WWE RAW Notes: Michael Cole Absent, NXT Women’s Title Match for Oct. 23rd RAW, Jade Cargill, New Match for Crown Jewel, New Tag Champs

WWE

Steve C.

Oct 16, 2023

WWE RAW Results – Oct. 16, 2023

October 16, 2023
Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center
Commentary – Kevin Patrick and Wade Barrett

Quick Match Results

Falls Count Anywhere match – Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Ricochet via Kinshasa (pinfall)
Piper Niven defeated Natayla via Running Crossbody (pinfall)
Ludwig Kaiser defeated Johnny Gargano via Reverse STO & DDT (pinfall)
Rhea Ripley defeated Shayna Baszler via Disqualification
Intercontinental Championship – Gunther (c) defeated Bronson Reed via Powerbomb (pinfall)
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship – Judgement Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest) defeated Jey Uso & Cody Rhodes (c) via Coup De Grace (pinfall)

Kevin Patrick Replaces Michael Cole for Monday’s RAW Show & Reason for Cole’s Absence

Monday’s season premiere RAW show in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma featured Kevin Patrick replacing Michael Cole as the lead commentator for the show.

While no official reason was given, Patrick stated that he was filling in for Cole who took the week off.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that the reason for Cole’s absence from tonight’s show is not due to any medical or serious related reason. Instead, Cole reportedly had requested for this week off some time ago due to a personal commitment.

Johnson reported that those spoken to stated that Patrick had been scheduled for “many weeks” to fill in for Cole and handle the lead commentary duty for this week’s show.

Johnson also reported that Cole is currently scheduled to return for next week’s RAW show.

NXT Women’s Title Match Announced for Next Week’s RAW Show

Monday’s RAW show in Oklahoma City also featured one new match officially announced for the card of next week’s RAW show in Dallas, Texas.

This new match announced is a NXT Women’s Championship match of Indi Hartwell vs. Becky Lynch (c).

This match was setup following a backstage promo segment involving Hartwell, Lynch, and Candice LeRae. As Lynch was walking backstage, she was stopped by Hartwell and LeRae. Hartwell stated that since Lynch was giving out shots for her NXT Women’s title, then she demanded to have a shot as well since she never actually lost her title. Lynch agreed and stated that this was something she would have a talk with new RAW General Manager Adam Pearce about.

#WWENXT Women's Champion @BeckyLynchWWE encounters a familiar face on #WWERaw… pic.twitter.com/SB7y5pqfWe
— WWE (@WWE) October 17, 2023

In a follow up segment, Lynch was seen backstage in Pearce’s office. After a brief chit chat, Pearce agreed to make her match official against Hartwell for her NXT Women’s title for next week’s RAW show.

Jade Cargill Makes Surprise Appearance on Monday’s RAW Show

Monday’s RAW show in Oklahoma City also featured Jade Cargill making a surprise appearance.

Following Becky Lynch’s backstage talk with RAW GM Adam Pearce over her NXT Women’s Championship match for next week’s show, Cargill showed up and had a brief face-to-face confrontation with Lynch. Lynch told Cargill to get in line and left which led to Cargill giving a chuckle in response. Cargill and Pearce then had a brief chat with Pearce saying that she would look better in red for the RAW brand.

Welcome to #WWERaw, @Jade_Cargill! pic.twitter.com/aJ0i4iShxw
— WWE (@WWE) October 17, 2023

WWE Women’s World Title Match Announced for Crown Jewel 2023

Monday’s RAW show in Oklahoma City also featured one new match officially announced for the card of Crown Jewel 2023, which takes place on November 4th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

This new match announced is a WWE Women’s World Championship Fatal Five-way match of Shayna Baszler vs. Nia Jax vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Zoey Stark vs. Rhea Ripley (c).

This match was initially setup following Ripley’s match against Baszler on tonight’s show being interrupted by a ringside brawl involving Jax, Rodriguez, and Stark. This led to Stark attacking Ripley causing the match to end via a disqualification.

In a follow-up backstage segment, Ripley barraged into RAW GM Adam Pearce’s office and demanded that Pearce regained control over her RAW Women’s division or else she would do it herself. Pearce responded saying that she will not be the one giving out orders and announced that she would be defending her title in a Fatal Five-way match at Crown Jewel 2023, which led to a very upset reaction from Ripley.

Mami puts the Women's World Championship on the line in a Fatal 5-Way Match at #WWECrownJewel! pic.twitter.com/7vTXqVHTrw
— WWE (@WWE) October 17, 2023

Current card for WWE Crown Jewel 2023:

WWE World Heavyweight Championship – Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins (c)
WWE Women’s World Championship Fatal Five-way match – Shayna Baszler vs. Nia Jax vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Zoey Stark vs. Rhea Ripley (c)

Judgement Day Defeats Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso for WWE Tag Titles

Monday’s RAW show in Oklahoma City also featured Judgement Day’s Finn Balor & Damian Priest defeating Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso to become the new Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions.

The finish to this match was pretty much similar to almost every Judgement Day match these days with a ton of interference and shenanigans, this time involving Dominik Mysterio and The Bloodline’s Jimmy Uso.

Thanks to Jimmy Uso, @ArcherofInfamy & @FinnBalor regain their #TagTitles on #WWERaw! pic.twitter.com/3SJRQLbU0v
— WWE (@WWE) October 17, 2023