

McIntyre came into this looking to right what he perceived as wrongs in his career, so he wasn't holding back. This contest kicked into high gear early and didn't slow down until it was time to start selling bigger bumps.

The Scottish Warrior used his superior strength to control the champion, but it wasn't a one-sided fight. McIntyre had the upper hand most of the time but had to deal with short bursts of offense from Rollins every couple of minutes.

They did a good job turning this into a David vs. Goliath story even though Rollins wasn't giving up that much in size and weight. His established back injury came into play a couple of times, so he also had that working against him.

Both men kicked out of each other's finisher as they worked toward the finish. It took a superkick, a Pedigree and a Stomp for The Visionary to finally keep the Scot down for the three-count to end a fantastic match.

As Rollins sat in the ring looking hurt, Priest came down and tried to cash in his MITB contract. But Zayn came out of nowhere and attacked him before running off with the briefcase.

Result: Seth Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

The video packages were great, but it was more than 20 minutes between the end of the pre-show bout and the start of this match. 

Rollins tripped a little on his huge jacket but didn't fall. High fashion has its downsides. 

The Visionary's tights looked like something The Rockers would have worn. 

The exchange of chops early in the match was a fun sequence. 

McIntyre almost slipped when he tried to hit a belly-to-belly suplex. Rollins barely made the rotation. 

Ripley vs. Jax vs. Stark vs. Rodriguez vs. Baszler (Women's World Title)

3 OF 9

Ripley was given a special entrance for this Fatal 5-Way match for the Women's World Championship.

The champion had a smile on her face as the bell rang and everyone squared up. Jax rolled out of the ring and let everyone else go at it. Everyone worked together against her when they had the chance, but once she was out of the ring again, they all started fighting once more.

Even though there were three other women in the squared circle, this bout sometimes felt like it was all about Ripley and Jax. Stark, Baszler and Rodriguez were good additions to the match, though.

You could see all five competitors putting everything they had into this performance, which was necessary after the banger we witnessed before it. The crowd being so into everything helped keep the energy high in the Mohammed Abdu Arena.

Ripley was able to retain her title by slamming Stark onto Rodriguez and Baszler with the Riptide from the middle rope to end a decent match with plenty of memorable moments.

Result: Rhea Ripley pinned Shayna Baszler

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

Byron Saxton was doing the ring announcing for this show. 

Ripley's entrance was unique but seemed a bit on the long side. The AR graphic for it did look cool, though.

Baszler putting Ripley, Jax and Rodriguez in three submissions at the same time was a great spot. 

John Cena vs. Solo Sikoa

4 OF 9

Sikoa stepped into the ring for the biggest match of his career against Cena. The crowd was clearly in the veteran's corner but also gave The Street Champ a good reaction.

Cena avoided a couple of early attempts at the Samoan Spike but couldn't evade the powerhouse's grip forever. Sikoa began to systematically take his rival apart once he had the upper hand.

Unfortunately, the match suffered a bit from the slower pace because it went on for too long like that. Cena would occasionally try to get in a few moves, but his attempts were stalled too quickly to get the crowd worked up.

This match was clearly booked to make Sikoa look like a monster and it worked, but dominance makes no difference if the contest itself isn't living up to its potential.

The last few minutes were a bit more exciting once Cena started stringing together more moves. Sikoa drilled him with four Samoan Spikes but refused to make a cover. He picked Cena's head up and hit him with several more Spikes before finally covering him for the win.

This was a huge victory for Sikoa. Hopefully, WWE capitalizes on his momentum from this.

Result: Solo Sikoa defeated John Cena

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

Sikoa got some fancy new gear for this match. 

It wasn't easy to notice but the ring was a little more elevated than usual. You could see it when Cena and Sikoa were outside of it standing next to the apron. 

Sikoa may have a lot in common with Umaga, but seeing him face Cena really illustrates how much bigger Umaga was. 

Rey Mysterio vs. Logan Paul (United States Championship)

5 OF 9

The Miz tried to host an episode of Miz TV with Saudi actor and comedian Ibrahim Al Hajjaj before Grayson Waller came out and tried to hijack the segment to turn it into his show.

Waller ended up getting hit with a Skull Crushing Finale to end the segment and cement The Miz as a babyface.

After a few more videos, Mysterio and Paul came out for their United States Championship bout. The latter had a special entrance in a dune buggy.

You could see a look on the YouTuber's face as Mysterio was making his entrance and it made him look a little nervous, which is not something he has shown in his previous appearances.

They started with a simple exchange of holds and counters. You could see some improvements to Paul's game despite still being a bit green in places.

They were forced to work a certain way due to Paul's limitations, but they did a great job making sure both men looked good even though this never quite reached the level of excitement Mysterio's matches are known to produce.

The veteran was more than up to the task of helping Paul fill in the gaps in his game. Pairing the social media star with competent performers has allowed him to learn from some of the best in high-profile situations, so he has picked up a lot of skills in a short amount of time.

What Paul lacks in experience he more than makes up for with a willingness to perform spots nobody expects from him, which helped to make this match more enjoyable as it went along.

Santos Escobar showed up, but he was unable to prevent Paul from using a set of brass knuckles to hit his Knockout Punch and score the win to become the new United States champion.

Yes, you read that right.

Result: Logan Paul defeated Rey Mysterio to win the U.S. title

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

Waller got a bit of a pop when his music hit before the booing started. 

The Australian is great at his role. He can act all cocky and then get his ass kicked and still come back being all cocky the next week.

Paul's rolling senton into a springboard moonsault looked good. 

The YouTuber hitting a moonsault fallaway slam into a pin was the most unexpected thing in this match. 

Iyo Sky vs. Bianca Belair (WWE Women's Title)

6 OF 9

The second women's match of the night came when Sky defended the WWE Women's Championship against Belair.

The EST of WWE was trying to win early and was already scoring two-counts a minute into the match. She had the power advantage and was looking to use it at every opportunity.

The Genius of the Sky missed a missile dropkick at one point, but Belair's knee had taken too much damage by that point for her to do anything about it.

As the bout progressed, both women started pulling out moves that we rarely see from them. Bayley showed up at ringside but didn't immediately have an impact. Sky ended up taking her out by mistake, but The Role Model still tried to help her by going after The EST.

Kairi Sane showed up out of nowhere and took out Belair while Sky was keeping the referee busy. This allowed Sky to hit a moonsault for the win.

The second half of this match was a big step up from the first, but the return of Sane is going to be what everyone is talking about.

Result: Iyo Sky defeated Bianca Belair

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

Sky's gear looked cool. 

The dragon screw Sky hit looked nasty. Belair sold it perfectly. 

The crowd seemed tired or uninterested for most of this match, which is a shame because both of these women are great. 

The German suplex Belair hit turned Sky inside out. It looked good, especially from the camera angle that was used. 

Bayley looked like a disco ball in her outfit. 

Cole reminded us that it was Bayley who faced Sane in her last WWE appearance. 

Damian Priest vs. Cody Rhodes

7 OF 9

Since Zayn still had the MITB briefcase in his possession, Priest showed up for his match with Rhodes carrying only his tag title belts.

The Archer of Infamy was in an understandably bad mood and looking to take it out on Rhodes by attacking him before the bell. The American Nightmare recovered quickly and started to take control.

They took the fight out of the ring, and Priest hit The Reckoning on top of the announce table. When they got back between the ropes, Rhodes hit Cross Rhodes to even the score.

Finn Bálor came to ringside and distracted the ref so McDonagh could help Priest. Jey Uso showed up to take out the rest of The Judgment Day and drive them away with a chair.

This show had a handful of matches with interference, so it started to feel played out by the time it happened here. The contest was fine if a little predictable. Rhodes won after hitting three Cross Rhodes in a row.

Result: Cody Rhodes defeated Damian Priest

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

Priest is always great at making his strikes look like they connect. 

Rhodes was doing a good job selling his injured ankle. 

Priest has a great chokeslam. 

Roman Reigns vs. LA Knight (Universal Championship)

8 OF 9

The main event of the pay-per-view saw Reigns defend his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against the red-hot Knight.

The crowd was heavily in favor of The Megastar and chanted his name as the two men stood in the ring for the official introductions.

The Tribal Chief got the upper hand early, but Knight turned things around and started controlling the pace once the fight spilled out of the ring.

This bout followed the same pattern as most of Reigns' matches. It had long periods of slow action with short sequences sprinkled throughout. For some reason, it just wasn't clicking here the way it has in some of his other feuds, possibly because he and Knight don't have much history between them yet.

Everything they did looked good, but the way the story was told felt too similar to things we have seen from The Tribal Chief already.

Predictably, Sikoa and Jimmy Uso got involved by providing some distractions. Knight kicked out of a Spear and almost won with his finisher, but Jimmy got his cousin's foot on the bottom rope.

Reigns speared Knight through the barricade before bringing him back into the ring for another Spear to get the win.

Result: Roman Reigns defeated LA Knight

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

The video package for this match was awesome, but between that and the entrances, it took about 15 minutes to get to this match. 

The ref just started ignoring the rules after a few minutes so they could do whatever they wanted. 

You could hear some kids screaming at one point when the crowd went quiet. 

It's always impressive to watch someone jump from the mat all the way to the top rope.