Monday Night Raw
Date: March 31, 2025
Location: 02 Arena, London, England
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee, Wade Barrett

We’re wrapping up the European shows this week with one more show in London. They’re getting a big one here too, with John Cena and Cody Rhodes going face to face again, plus Rhea Ripley getting another shot at the Women’s Title. Gunther is also getting to face Jimmy Uso to get ready for Wrestlemania so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Here is John Cena to get things going but as he puts the mic to his mouth, cue Cody Rhodes to interrupt. Rhodes says we’ve seen Cena talk for two weeks now so let Rhodes do his job for him. Let’s see: Rhodes has a bit of a lisp, so some S words don’t come out right. Like STARDUST. That’s who Cena is facing in his final Wrestlemania match in the main event: STARDUST. What else? Oh yeah: Rhodes has an arm tattoo his neck and he created his own wrestling company.

Rhodes knew Cena would go with some of these things but Rhodes is dealing with the idea that Superman is really dead. The truth is that they used to ride together and Rhodes knows that Cena cared about the people. Cena finally responds, saying he’s not going to punch down to Rhodes’ level. Instead he’s going to bury Rhodes at Wrestlemania. Cena is always accused of burying talent, but the reality is he is talent but buries mediocrity. He isn’t going to call out Rhodes for things like a lisp because Rhodes is just a chauffeur.

Rhodes thinks he found the blueprints so he can run the kingdom. For years, Rhodes sat by Cena and learned from him, then he tried to do it himself. Now he relies on cheap gimmicks like having fans chant his name to get by. Rhodes is a pied piper, as he uses cheap tricks to get people to follow him. All we get is some big mixture of every TV show that Rhodes has ever watched from a kid who is still scared of public speaking.

Cena hates seeing a pathetic nepo baby carrying the title when he had his gimmick tattooed on his neck. Rhodes is nothing but a common fan, who can go buy the Fanatics toy title and be the People’s Champion (nice touch of Cena calling out Rhodes for doing the same thing as the Rock, who got Cena to turn). Rhodes says that the people chose him, just like one man chose Cena but we don’t talk about him anymore (the fans OOO at that one). The reality is that Cena has more dick in his promo than in his jorts and he hangs out with Zac Efron and wishes he was 16 anymore.

Sure Rhodes left for his own company, but Cena didn’t even clean up his room before he went Hollywood. There are two of them in this ring right now, and which one of them sold out to the Rock? Rhodes: “John, you are still my hero, but you’re also a piece of s***.” Cena says Rhodes’ mind is full of feces and not facts. He sold out because no one is worthy of following him.

After all these years, he still finds ways to make things great, including Rhodes. Cena: “I make empires for billionaires. All you’ve ever done is steal money from their kids.” Cena goes to leave, but Rhodes says that not once have the fans told him that he can’t wrestle. THAT touches a nerve with Cena, who gets back in and they go face to face. Cena teases leaving but tries a right hand, only to walk into Cross Rhodes. With Cena down, Rhodes tucks his tie in (nice touch) and points to the Wrestlemania.

Cena was starting to go over the top supervillain here but then he and Rhodes started throwing bombs at each other. What mattered here was Cena gave something more of a clear explanation for why he turned. That gives both of them something to prove, with Rhodes needing to show that he can beat one of the best of all time and Cena wanting to prove that he still has it. Heck of a segment here.

Video on Rhea Ripley vs. Iyo Sky.

New Day comes out for a match and Adam Pearce introduces their surprise opponents.

New Day vs. New Catch Republic

The team is back and Tyler Bate has cut off a lot of his hair, looking a lot more like he did when he made his WWE debut. Dunne easily takes Woods down so Bate can hit a Swanton, followed by a pair of dives to the floor as we take a break. Back with Dunne in trouble and Woods hitting a running dropkick in the ropes.

Kingston knocks Dunne down again but misses a charge, allowing the tag to Bate. A suplex sends Kingston out of the corner so Bate can do his airplane spin. The German suplex/rebound lariat combination gets two, as does Kingston’s SOS. Dunne is back up with a kick to Kingston but Bate’s springboard is broken up. The Daybreaker finishes Dunne at 8:52.

Rating: B-. It was nice to have the Republic getting back in the ring as they’re a good team and there will always be a place for a team like them. That being said, New Day needed the win as they have fallen pretty far since their nuclear heat after turning on Big E. Having them win the titles at Wrestlemania would be nice, but dang there would be something to having Big E. cost them the match.

Post match New Day says they want a title shot so here are the War Raiders to say come get it.

Jimmy and Jey Uso fire each other up for their matches with Gunther. Jey tells him to be careful.

Gunther vs. Jimmy Uso

Non-title. Gunther starts fast with the chops and they’re on the floor in a hurry. Back in and Jimmy sends him outside for a suicide dive but the Superfly Splash hits raised knees. Jimmy catches him on top for a superplex into the Superfly Splash for two as the hot start continues. They go outside again where Gunther drops him onto the apron, setting up that hard lariat. We take a break and come back with Gunther hitting his big dropkick. The powerbomb gets two, with Gunther pulling him up. The sleeper puts Jimmy out at 8:35.

Rating: C+. I was surprised and a bit disappointed by this one as Jimmy felt like he was going to be getting this big shot at Gunther and then it was barely a step above a squash. Gunther kicked out of the Superfly Splash and then just mauled him. That’s not the most thrilling match, but at least Gunther looked like a monster again.

Post match the beatdown is on but Jey Uso makes the save.

Post break Jey helps Jimmy out but Gunther runs back in and beats both of them down. Gunther isn’t done and zip ties Jey to the ropes, allowing him to beat Jimmy up even more. He taunts Jey and gets in a belt shot to knock Jimmy off the apron. Jimmy is busted open and Gunther rubs the blood on his own chest. Jey tries to pull Jimmy to him but Gunther pulls him back for elbows to the head and a sleeper. Gunther: “HELP YOUR BROTHER!” Agents and security finally come in for the save. This was awesome and some good, old school heeling from Gunther, who is going so far that Jey is going to want to get his revenge.

We recap the CM Punk/Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins contract signing for Wrestlemania, with the announcement that it’s closing the show, making Punk a Wrestlemania main eventer. Punk made it clear that is NOT the favor Paul Heyman owes him though.

Finn Balor is ready to bring gold back to the Judgment Day, but doesn’t seem pleased with Raquel Rodriguez for losing last week. Balor and most of the men leave but Carlito stays behind, only to be thrown out by the women.

Judgment Day vs. Bron Breakker/Penta

Penta gets knocked down to start but Breakker comes in to take over without much trouble. It’s already back to Penta for the slingshot dropkick in the corner to Balor, followed by a backbreaker to Mysterio. Breakker pulls the top rope down so Penta can hit a big running flip dive to the floor as we take an early break. Back with Penta hitting the Backstabber and handing it off to Breakker to clean house. The running clothesline hits Balor and a super Sling Blade takes out Mysterio. The Super Spear hits Penta by mistake though and Balor adds the Coup de Grace for the pin at 9:12.

Rating: C+. It seems that we’re getting ready for a big multi man match for the Intercontinental Title at Wrestlemania and Balor getting the pin here should getting him back into the title picture. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Dominik Mysterio added to the whole thing too, and having him steal the title would be great. Penta losing is a bit annoying, but it came after two finishers and miscommunication in a tag match so it’s hardly a terrible idea.

Chad Gable is still out with a medical issue, but he’ll be fine by next week for a match in his hometown. Adam Pearce says nothing is more important than his health, so next week, it’s El Grande Americano in action instead. Gable goes to leave and runs into the Alpha Academy, who he calls clowns and an idiot (Otis). Maxxine says she and Natalya have been talking and they want in the Women’s Tag Team Title picture. Oh dear.

Penta yells at Bron Breakker for the spear.

Here is AJ Styles to call out Logan Paul, who doesn’t leave him waiting long. Paul mocks the fans for not liking him, saying they’re on his time. As for Styles, Paul has had a change of heart. He’s a girl dad now, and he forgives Styles for what he did to him at Madison Square Garden. Styles has a daughter too, and forgives Paul for being the biggest douchebag ever in WWE. Paul can have all the money and fame that he wants, but the people care about what he can do in the ring.

The fans get on Paul for Prime being awful before the insults continue (with Styles kind of stumbling over his line about not letting your mouth write a check you a** can’t cash and Paul having to save it). Styles seems ready to fight but Paul teases a Wrestlemania match instead. Paul calls the fans poor and then tries a kick to the ribs, with the fight being on. They go outside but Paul gets in a low blow, setting up the Paulverizer to leave Styles laying. The Paulverizer looked great, but this feud isn’t clicking for me. It doesn’t help that it feels like the “these two have nothing else to do” feud.

Lyra Valkyria is happy with her title defense last week but now she wants to even the score with Bayley. She’ll do that next week in their title match.

Finn Balor says “he” won the tag match and wants an Intercontinental Title shot. With Balor gone, Liv Morgan says Dominik Mysterio shouldn’t be happy with this and is going to talk to Adam Pearce.

Raw Women’s Title: Iyo Sky vs. Rhea Ripley

Ripley is challenging and Bianca Belair is guest referee. After the big match intros, Ripley hammers away into the corner but Sky fights out in a hurry. They trade rollups for two each until Ripley takes over again and we take an early break. Back with Sky hitting a running dropkick, followed by a missile dropkick to put her on the floor. Sky’s suicide dive takes Ripley down again and they go back inside, where Ripley gets caught up top.

Sky tries a super poisonrana but Ripley blocks it, setting up a….I think super Samoan drop but Sky seems to get the better of it. Weird sequence. Anyway, Sky hits the Bullet Train and goes up, only to get headbutted out of the air for two. A toss Razor’s Edge sends Sky flying for two but Belair accidentally gets decked. Riptide connects but there is no referee, with the fans counting up to about thirteen.

Back in and Sky kicks out (over a minute after Riptide connected so it’s fine), leading to an argument between Ripley and Sky. Ripley hammers on Sky in the ropes but gets wrestled down, with Ripley hitting Belair in the face. Sky comes in off the top with a (accidental) missile dropkick to Belair, who calls the double DQ at 14:45.

Rating: B. This was a big time angle with a match included and that worked well. The double DQ is a way to avoid either of them taking a fall and should get us to what will likely be a triple threat title match at Wrestlemania. This one does have a story, though dang I could go for some more singles title matches for a change. Either way, good stuff here and they did it as they should have.

Post match the big three way brawl is on with Ripley getting to stand tall. Ripley adds a super Riptide to Belair to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. It’s always impressive when there can be so little wrestling (only four matches) and yet it felt like a show that did so much for Wrestlemania. You can see most of the card from here and some of the other matches are just waiting to be set. The Rhodes/Cena segment was great and made me want to see the match that much more. This was the moving day show for Wrestlemania and that is a great feeling in Wrestlemania season. It’s the kind of show they needed to do and the next two weeks should be similar.

Results
New Day b. New Catch Republic – Daybreaker to Dunne
Gunther b. Jimmy Uso – Sleeper
Judgment Day b. Penta/Bron Breakker – Coup de Grace to Penta
Rhea Ripley vs. Iyo Sky went to a double DQ when both attacked the referee

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: March 17, 2025
Location: Forest National, Brussels, Belgium
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re still in Europe and that means the show is airing live around the world on Netflix. That makes for an interesting setup but there is something a bit more interesting than that on top. The big story this week is John Cena returning and hopefully explaining his attack on Cody Rhodes. The fact that Rhodes is here too should help so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Commentary hypes up the card and says we should give John Cena the chance to explain himself.

We look back at Cena’s heel turn with Cody Rhodes’ promo from last week narrating.

Here is Cena to get things going and the fans are not pleased with him. Cena has the regular gear on and holds up the Last Time Is Now towel but is much more stoic than usual with far less energy. The dueling chants begin and Cena takes the microphone, which he drops and teases leaving but stops. Cena finally gives a quote about how you shouldn’t have to look outside yourself for approval.

The fans keep booing and Cena says this is making it so easy for him. Cena says that for twenty five years, he has been in an abusive relationship. The people have spent all these years bullying him into being his puppet and expecting him to do it with a smile on his face. The fans are not pleased with this and let him know (the censoring takes a second to catch up), which Cena calls “so very classy”. Cena: “I am not a babyface. I am not a heel. I’m a human being.”

Everyone has been awful to him and it has been the same noise for twenty five years (eh more like twenty but close enough). The fans have let him know that he wasn’t worthy of his attention so he changed himself, but it wasn’t enough. Then he worked hard like he always did and he did nothing but win and they still didn’t like him. Cena says the only thing he can do is leave, which is something that has never been done before, which gets some cheers.

One last time, Cena tries to do something nice for them and YOU RUIN IT JUST LIKE YOU RUIN EVERYTHING. Just like tonight, it’s two seconds of being great but that’s never enough! The fans sing the Goodbye Song and Cena goes into a rant about how everything has always been about what the fans get. No one ever asked how he was feeling so they get what they deserve, which is NOTHING. The fans don’t get a new look or new music because the look is his, just like the voice on his theme song.

The only thing you get is a long look in the mirror to see how bad people have been to him for twenty five years. Cena mocks the WE WANT CODY chant before pointing out some LET’S GO CENA chanters. Those people are the worst of them all because they have done nothing but steal from him. You steal his moments and times and made him the punchline of a stupid invisible joke for FIFTEEN YEARS AND IT IS NOT FUNNY!

These people wear words like hustle, loyalty and respect but he lives them every day. You think you can buy the idea of “never give up”? He is the embodiment of the idea and these people use him as an excuse for their pathetic failures of a life. Each of them, including the kid in Cena gear in the front row, is part of a TOXIC RELATIONSHIP. Cena: “I’m breaking up with you. I’m done. I’m breaking up with every single person. You’re dumped. I don’t care about you and you don’t matter to me.”

Cue Cody Rhodes to an absolute roar, leaving Cena just shaking his head. Rhodes says everyone, including himself, was willing to hear Cena out. Cena said everyone gave him their worst but they have also given him their best for twenty five years. They did that because Cena could do that and carry it. Cena: “Listen kid…” Rhodes: “ENOUGH! It certainly isn’t kid. It’s WWE Champion.”

Rhodes was looking forward to going toe to toe to Cena week to week but this version better not show up at Wrestlemania. He already took Cena’s best shot so he’ll send Cena to retirement early. At Wrestlemania, he wants the real Cena, not this whiny b****. Rhodes leaves (no music) and poses on the stage with the title before leaving. Cena drops the mic and goes to leave, earning a reprise of the Goodbye Song. He goes up the aisle, teases a pose, and then walks away.

This went on for the better part of half an hour and it didn’t feel real. After so many years of the same kind of stuff from Cena, it was so strange to see him just unleashing all of this venom. It worked very well and told Cena’s story, with Cena intentionally talking down to everyone watching. That’s what it should have been and while it’s going to take some time to process, my goodness did it work well, with the fans being furious with him the whole time. Rhodes’ stuff was fine, but this was ALL about Cena, as fans have been waiting a very long time for this.

Michael Cole goes on a rant about what Cena just said and credits the fans for everything that Cena has. Cole: “Cena is an irrational p***k.” Corey Graves says we don’t have to like it but there’s going to be a fight at Wrestlemania.

The main event is for the Intercontinental Title so we look at some classic Wrestlemania matches, including Savage vs. Steamboat. Yeah that still holds up.

Penta vs. Ludwig Kaiser

No DQ and they slug it out to start until Penta knocks him to the floor. A missed charge sends Penta into the timekeeper’s area but Penta walks the barricade for a hurricanrana into the apron (thankfully Kaiser stood there while Penta was coming at him). Penta hits a big running flip dive over the top and they strike it out on the announcers’ table. Kaiser goes to the eyes and hits a Death Valley Driver onto the table as we take a break.

Back with Penta hitting a high crossbody and a Backstabber to put Kaiser down. Kaiser gets in another Death Valley Driver and they go outside, where Penta backdrops him onto the announcers’ table. Back in and they strike it out until Kaiser gets two off a neckbreaker. Kaiser demands that Penta fear him and hits a loud chair shot to the back. He demands that Penta say he’s scared but Penta reverses into the Sacrifice.

Penta grabs a chair so Kaiser backs off and says Penta wins. Then Kaiser rakes the eyes and takes the chair, only to get it superkicked into his face. Penta does it again and hits a middle rope Canadian Destroyer onto the chair (ignore that Penta landed on it instead of him), setting up the Penta Driver for the pin at 13:53.

Rating: B. The thing that catches my attention here is how few weapons they used here. Other than the announcers’ table, the chair was the only thing involved. Rather than using a bunch of weapons, they told a story with Kaiser becoming obsessed with breaking Penta but not being able to do it. Penta gets a big win and can move on, possibly into a title feud.

Post match Penta thanks the fans and says he’s coming for the Intercontinental Title. There you go.

Dakota Kai comes to the ring. Of note: Karrion Kross could be seen talking to Dominik Mysterio.

We go to the Judgment Day clubhouse where the team wishes each other luck when Dominik comes in. Balor thanks him for getting an Intercontinental Title shot tonight. Dominik has an idea of adding someone new to the team (Liv Morgan doesn’t think this is the right time) like say, Penta. Balor is NOT pleased and calls Dominik a snake. With Balor gone, Dominik says he didn’t know Penta wanted the Intercontinental Title. Carlito: “You don’t watch the show do you?” Points for a funny line.

Dakota Kai vs. Ivy Nile

Chad Gable and the rest of American Made are here too. Kai knocks her into the corner to start but what looks like an RKO is shoved away. Nile hammers away but charges into some shots to the face. Kai fights back with a boot in the corner and another out to the floor, only for Gable to offer a distraction. Back up and Nile hits something like a swinging Rock Bottom for two but here is the LWO to go after the Creeds. Gable is chased out of the arena and the running boot in the corner into the GTK finishes for Kai at 2:49.

Adam Pearce is here to emcee the contract signing between Iyo Sky and Bianca Belair. Sky says she won’t be disrespected again because she is the Women’s World Champion. She signs to get us halfway done. Belair says if Sky thought that was disrespectful, Sky doesn’t know her at all. Belair signs as well…and here is Rhea Ripley to interrupt.

Ripley gets in Belair’s face but says she’s just here to watch. Ripley isn’t pleased and gets shoved by Bianca, only for Ripley to put Belair on the table. A powerbomb sends Sky onto Belair….and Ripley signs the contract as well before taking it with her. This continues the wrestling tradition of THIS ISN’T HOW CONTRACTS WORK.

Jey Uso is ready to face Gunther….and then he runs into Gunther. Arguing and shoving ensues but security breaks it up.

Jey Uso vs. Austin Theory

Grayson Waller is here with Theory, who gets speared for the pin at 30 seconds.

Post match Uso tries a dive onto the villains but doesn’t quite clear the rope, thankfully being ok as he lands on the apron. Gunther comes in for the sleeper but Uso fights out and the brawl is on. Uso takes the title off of Gunther, who gets it back and bails. Yeeting ensues. Gunther continues to feel secondary to a lot of things around here and that’s not a great sign.

Video on Bron Breakker vs. Finn Balor.

Adam Pearce yells at Rhea Ripley about the contract, saying it’s like talking to a child. Ripley gives the contract back and wants in the match but here is Bianca Belair to jump her. Iyo Sky joins in and all three of them fight each other. Pearce and a single referee come in to break it up, which seems inefficient.

Creed Brothers vs. LWO

Brutus is knocked to the floor to start as Graves suggests that last week’s masked luchador could have been Del Wilkes or Tom Brandi. Julius comes in with a hard clothesline and we take a break. Back with Mysterio coming in to clean house but Julius gets in a backbreaker. Mysterio hits a DDT and Lee takes out Brutus, leaving Mysterio to hit a 619 into the springboard splash for the pin at 5:47. Not enough shown to rate but it was about getting Mysterio in the ring, which is fine.

Post match the masked luchador comes in to jump the LWO, including some German suplexes. Security chases him off.

We look back at last week’s main event with Roman Reigns attacking Seth Rollins, costing CM Punk a match. Reigns then took Punk out as well, mainly due to Paul Heyman checking on Punk.

Here is Rollins (in far more normal attire) for a chat. We get a VERY extended WHOA period from the crowd, Rollins hits his catchphrase and praises the people. The fans chant for CM Punk and then Roman Reigns but Rollins finds it impressive that Reigns still can’t come up with a plan without his Wise Man. Reigns had everything figured out but he forgot one more detail, with the fans against chanting for Punk.

Rollins says this is like the good old days, as he has to clean up Reigns’ mess. This Friday, they’ll be in the same place on Smackdown and he’ll get in between the two of them. That’s for a few days from now though, so how about the fans sing his song one more time before the main event? And they do. Rollins didn’t say much here but it was mainly about saying “we’ll do something that actually matters on Friday”.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

AJ Styles doesn’t think Logan Paul belongs around here but here are Karrion Kross and Scarlett to interrupt. Kross thinks Styles might be mad at himself so Styles goes to leave. Kross gets him to stay and asks how long Styles took to get to WWE. It didn’t take Paul 17 years to get to WWE, but Styles says this isn’t working. Kross, after Styles leaves: “I think it’s working.”

Bron Breakker stares down Penta in the back but nothing is said/done.

HHH Hall Of Fame video.

Intercontinental Title: Finn Balor vs. Bron Breakker

Breakker is defending. Balor’s headlock doesn’t get him very far to start as Breakker powers things into the corner without much trouble. They go to the floor with Breakker doing his big run around the ropes, only to get caught with the Sling Blade. We take a break and come back with Balor spinning into a Russian legsweep for two. Some trash talk gets Breakker mad and he snaps off a suplex. The suplex powerslam connects but here is the Judgment Day for a distraction.

Balor plants him for two but Breakker is right back up to knock him outside. The clothesline from the apron onto the announcers’ table crushes Balor, with Breakker staying down too. Back in and a Sling Blade drops Breakker again, with a dropkick into the corner, only to miss the Coup de Grace. The Super Spear hits the buckle but Breakker hits the gorilla press powerslam for two. Balor goes up top but gets crotched, only for the Judgment Day to offer a distraction. That’s broken up and it’s the super Frankensteiner into the Super Spear to retain the title at 12:32.

Rating: B. Balor not winning isn’t the biggest surprise as he just doesn’t do that in big matches. What matters the most here is that Breakker gets a nice win on his way to a potential Wrestlemania showdown with Penta. The Judgment Day’s woes continue and now we get to see where this goes as things keep falling apart. For now though, we have a Breakker vs. Penta match coming and that has me interested.

Post match Judgment Day goes after Breakker but Penta runs in for the save. Penta holds up the title but hands it to Breakker for the staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was a rather unique show, with the one big thing dominating the rest, though most of the rest was good enough. That being said, this was ALL about the Cena segment, which fans have been waiting on and it certainly delivered (albeit going a bit long). The fans were invested though and that should make for a great Road To Wrestlemania on the way to the huge showdown. Cena sounded like a star and I want to see where it goes, which suggests that they’re doing something right.

Other than that, you have the rest of the show, with Penta of all people feeling like the biggest story. That’s a good sign, as Penta has not even been around for three months and is already in a prominent role. There is a good chance that he’ll get a title match either at or just before Wrestlemania, which opens up some interesting possibilities. The Women’s Title match is likely all but set as well, along with Jey Uso doing his thing. Naturally Cena was the big story here, but the rest held up well enough. Couple that with another red hot crowd and this was a rather nice show.

Results
Penta b. Ludwig Kaiser – Penta Driver
Dakota Kai b. Ivy Nile – GTK
Jey Uso b. Austin Theory – Spear
LWO b. Creed Brothers – Springboard splash to Julius
Bron Breakker b. Finn Balor – Super Spear

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Smackdown
Date: March 14, 2025
Location: Olimpic Arena Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett

We’re taped from Europe this week, which is going to be the case for a little while now. That should make for some interesting situations and we are just over a month away from Wrestlemania. Cody Rhodes is here to talk about John Cena on MizTV, which feels like it is a way to set up a match tonight. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

A bunch of people came to work, but in Spain.

Here is the new US Champion LA Knight for a chat. The fans are VERY happy to see him and give him one of those cool singing welcomes. Knight: “YEAH!” This is the first Smackdown in Barcelona (the fans sing again, with Knight quipping that it’s a tough crowd tonight) and he is worldwide.

Cue Jimmy Uso to interrupt, saying he needs a rope to Wrestlemania so he wants to challenge for the title right now. Cue Solo Sikoa to say Jacob Fatu deserves a title shot. Sikoa calls Jimmy the failure of the family but Jimmy says the failure was trusting Sikoa as his little brother. The brawl is on with the bad guys in control but Braun Strowman runs in for the save. Nick Aldis comes out to announce a six man tag (with some Spanish thrown in).

Jimmy Uso/Braun Strowman/LA Knight vs. Solo Sikoa/Jacob Fatu/Tama Tonga

We’re joined in progress with Uso coming in to jump over Sikoa in the corner and slug away. The ten punches in the corner rock Sikoa but a distraction lets him come back with Spinning Solo. Fatu’s backsplash sets up Tonga’s slingshot hilo and Sikoa adds a running Umaga Attack in the corner. Uso gets in a shot of his own though and hands it off to Knight to pick up the pace.

The jumping neckbreaker and DDT get one on Fatu, who is back up to knock Knight silly. Knight knocks him right back down though and hits the top rope elbow. Fatu drops him again and we take a break. Back with Tonga taking Knight into the corner for a running splash. Fatu hits his own Umaga Attack but Knight manages to suplex Sikoa. Strowman comes in to clean house, including the running shots on the floor. Knight and Uso take out the others, leaving Strowman to powerslam Tonga for the pin at 10:09.

Rating: C+. This was a house show style match and Strowman gets to win for the popular guys. Tonga is more or less there for the sake of taking the falls for the team as we are getting closer to the split at the top of….whatever Sikoa and company are calling themselves. The match was nothing great, but it did what it needed to do in getting the show started off well.

Post match Sikoa takes Strowman down and Fatu goes after him as well, including the triple jump moonsault. It works so well that Fatu does it again.

We get a look at HHH before his Hall Of Fame induction.

We look back at Naomi admitting she attacked Jade Cargill, leaving Bianca Belair in tears and earning Naomi another beating from Cargill.

Cargill has a sitdown interview in an empty arena earlier today, saying she is physically ready to go. Naomi suggesting that she was the victim made Cargill sick because she remembers being attacked and seeing Naomi run away. She couldn’t believe that Naomi would team with Belair like nothing happened so she had to take matters into her own hands. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez come in to mock her, with Cargill issuing the challenge for next week.

B-Fab, in English and Spanish, is ready to start her legacy by beating Charlotte.

B-Fab vs. Charlotte

They take their time staring each other down to start before Charlotte powers her into the corner. B-Fab comes back with a half nelson slam for two and Charlotte rolls outside as we take a break. Back with Charlotte stomping away before taking her down with a neckbreaker. The chinlock goes on and Charlotte even manages to mock the crowd at the same time.

We take another break and come back with Charlotte hitting the figure four necklock faceplants to keep B-Fab in trouble. It’s too early for the Figure Eight though and B-Fab fires off some right hands. A pump kick gives B-Fab two but Charlotte is back with a superkick. Natural Selection into the Figure Eight finishes B-Fab at 8:22.

Rating: C+. B-Fab was trying here but this was all about getting Charlotte her first singles win in a very long time. That’s not a bad thing and B-Fab held her own in a longer match than you usually see from her. Charlotte is on her way back to the title picture at Wrestlemania though and this was more about letting the fans know how good she can be, again.

Post match Charlotte won’t let go and it’s Tiffany Stratton in for the save. Security can’t break it up and the fight stays on, with Charlotte diving off the announcers’ table to take Stratton down. Stratton hits her own dive and they’re FINALLY split up. I would hope that they’re wearing different colors at Wrestlemania because they were both in pink here and I was having trouble telling them apart.

Drew McIntyre blames Damian Priest for all of his problems in the last year.

Here’s the Miz for MizTV but Charlotte and Stratton are still fighting at the entrance. Security breaks it up again, only for Stratton to get up on the video screen for a big flip dive. Stratton shouts that there is a new queen in town to finally wrap it up.

And now, MizTV, with Miz doing the introduction in Spanish to continue a trend tonight. Miz talks about how his guest should have taken the Rock up on his offer but then got beaten down by two great rappers instead. Here is Cody Rhodes, with the fans singing his theme song in one of those shows of respect that never gets old. Miz goes even heelier than usual by saying he doesn’t have time for the singalong, which earns him a quick Cross Rhodes. Cody takes off his jacket to reveal a BARCELONA NIGHTMARE shirt (the fans approve) before saying he only wants to talk to John Cena, so he’ll see him Monday.

Earlier today, Shinsuke Nakamura told Nick Aldis he wanted a rematch when Damian Priest came in to say he wanted Drew McIntyre. Priest doesn’t like what he thinks Nakamura is saying so Aldis makes the match for later. As usual, Priest comes off like he is always ready to fight and that makes him feel more important.

We get a teaser for someone who looks a lot like Rey Fenix. Interesting that he might not be on the same show as Penta.

Damian Priest vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

They trade arm cranking to start until Nakamura takes him into the corner for Good Vibrations. A running clothesline puts Nakamura on the floor though and we take an early break. Back with Priest dropping him face first onto the barricade, only to miss a charge back inside. Nakamura hits the middle rope knee for two and it’s time to choke on the ropes.

We take a break and come back with Nakamura grabbing a chinlock. An enziguri takes Priest down again but he catches Nakamura with the lifting Downward Spiral. They go outside with Priest sending him over the announcer’s table, setting up the Old School high crossbody back inside. Back up and they trade strikes to the face but here is Drew McIntyre to sit on the announcers’ table. The distraction lets Nakamura load up Kinshasa, which is reversed into South Of Heaven. That’s enough for McIntyre to come in and jump Priest for the DQ at 8:42.

Rating: B-. This was about two guys getting to go after each other and hit the other rather hard until they got to the finish. In this case that’s how it should have gone as you don’t want Priest to lose, but Nakamura getting pinned twice in a row would be a bit much. The match itself was a good back and forth fight though, which shouldn’t be a surprise given whom was in there.

Post match McIntyre goes for Priest’s eyes, allowing Nakamura to hit Kinshasa. Nakamura leaves and McIntyre wrecks Priest. McIntyre goes to leave but sees Priest getting back up, earning himself a Claymore and some yelling.

DIY says they make the tag team division the best in the world and they’ll prove it again tonight. The Motor City Machine Guns come in to say they’ll be waiting.

Chelsea Green is glad that her administration is at full force despite everything she has had to go through. Zelina Vega comes in to say she wants a title shot but gets a match with Piper Niven next week instead. Works for Vega, who is still coming for the title.

Randy Orton vs. Carmelo Hayes

Hayes offers him a handshake but the fans want the RKO. Orton tries for the handshake but Hayes pulls it away, earning himself quite the beating. The belly to back drop onto the announcers’ table has Hayes in trouble and we take an early break. Back with Orton dropping him on the table again but Hayes gets in a cheap shot to take over. The fans do not like Hayes and rhythmically chant about it as we take another break.

We come back again with Orton fighting out of a chinlock but getting put right back into it. Orton fights up and hits the powerslam before pulling Hayes out of the air for another powerslam. The hanging DDT sends Hayes outside and he grabs a Stunner over the top rope. Nothing But Net misses so Hayes settles for the springboard DDT for two instead. Hayes goes up top again and gets superplexed back down but the RKO is countered into the First 48. Then the RKO connects to give Orton the pin at 10:22.

Rating: B-. While Hayes is losing a lot of these big matches, he is staying in these matches and looking good against bigger stars. What matters is that he could be moved up to the next level with just a win or two. Other than that, there is something to be said about having a younger star like Hayes who can go out there and hang with these names, though a win here or there would be nice.

Post match Orton gives him another RKO to even the score a bit. The Punt is loaded up but Kevin Owens runs in for the save. Owens bails before violence can ensue.

Jacob Fatu wants one more match with Braun Strowman next week.

We get a mysterious smoky vignette with the number 4. Or is that a slightly slanted A?

Here is Gunther for a chat. Gunther says that the Road To Wrestlemania Europe starts here and as the greatest European wrestler of all time….he wishes they could be in Madrid instead. Gunther mocks Jey Uso as having no substance and asks for “a kid” to come face him, meaning Axiom gets a rare main roster appearance.

Gunther vs. Axiom

Non-title and Axiom, a masked high flier from Spain, is one half of the NXT Tag Team Champions. Axiom is a bit tentative to start before going to the mat and getting in a quick kick. Gunther misses the chop in the corner and Axiom strikes away as the fans are losing their minds over this stuff. A chop cuts Axiom off again but the fans are right there as he fires off forearms.

The Boston crab has Axiom in trouble and Gunther flips it into an STF. Gunther goes after the mask, which wakes Axiom up enough for a missile dropkick. A running knee connects but Gunther dropkicks him down. The dropkick gets two but Axiom catches Gunther on top, with a super hurricanrana connecting. The Golden Ratio (superkick) gives Axiom two so he cranks on the arms. That’s enough for Gunther, who hits a powerbomb, the clothesline, and another powerbomb for the pin at 9:24.

Rating: B. The fans were crazy into this and they were carrying this even higher than the two of them were getting in the first place. At the same time, Axiom was more than holding his own out there to make for a heck of a match. Gunther can work well with anyone and having him shut down a smaller high flier like this makes sense. Good match, with awesome crowd reactions.

Post match Gunther sleepers axiom for the knockout.

We look back at Roman Reigns accidentally helping Seth Rollins beat Cm punk in a cage match on Raw. Then Paul Heyman helped Punk up, earning Punk one heck of a beating from Reigns.

Here is Heyman for a chat, declaring that today is Roman Reigns Day, because it is the release day for WWE2K25. He knows everyone is going to go home and play the game, but please wait until the show is over because he likes to keep the ratings high during his segments. Heyman moves on to CM Punk, who is his friend, but it isn’t CM Punk Day, nor will it ever be Seth Rollins Day. If you have a problem with that, you can say it to his face next week in Italy.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Legado del Fantasma wishes the Street Profits luck. The Profits are ready to get the Tag Team Titles.

Gunther tells Jimmy Uso to get Jey Uso to not challenge him at Wrestlemania or bad things will happen.

Tag Team Titles: DIY vs. Street Profits

The Profits are challenging. Dawkins and Ciampa start things off with Dawkins unloading in the corner to start fast. The assisted moonsault gives Ford two and it’s back to Dawkins, who chases Gargano on the floor. That’s enough for Ciampa to hammer away back inside as Pretty Deadly is shown watching. Ford comes back in but gets nailed by Gargano before Ciampa drops him ribs first across the top rope.

The Fairy Tale Ending is blocked though and Ford kicks Ciampa away, allowing the tag off to Dawkins. House is quickly cleaned but Ford’s 450 only hits raised knees. Back up and a Doomsday Blockbuster gives Ford two with Ciampa making the save. The Fairy Tale Ending/superkick combination gets two on Dawkins but Meet In The Middle misses. Ford’s frog splash connects for the pin and the titles at 11:52.

Rating: B-. This had to happen at some point as the Profits had been so close to the titles so many times, only to come up short. It’s nice to see them getting the gold, as it spices things up in the division. Odds are we wind up with some kind of a big five team ladder match at Wrestlemania, but for now, this is the right move as it is long overdue.

Overall Rating: B. Here you had a show where the crowd boosted things up that far, as the fans were going nuts all night long. The title change at the end made things feel that much more important and it was a big way to get things going with the six shows in Europe. It’s not a great show, but the fans were hot and you can see where a lot of this stuff is going, which is nice to see.

Results
Jimmy Uso/Braun Strowman/LA Knight b. Solo Sikoa/Jacob Fatu/Tama Tonga – Running powerslam to Tonga
Charlotte b. B-Fab – Figure Eight
Damian Priest b. Shinsuke Nakamura via DQ when Drew McIntyre interfered
Randy Orton b. Carmelo Hayes – RKO
Gunther b. Axiom – Powerbomb
Street Profits b. DIY – Frog splash to Gargano

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: March 10, 2025
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

They’re back home this week as the show is in the Garden with a couple of major matches. First up, and likely in the main event, it’s Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk inside a steel cage. Other than that, it’s time to get even more ready for Wrestlemania and that should make for some interesting situations. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Jey Uso vs. Grayson Waller

Austin Theory is in Waller’s corner. Waller kicks the leg out to start and sends Uso into the post, only to get kicked in the head for his efforts. A clothesline puts Waller on the floor but Theory gets in a cheap shot, allowing Waller to drop Uso for a change. We take a break and come back with Waller’s middle rope elbow connecting for two. Uso fights up and hits the superkick (which might not have connected), only for the dive to be cut off by a Stunner over the ropes. The rolling Downward Spiral gives Waller two but Uso hits him in the face. The spear gives Uso the pin at 9:10.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t about Uso being in danger of losing but rather him having to overcome some odds before getting a win. Uso is being built up as a singles star and while Waller is beneath him, it’s a nice way to boost him on the way to the biggest match of his career at Wrestlemania. It’s nothing great, but it did what it needed to, albeit without being the most thrilling match.

Post match Theory comes in for the beatdown but gets dropped for a Superfly Splash. Cue Gunther to choke Uso out. Gunther feels like an afterthought on this show and while annoying, it’s not surprising given how many other stars there are around here.

Long video on CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins, focusing on the hatred that has built up for over a year.

The Alpha Academy checks on Seth Rollins in the trainer’s room.

Here is Logan Paul, who rips off a fan’s shirt on the way to the ring. The fans are NOT happy to see Paul, who tries to talk about AJ Styles but eggs on the booing as he tends to do. Paul talks about how there are some names which transcend wrestling, which is why it surprised him that Cody Rhodes turned down the Rock. It took John Cena twenty years to realize that nice guys finish last.

Paul has known that for twenty years so consider his soul for sale. He’s the one in the ring while the regular people are watching from the crowd. Paul talks to comedian Andrew Schultz in the crowd who must be here to see him, but Schultz says he’s here for the cage match. No one is here for Paul but Schultz wants to see AJ Styles. Paul pulls him over the barricade and loads up a suplex but Styles makes the save. The Phenomenal Forearm lays Paul out and Styles calls Paul out, only for Paul to leave instead. This likely sets up a Wrestlemania match but it felt like it was more to promote Schultz.

We look back at Iyo Sky beating Rhea Ripley for the Women’s Title last week.

TKO is launching a boxing promotion.

We look at a cage match from the 70s with Bruno Sammartino defeating Ivan Koloff in the first televised cage match from the Garden.

New Day vs. LWO

Tornado tag match. The LWO wastes no time in cleaning house and knock New Day to the floor. Woods fights back on Mysterio and teases loading up a table, only to shove it back underneath the ring. An assisted seated senton takes Kofi Kingston down as Woods is whipped into the barricade (right in front of NXT Champion Oba Femi). New Day fights up and plants Lee on the floor as we take a break.

Back with Lee hitting a top rope double stomp to Kofi, setting up a hurricanrana to send Woods onto the table (which only kind of breaks, leaving Woods to have to hit it for the break). Back in and Mysterio’s springboard spinning crossbody gets two on Kingston and the 619 connects. The frog splash hits knees though and Kingston rolls him up for two of his own with Lee making the save.

Lee flip dives onto Kingston….and here’s a guy in a mask to take Lee out with a hurricanrana. Mysterio gets caught with a delayed German suplex by the masked man, who is in no way Chad Gable (ignore the AMERICAN MADE on his mask and him doing Gable’s pose). Security goes after the masked man, who sprints through the crowd. The top rope double stomp/backbreaker combination finishes Mysterio at 11:16.

Rating: C+. I’m liking the Lucha Gable stuff and I can absolutely see him making it (whatever it is going to be) work, but I’m not so sure on the New Day. They’re still hated by the crowd and the heel turn has made them more interesting than they have been in years, but who are they supposed to face? Other than getting the Tag Team Titles from the War Raiders or Big E. bringing in someone to fight them, they feel like they’re just kind of there, which is a weird way to go for someone who had so much heat.

We look at Bron Breakker going after Judgment Day last week.

Finn Balor is annoyed at Bron Breakker but Carlito doesn’t seem to listen because he’s staring at the apple. The rest of the team comes in and Dominik Mysterio has gotten Balor an Intercontinental Title shot next week. Balor gives him quite the hug and is proud of Mysterio for making this happen. Liv Morgan isn’t convinced but Mysterio thinks Balor has this.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat after a break. Rhodes is here because this is the cathedral of entertainment but John Cena isn’t here tonight. Cena and his inner circle aren’t here but they’ll be in Brussels, Belgium next week. That doesn’t work for Rhodes as Cena has quite the history in MSG. It was an easy decision, just like swinging someone after you have kicked them low and have backup.

Rhodes doesn’t begrudge Cena for calling his shot or having a part time schedule because part time Cena is better than most people full time. We get the dueling Cena chants and Rhodes says let’s let Cena hear it. Rhodes didn’t like Cena saying he had the discipline to do what needed to be done even if no one wanted it.

Rhodes talks about that mentor that you want to yell at and at this point he wants to tell Cena to shut up you “moron” (you could hear the audio cut out for a second as it seems they thought he was going to say something else that started with “mo”). Rhodes is looking forward to beating his mentor one more time because he is the captain now. He thanks the fans and that’s it. This was setting things up as a passing of the torch, which is an interesting way to go. Rhodes has been carrying this since the turn, but things could get cranked way up again next week when Cena is back.

We look at Jimmy Snuka’s cage dive on Don Muraco, with approximately 384 wrestlers in the crowd.

Various celebrities are here.

Bayley vs. Raquel Rodriguez

For a shot at the Women’s Intercontinental Title and Dominik Mysterio/Liv Morgan are here with Rodriguez. Bayley gets sent to the apron to start and her Stunner over the ropes is broken up. Back in and Rodriguez misses a charge into the corner, allowing Bayley to grab a middle rope armdrag. Rodriguez gives her a swinging front facelock but gets sent into the corner for a quick Bronco Buster.

Bayley knocks her down again and we take a break. Back with Rodriguez missing a legdrop on the apron and getting caught with a middle rope Stunner. A knee to the head rocks Rodriguez again and the top rope elbow gives Bayley two. Rodriguez is sent outside and gets posted so Morgan and Mysterio offer distractions. That’s enough for Rodriguez to plant Bayley on the announcers’ table and Bayley has to beat the count. The Tejana Bomb gives Rodriguez the pin at 10:05.

Rating: B-. What matters here is that we’re getting someone else involved in the title picture. Lyra Valkyria is in a weird place as she’s the new champion and doesn’t have anything to do other than have one off title matches. Rodriguez can be the next challenger, though you would think that Bayley beating Valkyria in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match a few weeks ago would be enough to get her a title shot.

Chad Gable denies being the masked man earlier. Gable doesn’t know who that fan was, but he should have been dragged out a lot earlier. We see the masked man being taken away by security and Gable gives Cathy Kelly an “I told you so” look. I’m intrigued.

We look at Randy Savage and Ted DiBiase in a cage in 1988.

More celebrities are here.

Michael Cole is in the ring to talk to Iyo Sky. The fans tell Sky that she deserves it and she says it is a dream to be here as champion. She is over the moon to be going to Wrestlemania as champion but here is Bianca Belair for the big staredown. Cole asks her about the Rhea Ripley situation from last week but Belair wasn’t out there to cost Ripley. Cue Ripley to interrupt, wanting to know why Belair was out here last week. Belair said she explained it already but Ripley doesn’t buy it.

Maybe Belair should have handled her business with Naomi and Jade Cargill. Belair says Ripley is made because Belair clapped for both of them last week. The reality is Ripley can’t beat Sky and she’s blaming Belair. They go face to face and shove Sky away for trying to break it up. Sky slaps Ripley and Belair and points at the sign, suggesting a triple threat at Wrestlemania. That’s an upgrade over Sky vs. Belair, as Ripley is a bigger star than both of them and needs something to do.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk

In a cage with pinfall, submission or escape to win. Rollins jumps him fast to start but Punk slugs away in the corner. They trade shots in the middle with Punk getting the better of things but Rollins is back with a powerbomb against the cage as we take a break. Back with Punk still in trouble and Rollins opening the door, seemingly offering to let Punk leave. Punk flips him off (and the camera cuts out) before countering another buckle bomb with a hurricanrana into the cage.

The GTS connects with Rollins but Punk sits and stares at him instead of trying to leave. Rollins flips him off as well to bring Punk back to the middle, where a neckbreaker puts Rollins down again. Punk hits the top rope elbow and then does it two more times for a near fall. With nothing else working, Punk goes to the top of the cage but Rollins rolls to the corner before Punk can dive.

They fight on top of the cage (with a drone camera shot for a really unique visual) until Rollins superplexes him down for two. Punk is back with a GTS for two of his own but Rollins pulls him into an STF. That’s reversed into the Anaconda Vice, which is escaped so Rollins can hit a Stomp for two. A third GTS gives Punk two so he hits his own Stomp for two. Rollins shouts that Punk wants his house and then grabs his own GTS into another Stomp for another near fall. A super Stomp knocks Punk cold (Rollins: “Come on motherf*****”)…..but here is Roman Reigns to pull Rollins through the door for the win at 19:29.

Rating: B. This was about telling an interesting story, as neither tried to escape for the most part. That makes sense as it wasn’t about winning as much as it was about beating the other person. Hence all of the covers and kickouts, which granted did get to be a bit much at times. Reigns interfering is going to set up something at Wrestlemania and helps protect Punk in defeat, as Rollins didn’t pin him and interference cost Punk the match (which he won’t like either).

Post match Reigns wrecks Rollins and gives him a spear into a Stomp on the floor. Reigns isn’t done and loads up a Stomp on the steps but Adam Pearce and company break it up. We look tin the ring….where Paul Heyman is helping Punk up. That is NOT cool with Reigns, who wrecks Punk as Heyman looks on to end the show.

WWE has built up these three people (plus Heyman) to the point where ANYTHING they do is interesting because it makes you wonder where they’re going next. Heyman helped out an old friend (who had done nothing to Reigns) and the place went coconuts. It sets up a Wrestlemania triple threat and was done by the simple act of Heyman kneeling next to Punk.

This is how wrestling is supposed to work and it still does if it’s done properly.

Overall Rating: B-. The show started off a bit weak but then it got a lot better in the last hour or so. The important part of the show was setting up a bunch of Wrestlemania matches, which needs to be done as we are just over a month away from the big weekend. They did a good job of bringing that show together, though there is still a lot more to do. The first hour and a half or so was a bit weak without much of note, but the Sky/Ripley/Belair segment and main event stuff picked it up a lot. This show was an important step towards Wrestlemania and that’s what it needed to be.

Results
Jey Uso b. Grayson Waller – Spear
New Day b. LWO – Top rope double stomp/backbreaker combination to Mysterio
Raquel Rodriguez b. Bayley – Tejana Bomb
Seth Rollins b. CM Punk – Rollins escaped the cage

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: March 3, 2025
Location: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

It’s the show after Elimination Chamber and that means there are no more major roadblocks on the Road To Wrestlemania. Tonight we have a Women’s Title match as Rhea Ripley defends against Iyo Sky, with the winner to defend against Bianca Belair at Wrestlemania. Oh and John Cena is now a villain. Let’s get to it.

Here is Elimination Chamber if you need a recap.

We open with a long recap of Elimination Chamber, which really was an eventful show. Naturally the Cena moment gets the most attention.

Commentary makes it simple: Cena sold his soul to get one more World Title.

We run down the card.

A ticked off CM Punk arrives and storms the arena, even knocking down the Prime station. He stands on the announcers’ table and rants about how he might get us kicked off of Netflix. Allow him to address his enemies and since his name is CM Punk, that means everyone. Who is the first target tonight? Punk asks the fans to give him a name and Punk picks the Rock, getting right in the camera to call him a bald fraud. If Rock thinks he’s immune from criticism because he’s on the Board Of Directors, he has no idea who he’s dealing with here.

Mr. Midlife Crisis decides to come in whenever he feels like it but he hasn’t graced us with his presence tonight to do his bulls*** about having goosebumps. Punk has never been so desperate to wear a fake title and declare himself the people’s champion because he earns that right. He has never been so desperate to sell his soul, and that brings him to John Cena (the fans are interested). Now everyone can see right through Cena and Punk gave him the benefit of the doubt when Cena didn’t have to quality.

Twenty plus years of hustle, loyalty and respect and now Punk has been proven fight about everything Cena has been saying. Punk didn’t quit in the Elimination Chamber because Cena gave us on all of those kids. He’ll get his hands on Cena down the road and Cena will make a wish that it never happened. As for the person who has all of Punk’s attention, let’s talk about Seth Rollins. Becky Lynch better come get her man before Punk puts him in a wheelchair…and here is Rollins to interrupt.

They don’t waste time talking as Punk charges up the aisle and the brawl is on with agents and referees breaking it up. That doesn’t last long as they get at each other a few more times, including in the ring with about twenty people trying to hold them apart. It still doesn’t work as Rollins dives over the announcers’ table to stay on him. They’re FINALLY separated and we take a break after a red hot opening. Punk was bringing the fire with that promo and it felt like he was genuinely angry with everything he was saying, which is a great sign.

During the break, Punk and Rollins got into it again in the crowd. This was broken up quickly, but well done on making things feel more real.

We look back at Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez winning the Women’s Tag Team Titles last week.

Judgment Day is happy with the title win, with Raquel Rodriguez teasing going after the Women’s Intercontinental Title. Finn Balor isn’t thrilled and brings up Liv Morgan losing in the Elimination Chamber, plus the team’s other losses. Dominik Mysterio again brings up adding another member, but Balor thinks the solution is he (as in Balor) beats up Bron Breakker tonight. With Balor gone, Morgan and Rodriguez say they still don’t know what happened with Jade Cargill in the Chamber.

Otis vs. Gunther

Non-title and the rest of the Alpha Academy is here too. Before the match, Gunther says he knows Otis is as strong as an ox but to Gunther, he’s just a freak. Otis is in the same category as Jey Uso, meaning he does not belong in Gunther’s ring. The reality is Gunther wears the World Heavyweight Title as a prize while Otis can’t find a belt that fits. Therefore, it’s time to teach him a lesson, just like he’ll do to Uso at Wrestlemania.

Gunther hits him before the bell and we start fast. Otis fights up and hammers away in the corner, only to get kicked in the leg. Some boots to the face put Otis on the floor but some slaps to the head wake him up. A fall away slam on the floor sends Gunther flying as commentary is impressed.

We take a break and come back with Gunther holding a crossface. Another boot to the face cuts off another Otis comeback attempt but Otis grabs a belly to back suplex for a needed breather. Back up and the chops wake Otis up so he chops right back until Otis drops him with a clothesline. Gunther charges into a slam and the Caterpillar gets two. Gunther’s dropkick puts Otis down but he’s right back up with another suplex. Some hard clotheslines put Otis down for two and Gunther is looking frustrated. The powerbomb puts Otis away at 9:41.

Rating: B. These guys had a hoss fight and that’s what it needed to be. Gunther was never going to be in serious damage against Otis, but Otis gave him a heck of a fight and struck away with everything he had. It was an entertaining fight and the two of them did about as well as could be expected here. Sometimes you need the champion to break a sweat in a match where he isn’t in much danger and Otis did just that.

Post match Gunther grabs a sleeper so Akira Tozawa comes in for a failed save attempt. Jey Uso (ROAR) makes the real save. With Gunther gone, A-Town Down Under runs in to jump Uso, who fights them off without much trouble. Then Gunther comes back in to choke Uso out. That was a lot and it made sense.

Video on Rhea Ripley vs. Iyo Sky before their title match tonight.

There is a new Raw Recap show starting on Youtube tomorrow.

We see more reactions to Cena’s turn at Elimination Chamber, with promises of another look to come. We’ve already looked at it about four times.

AJ Styles is asked about what Cena did and says “wow”. He didn’t see it coming and here is Karrion Kross to put his arms around Cena and saying it makes sense. Styles cuts him off and says he isn’t Cena. Maybe the WWE Universe needs a reminder of who Styles is, so next week, he’ll call out Logan Paul in Madison Square Garden. He’s not interested in Kross’ help either, but after Styles leaves, Kross says “that was easy”.

Women’s Intercontinental Title: Lyra Valkyria vs. Ivy Nile

Valkyria is defending and drives her into the corner to start. A hiptoss gives Valkyria one so Nile drops her with a clothesline. Valkyria dropkicks her to the floor but Nile is right back with a dragon screw legwhip out of the corner as we take a break. Back with Nile still working on the leg before she pulls a high crossbody out of the air.

A gutwrench powerbomb puts Nile down but Valkyria’s leg gives out. Nile gets caught with an enziguri but is fine enough to counter a tornado DDT into a suplex. Valkyria gets in a quick swinging neckbreaker, only for the leg to give out again. Nile’s sitout powerbomb gets two and she grabs the ankle lock. Valkyria avoids a boot in the corner and hits a backbreaker, setting up Nightwing to retain at 9:32.

Rating: B-. This was a good example of a match where they did everything right and told a nice story but the match just wasn’t very interesting. There wasn’t much of a spark here as they were just doing stuff until Valkyria retained. The title is still new, but it needs a hotter feud than this to get the interest going.

We look back at the Seth Rollins/CM Punk brawl earlier tonight.

Rollins tries to leave the building and gets into it with Punk again. Adam Pearce runs in as Punk says he’ll kill Rollins.

Post break Rollins and Pearce yell at each other, with Rollins promising to take Punk out if Pearce doesn’t do something about this. Pearce is fine with that and makes a cage match for next week at Madison Square Garden. Works for Rollins, who is told to get on his bus, with security tasked with keeping him on it.

Here is Ludwig Kaiser for a chat. After demanding the fans’ appreciation, Kaiser talks about taking back the attention from Penta last week. The reality is he is a future World Champion and he is ready to take out Penta. While Penta may say he doesn’t know fear, Kaiser will teach him what it means. Cue Penta to interrupt for the brawl and Kaiser is knocked out to the floor for the running flip dive.

Bianca Belair is asked about Jade Cargill’s return to attack Naomi at Elimination Chamber. Out of respect to both of them, she won’t talk about it but she’s just as proud to go to Wrestlemania. Tonight, she finds out who she is going to be face. Natalya and Maxxine Dupri could be seen talking in the background in something that might not matter much.

We look at Cena’s heel turn again, with the commentary from different languages for an international flavor.

Chad Gable appears to be in Mexico and is asking people if they know someone whose picture he is carrying. Eventually he goes to a mystery man with a beard, who is apparently going to help him beat the luchadors. The man says Gable has to become lucha and gives him a box (in exchange for a good deal of money). Whatever is in the box (which we can’t see) will give him power beyond understanding. This is either going to be amazing or really stupid.

Raw Tag Team Titles: War Raiders vs. Creed Brothers

The Raiders are defending. Erik powers Julius back into the corner to start before Julius does it the same, with Brutus hammering away. Ivar comes in for the clotheslines, setting up a handspring double elbow. Erik slams Ivar onto Brutus, only for Julius to dropkick Ivar off the top and outside. A ram into the steps has Ivar in more trouble as we take a break.

Back with a double suplex getting two on Ivar but he gets in a sitdown splash out of the corner. It’s back to Erik who gets two clean house as the fans demand WAR. The pop up powerslam plants Julius but he gets in a knee to Erik. Ivar is sent into the post and Brutus adds a not so smooth 450 for two on Erik. Ivar tags himself back in and Erik gets superplexed down, only to avoid a moonsault. Brutus avoids Ivar’s moonsault and Julius hits a shooting star press for two of his own. The Brutus Ball misses Erik and the War Machine to Brutus retains the titles at 11:42.

Rating: B-. It was nice to see the Creeds getting to show what they could do for a change, but like the women’s match earlier, there was only so much fire in what they were doing. The Raiders were better, but I was only getting into this one so far. It’s nice to have the titles being defended though, as the Raiders are getting established as more of a dominant team for the time being.

We look at Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn wrecking each other at Elimination Chamber with Owens ending him with quite the beating. Then Randy Orton returned to go after Owens, which should be setting up a Wrestlemania fight.

The LWO isn’t happy with the New Day for beating them last week but you can never take their heart. Rey Mysterio returns and says New Day should have finished what they started. Next week, it’s a tornado tag match. You don’t get Mysterio being this serious very often and it worked fairly well.

We come back from a break with Finn Balor in the ring and arguing with Bron Breakker, who is in the crowd with Jackie Redmond. Breakker says he embarrassed the entire Judgment Day last week but Balor is ready to take the Intercontinental Title from him at anytime. That’s enough for Breakker, who comes to the ring, but has to take out Carlito and Dominik Mysterio. Balor gets in a Sling Blade, only for Breakker to take him down again. The super spear is loaded up but Judgment Day pulls Balor outside in time. Carlito gets speared down instead.

We get the long look at John Cena’s turn at Elimination Chamber.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

The Alpha Academy thanks Jey Uso for helping them earlier. With the team gone, Uso says he’s a bit thrown off by getting taken out by Gunther earlier. This is the wrong time to be shaken up though because every week he is told HE CAN’T DO IT. He feels like his back is against the wall and he can’t breathe but when Gunther put him to sleep, he woke up a sleeping beast. Uso is feeling these promos lately and I’m getting a lot more interested in the match.

Raw Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley vs. Iyo Sky

Ripley is defending and Bianca Belair is at ringside. We do the Big Match Intros and Ripley gets one heck of a response. Ripley powers her around to start before hitting a running dropkick for one. A rollup gives Sky one and Ripley hits her in the face as a result. Sky gets smarter by kicking Ripley in the head but she misses the 619. They go outside for some swings into the apron before Ripley muscles her up for a nice suplex.

We take a break and come back with Ripley getting two off a missile dropkick but Sky grabs a Backstabber (not a Codebreaker Cole). Sky hits a running basement dropkick and then a missile dropkick to send Ripley into the corner. Back up and Ripley fires off some clotheslines but gets rolled into a double stomp (Belair approves) for two. They forearm it out until Ripley has to block a rollup, with a faceplant giving Ripley two more.

The Prism Trap is blocked and Sky snaps the arm down onto the apron, only to get booted in the face (with a good sell from Sky) for another near fall. Riptide is countered into a DDT though and Sky hits a running boot in the corner. The top rope elbow connects for two (with back to back Damage CTRL moves from Sky in a nice touch) and the Asuka Lock goes on to complete the team menu. Sky hits some running knees in the corner, only to get caught on top. A belly to back superplex gives Ripley two and it’s time to looked stunned.

Now the Prism Trap goes on, with Sky managing to send her into the post. Ripley gets back up and gets sunset bombed into the barricade to keep her in trouble. Over The Moonsault to the back gives Sky two, with Ripley getting a boot on the ropes. Ripley bails to the floor and gets taken out by a suicide dive but she cuts off what looked like a Lionsault.

Sky gets dropped face first onto various things, with Belair cheering both of them on as they get back inside. Ripley goes outside to yell at Belair (who has been completely neutral) and shoves her down. Belair shoves her back so the referee has to break it up. Back in and Ripley takes her up top, but stops to yell at Belair. That’s enough for Sky to grab a super hurricanrana and Over The Moonsault finishes Ripley for the title at 18:39.

Rating: B+. I was scared that they were going to have a lame DQ ending but instead they went with something interesting as Ripley’s own ego got in the way and cost her the title. Sky was bringing it to Ripley throughout here and it made for a heck of a fight, with the two of them feeling equal throughout. At some point you have to bring someone up to that main event level in the women’s division and this might have been Sky’s ticket there. Great match with an excellent story throughout.

Sky is shocked at the win while Belair’s face says “well ok then”. Ripley is furious to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The opening segment brought the emotion and the main event was one of the better Raw matches in a good while. The rest of the show set up some things going forward and next week’s Raw is looking like a big one. Finally you have the focus on the Cena situation, which is going to lead to some of the biggest reactions you’ll see in a long time. Good show here, with the main event being more than worth a look.

Results
Gunther b. Otis – Powerbomb
Lyra Valkyria b. Ivy Nile – Nightwing
War Raiders b. Creed Brothers – War Machine to Brutus
Iyo Sky b. Rhea Ripley – Over The Moonsault

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: February 24, 2025
Location: Heritage Bank Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Commentators: Pat McAfee, Michael Cole

It’s the last Raw before the Elimination Chamber and that is going to make things a bit complicated this week. The problem with this show is that Elimination Chamber is set up and that isn’t going to leave much to accomplish this week. In addition, there is a Women’s Title match to build towards next week. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

A bunch of people came to work today.

Here is Logan Paul to get things going. Paul talks about how much he hates this city and how he knows what a pathetic place this is. He was flying in today and told his pilot to turn around so he could go home to Cleveland, but then he decided to perform for these losers because he is humble. The last time Paul was on Raw, he beat Rey Mysterio to make it to the Elimination Chamber and this Saturday, he will punch his ticket to Wrestlemania.

Cue CM Punk (in a Chicago Teachers Union shirt) to interrupt, with McAfee telling a story of Punk trapping him in a portable toilet earlier today. Paul doesn’t get why neither the fans nor Punk don’t like him. He thinks Punk might be jealous, but Punk talks about how Paul is nothing but a bunch of one liners to incite a reaction. The fans deserve better than that, which Paul finds funny. Paul talks about Punk coming back in a great moment (Punk: “Yep.”) and then he tore his wittle tricep.

Now the fans are chanting for Paul, with Punk admitting that the names do change. The names Paul has been mocking, including himself, are legends and history makers. Paul is a flash in the pan and the people aren’t going to remember who he is. On Saturday, Punk will go on to win the Elimination Chamber and go on to Wrestlemania where he will make history. On the other hand, Paul will be history. They go face to face and Paul gets in a slap before bailing to the floor. Paul feigns innocence, but Punk tells him to run while he can. This was two talented talkers going after each other and it worked well.

We look at Penta dealing with Ludwig Kaiser and Pete Dunne, who are now fighting each other over wanting to fight Penta.

Ludwig Kaiser vs. Pete Dunne vs. Penta

Dunne kicks Kaiser to the floor to start but Kaiser is back in, where Penta hits a Backstabber out of the corner. Penta’s dive is teased but Kaiser gets out of the way, allowing Dunne to hit a knee off the apron to take him down. Penta dives onto both of them and we take an early break.

Back with a Tower Of Doom, leaving Penta to chop them into reverse Sling Blades. Kaiser and Dunne are sent outside and taken out with a dive each, leaving Dunne to make the save back inside. The Bitter End gets two on Penta with Kaiser making the save. Penta is back up and gives Penta the Sacrifice but Kaiser breaks up the Penta Driver. Kaiser hits the wind up DDT to pin Dunne at 7:22.

Rating: B-. This was about putting some good wrestlers with different styles in a match and letting them do their thing. Penta not taking the fall is a good thing to see and the ending might set up Kaiser vs. Penta down the line. It was a good way to go here and they crammed a lot into the time they had.

Video on John Cena wanting to win the Elimination Chamber so he can go on to win his 17th World Title.

Here is Rhea Ripley for a chat in the crowd. In theory she is going to defend the title against the winner of the Elimination Chamber at Wrestlemania, but she has to face Iyo Sky next week. They haven’t faced each other in five years and Ripley has gotten a lot better since then. We hear some of the names Ripley has beaten but here is Sky to say she’ll beat Ripley again and go on to Wrestlemania. Respectful staring ensues.

The Road Dogg will be on LFG this Sunday.

New Day vs. LWO

Before the match, New Day brags about how the fans should be glad they’re here but the LWO comes out to cut them off. Wilde stomps on Woods in the corner and grabs an upside down choke in the ropes. A springboard missile dropkick pulls Woods down again and it’s off to Del Toro for a kick to the head in the corner.

The springboard hurricanrana drops Woods again but Kingston low bridges him to the floor to take over. The alternating stomps in the corner sets up a running dropkick to give Woods two. Del Toro gets away and brings in Wilde to pick up the pace, including a tornado DDT to Woods. Kingston breaks up what looks like a Doomsday Device though and a backbreaker/top rope double stomp combination finishes at 5:28.

Rating: B-. Another match with good action and New Day gets a win to let them look strong. They still have their heat but they are going to need to do something bigger than beating up the LWO. I’m not sure if winning the titles again will matter as this is still all about Big E. and the reaction, though that is only going to get them so far without Big E. himself being around.

Post match the beatdown stays on until Dragon Lee runs in for the save. New Day beats him down as well.

We go to the Judgment Day clubhouse where Finn Balor is yelling at Dominik Mysterio, with Carlito trying to call him off. Mysterio calls out Balor for losing last week as well and again suggests another new member. That’s still not happening and Balor still says he’ll fix this. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez comes in to say things will look up tonight after they win the Women’s Tag Team Titles. Balor says he’s happy with anyone winning but aren’t they worried after what they did to Jade Cargill? Morgan says they didn’t do it and they both agree to handle their own business. Carlito is happy with finding a yellow apple.

We see wrestlers opening Topps cards and being rather excited about what they’re finding.

Here is Gunther for a chat. Gunther understands that the fans are excited to see him because he is going to wrestle tonight. Before we get there though, he wants to talk about facing Jey Uso at Wrestlemania. As the weeks go by, he is warming up to the idea because he will get the chance to humiliate Jey and end the Yeet circus for good. That’s why today, he offered Adam Pearce the chance to have the World Heavyweight Champion in action tonight against a handpicked opponent.

Gunther vs. Akira Tozawa

Non-title. Before the match, Gunther points out that he came into the building and saw the Alpha Academy doing a TikTok dance for the people (which we saw as the show opened for a nice bit of continuity). They have a few things in common, such as picking up their lives to come to America and wrestle for WWE. Tozawa has wasted his chance, just like Jey Uso is going to do at Wrestlemania. Last week, Pat McAfee said anything can happen on one night and tonight, Tozawa has the chance to do that as well.

Gunther tells him to earn respect so Tozawa strikes away, only to get kicked in the face. Cole references WKRP In Cincinnati as Gunther just obliterates Tozawa with a chop. Tozawa slips out of the powerbomb and hits a spinning kick to the head. That earns him a dropkick in the corner but Tozawa reverses the powerbomb into a sunset flip for two.

A missile dropkick is countered into the Boston crab but Tozawa makes the rope. Another chop sets up the powerbomb but Gunther pulls him up at two. The sleeper, with Tozawa lifted into the air, finishes for Gunther at 2:48. They were going for something like HHH vs. Taka Michinoku from 2000 and while it wasn’t quite to that level, Tozawa was trying here and it fit the story well.

Post match Gunther goes after Tozawa again but Otis makes the save. Gunther sleepers Otis as well but here is Jey Uso (to a ROAR) for the save.

We see a clip of Michael Cole on the ImPaulsive podcast and talking about his chemistry with Pat McAfee.

Back in the arena and McAfee praises Cole for everything he has done…but then he mocks Cole’s clothes on the podcast, with his shirt being unbuttoned and accidentally showing his stomach.

Women’s Intercontinental Title: Dakota Kai vs. Lyra Valkyria

Valkyria is defending in a rematch from the match for the inaugural title. They start fast and go to the apron with Kai knocking her to the floor and hitting a flip dive off the apron. We take a break and come back with Valkyria fighting out of the Tree Of Woe. A delayed superplex drops Kai but Valkyria is banged up as well. They strike it out until Kai hits a scorpion kick but Valkyria muscles her up with a powerbomb for two. Kai is back up with the Kairopractor for the same, only for Valkyria to grab Nightwing to retain at 7:40.

Rating: B-. This was good enough, though Valkyria is going to need a bigger challenger going forward. That’s one of the bigger dangers of a new title, as you can only do so much with something that fresh. It’s good to see Valkyria as a champion, but facing the same person twice for the title is only going to get her so far.

Post match respect is shown but Ivy Nile runs in to jump both of them.

Video on Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn, showing just how long this story has gone.

We get a sitdown interview with Sami Zayn from earlier today and he reveals that something else happened over the weekend. A somewhat shaken Zayn says he went to Owens’ house and no one was home but he did run into Owens’ mom. They caught up a bit and had a nice chat but when he got home, he was ashamed of himself for going over there in the first place.

Zayn and Owens have a long history and this is the first time that family has gotten involved. That has Zayn wondering what the two of them are capable of right now and while people are looking forward to the match, they should be worried about what Owens is going to go through. This was really intense stuff despite Zayn staying relatively quiet. They’re selling this as a personal feud and that’s exactly what it is.

Bianca Belair and Naomi are ready to beat up Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez.

We look at Bron Breakker and AJ Styles brawling last week.

Bron Breakker vs. Dominik Mysterio

Non-title and Judgment Day is here with Mysterio. Breakker wastes no time in tossing him outside, followed by a clothesline back inside as Mysterio is in big trouble. Mysterio wins a chase and stomps away, only to get suplexed down. Carlito’s distraction lets Mysterio hit a dive and another distraction sets up the 619. Breakker breaks up the frog splash though and hits the super Frankensteiner. That’s enough for Judgment Day to grab Breakker for the DQ at 3:13.

Rating: C+. Breakker was smashing him when things were fair but Mysterio got in some offense when his friends interfered. That’s all this needed to be as Breakker is getting to smash through someone and the fans are still liking what he’s doing. They didn’t have much time here, but Breakker looked like a monster throughout.

Post match the beatdown is on but Breakker fights back and hits a super spear on Carlito. Breakker and Balor have a staredown as we might have both a face turn (it wasn’t far from happening anyway) and a new challenger. Along with AJ Styles that is.

We look back at Rock’s really long speech on Smackdown, where he tries to get Cody Rhodes to go corporate. How in the world Rhodes could be MORE corporate is beyond me.

Ivy Nile is ready to take out Lyra Valkyria and the Creed Brothers want the Tag Team Titles. The War Raiders run in to brawl with the Creeds.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat. He talks about the Rock offering him to join forces at Elimination Chamber and that’s a complicated situation. It isn’t just about him either, as he has his wife, his daughter, and his various family members. On top of that, he has the legacy of his father…and here is Seth Rollins to interrupt.

Rollins says he would love to welcome Rhodes back to his show with open arms and congratulate him on his success and get ready to face him at Wrestlemania. He can’t do that though, as he has to ask Rhodes what he’s thinking. A year ago, they were getting ready to face the Rock and Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania and now Rhodes is considering this?

The fact that Rhodes didn’t slap Rock in the face on Smackdown is an insult to Rollins. What does Rhodes get out of this? Bit parts in movies and social media followers? If being WWE Champion is that much of a burden on Rhodes, it’s not too much of a burden on Rollins. Rhodes says Rock asked him for his soul because Rollins’ might already be compromised.

We hear about Rollins’ history of turning on people, but he was also Rhodes’ shield at Wrestlemania. With one leg and a scrambled back, Rollins was the MVP of Wrestlemania XL and helped the Rhodes Family achieve their greatest victory. Rollins seems a bit taken aback and says that he has made some mistakes, which can eat you up with hate. He does not want to hate Rhodes so don’t make him do it.

At the end of the day, Rhodes can make his own decision but Rollins wants to face the Rhodes that has beaten him so many times. He wants to face the Rhodes that he helped crown as WWE Champion last year. Rollins isn’t coming for his soul, but he’s coming for the title. Good stuff here, but it’s making me wonder who is going to turn, because it’s hard to imagine Rhodes being the one to do so.

We get a preview of an interview with Logan Paul which will air in full on the Elimination Chamber Kickoff Show.

Elimination Chamber rundown.

We look back at Jade Cargill being attacked, resulting in Naomi getting her share of the Women’s Tag Team Titles. There is a chance that Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez did it, though they’ve denied any involvement. Either way, they get the title match tonight.

Jey Uso checks on Akira Tozawa in the trainer’s room and runs into A-Town Down Under. They mock him for his friends getting hurt over and over so Jey goes to leave, only to have them mock the Yeeting. Jey tries to leave again, only for Waller to say Gunther is going to destroy him at Wrestlemania. Jey promises to win at Wrestlemania and even Theory gets in on the Yeeting. Then Jey superkicks Waller.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Liv Morgan/Raquel Rodriguez vs. Naomi/Bianca Belair

Naomi and Belair are defending. The brawl is on before the bell with the challengers being rammed into/over the barricade and it’s Morgan coming in to officially start. A double hiptoss sets up the standing moonsault/legdrop combination for two as Morgan is in trouble early. Rodriguez is back up to pull Belair outside though and we take a break. Back with Naomi coming in to clean house, including a slingshot X Factor for two on Rodriguez. The Blockbuster puts Rodriguez down again and Belair drops a 450 for two more.

Back up and Rodriguez books Naomi off the apron before breaking out of the KOD attempt. Something like a super Shatter Machine gets two on Belair (that’s the second time they’ve ever sued that move and the second time it’s only been good for two). Cue Dominik Mysterio for a distraction to break up the double KOD but the Tejana Bomb into Oblivion gets two with Naomi making the save.

A spear drops Rodriguez and everyone needs a breather. Morgan reverses a suplex into a small package for two on Belair, who is back with the KOD. Rodriguez makes another save so Naomi gives her a hanging Pedigree on the apron. The double KOD kind of hits so Mysterio puts the foot on the ropes. Rodriguez drops Belair onto the announcers’ table so Naomi takes her down with a dive. Back in and Oblivion is blocked, only for Morgan to roll Naomi up for two. The Rear View hits Morgan but Naomi has to go after Mysterio, allowing Rodriguez to post her so Morgan can get the pin and the titles at 12:12.

Rating: B+. There was a lot of interference here but they were rolling by the end and the fans were going insane with the near falls and even bigger with the title change. It’s also the right move to make, as Naomi and Belair didn’t exactly feel like the most serious champions. It felt like they were more interested in wearing matching outfits and “having fun Maggle” than being champions and that got a bit annoying. They can move on to the Cargill mystery now anyway so this helps in multiple ways.

The champs and Mysterio celebrate to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. Rather good show here as they are making Elimination Chamber, and ultimately Wrestlemania, feel so important. That’s what you need to do with a show like this and it worked well here. I had a good time with this show and the talking was right there to back up the action. Much like last year, they are hitting their stride at the most important time and if they can keep that going for several weeks, we should be in for a heck of a Wrestlemania season.

Results
Ludwig Kaiser b. Pete Dunne and Penta – Wind up DDT to Dunne
New Day b. LWO – Backbreaker/Top rope double stomp to Del Toro
Gunther b. Akira Tozawa – Sleeper
Lyra Valkyria b. Dakota Kai – Nightwing
Bron Breakker b. Dominik Mysterio via DQ when Judgment Day interfered
Liv Morgan/Raquel Rodriguez b. Naomi/Bianca Belair – Morgan pinned Naomi after Rodriguez sent her into the post

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: February 17, 2025
Location: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Pat McAfee, Michael Cole

We’re closing in on Elimination Chamber and tonight will see the final spot in the men’s match determined as Seth Rollins faces Finn Balor. Other than that, we should be seeing more in the bigger stories taking place, including Jey Uso challenging Gunther for the Raw World Title at Wrestlemania, plus Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

After seeing a bunch of people come to work today (including AJ Styles, who came in via the Daytona 500 winner’s car), we get a recap of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens’ most recent issues.

Here is Zayn for a chat, starting with a thank you for the warm reception. He’s been thinking about his history with Owens, starting in pool halls in Montreal, working their way through the ranks and then headlining Wrestlemania together. A story that long has a lot of betrayals involved and this time, Zayn won’t forgive and forget. Owens tried to end Zayn’s career but he didn’t get the job done. His neck isn’t good but he’s ready to fight Owens again.

Cue Adam Pearce to say Zayn isn’t medically cleared to compete so the match cannot be made. Pearce goes to leave but Zayn says Pearce knows him better than that. Zayn wants the fight, with Pearce agreeing that it’s unsanctioned, meaning Owens can do anything he wants, including all the piledrivers he wants. It could mean the last match of Zayn’s career.

With the fans chanting LET THEM FIGHT, Zayn goes up the aisle to go face to face with Pearce to say he can do everything Pearce suggested Owens could do to Zayn himself. After thinking a bit, Pearce makes the match, which will be unsanctioned. Zayn vs. Owens is one of those pairings that will always work and having them beat each other up for fifteen minutes should be a good addition to the show.

Pat McAfee is very excited about the match being made.

We look at a clip from Smackdown, where Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez were shown near Jade Cargill’s attack. Naomi and Bianca Belair are here to deal with it.

Dominik Mysterio is worried about Morgan, who isn’t worried about anything else. Mysterio is also a bit tired of Finn Balor getting on his case. Cue Balor, who says after tonight, there will be three members of the Judgment Day at Elimination Chamber. Assuming Raquel Rodriguez wins that is. They both agree to handle their business, with Balor insisting that there are no new members to the team. Then Carlito seems to forget to go to the ring.

We look at Bron Breakker spearing IShowSpeed at the Royal Rumble, leaving Speed rather banged up.

AJ Styles vs. Dominik Mysterio

Styles works on a headlock to start before pulling him over with a German suplex. Mysterio’s kicks to the face just earn him a dropkick, which McAfee refers to as a TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION dropkick. Carlito low bridges Styles out to the floor though and we take a break. Back with Mysterio getting two off a slingshot hilo and a 619 connects. The frog splash misses and Styles strikes away, setting up the Styles Clash for the pin at 8:52.

Rating: C+. This was just a way for Styles to get his feet wet and that worked out well. Mysterio continues to be one of the easiest people in all of WWE to want to see get beaten up and he was doing it again here. Styles seems set for a showdown with Bron Breakker in the near future and that has some potential, as Styles looked good again here.

Post match Bron Breakker runs in and tries a spear but hits Mysterio instead. Breakker is sent outside and throws his shirt inside, where Styles easily catches it.

We look at the Creed Brothers getting disqualified last week against the War Raiders.

Ivy Nile is ready to get some gold but Dakota Kai comes in. Kai doesn’t want to hear about Nile’s plans and will see her in the ring.

Dakota Kai vs. Ivy Nile

For a future title shot against Lyra Valkyria, who is at ringside. Feeling out process to start until Nile takes her into the corner. Kai gets tied in the Tree Of Woe for a running kick to the knee in the corner, followed by a quickly broken ankle lock. That’s broken up and a quick Kairopractor gives Kai two but Nile powerbombs her out of the corner. The ankle lock, this time with a grapevine, goes on again but Kai gets out again. A swinging Rock Bottom gives Nile two and she grabs a German suplex. Another ankle lock is broken up and the GTK finishes Nile off at 6:45.

Rating: C. They were trying here and I like Kai but it wasn’t clicking for some reason. Nile isn’t overly interesting in the ring most of the time and Kai is only able to get her that much higher up the ladder. Valkyria needs someone to challenge her and I’m not sure a rematch with Kai is going to be the best choice.

We get a quick look at the upcoming Evolve series.

We look at Jey Uso challenging Gunther for Wrestlemania last week.

Gunther is in the concourse ala Jey Uso and walks into the arena. Gunther does a bit of the YEET Dance before saying that he gets why the fans like Jey so much. Gunther performing for the wrestlers is like reading Shakespeare to a dog. He is tired of stepping into the ring with people who can’t lace his boots.

The problem is that the match at Wrestlemania will take place in the ring. Gunther gets to ringside and wants a professional opinion about what to expect at Wrestlemania. He asks commentary for their “supposed professional opinion” and throws a mic to McAfee, who drops it. Does McAfee think Uso can beat Gunther? Yeah, he hopes Uso can.

Cole doesn’t think that was a good idea and Gunther takes his jacket off but here is Uso to interrupt. With McAfee on the announcers’ table for the YEET Dance, Uso breaks through security and goes after Gunther, who gets the sleeper. That’s broken up and Gunther is cleared out so YEETing can ensue. This was a solid promo from Gunther as it laid out the story perfectly well. You can see the two of them coming from different sides of the situation and that is how you set up a showdown for the title at Wrestlemania.

Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez don’t like being accused of attacking Jade Cargill but know that Rodriguez is ready for her Elimination Chamber qualifying match tonight. They don’t actually deny attacking Cargill.

We look back at the Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens match being set.

Pete Dunne vs. Penta

Penta grabs a headlock to start before grabbing a running hurricanrana. Dunne is back up with a dropkick though before taking off Penta’s glove to bend the fingers. Back up and Dunne hits a running corner clothesline but Penta Backstabs him out of the corner. Another snap of the fingers slows Penta down though and Dunne grabs a slingshot plant onto the apron. Cue Ludwig Kaiser at ringside and we take a break.

Back with Penta hitting a spinning Death Valley Driver for a breather. Dunne powerbombs him out of the corner, only to get caught with a Canadian Destroyer to send Dunne outside. Kaiser offers a distraction but Dunne can only get two. Penta sends them into each other and finishes with the Penta Driver at 10:05.

Rating: C+. Penta comes in, he looks cool, he has solid matches, he doesn’t lose matches, he gets over. This isn’t a complicated idea and yet for some reason it doesn’t happen very often. He hasn’t even been around for six weeks yet and he’s one of the hottest stars in all of WWE. That’s a nice way to go and I’m wanting to see what is next for him in the coming weeks.

Post match the beatdown is on but Penta knocks them both outside and hits a big running flip dive.

Jey Uso is tired of being told he can’t do it and he’s ready to prove everyone wrong. He is nailing these promos lately and while it’s hard to imagine him winning the title, I’m starting to believe it might happen.

We look at Bayley in the NBA Celebrity All-Star Game.

Video on Roxanne Perez.

The War Raiders want another shot at the Creed Brothers.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Roxanne Perez vs. Raquel Rodriguez

Liv Morgan is here with Rodriguez. The much smaller Perez gets thrown down to start so Perez slaps her in the face and throws in a bit of a bow. That earns her a shot to the face and Rodriguez throws her into the corner for a crash. A fireman’s carry faceplant drops Perez again but she slips out of a powerslam. That just earns her a swinging front facelock as it’s all Rodriguez to start.

The buckle bomb is countered with a hurricanrana and a rollup gets two. The fall away slam sends Perez flying and the Vader Bomb elbow connects for another near fall. Rodriguez misses a charge into the post though and Perez grabs a spinning DDT. A double springboard moonsault gets two but Rodriguez boots her in the face for the same….and here are Naomi and Bianca Belair. They take out Morgan and a springboard Pop Rox finishes for Perez at 7:32.

Rating: B-. The ending was all about Naomi and Belair (who were so mad that they got matching cheerleader outfits made) but they were having a pretty good match on the way there. Perez was fighting against the bigger star and making it work, with Rodriguez using her power to throw Perez around. I could have gone for more from them, as Perez is already fitting in well on the main roster.

Post match Rodriguez has to save Morgan from Belair and Naomi.

Seth Rollins is ready to win tonight and go on to Wrestlemania.

Karrion Kross is glad to see Sami Zayn coming to reality but if he thinks he can beat Kevin Owens, he’s insane.

Iyo Sky is underwater and talks about how she is going to take the Women’s Title from Rhea Ripley and go on to Wrestlemania. We see Sky beating Ripley in NXT as she promises to do it again in two weeks. Good promo here, with the water stuff being…I think cool?

Here is New Day for a chat. Well in theory at least as the fans are booing them out of the building. They don’t understand why people are made at them for attacking Rey Mysterio. Is Mysterio supposed to be some legend because of what he’s done? Kingston has won more titles and has been here longer than Mysterio because he has never left. If anyone should be the locker room leader, it should be Kingston.

Last week they smashed Mysterio’s ankle with a chair but it could have been worse. The fans really should be more grateful that they didn’t give him the Old Yeller treatment. Cue the LWO to interrupt so Dragon Lee can throw out some insults in Spanish. He makes it clear that NEW DAY SUCKS and the brawl is on. New Day bails before Lee can hit the big dive. New Day has great heat, but do something with it already.

Bianca Belair and Naomi are ready to defend the Women’s Tag Team Titles against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez next week.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor

Balor jumps him before the bell but Rollins says ring the bell anyway. Rollins can’t hit a Pedigree early on as Balor reverses into a double stomp and hits his own Pedigree for two. It’s too early for the Coup de Grace so Balor manages a clothesline instead. Rollins comes back with a boot to the face and a backbreaker sets up a missed Lionsault. Balor gets knocked outside for a suicide dive and a springboard knee to the face catches him back inside.

The Stomp misses and Balor is back with the Sling Blade, only to have his leg kicked out. Rollins stays on said leg but Balor gets in a shot to the ribs to bang him up as well. A kick to said ribs is countered into a knee first toss onto the announcers’ table and we slow down a bit. The Stomp onto the steps misses and Balor sends him into the post as we take a break.

Back with Balor hammering away in the corner before they trade shots to the head. The fans have their phones out in a mini Fireflies moment for some reason as Rollins knees him in the head and gets two off a Lionsault. The frog splash hits raised knees though and Balor gets a rollup for two.

Balor’s shotgun dropkick is countered into the Sharpshooter before Rollins hits a Pedigree for…well it seemed to be three as Balor kicked out VERY late and the referee had to pull back on the count. Balor knocks him off the top and hits the Coup de Grace before grabbing a crossface. That’s broken up as well and Rollins hits the Stomp for the pin at 18:52.

Rating: B+. These guys work well together and it’s a match that works pretty much every time they’re out there together. It helps that Balor is just a big enough name that you could imagine him going into the Chamber as well so there was a bit of drama here. Rollins going forward makes sense though as he has multiple stories waiting for him in the Chamber.

Overall Rating: B-. This show had a very good main event but it was more about setting things up for the future. We have two title matches set up for next week and the final two entrants for the Elimination Chamber matches. I liked the show, and while it could have used some more solid action, it did what it needed to do with the big show still being a little ways off.

Results
AJ Styles b. Dominik Mysterio – Styles Clash
Dakota Kai b. Ivy Nile – GTK
Penta b. Pete Dunne – Penta Driver
Roxanne Perez b. Raquel Rodriguez – Springboard Pop Rox
Seth Rollins b. Finn Balor – Stomp

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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Monday Night Raw
Date: February 10, 2025
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

We are closing in on the Elimination Chamber and that means we are getting some more qualifying matches this week. Those can make for some interesting situations, but there is also the question of which champion Charlotte and Jey Uso will be selecting for their Wrestlemania title shots. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Here is Jey Uso through the crowd for the Yeet Dance and as usual, he gets a request for an encore. Jey gets on the table but here is Gunther from behind to trip him down and start the beating. A big bot and powerbomb lay Uso out, with Gunther shouting “DON’T DO IT!”. Agents and referees get Gunther off but Uso officially makes the challenge for Wrestlemania. Then he dives on Gunther to keep up the fight. This was very to the point but it worked. I’m not sure I can see Jey winning, but he almost has to at this point.

We look at Raquel Rodriguez attacking Rhea Ripley last week.

Ripley thinks Charlotte is stalling as she tries to stay relevant. Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai come in, with Sky saying she’s coming for Ripley for costing her Wrestlemania. That doesn’t seem to bother Ripley, who says she’s looking forward to it.

Video on the War Raiders vs. the Creed Brothers.

Liv Morgan/Raquel Rodriguez vs. Damage CTRL

Sky slaps Rodriguez to start and gets powered into the corner to start. Some stereo dropkicks put Rodriguez down for two but she throws Kai away without much effort. Morgan comes in and Sky flips away, only to get dropped by Rodriguez. That’s broken up and Kai comes in for the running boot in the corner. Rodriguez posts Kai hard though and we take a break.

Back with Kai fighting out of a chinlock and handing it off to Sky to clean house. Over The Moonsault almost hits raised boots but Sky sticks the landing and hits a butterfly backbreaker for two on Morgan. Something like a middle rope Shatter Machine gets two on Sky (again: if you’re going to debut that big of a move, don’t have someone kick out).

The Kairopractor gets two on Morgan but she’s back up with Oblivion for two, with Sky making the save to a big reaction. Morgan is busted open but she’s fine enough to hit a Codebreaker on Kai. Sky’s rollup gets two but she gets enziguried, only to block Oblivion. A double stomp puts Morgan down and Sky kicks her in the head (thankfully not the bleeding side), setting up Over The Moonsault for the pin at 15:01.

Rating: B. Where the heck did this come from? These four had a pretty sweet match, which is a lot more than I was expecting. Morgan was working hard here and Rodriguez was doing the power stuff rather well. It’s nice to have Kai back and she was doing her part as well. Good match here and I liked this one quite a bit.

We look at Kevin Owens attacking Sami Zayn last week, with Owens blaming Zayn not helping him at the Royal Rumble.

We look at Gunther not being pleased with a rookie on WWE LFG.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria

Non-title. Before the match, Bayley glares at NXT’s Roxanne Perez, who is in the crowd. They fight over a test of strength to start with Bayley taking her down, only to get headlocked. Bayley can’t hit the Stunner over the ropes but can elbow Valkyria down. Valkyria blocks the sliding basement elbow into a backslide for two (that was cool). Valkyria blocks the Rose Plant and grabs a rollup for two before sending her outside as we take a break.

Back with Valkyria hitting a spinning kick to the head for two but Bayley sunset bombs her into the corner. Bayley’s big elbow hits raised knees but she’s back up with the Bayley To Belly for two. They forearm it out until Bayley hits a swinging side slam for two before they go outside again. Valkyria grabs a tornado DDT into a fisherman’s suplex on the floor, followed by another for two inside. They go up top with Valkyria knocking her onto the ropes, setting up a top rope Fameasser. Nightwing is blocked so Valkyria rolls her up for two. A rollup sends Valkyria into the ropes and Bayley rolls her up again for the pin at 9:16.

Rating: B-. They were starting to rock here and it was one of Valkyria’s best matches on the main roster. I’m not wild on having her lose clean though, even to someone as successful as Bayley. Have her lose by interference or countout or something, but don’t have a new champion lose like this. Other than that though, heck of a match here and Bayley looked better than usual out there.

Video on Penta.

Ludwig Kaiser isn’t impressed with Penta but Pee Dunne comes in to suggest they take out Penta. Dunne is going to take Penta out next week, with Kaiser saying Dunne is all his. With Dunne gone, AJ Styles comes up for a walk to the ring.

The Alpha Academy console Lyra Valkyria when American Made come in to mock her. Valkyria isn’t having it and yells back.

Here is AJ Styles for a chat. Styles talks about having flashbacks here because four months ago, he came back to this building and then got injured his first match back. He thought his career was over that night but the next morning he knew he had more to prove. There are things he wants to do, but here are Carlito and Dominik Mysterio to interrupt.

As usual, Dominik can barely get a word out without being booed off the mic. He finally manages to tell Styles that thins have changed around here, but Styles says he doesn’t see Damian Priest, Rhea Ripley or Finn Balor. Instead, all he sees is a guy in purpose skinny jeans and Dominik, who no one likes. Styles does like Dominik’s work ethic, but Dominik will always be Rey Mysterio’s punk a** kid. The fight is on and Styles clears the ring. Styles getting to wreck Dominik in a singles match should work well.

Jey Uso vs. Gunther is officially set for Wrestlemania. They’re pulling the trigger so well done on trying something.

Here is Seth Rollins on the platform for a chat. Jackie Redmond asks about the Elimination Chamber and Rollins is fired up to get his chance. We are on the Road To Wrestlemania and he lists off his nicknames before being interrupted by Finn Balor (Rollins’ opponent in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match). He’s not impressed by Rollins, as he thinks Rollins is overlooking him. Rollins says he has unfinished business with CM Punk and he’d like to tie up some loose ends with Cody Rhodes. Balor is standing in his way, but soon he won’t be standing at all.

AJ Styles gets a match with Dominik Mysterio next week. Then he runs into Bron Breakker for an intense staredown.

Tag Team Titles: Creed Brothers vs. War Raiders

The Creeds, with Ivy Nile, are challenging and Brutus gets elbowed into the corner to start. Julius comes in and hammers away, only to get sent into the corner. Erik slams Ivar onto Julius and Brutus gets crushed against the ring skirt for a big knockdown. Back in and a nasty sitout powerbomb gets two on Julius as we take a break.

We come back with Erik being sent hard into the post and the chinlock goes on. Brutus gets slammed onto Erik for two but Erik fights up and brings in Ivar. The seated senton crushes Brutus out of the corner and Ivar crushes him in the same corner. A sitout powerbomb gives Ivar two but Brutus is back with an Angle Slam for two. Ivar goes up but Nile offers a distraction, allowing Julius to jump to the top for a superplex. Brutus’ moonsault gets two but Erik is smart enough to pull Ivar back to the corner for the tag. Then Julius hits Ivar with the title for the DQ at 12:24.

Rating: B. Again, they were getting going here and then a not so great ending cut it off. That is all but guaranteed to set up a rematch in the near future, but I could have gone for something better than “and then Julius hits him with the belt.” It did at least get a reaction, which is a lot better than what the Creeds have been getting in recent months.

Post match another belt shot leaves the champs laying.

Finn Balor isn’t impressed with the Judgment Day but Dominik Mysterio says things could get better. Dominik suggests adding a new member but Balor isn’t having it, saying he’s going to win next week and move on to Wrestlemania.

Rhea Ripley tells Iyo Sky she’s getting a title match on the Raw after Elimination Chamber because Ripley wants it. Works for Sky.

Here is CM Punk for a chat. Punk talks about how Jey Uso is already set for the World Heavyweight Championship match at Wrestlemania so that leaves the Elimination Chamber. He’s already in it, but there is one person in it who didn’t have to qualify. At some point in the Elimination Chamber, Punk and Cena are going to see each other and Punk is going to beat him down.

The other person to qualify for the match is Drew McIntyre, who knows what it’s like to be in a big cage with Punk. He’s ready for either Finn Balor or Seth Rollins, but all that matters is he is going to Wrestlemania. Cue Logan Paul for his qualifying match, saying he gets why they call him Punk.

Paul could come up with a bunch of better names but he can’t say them on TV. Throwing Punk out of the Royal Rumble was a great fifteen minutes of fame for Punk and tonight, Rey Mysterio will get his as well. Punk: “The way they’re booing you, you would think you’re Dominik Mysterio.” Punk says he didn’t mention Paul because he had forgotten he was even in a match, but tonight, Paul’s number is 619. Punk’s lines here were great, with saying he forgot Paul had match being rather funny.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Rey Mysterio vs. Logan Paul

Mysterio slaps him into the corner to start fast and stomps away. Back up and Paul jumps over him before hammering Mysterio down in the corner. More punching has Mysterio in trouble but he spins around into a crossbody for a needed breather. Paul gets knocked outside for a twisting dive but catches Mysterio on top. A tabletop superplex plants Mysterio and we take a break.

Back with Mysterio being sent outside and asking Paul to come fight him. Mysterio hammers away and sends him into the steps to take over. Back in and a seated senton into a Lionsault gets two on Paul, who knocks Mysterio right back down. Paul’s Lionsault gets two and he boots Mysterio in the face to cut off a comeback bid.

Mysterio hits a sitout powerbomb out of the corner for two (with Paul forgetting to put his shoulders down at first). The 619 connects but Paul hits him with the big right hand. A belly to back flipped into a DDT (the Paulverizer, which is a new one and looked great) finishes Mysterio at 17:15.

Rating: B. More good stuff here, with Paul getting better and better in the ring by working with stars like Mysterio. It is great to see him evolving in the ring and Mysterio is the perfect choice to help make something like this work. Throw in a rather snazzy looking finisher (though I’m not sure how many people Paul can use that on) and this worked well.

Post match Paul leaves and New Day jumps Mysterio to end the show. That was rather abrupt.

Overall Rating: B+. They were in and out in about two and a half hours after four good to rather good matches and some solid promo work. This was a show that didn’t really do anything big but it kept things moving and was never dull. I had a good time with this one and Elimination Chamber is starting to look that much better. Keep this up and Raw will be on a roll in a hurry.

Results
Damage CTRL b. Liv Morgan/Raquel Rodriguez – Over The Moonsault to Morgan
Bayley b. Lyra Valkyria – Rollup
War Raiders b. Creed Brothers via DQ when Julius used the title belt
Logan Paul b. Rey Mysterio – Paulverizer

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Monday Night Raw
Date: February 3, 2025
Location: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

It’s the show after the Royal Rumble and in one heck of a shock, Jey Uso of all people won the men’s namesake match. That isn’t something a lot of people saw coming and a lot of things are screwy on the Road To Wrestlemania. We should be in for a big one this week as things will pick up in a hurry. Let’s get to it.

Here is the Royal Rumble if you need a recap.

Some people come to work.

Long Royal Rumble recap.

Here is Jey Uso coming through the crowd for his big celebration. After the song stops playing….the fans insist that he does the YEET dance one more time. The fans tell Jey that he deserves it and then chant USO as we’re still waiting for the first words. Uso is a bit nervous/taken aback by the reception before he finally says thank you. Uso: “I don’t really know what to say.” Fans: “YEET!” Uso: “Besides that!”

Uso talks about how he and his brother tried to become stars to carry on their legacy. Then he got involved with the Bloodline, which was fire. Those are cool chapters in his career but he wasn’t confident enough to be a singles star. But coming out here tonight, he has it now. Uso thanks the fans and now he is the Royal Rumble winner and on his way to Wrestlemania.

Cue Gunther to interrupt, saying he is disappointed because this possible matchup doesn’t appeal to him. Gunther has made everyone believe that he is barely hanging onto the title but he is always in control. He refuses to do this with Jey again, because he is in the process of building a legacy for himself. Beating Uso again means nothing and Gunther wishes it was Roman Reigns, John Cena or CM Punk because that adds to his legacy.

If Uso chooses Gunther, it will be a horrible display of violence at Wrestlemania. The reality is that Uso has options and he should consider them. Gunther goes to leave but Jey cuts him off, asking if Gunther is tired yet. Jey is tired of being told what he can or can’ be. He’ll be talking to Cody Rhodes on Smackdown but no matter what, he’s coming out of Wrestlemania as champion. Yeet. Gunther vs. Uso is a possibility, but my goodness this is still bizarre to see.

We look at Seth Rollins attacking Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble.

John Cena is officially in he Royal Rumble and says he’s in because he has earned it after 23 years. It is time for him to go to Wrestlemania and win his 17th World Title so that one day he can shake the hand of the person who wins #18. That’s a good line.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Ludwig Kaiser vs. Penta

Kaiser kicks Penta down to start and yells about Penta humiliating him (by eliminating him from the Rumble in 6 seconds). This earns him another toss over the top but Kaiser hits a Death Valley Driver on the apron as we take a break. Back with Kaiser faceplanting him and hitting a clothesline for two, setting up the sneer. Penta gets fired up and chops away, followed by a backbreaker for two more.

The slingshot dropkick in the corner gets another near fall and Penta sends him to the floor for the big running flip dive. Back in and they chop it out until Penta scores with some superkicks. Kaiser manages a Regal Roll for two of his own but Penta pulls him into the Sacrifice. The Penta Driver finishes Kaiser at 9:58.

Rating: B-. This worked well enough as the Penta roll continues. What matters the most is continuing to see what they have with Penta, who is doing rather well just a few weeks into his WWE run. It’s a good match too, with Kaiser being a perfect option for an opponent here, even if it was all about Penta getting the win.

Post match Penta is interviewed but Pete Dunne cuts him off. Kaiser lays Penta out with the spinning DDT.

We look back at JD McDonagh’s injury last week. He’ll be out for about four months.

Finn Balor can’t believe things fell apart when he was gone for two weeks and yells at the rest of the Judgment Day. Dominik Mysterio stole his partner and got him hurt, so maybe Mysterio needs a babysitter. Liv Morgan defends Mysterio, saying they had to fight next week or another team would have gotten the title shot. And tonight, Mysterio has gotten Balor an Elimination Chamber qualifying match. That seems to work for Balor.

Here is Charlotte for a chat. The fans boo her but the reality is she missed her. She missed the people who loved and hated her and last year sucked. Last year broke her physically and mentally and she didn’t know if she was going to make any major show. Now she is back and won the Royal Rumble so BOO HER NOW! This ring is her home and she is going to Wrestlemania.

Cue Rhea Ripley to interrupt, with Charlotte saying she was trying to have a moment. Ripley says that was a moment, but this is her show. Ripley does respect Charlotte so please pick her. Charlotte brings up beating Ripley, who says that was when she was just a kid. It’s not locked down yet though, as Charlotte is going to NXT and Smackdown to see what they have. As for Ripley, she’s still a kid, but Charlotte will see her next week. Ripley begs Charlotte to pick her. I really don’t need to see that match again.

Sami Zayn still wants to go to Wrestlemania and he has to go through CM Punk tonight to get to the Elimination Chamber. Zayn is asked about Kevin Owens but gets distracted by…Jey Uso. Jey insists he wasn’t aiming for Zayn in the Rumble but Zayn is perfectly fine. This is Uso’s moment and he wishes Zayn good luck tonight. With Uso gone, Karrion Kross comes in to ask what it’s like to have everyone take Zayn’s spot. Zayn isn’t happy with these interruptions and violence is teased.

Iyo Sky says she will see Rhea Ripley at Wrestlemania. Ripley doesn’t seem to mind the idea but Liv Morgan jumps Sky. Ripley chases her off but gets jumped by Raquel Rodriguez.

New Day vs. LWO

New Day has new music, which is almost hard to imagine. Lee headlocks Woods to start but Kingston trips Lee down. Back up and Lee snaps off a running hurricanrana so it’s off to Mysterio. Woods takes him into the corner and poses a bit, with the fans not being thrilled. Mysterio gets in a shot though and grabs a middle rope spinning hurricanrana for two. Lee sends Kingston into the corner for a running dropkick in the Tree Of Woe…and here is Logan Paul (facing Mysterio next week). The distraction lets Kingston pull Lee off the top and we take a break.

Back with Paul sitting at ringside and Kingston planting Lee for two. Lee manages to spin around and hit a sitout powerbomb for a needed breather. The tag brings in Mysterio to pick up the pace, including the running seated senton off the apron. Paul gets in Mysterio’s face ad is shoved into the chair for his efforts. Woods kicks the post by mistake so Lee snaps off a running hurricanrana over the top to the floor but Paul pulls Mysterio out. Back in and Trouble In Paradise gives Kingston the pin at 11:19.

Rating: B-. The point here was to give New Day a win as Paul is somehow despicable enough to actually not mind New Day. Granted it’s more about his match with Mysterio next week but this is better than nothing for the team. It’s also nice to have Lee back after such a lengthy absence.

We look at Seth Rollins attacking Roman Reigns and CM Punk after all three were eliminated from the Royal Rumble.

Reigns is banged up but he won’t let us have a specific update. For now though, it is believed that Reigns will be out for the foreseeable future. Oh dear.

CM Punk apologizes to the Sami Zayn fans because he’s going to the Elimination Chamber tonight.

We look at IShowSpeed being put into the Royal Rumble and being eliminated in fairly short order.

Video on Lyra Valkyria vs. Bayley next week in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Iyo Sky vs. Liv Morgan

Sky is banged up after the earlier attack and Raquel Rodriguez is here with Morgan. Sky takes her down by the arm to start but Morgan is back up with a running corner clothesline. A basement dropkick gives Morgan two and she sends Sky outside. They switch places and Sky hits a nasty dive as we take a break.

Back with Morgan hitting Three Amigos (Cole: “She’s no Eddie.”) but getting kneed in the face. A missile dropkick connects and Morgan goes flying, only to come back with a Backstabber. Sky takes her down again and goes up, with Rodriguez offering a distraction. Thy fight to the floor, with Sky hitting a German suplex to leave Morgan laying.

An Asai moonsault drops Morgan again but she pulls Sky out of the air with a Codebreaker for two (that looked good). Back up and Sky snaps off a super hurricanrana but Rodriguez breaks up Over The Moonsault. Morgan can’t hit Oblivion so it’s a German suplex to put her down. Cue Rhea Ripley to go after Rodriguez and Morgan, who gets punched for the DQ at 12:12.

Rating: B. Maybe it was the bumps or maybe it was me not having much in the way of expectations coming in, but this was a heck of a match with both of them doing well. I had a great time with this and some of the bumps were great. The ending made sense and gives Morgan a win over a successful name and that’s an impressive way to go.

Post match Ripley tries to explain but Sky isn’t having it.

The War Raiders respect JD McDonagh but here is American Made to say this isn’t championship material. The Creed Brothers are championship material but Erik asks what happens if this turns into a fight. Prepare for war. With the Raiders gone, Chad Gable, not looking at the rest of the team, tells them to win titles while he goes to solve lucha libre.

Adam Pearce announces that AJ Styles is officially on Raw. Bron Breakker comes in and says keep Styles away from him. Breakker and a reluctant Pearce are off to talk business.

Here is Seth Rollins for a chat (after his entrance, a break and the Pearce/Breakker segment). First up, congratulations to Jey Uso because he loves seeing people get what they deserve. That brings him to CM Punk, who got what he deserved at the Royal Rumble. That brings him to Roman Reigns, who lost at the Royal Rumble as well. The reality is that Reigns is hurt and Rollins is the one who hurt him.

That is what Reigns has been doing to people for years and it doesn’t bother Rollins to do the same things. He is ready for Wrestlemania and will face Finn Balor in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match. For now though, he wants Sami Zayn out here for a chat, which brings out Zayn. Rollins calls Zayn his friend and talks about what they have done to deal with Reigns. Tonight is time for the fight of Zayn’s life and he is better than CM Punk. Cue Punk, who almost gets in a fight with Rollins in the aisle but it’s broken up.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: CM Punk vs. Sami Zayn

They trade headlocks to start before Zayn takes him into the corner for some rather loud chops. Punk starts in on the arm but Zayn springboards over him to set up a clothesline. Punk forearms him into a swinging neckbreaker, setting up the…well nothing actually as Zayn breaks its up. The superplex brings Punk crashing down and we take a break.

Back with Zayn fighting back but not being able to hit the Blue Thunder Bomb. Punk’s knee in he corner sets up the running bulldog but Zayn reverses into the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Punk grabs a DDT on the arm and goes old school with the Anaconda Vice. That’s escaped as well so Punk tries the GTS, which is reversed into a small package for two more. Zayn suplexes him into the corner, only to charge into the GTS to give Punk the win at 14:54.

Rating: B. This is another good example of a match where you knew it was going to work because of who was involved. They’re both capable of having a strong match and they were given the time to make it work. Solid main event here, though it would be nice to see Zayn win one of these matches every so often.

Post match respect is shown but here is Kevin Owens to jump both of them. A package piledriver to Zayn ends the show.

Overall Rating: B-. There was a lot of talking on the show and a good deal of it was more about things to be announced later. That makes sense as we have a lot of time to get ready for the major shows, but it was still good enough to keep me interested. They have a lot more to do and Elimination Chamber is starting to come together, but or now, this was a nice enough follow up to the Rumble.

Results
Penta b. Ludwig Kaiser – Penta Driver
New Day b. LWO – Trouble In Paradise to Mysterio
Liv Morgan b. Iyo Sky via DQ when Rhea Ripley interfered
CM Punk b. Sami Zayn – GTS

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Royal Rumble 2024
Date: January 27, 2024
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Attendance: 48,044
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s time for the look back at last year’s show which set up one of the biggest WWE events of all time. This show is designed to set up the main events of WrestleMania LX and that means it is time for Roman Reigns to get a new challenger. Speaking of Reigns, he is defending the title in a four way match. Let’s get to it.

Today, various people scheduled for the show did in fact come to the show.

Hulk Hogan narrates a video about how important this area is to wrestling. You have to be RUMBLE READY because it is time to start the Road To Wrestlemania.

Earlier today: even more people came to work.

Pat McAfee comes out for commentary, with Corey Graves going on a hilarious rant about how much he hates this happening two years in a row.

Women’s Royal Rumble

90 second intervals, Natalya is in at #1 and Naomi (in a surprise return) is in at #2. We get a handshake to start before Natalya takes her down, only to have the step over dropkick cut off. They hit stereo crossbodies and Bayley is in at #3. The Rear View puts Natalya down and Naomi drops Bayley, only to have them sit there so Natalya can hit a double basement dropkick (that looked awful). Candice LeRae is in at #4 and gets in a few shots to leave everyone down.

TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace is in at #5 and doesn’t get much of a reaction but she looks like a star. Grace cleans house and you can tell McAfee is impressed. We get a hug between Naomi and Grace (who beat Naomi to win the title) and the brawl is on. That doesn’t mean any eliminations yet though as Indi Hartwell is in at #6. LeRae and Hartwell team up as Cole says that we’ve never had two winners in a Royal Rumble, save for that time when we did.

Asuka is in at #7 and teams up with Bayley, who looks rather nervous. Hartwell and Asuka go to the apron with Bayley getting rid of Hartwell for the first elimination. Ivy Nile is in at #8 and impresses McAfee with her rather impressive strength. Katana Chance is in at #9 and anklescissors LeRae. Nile and Grace have a delayed suplex off before Nile hits a loud enziguri.

Bianca Belair is in at #10 and the place is rather impressed. We have Natalya, Naomi, Bayley, LeRae, Grace, Asuka, Nile, Chance and Belair, with the latter getting to clean some house, including a double Blockbuster to Bayley and Asuka. As usual, Belair gets to show off for a bit until Kairi Sane is in at #11 to give us three members of Damage CTRL. The three of them get to beat up various people but not actually toss anyone as the ring is getting way too full. LeRae sends Asuka and Sane to the apron, only to have Bayley make the save and toss LeRae in a big crash.

Tegan Nox is in at #12 and wrecks some people but Grace cuts her off. Natalya makes the save and gives Grace a discus lariat. Natalya goes to throw Nox out but gets tossed instead, with Bayley getting rid of Nox as well, leaving them both stunned on the floor. Katana Chance is in at #13 and is so distraught at losing the Women’s Tag Team Titles last night that she stops to dance.

Sane is sent over the top and one of her feet touches and she tries to hang on to the apron, only to fall down for the elimination (I’m not sure if that was the plan). Asuka is kicked out a few seconds later and Bayley yells at the rest of the team for being eliminated. Chelsea Green is in at #14 and is immediately sent to the apron twice in a row before hitting a Zig Zag on Belair. We get the Grace vs. Belair slugout and they go to the apron, where Belair hits a KOD for the elimination.

Piper Niven is in at #15 and catches Green as we get a set of nifty time counters for various entrants. A bunch of people get together to beat on Niven and it’s Xia Li in at #16. Li racks Green, who kicks at Niven by mistake for a not so great result. Zelina Vega is in at #17 and has what must be some weird cosplay deal. Vega gives Niven a tornado DDT as there are far too many people in there and the pace has slowed down a lot. Maxxine Dupri is in at #18 and does her SHOOSH before dropping to the mat to hide from Niven.

Vega and Belair team up for a Code Red to put Niven down. A bunch of people can’t get rid of Niven, who eliminates Carter. Nia Jax is in at #19 so Li goes after her, only to get knocked out in a hurry. Nile is out as well and Niven accidentally splashes Green. Jax does it in purpose and then gets rammed into Green in the corner for a funny bit. A bunch of people go after Jax, who then charges at Niven, with Green getting crushed between them. Naomi hits a springboard enziguri to Jax who, say it with me, falls onto Green as well.

Shotzi is in at #20, giving us Naomi, Bayley, Belair, Chance, Green, Niven, Vega, Dupri, Jax and Shotzi as the ring is WAY too full again. A bunch of people get together to go after Jax, who shrugs them off. Bayley gets rid of Dupri and Jax tosses Green and Niven. Chance is tossed out onto the pile as well and it’s Becky Lynch in at #21.

Lynch goes right after Jax and DDT’s Vega and Shotzi at the same time. She throws Jax into Bayley as Green is back in, apparently not being thrown out. Lynch knocks her out without much trouble so that was nothing, especially after her hilarious bit earlier. Alba Fyre is in at #22 and hits a double Gory Bomb on Shotzi and Vega. Ignore that Vega didn’t actually hit anything on the way down. With no one else out, Shayna Baszler is in at #23 to start going after arms.

Valhalla is in at #24….and here is R-Truth to take her place and enter the match by mistake. Jax throws him out anyway as Adam Pearce is here to say Valhalla is in and R-Truth is out. Then Jax throws Valhalla out without much trouble. Michin is in at #25 and goes after Fyre before Rock Bottoming Bayley onto Baszler. Naomi is up with a hanging Pedigree to get rid of Fyre as things slow down again.

Zoey Stark is in at #26 with a missile dropkick on Michin. The brawling continues, with Baszler blocking a hurricanrana fr Vega, who is kicked out in a heap. NXT’s Roxanne Perez is in at #27 and snaps off a headscissors on Stark. Bayley jumps Perez but can’t get rid of her as Jax throws out Baszler and Michin. Shotzi is tossed out and Jax is the only one left standing…..but Jade Cargill is in at #28. She gets one heck of a reaction and slugs it out with Jax, whom she picks up for a one armed Widowmaker. Cargill throws Jax out and even Lynch realizes that was awesome.

Cargill’s charge hits the post though and everyone is down as Tiffany Stratton is in at #29. She immediately flip dives onto a bunch of people and hits an Alabama Slam on Perez. The returning Liv Morgan is in at #30, giving us a final grouping of Naomi, Bayley, Belair, Vega, Lynch, Stark, Perez, Cargill, Stratton and Morgan. The pace is picked up until Stark kicks Morgan in the face, only to get knocked out without much trouble.

Stratton kicks Perez out so everyone surrounds her, only to split off and start the brawls. Cargill and Belair have stereo gorilla presses and then drop Morgan and Lynch for the mega showdown (the fans approve). Naomi gets spinebustered by Cargill, who tosses Lynch and Naomi in quite the moment.

Morgan and Belair are sent to the apron, with Stratton being pulled out with them. A Codebreaker staggers Stratton but she grabs Belair’s hair for the save. Bayley kicks both of them out, leaving us with Bayley, Cargill and Morgan. They all wind up on the apron and Morgan eliminates Cargill, only to get kicked out by Bayley for the win at 1:04:57.

Rating: C+. This was only so interesting as there isn’t quite enough depth to get all the way to thirty entrants in this kind of thing. The top spots were good with Bayley getting a long awaited win, but other than that there were some long stretches which were needing something better. Get rid of some of the dead spots in the middle and it’s better, but this only got so far.

Come to St. Petersburg!

We recap the four way for the Smackdown World Title. Roman Reigns pinned LA Knight about two years ago so now Knight, Randy Orton and AJ Styles want the title.

Smackdown World Title: Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles vs. LA Knight vs. Roman Reigns

Reigns, with Paul Heyman, is defending. We get a long staredown to start before all of the challengers go after Reigns in a smart move. Styles and Knight get in a fight of their own though, leaving Orton and Reigns to brawl out to the floor. Knight and Styles join them, with Knight sending Styles face first into the announcers’ table. Orton drops Reigns onto the same table and then goes after Knight as it’s time to switch off.

Knight gets the better of things, only to miss a charge and get dropped onto the table for a big crash. Orton takes Reigns back inside for the circle stomp before stopping to powerslam Styles. Knight is back in to stomp Orton down though as the back and forth start continues. Orton and Styles go outside, leaving Reigns to clothesline Knight in the corner. Reigns drops Styles as well and the fans certainly seem to approve.

It’s Knight getting back up with a DDT to Reigns and a slam to Orton, setting up a middle rope bulldog. The jumping superplex brings Styles back down and there’s the BFT to Reigns to get the crowd up again, only for Styles to make the save. Styles fights up and strikes away with the Styles Clash hitting Reigns for two and Knight making the save this time. Back up and Reigns tries the Superman Punch but Orton RKOs him out of the air in a sweet counter for another near fall, with Solo Sikoa pulling the referee out.

Sikoa isn’t done as he Samoan Spikes Orton and Knight before stacking Knight onto Orton (which doesn’t seem overly bright). The running Umaga Attack against the barricade misses Styles though and Sikoa is down. Styles comes back in with a Phenomenal Forearm to knock Reigns onto the other two before getting a triple cover for two, even though that normally means the first person getting a cover (Knight in this case) wins.

Styles grabs a chair and beats on Reigns, then does the same to Knight. Orton breaks that up with a low blow but gets speared out to the floor. Knight goes after Reigns but the BFT is broken up, which breaks up the Styles Clash as well. With Knight down, the spear to Styles retains the title at 19:24.

Rating: B. Rather nice stuff here with everyone going in there and trying hard, with the time flying by. Reigns winning wasn’t exactly in doubt with a milestone Wrestlemania on the horizon, but at least he had to put in the work to get there. If nothing else, it’s nice to see the other three getting a chance, as it has been awhile for most of them.

We recap Logan Paul defending the US Title against Kevin Owens. Paul is the rather braggadocios US Champion while Owens is here o shut him up. They’ve taken turns attacking each other and Paul has injured Owens’ hands.

United States Title: Kevin Owens vs. Logan Paul

Paul is defending and offers a handshake but Owens chops him down instead. They’re quickly on the floor and Owens sends him hard into the barricade. Back in and a rather big chop sets up a release German suplex, meaning it’s time to go back outside. Owens drops a backsplash but Paul gets smart by going after the bad hand. Back in again and a high crossbody takes Owens down.

An armbar goes on but Owens elbows his way out of an Octopus. With nothing else working, Paul goes simple by punching Owens’ bad hand. Paul misses a 619 though, allowing Owens to hit a hard clothesline. Another backsplash hits raised knees though, as I continue to love watching someone learn during a match. Back up and Owens stomps away in the corner, setting up a pair of Cannonballs. The frog splash connects but a Swanton hits Paul’s raised knees.

Paul misses a Swanton of his own though, only to hit a Buckshot Lariat. A frog splash gives Paul two but he tries a superplex, which you just do not do to Owens. The swinging superplex gives Owens two but the Stunner is blocked. Paul’s big right hand drops Owens for a near fall and now it’s Paul’s turn to be shocked.

One of Paul’s goons tries to bring in some brass knuckles but the referee cuts it off and has said goon ejected. Cue A-Town Down Under for a distraction though and Paul gets the brass knuckles…which Owens takes away and uses to knock Paul out. The referee sees said knuckles though (McAfee: Oh NOW the referee has 20/20!”) and that’s a DQ at 14:01.

Rating: B. It was a good fight and there is something to be said about a bit of a twist ending rather than Paul just getting the pin. If nothing else, Owens is at his best when he’s upset about something and the ending should fit in well. Paul gets to keep bragging about being champion too and that is good for just about everyone. Well mainly Paul but you get the idea.

Post match Owens puts Paul through the announcers’ table. Then he takes a cough drop.

Hulk Hogan really wants you to come to St. Petersburg.

Elimination Chamber is in Australia.

Wrestlemania is in 70 days.

The attendance is 48,044, a new stadium record. Uh, yay.

Rumble By The Numbers!

30 entrants
1,310 entrants
34 winners
2.6% have won
20 have gone on to win the title at Wrestlemania
1 woman to enter at #1 and win
20 eliminations for Ripley all time, a record
1:01:08, Ripley’s record time in the Rumble
1:11:40, Gunther’s record time in the Rumble
60% of the winners have come from the last ten entrants
#30 has produced the most winners (5)
3 who have won consecutive Royal Rumbles
3 wins for Steve Austin, a record
3rd time Tampa will host the Royal Rumble (1995/2021)
8 eliminations for Shayna Baszler, the most in a single women’s match
9 two time winners
13 eliminations in one men’s Rumble by Brock Lesnar
Natalya is one of four women to compete in all women’s Rumbles
45 eliminations by Kane over 18 Rumbles, both records
3,653 days since CM Punk has been in a Royal Rumble
34,000,000 social media engagements for the Logan Paul vs. Ricochet clip from last year
9 people have won their first World Title off a Royal Rumble win
60% of winners from the last five years have won the World Title at Wrestlemania

Men’s Royal Rumble

90 second intervals and Jey Uso is in at #1 and Jimmy Uso is in at #2. They stare each other down to start until Jimmy is punched out to the apron. That’s not enough for an elimination as Jimmy is back in to strike away, but the jumping enziguri misses. Jey superkicks Jimmy down but the Superfly Splash hits raised knees to leave them both needing a breather. Grayson Waller is in at #3 and naturally he runs his mouth about how awesome he is. Jey knocks him of the apron before he can get in, only to come in and team up with Jimmy for some double teaming.

Andrade returns at #4 and cleans house (or as much as you can with two heels in the ring) but can’t get rid of anyone. Carmelo Hayes is in at #5 and we get a three way staredown with Hayes, Andrade and Jey. That’s broken up and Hayes gets rid of Waller without much effort. Shinsuke Nakamura is in at #6 and the fans sing his song. Jimmy seems to approve and gets kicked in the head as a result. The freshly heel Santos Escobar is in at #7 and we get straight to a showdown with Andrade. They hug and pose but Andrade isn’t interested in a Legado del Fantasma pose.

Karrion Kross is in at #8 and everyone goes to the general brawling. With that not going anywhere, Dominik Mysterio is in at #9 and the fans are not happy. It takes a good while for him to get in and he is quickly taken into a corner for some not so near eliminations. Carlito is in at #10, giving us Jey, Jimmy, Andrade, Hayes, Nakamura, Escobar, Kross, Mysterio and Carlito at the one third mark. Carlito goes after Escobar who bails to the floor, leaving Carlito to load up the apple. Escobar gets it in the face and is then tossed out to clear some of the ring.

Bobby Lashley is in at #11 and starts throwing some not great looking spears. One of them is enough to get rid of Kross so here are the AOP for a distraction, allowing Kross to pull Lashley out for the elimination. The big bawl is on with the Street Profits running out to even things up. They all go up the aisle and brawl to the back as Ludwig Kaiser is in at #12. He goes after Dominik for a bit of a weird one and everyone pairs off until Austin Theory is in at #13. The flipping Downward Spiral plants Jey and more brawling ensues as we need someone to clear the ring a bit.

Finn Balor is in at #14 and Hayes is tossed in a hurry. Cody Rhodes is in at #15 and this should pick things up a bit. The Cody Cutter gets rid of Theory but Balor takes Rhodes down and they slug it out. Bronson Reed is in at #16 and gets rid of Andrade. Nakamura and Rhodes slug it out with Nakamura hitting a spinning kick to the face as Kofi Kingston is in at #17. A Disaster Kick and Cross Rhodes get rid of Nakamura and Kaiser is out shortly thereafter.

Gunther is in at #18 and chopping ensues, setting up the staredown with Gunther. That’s broken up and Kingston gets Gunther out to the apron, earning Kingston an elimination (no special save this time). Ivar is in a #19 and hits a powerslam, setting up the slugout with Reed. NXT’s Bron Breakker is in at #20, giving us Jey, Jimmy, Mysterio, Balor, Rhodes, Reed, Gunther, Ivar and Breakker.

A spear immediately hits Jimmy and a running clothesline gets rid of him. Another spear gets rid of Balor and it’s time for Gunther vs. Breakker, which has the fans’ interest. Gunther slips out of the gorilla press but Breakker gives him the spear to quite the reaction. Omos is in at #21 and takes his sweet time getting to the ring. House is quickly cleaned and Reed is knocked out with a big boot. Breakker spears a springboarding Ivar out of the air and gets rid of him before staring up at Omos.

Pat McAfee is in at #22 and looks more than a bit surprised at the news. He sees Omos and Breakker waiting on him and eliminates himself in a funny moment. McAfee has claimed that he didn’t know this was coming and I’d believe it. McAfee: “HOW BIG IS THAT THING IN THERE????” Breakker dumps Omos and Mysterio knocks Breakker out (after a star making performance), with Cole and Graves making up trash talk that Breakker said about Omos.

JD McDonagh is in at #23 and gets speared by Breakker on the floor before he can get in. Cody and Gunther fight some more as R-Truth is in at #24 (the same number he entered the women’s match in for a nice touch). He throws McDonagh in so McDonagh can be properly eliminated, only to stand on the apron or a tag to Mysterio. Naturally Mysterio tags him in (because) and he goes after Omos to little avail.

Miz is in at #25 for an Awesome Truth reunion but Truth saves Mysterio. Gunther breaks that up and Mysterio gives Miz a 619 as Damian Priest is in at #26. Truth is out in a hurry and Priest cleans house, including South Of Heaven to Gunther. CM Punk is in at #27 and gets to do a bunch of running knees in the corner. Mysterio is tossed but Priest decks Punk with a discus forearm.

Ricochet is in at #28 and gets to fly around a bit as Gunther tosses Miz. Drew McIntyre is in at #29 to make things a bit bigger. A bit of house is cleaned, including a heck of an overhead belly to belly to Ricochet. Jey superkicks Gunther almost to the apron but gets pulled out himself to end a rather long run. Sami Zayn is in at #30, giving us a final grouping of Rhodes, Gunther, Priest, Punk, Ricochet, McIntyre and Zayn. The pace picks up as Zayn goes after McIntyre, who recently beat him up pretty badly.

Priest avoids being tossed out but Ricochet can’t do the same as we’re down to six. A variety of suplexes and kicks ensue until Sami gets rid of Priest, only to be dumped by McIntyre. We’re down to Rhodes, Punk, Gunther and McIntyre and everyone needs a breather as Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns watch from a sky box. Gunther and Rhodes pair off as McIntyre chops away at Punk in the corner.

The Cody Cutter seems to wake Gunther up as he hits a hard clothesline to Rhodes. We get the McIntyre vs. Gunther staredown but they go back to what they were doing instead of fighting. A neckbreaker puts Punk down but the Claymore misses. The GTS is blocked and it’s the Glasgow Kiss to drop Punk again. Gunther sleepers Rhodes but gets Claymored by McIntyre. Another Claymore hits Rhodes and McIntyre is the only one standing.

There’s a Claymore to Punk to complete the set but McIntyre would rather yell at Punk than get him out. That’s enough for Punk to toss McIntyre, who looks absolutely crushed. Gunther dropkicks Punk and gives him a powerbomb before sending Rhodes to the apron. Rhodes pulls Gunther to the apron as well though and Gunther is out, leaving us with two. They slug it out and then slug it out some more with Punk getting the better of things.

Rhodes gets in a powerslam but the Cody Cutter is countered into some rolling German suplexes. That’s broken up but so is Cross Rhodes, allowing Punk to put him on the apron. Back in and Cross Rhodes connects, only for Punk to get in a desperation GTS. Punk gets him out to the apron but Rhodes is right back in, meaning it’s a Pedigree to take him down again. Another GTS is blocked though and Rhodes throws him out for the win at 1:08:16.

Rating: A-. This was a heck of a Rumble with some entertaining spots throughout and a bunch of good stuff. The last bit felt epic and, despite Punk’s big injury (as he tore his tricep while fighting McIntyre), the final two had a heck of a showdown. Cody winning is the right call as he is on the way to his destiny in Philadelphia and he had to get there from here. I liked this one a lot as they kept things moving and I wasn’t bored at all.

Rhodes celebrates for a good while and points at Roman Reigns in the sky box (yeah don’t bother teasing that Rollins stuff as there is zero point in this case). Reigns holds up the title and looks a bit nervous.

The big highlight package wraps us up.

Overall Rating: B+. The Women’s Royal Rumble was the only thing close to a weak spot and even then it was good enough. The rest of the show was one hit after another as we are starting to get exactly what we need out of WWE. I liked this a good bit and you can feel the energy around here, which is rather nice to see. Heck of a show here, with Wrestlemania on the horizon as the really big prize.

Ratings Comparison

Women’s Royal Rumble

Original: C+
Redo: C+

Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles vs. LA Knight vs. Randy Orton

Original: B-
Redo: B

Kevin Owens vs. Logan Paul

Original: B
Redo: B

Men’s Royal Rumble

Original: B-
Redo: A-

Overall Rating

Original: B-
Redo: B+

I totally shortchanged the Men’s Royal Rumble the first time around as it’s way better than that.

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