WWE Raw (3/10/25)

WWE Raw

Madison Square Garden

New York City, NY

March 10, 2025

Ring Announcer: Mike Rome

Commentators: Michael Cole & Pat McAfee

Last week's Raw was a high impact show dealing with the fallout of Elimination Chamber but this week was a well hyped event with two big matches signed already. LWO vs New Day and Seth Rollins vs CM Punk in a steel cage. Also, AJ Styles wants a piece of Logan Paul and that might be a Wrestlemania match. Iyo Sky won the World Women's Championship last week when Rhea heeled on Bianca Belair, so Rhea might be apart of tonight's show for an explanation. We're 41 days away from Wrestlemania so let's get this one started.

Michael Cole welcomes us to Madison Square Garden and apparently Cody Rhodes is here tonight. Iyo Sky and Dakota Sky are here as well. Bianca Belair arrives through the freight elevator and she looks pissed. Seth Rollins is here as well as CM Punk for their steel cage match. Jey Uso makes his way through the crowd of cheering fans for our opening match McAfee stands on the announce table while Cole remains on the ground to greet Uso, hahaha. We're shown comedian Andrew Schulz in the front row as we get started.

Match 1

Grayson Waller (with Austin Theory) vs Jey Uso

Cole informs us that Waller wants Uso because he's going to Wrestlemania and Waller isn't. Bell's gone and they tie up to start. Waller throws him off to start before they tie up again. Waller gets in a headlock and drops Jey with a shoulderblock. Waller runs into a running back elbow and Uso follows with a scoop slam. McAfee mocks A-Town Down Under as Uso gets in a right hand in the corner but Waller dropkicks Uso in the knee. Waller rallies with punches to a chorus of boos then goes for the blatant choke. Waller throws Uso into the ring post and Grayson stands on his head before taunting the irate crowd. Grayson misses a charge in the corner and Uso responds with a running ass bump. Jey hits a step up enziguiri and clotheslines Waller over the top to the outside. Uso hits a suicide dive onto Waller on the outside before throwing him back in. Theory grabs the leg from the outside allowing Waller to dropkick Uso off. Waller slides outside and drops Jey with a clothesline as we go to break. Back from commercial Waller is on the top rope and he hits a second rope flying elbow drop. Waller covers for 1....2..no. Waller kicks away at Uso before they play "Yeet/boo". Uso drops Waller with a big right hand and hits a superkick to the ribs. Jey hits the samoan drop and calls for the Umaga. He hits it in the corner then goes for the top rope splash. Theory distracts him long enough for Waller to get up. Waller gets superkicked through the ropes to the outside. Uso runs into a cutter on the ropes as Waller dives into the ring, hitting a Flatliner He covers for 1...2...no. We're shown WWE2K25 ratings which is ridiculous as Waller makes another cover for a two. Jey ducks under the right hand but gets kicked in the head. Waller hits the discuss punch but runs into the superkick. Uso kicks Theory off the apron and hits the spear on Waller. He covers for 1....2...3 to win the match. Serviceable match to keep Jey hot going into Wrestlemania even if its against guys cold as ice right now.

Time of match: 9:10

Winner: Uso by pinfall

The celebration is short-lived as Austin Theory attacks from behind after the bell. Theory rallies with right hands as Waller joins in for the double team. Jey backdrops Waller out of the ring and spears Theory as well. Uso heads to the top and hits the top rope splash on Theory but all of a sudden Gunther appears out of nowhere. Gunther lays him out with the sleeper for the second week in a row. WWE referees pry Gunther off of him as Cole reminds us that this was Gunther's plan to mess with Jey as often as he could until Wrestlemania.

Back to Cole and McAfee as Pat does the Mr. Perfect pencil toss and Cole says he hopes Jey serves it back to Gunther. He hypes up the steel cage match between Rollins and Punk coming up as we get a highlight package. Punk returned after Survivor Series 2023 and Seth Rollins was visibly pissed. Rollins isn't happy that Punk abandoned WWE for 10 years while he stayed and built his legacy, only for Punk to return with all the hooplah he did. Punk defeated Rollins on the first Netflix Raw and Rollins vowed to take Wrestlemania away from Punk. Punk eliminated Rollins and Rollins curb stomped Punk to cost him the Elimination Chamber to John Cena. Last week on Raw, Punk dropped a pipe bomb on everyone but once he mentioned Becky Lynch, Rollins came running to fight. General Manager Adam Pearce made a deal with Rollins to blow off steam by putting them in a cage tonight. Rollins is wearing some of the finest pajamas you've ever seen while Punk warms up in the New York Knicks locker room as we go to break.

Back from commercial, Jey Uso is in the back where Alpha Academy comes in to console him. Otis gives him a big kiss on the head and says he's got his back as they walk off. We head back to ring side where Logan Paul is introduced, guess he's beating AJ Styles to the punch. Logan spots a fan wearing an "I Hate Logan Paul" shirt and rips it off him. Must be one of their PC guys because the dude looks ripped. Paul gets royally booed by the fans and can't even get a word in because of it. Paul says he doesn't associate with guys like AJ Styles and he's Logan Paul. Paul compares himself to The Rock and John Cena, transcendent superstars and would do anything it took to get to the top. Paul was shocked that Cody Rhodes rejected Rock's offer and it took Cena 20 years to realize that nice guys finish last. He's known that since Day 1 and he says his soul is for sale and doesn't run away from opportunities, that's why he's in the ring at MSG and the "reggies" are in the stands. He says guys like Andrew Schulz are there to see him and they show him on camera. He gives Schulz a mic and he says he's there to see the steel cage match, CM Punk and Seth Rollins. Andrew "Logan, nobody is here to see YOU. This is not Cleveland, Ohio, this is New York City. We're a real arena and we like real pretzels." He wants to see AJ Styles and Paul pulls him over the barricade. Paul throws Schulz in the ring and goes to suplex him, but here's Styles himself to make the save. AJ unloads with right hands to drop Paul and he hits the Phenomenal Forearm. AJ and Schulz high five as Paul rolls out of the ring. AJ tells him to come back and get some. Logan walks off as AJ baits him to come back. AJ raises Andrew Schulz's arm as the fans cheer. This is definitely setting up for Styles/Paul at Wrestlemania as Schulz climbs to the second rope for the obligatory cheer.

We cut to the announcers who hype up the steel cage match and sends us to last week's main event where Iyo Sky defeated Rhea Ripley Before the next match, we're shown a steel cage match from 1975 where Bruno Sammartino defeated Ivan Koloff in Madison Square Garden. On to the next match.

Match 2

The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs The LWO (Dragon Lee and Rey Mysterio Jr) in a Tornado Tag Team Match

Oba Femi is shown in the crowd to hype up tomorrow night's NXT as the LWO makes their entrance. Tornado rules means no tags, everyone's in there. They brawl to start with Lee taking Kofi and Rey taking Woods. They hit double splashes in the corner and 10 punches. A double bulldog drops both members of New Day and they bail. Rey kicks Woods in the back as Lee sends Kofi into the ring post. Rey rams Woods' head into the announce table as McAfee says "eat the table Xavier Woods!" Woods is rammed into the post by Rey and the faces pull out a table. New Day jumps them from behind as Woods sends Rey into the ring post. Woods tries to start a "tables" chant and puts the table back under the ring. Rey fights back against woods as Lee scoop slams Kofi on the floor. Rey hits a seated senton on Woods and throws Kofi back in the ring. Lee and Rey get the table back out and set it up outside. Lee puts Kofi on his shoulders but Kofi fights out of it and Woods trips Lee off the apron. Kofi and Woods send Rey shoulder first into the ring steps and catch Lee mid air. They double powerbomb Lee on the floor as we go to commercial. Back from break, inside the ring Kofi puts Lee on the top rope. Woods shitcans Rey outside as Woods & Kofi get pushed off by Lee. Rey crotches Kofi on the top rope but Woods knocks Mysterio down. Woods climbs up to the second rope to trade punches with Lee. Rey somehow joins all four on the top rope, hitting a huracarana on Woods. Lee hits a huge double stomp on Kofi and covers for 1...2...no. Lee hits a hurracarana on Woods through the outside to a big pop but Kofi hits the O'Connor Roll on Rey for 1...2..no, Rey kicks him into the ropes. Rey calls for the 619 but Kofi goes for Trouble In Paradise. Rey ducks under it and hits a springboard crossbody for 1...2...no. Rey slides under Kofi and his head scissors puts Kofi on the ropes. Rey hits the 619 and goes for the frog splash, but Kofi gets his knees up. Kofi covers for 1...2..no, Lee saves the day. Lee clotheslines Kofi over the top to the floor and hits a hilo to the floor on Kingston. All of a sudden a dude in a mask and black clothing hits a hurracarana on Lee on the floor. Then drops him with a flying headbutt. Rey goes to attack but he's sent into the side of the ring and the dude does a german suplex. Judging by the red white and blue mask, that's gotta be Chad Gable. Security pounces on the guy and whisks him away as the announcers start to figure out its Gable. Meanwhile Kofi has no idea where he is but somehow revives Woods. Kofi in the ring hits a backbreaker and Woods hits the big stomp. Woods covers for 1...2..3 to win the match. Damn good tag match but somewhat ruined by Lucha Gable. Now the concept of Lucha Gable is either going to be not funny at all or too hilarious for woods, there won't be an in-between. New Day just happened to be there, the LWO could have been facing the Hardy's and Gable would have interfered. New Day gets the win to keep their heat moving forward.

Time of match: 11:16

Winners: New Day by pinfall

McAfee says Kofi ruined everything yet got the win at ring side. Then we cut to last week where Bron Breakker cleaned out Judgment Day. We cut to the Judgment Day in the back where Finn Balor is ranting and raving about Breakker last week. Carlito isn't paying attention as he just stares at an apple. Dom Mysterio along with Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan walk in, Liv says Bayley will face Raquel Rodriguez for a women's IC title shot. Carlito says "Now THAT'S cool" and goes to fist bump Raquel who just blows him off. Carlito then just punches Dom's arm so he's not left hanging. Dom says he got Balor a title shot for the men's IC title next week on Raw if Balor wants it. Balor hugs Dom and thanks him before leaving to talk to Adam Pearce. Dom says Balor has got this but Liv isn't convinced. I know Carlito is supposed to be the comic relief of the group, but he's even more detested than R-Truth and Truth was never an official member. Without Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest, this group is virtually useless.

We then get a plug for WWE Evolve this coming Wednesday before we're shown Peter Rosenberg in the crowd. The rapper Fabolous is shown in the house as well and now I feel old because its been 20 years since Holla Back Youngin came out. Next we're shown long time WWE fan Macaulay Culkin and his brother Rory sitting next to him, although Rory doesn't get named. He rubs his brother's head who gives him a weird look, hahaha.

Here comes Cody Rhodes for a conference with the crowd. He already appeared on Smackdown to tell John Cena to come get some, what's in Satan's fire does he want now? Cody "So, New York City, whataya want to talk about?" He says he's here because MSG is the cathedral of wrestling and brings up the fact John Cena isn't here tonight. Cody says Cena must have told Travis Scott and The Rock that he'll be in Brussels, Belgium next week. Cody says this was the same man that won the US title here in MSG and won the Royal Rumble after tearing his pectoral muscle. Cody says it was easy for Cena to sucker punch him after kicking him in the gonads with backup around him. He doesn't begrudge Cena for a part time schedule because Cena part time is better than a lot of people full time. What he DOES begrudge is Cena going on social media....and he's cut off by the old "Lets go Cena/Cena Sucks" chant with the adults screaming let's go Cena and the kids saying Cena sucks, which is surreal. Cody says let's hear it for Cena and gets a mixed reaction. Cody says he begrudges Cena for posting on Twitter "Have the discipline to do what needs to be done, even if you don't feel like it." Cody compares Cena to a spiteful mentor or coach that some day you have to say "John, sit down and shut up you god damned moron." Cody mocks the term best for business although he says Cena always knew what's best for business, until it changed. Cody says its tacky to count stats in wrestling but one stat that's been on everyone's mind is "seventeen". Cody says that's not happening because he's going to beat his hero in his hero's last chance at "seventeen." Cody "John, I'm the captain now. Good night, New York." The message is clear, Cena is after the record breaking 17th title and Cody says its not gonna happen. McAfee wants to hear what Cena has to say next week in Belgium as we go to break.

Back from commercial we're shown the famous MSG cage match between Don Muraco and Jimmy Snuka with Mick Foley and Bubba Ray Dudley in the front row. We get more hype for tonight's cage match before we see actress Ali Ahn in the crowd with some overzealous Cody Rhodes fan in the crown. The cast of the Netflix show Selling The City is shown as well before we're shown Rich The Kid. Finally we're shown championship boxer Amanda Serrano who's going to be fighting Katie Taylor this July in MSG. On to the next match.

Match 3

Bayley vs Raquel Rodriguez (with Liv Morgan and Dom Mysterio)

Number one contender's match for Lira Valkyria's IC title. Bayley enters alone despite the 3-1 odds. Cole can't help himself to heckle Dom & Liv during Bayley's introduction. McAfee joins in and Liv heckles them back. Cole brings up how Bayley beat Lira to get into Elimination Chamber as the bell rings. Raquel backs Bayley in the corner and chokes her in the corner. Bayley kicks her in the knee but Raquel works the arm, throwing Bayley down by the hair. Bayley plays cat & mouse with Raquel until she's dropped off the apron. She stomps on Bayley's hand before throwing her back inside. Bayley hits forearms to the back but runs into a shoulderblock. Rodriguez misses a charge in the corner but Bayley's not strong enough to arm drag Raquel. Rodriguez drops her with a shoulderblock but runs into a boot in the corner. Cole says if anyone can pull this out, its Bayley....which is surreal considering these two had hilarious interactions when Bayley was a heel. Bayley finally arm drags Raquel and elbows her in the corner. Bayley's spear is blocked and Raquel swings her around like a rag doll. Raquel hits a fallaway slam and stands on her. Bayley pulls her off the second rope and clubs away with forearms. Bayley hits a knee to the face and a bronco buster, but Raquel kicks her off. Raquel regroups with Liv but Bayley sneaks around to hit an elbow to the back of the neck. Bayley taunts Liv as we go to commercial. Back from break Raquel misses a legdrop on the apron but doesn't scream "my hole". Bayley snaps her off the second rope and hits a running knee to the head. Bayley snaps her off the second rope but Bayley hits a sliding clothesline. She covers for 1...2..no. Raquel blocks a back suplex and throws her across the ring. Bayley rolls her up for 1...2..no. Bayley hits another running knee to the head and goes up to the top rope. Bayley hits the flying elbow and covers for 1...2...noooo. Pat McAfee "OOOOHHHH YEAHHHH" Cole brings up Randy Savage having a cage match in MSG as Bayley sends Raquel into the buckle. Bayley ducks under a clothesline and hits a back suplex, covering for 1...2..no. Bayley's rose plant is blocked and Bayley sends Raquel out of the ring. Bayley goes for a baseball slide but Raquel moves. Raquel gets thrown into the ring post and Bayley slides back in. Dom Mysterio hops up on the apron to distract referee Jessika Carr but Liv hops up on the other side. Bayley drops her first then Dom but Raquel catches Bayley mid-air. Raquel slams Bayley on top of the announce table and rolls back inside. Bayley just barely makes the count back inside but runs right into a big boot. Raquel hits Tejana Bomb and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. The numbers game catches up to Bayley as it was too much for just one person to overcome. Bayley beat Lira Valkyria to get to EC but Raquel beats Bayley, the message is Lira is going to have to face the vicious bodyguard of Liv Morgan.

Time of match: 10:05

Winner: Rodriguez by pinfall

Cathy Kelley is with Chad Gable who accuses him of attacking Rey and Lee. Gable says that wasn't him and it was just a common fan. Cathy says all evidence points to him since he's wearing the same exact clothes as the attacker. Gable replies they're in MSG and security is pathetic to let that fan do what he did. Cathy calls him a liar when the camera pans behind him to see security escorting out a masked man wearing the same clothes as Gable. Chad looks at Cathy with an "I told you so" look and once again says New York security is pathetic. This reminds me of the angle Owen Hart had going on where he'd attack someone as the Blue Blazer then had Koko B Ware or Jeff Jarrett as the Blazer with him as himself in the ring. Like I said, this angle is either going to be great or bomb and so far its interesting.

As Cole mentioned earlier, we're shown a highlight of Randy Savage vs Ted Dibiase in a cage from 1988 for the WWF Championship. We get more hype for tonight's cage match before Michael Cole hits the ring to interview the new World Women's Champion Iyo Sky. The crowd chants for Iyo as Cole congratulates her. She says its a dream to be here at Madison Square Garden as champion and proved the impossible is possible. Iyo says she's over the moon to be champion going into Wrestlemania. Cole says the number one contender is Bianca Belair and introduces her. Bianca says congrats to Iyo and even though they've been rivals, its going to be excited to go to Wrestlemania together. Cole brings up how Bianca got into it with Rhea Ripley and Cole speculates that if she weren't there, Rhea might have won. Bianca says she's had enough drama as it is and denies costing Rhea the match. Right on cue, here comes Rhea herself. Rhea "Cut the music!" Ruh roh. Rhea asks Bianca why she was there and Bianca says she won Elimination Chamber. Rhea doesn't want Bianca's excuses, she says Bianca had no reason to be there unless it was to help Iyo win since she's scared of Rhea. Rhea says she should have handled business with her friends while she herself handled Iyo. Bianca "Really Rhea?" Bianca says let's be real and she's not mad that she didn't clap for her, Rhea's mad that Bianca clapped for both of them. Bianca says Rhea couldn't beat Iyo and is blaming her for it. Iyo interjects and Rhea piefaces her down. Rhea says she's hiding behind Iyo the same way she's hiding behind Jade and Bianca gets in her face saying no one's hiding. Iyo tries to separate them and Bianca piefaces her away as well. Iyo throws the mic down, slaps Rhea in the face, and slaps Bianca in the face as well. The crowd LOVED that and Iyo wants respect because she's the champion. Iyo storms off as Rhea and Bianca look at each other confused. Good for Iyo to defend herself like that and we're heading more toward triple threat than just Sky vs Bianca.

We get a graphic that next week in Belgium, John Cena and Cody Rhodes will be there. Pent will face Ludwig Kaiser one on one NO HOLDS BARRED! Jey Uso faces Austin Theory one on one (with Grayson Waller), Dakota Kai takes on Ivy Nile and Bron Breakker takes on Finn Balor. The good news is since these shows will be taped, they'll air earlier in the day here in the United States. CM Punk and Seth Rollins make their entrance for the cage match, here we go.

Match 4

Seth Rollins vs CM Punk in a Steel Cage Match

Escape, pinfall or submission rules here. Cole says this stems all the way back to 2012 when The Shield made their debut and they don't wait around, Punk and Rollins brawl at the start of the bell. The door is locked as Rollins unloads with right hands to start. Punk rallies with his own right hands before Rollins backs him into the corner. They trade blows and rub elbows in each other's faces. Cole brings up how Punk eliminated Rollins from the Royal Rumble, defeated him on the first Netflix Raw and eliminated him from Elimination Chamber. Rollins and Punk block strikes into the cage as fans duel chants. They continue to slug it out for a full minute before they both miss kicks. Back to brawling before Rollins hits a chop. Punk returns it before they trade right hands. They play "yay/boo" with Punk getting the yays. Punk goes for the Go To Sleep early but Rollins gets out of it. Punk goes for the running knee but Rollins hits the buckle bomb into the cage as we got to break. Back from commercial Rollins rakes the face as Cole says no pins or submission attempts has happened yet. Rollins rakes Punk against the cage and chokes him with his boot. Rollins with a boot to the mid-section and goes to the door. It opens and Rollins taunts him to take the coward's way out. The camera is on Rollins and apparently Punk flipped him the bird according to McAfee. Punk rallies with right hands but Punk calls for another buckle bomb. Punk hits a headscissors to send Rollins into the cage, Seth turning around right into the GTS. Punk doesn't leave, he just sits and stares at Rollins. Rollins and Punk get to their feet and Punk hits a running knee to the face. Punk rakes Rollins face against the cage and goes to the door. Punk tells Rollins to get out and once again the camera misses Rollins flipping Punk the bird in return. Punk hits a running knee in the corner and a neckbreaker in the center of the ring. Punk drops an elbow on him and goes to the top rope. He hits the flying elbow drop and once again there's no cover. Punk drops a second flying elbow as the crowd chants for one more. Punk goes for a third one and hits it before covering for 1...2...no. Punk climbs all the way to the top of the cage but Rollins gets to his feet. Rollins climbs up to the top as well as a drone camera shows the two of them up that high. Punk kicks Rollins onto the top of the cage and Punk gets crotched as well. Rollins falls to the top turnbuckle and hooks up Punk for a superduperplex. Rollins covers for 1...2....nooooo. The crowd chants "This is awesome" as McAfee says "Yes it is." Rollins and Punk slug it out in the center of the ring before Rollins goes for the pedigree. Punk counters with the GTS and covers for 1...2...noooo. Punk calls for another GTS but this time Rollins counters by hanging onto the leg, rolling into an STF. Cole says this is how Cena won Elimination Chamber as Punk looks like he's fading. Rollins "Come onnn, go to sleep!" Punk reverses it into the Anaconda Vice and Rollins flails about. Rollins grabs the rope but referee Rod Zapata says rope breaks don't count in the cage. Rollins rakes the face instead to get free and hits the curb stop. He covers for 1...2....noooo. Rollins calls for a second rope curb stomp but is tripped up by Punk. Punk hits a third GTS and covers for 1...2...nooooooooo. Cole and McAfee can't believe it, Punk can't either. The crowd chants "This is awesome" as Punk gets back to his feet. Punk hits his own curbstomp and covers for 1...2..noooo. The door is opened and Punk makes his way to it but Rollins stares at him. Rollins screams "Put me out, take it from me. You want this?" Punk hits another knee to the head and goes for a fourth GTS. Rollins rolls out of it and hits his own GTS. He hits a curbstomp and covers for 1..2....noooooooo. You gotta be kidding me. Rollins can't believe it and he goes toward the open cage door. He instead goes up to the second rope again and hits a super curbstomp. Rollins sits in the corner but here comes Roman Reigns for the first time since the Royal Rumble. Reigns pulls Rollins out of cage to officially end the match. BS ending aside, that was a damn good match with both men refusing to leave without beating the other. Neither one could beat the other until Roman showed up. You don't always need a bloodbath to have a damn good cage match.

Time of match: 19:29

Winner: Seth Rollins by Escape

Roman throws Rollins against the barricade as Mike Rome announcers Rollins the winner. Reigns hits a superman punch on Rollins and a spear as Cole says this is revenge for the curb stomp at the Rumble. The crowd starts a thunderous OTC chant as Rollins is heaved into the barricade again. Reigns chills on the barricade for a minute and tells the camera man to beat it. He hits a curb stomp of his own on the floor and the crowd cheers. Roman says one more time and puts Rollins on the ring steps. Reigns says he's going to end it all for him now but here comes Adam Pearce and the Suit Brigade to stop him. But wait....Paul Heyman made his way into the ring to help up CM Punk. Uh oh....Roman didn't like that. Reigns charges into the ring and throws Punk face first into the cage. Reigns sends him into the other side of the cage and hits a spear. Heyman didn't like that one but still pledges allegiance to Roman as we sign off.

Lot to unpack as this was a 3 hour Raw with only a 4 match card. The talk segments dominated the show with Cody's being kind of unnecessary since he already rambled on Smackdown. The Logan/AJ/Shulz crossover was killing two bird with one stone and Bianca/Ripley/Iyo looks like it might be a triple threat. In ring action was okay but only 4 matches. They're setting up Jey as the underdog to Gunther like Sami was last year only without the obvious Rocky storyline. Lucha Gable looks to be interesting since they're doing the "Owen is not Blue Blazer" angle from 26 years ago. Who the luchador might be is anyone's guess at this point. Raquel needing Liv and Dom to beat Bayley is right up Judgment Day's alley and Lira Valkyria is in trouble. New Day as heels is working to perfection but they don't have a blowoff in sight yet. Unless Big E comes back out of nowhere, they're just kind of "there" so to speak. Finally, with Roman Reigns back all signs point to triple threat with him against Punk and Rollins with Heyman being the wild card. They might have Heyman turn on Roman and go back to Punk or Heyman cost Reigns at Wrestlemania as the "favor" Punk is owed. Rollins and Reigns have been feuding off and on for 10 years so to have them go at it again isn't the end of the world. All in all it was a fun show, especially the second half and the crowd was very into it. The next show after this is tomorrow night's NXT. I'll see you there!

WWE Raw (3/3/25)

 

WWE Raw

Keybank Center

Buffalo, NY

March 3, 2025

Commentators: Michael Cole and Pat McAfee

Ring Announcer: Alicia Taylor

Well the mood just shifted in the world of wrestling. 48 hours after the most shocking heel turn of the century, WWE Raw comes to you from Buffalo, New York. Elimination Chamber gave us the number 1 contender to the Women's World Championship in Bianca Belair and the number one contender to Cody Rhodes in John Cena......more on that in a minute. Tiffany Stratton and Trish Stratus defeated Nia Jax and Candace Larae to finally clear a path for Tiffany vs Charlotte Flair at Wrestlemania. Finally Kevin Owens destroyed Sami Zayn and the returning Randy Orton has KO in his sights, most likely at Wrestlemania. As for tonight, Rhea Ripley defends the World Women's Championship against Iyo Sky with the winner facing Bianca Belair at Wrestlemania. Let's get to it.

We begin with the obligatory recap of Elimination Chamber including the shocking heel turn of none other than John Cena and the attack of Naomi by Jade Cargill. A downtrodden Michael Cole is still in shock as McAfee tells us the obvious, Cena sold his soul for the record breaking 17th world championship. Rhea Ripley arrives alone to the arena with Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai arriving as well. We're shown Diamond Mi.....American Made training because we got the Women's Intercontinental Championship match with Lira Valkyria against Ivy Nile and The War Raiders defending the World Tag Team Championships against The Creed Brothers. But first....here comes a pissed off CM Punk. Cole says he got screwed at the Elimination Chamber by Seth Rollins and Punk shoves the dude holding a microphone away. He then rips the announce table cover off and dumps over the Prime Station, which no one's ever used before....ever. He says let's start this show off with a bang. He says this is gonna be fun for him, but not for them. He's got gonna get Raw canceled off Netflix and considering his past pipe bombs, this is gonna be good. He says this is a state of the union address and people have been talking about how he's exhausted all his chances to go to Wrestlemania. He says its time to discuss his enemies which means EVERYONE. He wants a name from the crowd and everyone throws names out. McAfee says The Rock and Cole says John Cena. Punk says "The Rock, the final boss. Listen up Dwayne, you bald fraud! You think because you're on the board of directors that you're immune from criticism? You don't know who you're dealing with." He calls himself the best in the world, middle aged and crazy. He said he marched through hell to get to where he was while The Rock just waltzed in and stole other people's opportunities because he thinks he's bigger than everyone. Punk says he'd love to say it to Rock's face but he's not here to do his bullshit. Punk says Rock only pretends to care about the business and Punk has never had to stoop to wear a fake title and proclaim himself the people's champion. Punk says he doesn't deserve it, he earns it. He says he's never been desperate to sell his soul and that brings him to John Cena. Punk says they can all see through John and he stole Punk's Wrestlemania main event. Punk "Hustle, loyalty and respect for 20 plus years and now everybody sees what I've known all along. You've been selling these people and all these kids BULLSHIT!" Punk says he never gave up in the Elimination Chamber and Cena gave up on himself. Punk says he's going to get both of the "bald frauds" and Cena will make a wish Punk never got his hands on him. Punk says "And now the man of the hour, my little brother Seth Rollins." Punk says to Becky Lynch to come get her man because if he does, he'll put him in a wheelchair.  Right on cue....BURN IT DOWNNNNNN.

Seth Rollins walks out and Punk makes a mad dash to cut him off. They brawl at the entrance way and here comes the referees and Suit Brigade (Petey Williams, Shane Helms, Jason Jordan) to pull them apart. The crowd wants to see them fight and Punk breaks free. They brawl some more all the way to ringside. Adam Pearce comes out with security guards to pull them apart but they get knocked down as well. They brawl into the ring and out of the ring, spilling into the crowd as well. It takes about 20 people to separate them including refs, security, Suit Brigade and Pearce. They spill into the announce area and McAfee screams "HOLY SHIT COLE!" The crowd chants "This is awesome!" as Punk grabs one of the announce chairs. Rollins breaks free and they go again much to the crowd's delight. Rollins chucks some Prime bottles at Punk as Cole says this is the damndest thing he's ever seen. We cut to commercial....and that's how you open Raw. You could genuinely feel Punk's anger and Rollins wasn't about to let him bring his wife into it. This is gonna be epic when the time comes.

Back from commercial, we're shown more Elimination Chamber highlights including the Cena heel turn which made mainstream media. Then we're shown Rollins and Punk got into it again before needing to be separated again. We're then shown a highlight of last week's Women's Tag Title Match where Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan defeated Bianca and Naomi to win the straps due to Dominik Mysterio. Judgment Day is backstage as Carlito picks up an apple. Dom Mysterio asks Finn Balor if he's cool and Finn says yes. Liv shows off her real scar from getting whipped by Bianca at EC and tells Raquel to keep her eye on the Intercontinental Championship match later. Liv asks if Finn is okay and he says he's okay....but Liv lost on Saturday night and Dom & Carlito got embarrassed by Bron Breakker last week. Dom says Finn had a chair and still backed down from Bron. Dom says they need another member (that's a diss on the injured JD McDonough. Finn says they don't need a new member but he'll deal with Breakker tonight. He leaves and Dom asks Liv what happened with Jade Cargill the other night. Liv says she doesn't know and she's staying out of it because she said she had nothing to do with it.

Alpha Academy is in the ring ready for the Otis vs Gunther showdown. Gunther walks out with a microphone. Gunther says before he embarrasses Otis he says he knows Otis is strong as an ox. People call Otis a freak of nature but he just calls him a freak. Gunther says Otis is no different than Jey Uso, a people pleaser who makes a clown out of himself to entertain a degenerate audience. Otis doesn't belong in Gunther's sacred ring and the crowd doesn't cheer Otis because they like him, they pity him. Gunther says he looked in the mirror and saw the World Heavyweight Championship belt around his waist while Otis couldn't even find a belt that fits. Gunther says Otis could have been great if he had self respect and Gunther will teach it to him now.

Match 1

Otis (with Maxxine Dupree and Akira Tozawa) vs Gunther

Non-title here and Gunther cheap shots him with a big boot to start. Gunther sheds the belt and stomps away at Otis before taunting the irate crowd. Cole says don't count out Otis as he was a tremendous amateur wrestler and Otis fights back with right hands. Otis pummels Gunther in the corner but Gunther kicks him, locking in a headlock. Gunther shoulderblocks Otis who no sells it. Otis hits two consecutive big boots to send Otis threw the ropes to the outside. Gunther slaps Otis from inside the ring and Otis starts getting mad. Otis pulls Gunther out and hits a fallaway slam on the floor as we got to break. Back from commercial, Gunther has a headlock on Otis inside the ring. Gunther taunts him and calls him a freak. Gunther punches away at Otis and kicks him in the head. Gunther covers for 1...2....no. Otis gets up and counters a chinlock with a back suplex. Gunther chops Otis and Otis no sells it. Otis takes a third and fourth chop and rips his shirt off. Gunther is totally confused as they trade chops in the center. Otis headbutts Gunther into the corner and drops him with a clothesline. Otis splashes him in the corner and hits a scoop slam. Otis splashes Gunther in the corner and drops him with a back elbow smash. Otis powerslams Gunther and then does the caterpillar. He covers for 1...2..no. Otis goes for the Vader Bomb but misses and Gunther hits the dropkick. Otis backdrops Gunther and they clothesline each other. Gunther hits Otis with another big boot and hits a big lariat. He covers for 1...2..nooooo. Gunther is pissed and finally hits the powerbomb. He covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Good hoss fight and showing by Otis to have Gunther on the run a bit. Good to show Gunther is human and can still take a pounding.

Time of match: 9:41

Winner: Gunther by pinfall

Post-match, Gunther locks in a sleeper on Otis and Akira Tozawa jumps on his back. Gunther throws Akira off and powerbombs him on top of Otis. Here comes Jey Uso for the real save. Gunther cuts him off but Jey takes him down with a spear to chase him off. Jey holds up the title belt and the crowd chants. Uh oh....here comes A-Town Down Under for the beatdown. Grayson Waller and Austin Theory beat down Jey but Jey rallies with a superkick and a spear to dispatch them. Gunther then locks in a sleeper from behind to leave Jey laying. Gunther poses over the fallen Jey, holding up the title belt.

We get a Rhea vs Iyo vignette, hype for Lira Valkyria vs Ivy Nile then take more looks at Elimination Chamber reactions. Cathy Kelley is AJ Styles and wants her opinion on John Cena's heel turn. AJ says "Wow, I didn't see that coming." Karrion Kross hugs him from behind and says its not that surprising if you think about it. Kross stirs the pot by asking about Logan Paul and AJ says he's not John Cena, the Universe needs a reminder of who he is. He's gonna call out Paul next week on Raw in Madison Square Garden. AJ tells him to get lost as Kross says "That was easy." Kross lost Ellering and the Authors of Pain so being AJ's lackey or "devil on his shoulder" might be fun. On to the next match.

Match 2

Ivy Nile vs Lira Valkyria for the Women's Intercontinental Championship

We get a clip of Valkyria successfully defending her IC title against Dakota Kai last week only to get jumped by Ivy Nile. Bell's gone and Lira wastes no time, dropping Nile with a dropkick. Lira kicks Ivy and goes to work with knees to the face. Lira hiptosses Ivy and covers for a one count. Cole says this is their first meeting since NXT years ago as Ivy drops Lira with a clothesline. Ivy pounds away at Lira and whips her into the corner. Lira cartwheels away and sweeps the leg to drop Ivy. Lira hits northern lights for 1...2...no. Lira dropkicks Ivy through the ropes and goes up to the top rope. Ivy grabs the leg and dragon screws off the second rope. Ivy isolates the left leg as we go to break. Back from commercial, Ivy has a half crab on Lira. Ivy rams the knee into the mat twice but Lira rolls her up for a two count. Lira does a backslide for another two count and backs her into the corner. Ivy gets a boot to the face although Ivy rolls through a crossbody and stands up with Lira in her arms. Lira rolls out of the powerslam and hits a gut wrench bomb, but her knee gives out. Lira shakes it off with some clotheslines and an enziguiri. Ivy counters a torando ddt with a suplex and covers for 1..2....no. Lira rolls through a scoop slam with a cradle for 1...2...no. Lira catches Ivy with a swinging neckbreaker and goes for the Nightwing only for the leg to give out again. Ivy hits a double axehandle to the back and an atomic drop. Ivy hits a sitout powerbomb for 1...2....no. Ivy locks in the ankle lock and Lira sells it like crazy, but she makes it to the ropes. Lira hits a sunset flip for 1....2...no. Ivy hits a german suplex but misses a big boot in the corner. Lira hits an Orton style backbreaker and hits the Nightwing. She covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. Damn good effort by both girls as Ivy isolated the leg and Lira sold the daylights out of it, but still did enough to retain. There needs to be a big feud to give the title some legitimacy but this was a damn good match at least.

Time of match: 9:32

Winner: Valkyria by pinfall (still IC Champion)

We get a plug for WWE Evolve and a recap of the Rollins/Punk brawl from earlier. Rollins is trying to leave but Cathy Kelley gets in his face to ask him what happened. Seth with eagle vision spots Punk from a mile away and sprints toward him. In the words of Dick Stockton "AND THERE THEY GO AGAIN!!!"  They get separated again with Adam Pearce directing traffic. Punk says he gonna kill Rollins as we go to break. Back from break Rollins is with Pearce one one one and says this is the easiest job of Adam's life. He's gonna do what he did to Roman Reigns and make sure Punk doesn't make it to Wrestlemania. Rollins says "Its him or me, that's a hill I'll die on." Pearce says "You want to finish it? Finish it....next week in Madison Square Garden inside a steel cage." Rollins smiles and Pearce says get out of here and he doesn't want to see Rollins' face until next week. Pearce tells security to not let Rollins off his bus the rest of the night. 

We cut to a highlight of Ludwig Kaiser attacking Penta last month and then winning a triple threat match last week against Penta and Pete Dunne. Inside the ring, Ludwig Kaiser is here for a conference. He wants the fans' gratitude and the fans jeer. Kaiser says he took away Penta's attention that he himself deserved for a long, long time. Kaiser "Boo all you want, you know damn well Ludwig Kaiser is a future world champion!" That would have been interesting to see a babyface Kaiser in Germany against Gunther but oh well. Kaiser says he and Penta still have unfinished business. He says what Cena did to Cody Rhodes is nothing compared to what Kaiser will do to Penta. He goes on to say Penta claims to not know fear but he's going to fear him. Here comes Penta for the rebuttal....in the form of a hurracarana to the suit clad Kaiser. Penta sucks the line, hits a superkick and hits a slingblade. Penta head scissors Kaiser over the top rope to the floor and hits a springboard clothesline. Penta hits the hilo to the floor to leave Kaiser laying. Potential MSG match next week? Maybe.

We cut to Cathy Kelley now with Bianca Belair. She asks what happened with Jade and Naomi and Bianca refuses to answer out of respect. Bianca says she feels guilty for that but proud that she won the Chamber match. She hypes up both Iyo and Rhea but she's going to beat the winner at Wrestlemania. Before we go to break, we hype up tomorrow night's NXT featuring Chelsea Green & Piper Niven in action as well as The Hardy Boyz. Next up, the Creed Brothers will face the War Raiders. Back from break we see the international calls from Germany, Korea and France on the Cena heel turn.

For some reason we cut to Chad Gable in "Mexico" looking for ways to beat luchadors at lucha libre. Chad asks random people if they know someone in a picture then meets a random dude in a park. The dude says "You must become lucha." Chad says he'll do anything and the stranger hands him a box. Chad pays for it and the stranger says he now has power beyond his understanding. This is going to be epic or incredibly stupid, no in between. We get a recap package of the Creeds and Raiders before the next match.

Match 3

The Creed Brothers (Julius and Brutus) with Ivy Nile vs The War Raiders (Erik and Ivar) for the World Tag Team Championships

Ivar's birthday was the day before and Cole asked what he wanted. Ivar answered he wanted to eat the Creed brothers alive....yikes. Cole brings up Pat McAfee's social media blitz the last 48 hours and Pat says "I love America, sue me." Well said. Bell's gone and Erik starts with Julius and they tie up, with Cole saying both these teams were NXT tag champs. Julius ducks the line but Erik is shoved. Erik shoves him back and they roll around before Brutus tags in. They double team him in the corner with double boots in the corner. Julius "How'd you like that, huh?" as he tags in Brutus. Erik scoops slams Brutus and tags in Ivar. Ivar drops Brutus with a line and threatens Julius. Brutus uses the distraction to clothesline Ivar from behind and tag in Julius. The Creeds hit a double clothesline on Ivar that goes nowhere and Ivar does a handspring double back elbow....Tajiri would be proud. Ivar tags in Erik and he whips Ivar into Julius. Erik drops him with a shoulderblock and Ivar scoop slams Brutus. Erik scoop slams Ivar on top of Brutus and Erik tags Ivar back in legally. Julius is whipped into the corner and Ivar catches him with a big right hand. Ivar goes to the second rope and Julius dropkicks Ivar ass over tea kettle to the floor....woof! Brutus tags in and sends Ivar into the ring steps. Julius tells the camera they're winning the titles for Gable as we go to break. Back from commercial the Creeds hit a double delayed vertical suplex to Ivar. Brutus covers for 1....2..no. Ivar fights his way out of the corner and hits a sit down on Brutus. Julius tags in but is kicked off, Erik getting the hot tag. Erik cleans house of both brothers and hits a t-bone taz plex on Julius. Erik hits a dropkick on Julius and caters to the crowd, hitting a knee to the face of Julius. Ivar tags in and Erik throws Julius to him, Ivar hitting a running powerslam. Ivar covers for 1....2...no. Erik tags back in but Julius rolls out of the powerbomb attempt. Julius catches Erik with a high knee and tosses Ivar into the ring post. Julius hits an overhead belly to belly suplex and tags in Brutus. Julius hits an Angle Slam and Brutus somewhat botches the 450 splash off the top rope but still covers for 1...2....no. Brutus pounds away on Erik and tags Julius back in. Julius runs into a back elbow but sets up Erik on the second rope. Erik punches him off and Ivar makes a blind tag. Julius kicks Ivar off the apron and hits a superplex on Erik. Brutus misses the moonsault off the top rope and Ivar gets in. Ivar misses a top rope moonsault of his own and Julius hits a shooting star press on him. He covers for 1....2..noooooo. McAfee says he thought Billy Kidman was here for a second. Julius eats a boot to the head and Erik tags back in. Julius ducks a line and hits an Oklahoma Slam. Brutus tags in for the Brutus Ball but Erik rolls out of it. Erik shitcans Julius where he's splashed by Ivar outside. Erik tags Ivar in and they execute a War Machine on Brutus. Ivar covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Good match with some highspots by some unlikely people. Good to see the tag straps defended with a good showing by both teams. The Creed Brothers' time will come eventually. As for now, the Raiders hold up the belts to the camera.

Time of match: 11:42

Winners: War Raiders by pinfall (still World Tag Team Champions)

We cut to Cole and McAfee who finally talk about something else from Elimination Chamber besides the Cena heel turn. We're shown the Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens war with Owens winning, setting up a Randy Orton return. Orton hits the rKo on Owens and it looks like it'll be those two at Wrestlemania.

We cut to a vignette with Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde saying New Day beat them down last week but didn't take their hearts or spirit. Dragon Lee says the New Day didn't get the job done, the LWO is stronger than ever. Rey Mysterio walks in and says New Day got too cocky, they didn't finish the job. Rey says him and Dragon are going to crush the New Day in a tornado tag match next week. Rey says he's proud of the LWO and says "New...Day Sucks." Dragon Lee joins in and we got another match for MSG next week. More hype for Rhea vs Iyo before we go to break.

Back from break Finn Balor is in the ring with WWE Intercontinental Champion Bron Breakker out in the crowd. Finn says the only reason he's still champ is because Judgment Day allowed it. Jackie Redmond is with Bron and Breakker says the only reason he's still champ is he's a doggggg, ruff! Breakker says he embarrassed all of the Judgment Day and Finn says he's untouchable in the ring. He says he can take the title from Breakker any time he likes. Finn says Breakker is hiding behind Jackie and when they get in the ring, he'll put the "dog" down. Those are fighting words in Breakker's country and he heads to the ring. Breakker is intercepted by Carlito and Bron sends him over the barricade. Here's Dom Mysterio who eats an overhead belly to belly suplex on the floor. Finn looks nervous in the ring but he hits a slingblade on Bron. He rallies with right hands and a chest stomp before taunting the irate crowd. Breakker recovers to hit a gorilla press slam and tear his t-shirt off. Dom pulls Balor out of the ring and Breakker spears Carlito out of his shoes instead. Cole asks why the Judgment Day is continuing to provoke Bron Breakker before going back to the Cena heel turn.

Before we go to break, we go to highlights of the heel turn including a cool montage of all the babyface things Cena has ever done in between the Cody beat down. They also show Travis Scott legit punching Cody in the face. 47 days from now it'll be Cena vs Rhodes in the main event. Cole says he spoke to Cody early today and he didn't have much to say then, but he'll address the world this Friday on Smackdown. Back from break Alpha Academy thanks Jey Uso for having his back and leaves. Cathy Kelley asks if he's thrown off his game. Jey says this is the wrong time to be going through it mentally because every week he's being told he can't do it. He says his back is to the wall and can't breathe, but Gunther told him he'd put him through 10 weeks of hell. Jey says at Wrestlemania he's crashing out and Gunther woke up a sleeping beast....yeet! Jey walks outside shirtless in Buffalo in March, which is a choice. In all seriousness, they're kind of rehashing the Sami/Gunther match last year only without the Rocky 3 twist. Before the main event, we get a graphic that Rhea Ripley has never beaten Iyo Sky....interesting. Bianca Belair makes her way to ring side for the main event, here we go.

Match 4

Iyo Sky vs Rhea Ripley for the World Women's Championship

Cole says Ripley has been nearly unstoppable for the past 3 years as another graphic shows Iyo's two victories over Rhea in NXT. Bell rings and Rhea powers her around in a reverse bearhug to start. Iyo gets dropped with a shoulder tackle and a dropkick, Rhea covering for 1...2...no. Iyo tries to roll up Rhea but Rhea chops her away. Iyo tries another takedown before ducking under a line. Iyo hits a victory roll for a two count then kicks Rhea in the head. Rhea moves out of the way of a 619 attempt and drags Sky out of the ring. Rhea slings Iyo head first into the apron twice then hits a suplex on the floor as we go to break. Back from break Rhea hits a top rope missile dropkick and covers for 1...2...no. Iyo then hits a modified backstabber and goes to the top rope. Iyo hits a top rope dropkick but misses the bullet train. Rhea hits two lariats and a side kick but Iyo rolls through a faceplant and hits a double stomp to the ribs. Iyo covers for 1...2...no. They slug it out in the center of the ring and Rhea clobbers her with a big right hand. Rhea misses a roundhouse kick and faceplants Iyo, covering for 1...2...no. Rhea looks concerned as Cole speculates that reality is kicking in that Rhea can't beat her. The Prism Trap is blocked and Rhea's suplex off the apron is blocked as well. Iyo snaps Rhea's arm off the apron but Rhea hits a massive boot that spins Iyo in a 360. Rhea covers for 1...2...no. Rhea goes for Riptide but Iyo counters with a tornado DDT. Iyo hits the bullet train in the corner and hits the In-Sane elbow, covering for 1...2...no. Iyo then locks in the Asuka Lock as its apparent this one's for her Damage Control compadres. Rhea hangs on to dump Iyo off the buckle, but Sky hits the bullet train anyway. Iyo calls for the Over The Moonsault but Rhea forearms her in the back. Rhea hits a top rope back suplex and covers for 1...2...nooooo. Rhea can't believe it and shouts "What do I have to do???" Rhea locks in the Prism Lock but Iyo flips Rhea into the ring post and to the outside. Iyo hits a sunset flip power bomb through the ropes into the barricade. Back inside Iyo hits Over The Moonsault on the back of Ripley, rolls her over and covers for 1....2..nooooo, Rhea got the foot on the rope. Ripley bails to the outside and crawls toward Bianca. Iyo hits a suicide dive onto Rhea and goes for the Asai Moonsault but Rhea electric chairs Iyo off the apron first then the announce table. Bianca claps for both women as referee Jessika Carr starts the count. Cole points out a count-out gives the title back to Rhea as she slides inside the ring. Bianca claps for Iyo as Sky just barely gets back in the ring. Rhea stares a hole in Bianca and goes outside to taunt her for some idiotic reason. Rhea says Bianca is scared of her and Bianca tells her to get back in the ring. Rhea shoves Bianca down and goes to get back in the ring. Bianca grabs her and shoves her against the apron....but Carr doesn't call for the bell. What? Rhea shoves her away and Bianca shoves her back. Carr gets out of the ring and says this is a title match, stop this madness. Bianca walks away with her hands up as Rhea shouts at her from a distance. Back inside Rhea says Bianca's gonna pay for this and drags Iyo to the top rope. She shouts "See you at Mania, Bianca" but Iyo counters the Riptide with a top rope frankensteiner. Iyo then hits Over The Moonsault and covers for 1..2...3...to win the match! Holy Schmidt.....when was the last time the World Champion of either gender dropped the title on the road to Wrestlemania? Iyo is the new World Women's Champion and Bianca claps for her. Cole and McAfee correctly point out that Rhea's ego cost her by worrying about Bianca. The highlight shows the fans going nuts for Iyo as Cole says she won it 47 nights away. That was a damn good match with a shocking ending. This situation just got very interesting and we might get a triple threat.

Time of match: 18:39

Winner: Iyo Sky by pinfall

After the match Iyo gives heart signs to the fans as Rhea calls herself stupid for allowing this to happen. We go off air with Iyo Sky standing tall. What a show that was. We started with a pipe bomb from CM Punk and a hell of a brawl with Seth Rollins. We had a serviceable Gunther/Otis match, a serviceable women's IC title match, a fun tag team title match and a shocking world title change. Next week at MSG is going to be interesting with LWO against New Day, AJ Styles calling out Logan Paul and Rollins and Punk in a steel cage. The road to Wrestlemania got a little more interesting with Iyo's win and Punk going berserk. Just going to have to tune in to find out what happens next. Rhea Ripley might be turning heel again since she went after Bianca for no reason but Naomi/Jade Cargill is also hanging over Bianca's head. The next show after this is tomorrow night's NXT. I'll see you there.