WWE Raw results, recap, grades: Gunther and Valkyria punch tickets to the King and Queen of the Ring finals

Gunther and Valkyria advanced to the finals of their respective tournaments on Saturday

The focal point of Monday night's episode of Raw as that one man and one woman would punch their tickets to the King and Queen of the Ring finals. After winning their semifinal matches, we now know it is Gunther and Lyra Valkyria who will go on to face the SmackDown finalists.

Gunther managed to outlast Jey Uso in the night's main event, while Valkyria was able to pull off a shock win over former women's world champion Iyo Sky to earn her own trip to the finals. Gunther and Valkyria now wait for Friday's edition of SmackDown to find out who they will face at Saturday's premium live event from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Gunther and Lyra Valkyria advance to King and Queen of the Ring finals

The King and Queen of the Ring tournaments have produced plenty of fantastic matches in 2024. But by the end of Monday's episode, only one man and one woman were left standing.

Queen of the Ring semifinal match -- Lyra Valkyria def. Iyo Sky via pinfall with a counter into a folding pin, giving the former NXT women's champion her biggest win since joining the main roster.

King of the Ring semifinal match – Gunther def. Jey Uso via submission with a modified arm-triangle choke. Gunther largely dominated the match, working over Uso's arm along the way. Uso nearly pulled off a comeback with a spear and Uso Splash but the referee was also knocked down by the spear, delaying the count. Moments later, Gunther wrapped up the submission to advance to the finals.

The matches didn't quite reach the "special" heights of some of the previous tournament bouts, though both were filled with plenty of solid action. WWE has to figure out some way to get Valkyria to connect with the audience that goes beyond simply being Becky Lynch's friend. The match with Sky showed some of what she can do in the ring, but the crowd still doesn't seem to be fully connecting with Valkyria. As for Gunther vs. Uso, it was a very good match as Gunther continues to pull people up to his level and force them to go a bit outside their comfort zone. The finish was a solid bit of protection since Uso is -- for better or worse -- very over with the live crowds, but Gunther losing so quickly in a TV match after his 666-day reign as intercontinental champion would have been the wrong call. Grade: B

What else happened on WWE Raw?

• Chad Gable def. Sami Zayn via pinfall with Chaos Theory in a non-title match. All three members of Alpha Academy refused to interfere on Gable's behalf during the match, increasingly frustrating Gable. Gable snapped and slapped Otis and moments later Otis interfered, hitting Zayn with a clothesline to set up the finish.
• Bron Breakker def. Kale Dixon via referee stoppage after two spears. Those spears were the only moves Breakker hit before the referee called the match off. Breakker was still upset over being left out of the King of the Ring tournament. After the match, Breakker hit another spear and then hit Dixon in the head with a steel chair as Dixon's head was on the ring steps. Later in the show, Breakker speared Ricochet backstage after Ricochet had interrupted an Ilja Dragunov backstage interview to talk about running back their match from the King of the Ring opening round.

• World Tag Team Championship -- Awesome Truth (c) def. Judgment Day (JD McDonagh & Finn Balor) via pinfall when R-Truth hit McDonagh with an Attitude Adjustment. Carlito attempted to interfere in the match but Braun Strowman eventually made his way to ringside to help Awesome Truth retain the titles.
• Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan exchanged words after Morgan interrupted a Lynch promo. The two talked about their match at King and Queen of the Ring and Lynch dared Morgan to fight her there and then but Morgan slipped out of the ring, saying she'd do the smart thing and wait for Saturday.
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender Match -- Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark def. Ivy Nile & Maxxine Dupri, Katana Chance & Kayden Karter & Dakota Kai & Kairi Sane via pinfall when Baszler pinned Dupri.
• Ludwig Kaiser was interviewed backstage calling Sheamus a "keyboard warrior" and wondering if he'll simply fade away or return so Kaiser can put him down.
• Drew McIntyre was also interviewed backstage and claimed to have gotten one over on Damian Priest by getting Priest to agree give him a future title shot. McIntyre also pointed out that Priest is spreading himself too thin with all of Judgment Day's drama.