WWE Raw (4/20/26)

WWE Raw

T-Mobile Arena

Las Vegas, NV

April 20, 2026

Commentators: Michael Cole and Corey Graves

Ring Announcer: Mark Nash

Its the Raw after Wrestlemania and what a weekend it was. Roman Reigns is the new World Heavyweight Champion after defeating CM Punk clean with no interference. Brock Lesnar lost to Oba Femi and promptly retired, Liv Morgan is still the World Women's Champion after the Judgment Day helped her beat Stephanie Vaquer, The Usos and LA Knight knocked off the watered down Vision when IShowSpeed joined the Usos for the beat down. Gunther defeated Seth Rollins after the returning Bron Breakker interfered, Rhea Ripley is the new WWE Women's Champion after taking out Jade Cargill, Finn Balor defeated Dom Mysterio and Penta is still the Intercontinental Champion after winning the ladder match. Rumors are rampant about releases and call-ups so let's see what happens.

We begin with a recap of Wrestlemania as Roman Reigns is announced to be here. We're shown Judgement Day entering the arena as well as Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky. First out of the gate is Oba Femi in coat and tie. He stands in the ring as the crowd doesn't even let him talk, they chant his chant and name. He says "The ruler has arrived" and drops the mic. That's it, no 20 minute soliloquy, no big speech, he's here and deal with it. We cut to a vignette of The Kabuki Warriors with Asuka telling everyone in Japanese that Iyo is nothing without them and they carried her. Asuka says that she'll always be Iyo's Sempai and Iyo's not ready for Asuka. Time for our first match.

Match 1

The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) vs Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley

Rhea will be on her way to Smackdown after this so this will be the final time we see Rhiyo for a while. Bell's gone and Iyo starts with Kairi. They roll around to start as the announcers say Iyo is trying to take Kairi away from Asuka. Kairi grabs Iyo by the hair and tries to throw her but Iyo flips away. Kairi charges in the corner and Iyo flips her to the apron. Kairi comes off the top but Iyo runs through it. Kairi tells Rhea and Iyo to kiss her ass then stomps on Iyo's foot. Kairi hits a head scissors and goes to tag Asuka but Iyo rolls her up for 1...2...no. Iyo and Kairi trade punches until Iyo hits a double underarm backbreaker. Iyo tags in Rhea Ripley and they double team Kairi then covers for 1...2...no. Kairi slaps Rhea and Ripley faceplants her. Rhea hits a dropkick and Asuka tags in. Asuka and Ripley miss kicks but Asuka misses the backhand punch. Asuka then does it again along with savate kicks and a dropkick. Rhea hits a kick of her own and covers for 1...2..no. Rhea grabs Asuka who kicks at Iyo and eats a kick to the face. Kairi distracts Rhea and Asuka kicks her outside of the ring. Kairi tags in and hits a clothesline to the floor. She grabs the camera and starts shaking as we go to break. Back from commercial the Kabuki's double team Rhea and Kairi covers for 1...2...no. Cole asks how much Rhea has left after going to war with Jade Cargill last night. Rhea ducks under a flying Kairi and kicks her in the head. Iyo gets the hot tag who cleans house of Asuka and Kairi tries to kick her, but Iyo catches the leg and swings it into Asuka's face.  Iyo backflips over the double clothesline and hits one of her own. She cleans house with running knees to both of them then roundhouse kicks Asuka. She covers for 1...2...no. Rhea tags in who hits Razor's Edge on Asuka. Iyo comes off the top with a missile dropkick and Rhea covers for 1...2...no. Asuka wiggles out of riptide and hits a codebreaker. Kairi tags her self in for the double kick. Kairi covers for 1..2...no, Iyo breaks up the count. Iyo victory rolls through Asuka and stomps on her stomach. Asuka rolls outside and Kairi accidentally sends Iyo through the ropes into Asuka. Kairi turns around into a headbutt from Rhea and a Riptide. Iyo tags in and hits Over The Moonsault, covering for 1..2...3 to win the match. Good opener between four vets with good chemistry. Essentially this was it for Rhiyo.

Time of match: 11:43

Winners: Rhiyo by pinfall

After the match Rhea and Iyo celebrate while Asuka berates the fallen Kairi outside. We cut to a useless Wrestlemania graphic although we do get Back In the Saddle by Aerosmith playing over it. Raw GM Adam Pearce is with IC Champion Penta and congratulates him for winning the previous night. Pearce doesn't know how Penta can follow that and Je'Von Evans walks in shaking hands with them. Evans congrats Penta but says he's going to be champion one day and he's not going away. Penta says his title isn't going anywhere and he leaves. In walks none other than "All Ego" Ethan Page from NXT. Adam says he's Raw's newest star and Je'Von Evans gets instant flashback to NXY Vengeance Day from the previous year. Ethan says why should Evans get another title shot when he himself wants to be champion and he won't need a second chance. Evans gets in his face and Pearce says they will settle this in the ring tonight. The crowd loved that and Evans says no one's taking his spot, especially not Page. Pearce and Page shake hands as Cole says coming up next, a lookback at CM Punk.

Apparently during the broke, an exclusive promo was shot by Los Americanos with El Grande Americano saying in Spanish he's going to unmask the original El Grande Americano. When TV resumes, naturally Cole and Graves send things to the Spanish announce desk. Royce Keys is shown in the crowd and Cole says catch him on Smackdown.

Here comes CM Punk for a philosophical discussion and apparently his new entrance is waiting until Its Clobberin Time to play Cult of Personality. CM Punk gets in on the mic and says he dealt with a lot of loss lately. His MMA trainer Duke Rufus died in October and his dog Larry died in November and then every two weeks WWE family lost one guy after another including Kerwin Silfies and the crowd cheers the fallen. Punk says on April 1st he lost his friend Harm's Way guitarist Bo Leuders and he lost the previous night to Roman Reigns. Punk says the personal losses matter more than losing the title and he thanks the fans for staying behind him no matter what. He says being champion was like having an anchor keeping him sane and the fans will help him get through last night. He says he was never supposed to be champion after he survived Gunther only to get cashed in on by Seth Rollins. Punk says "You know, being world heavyweight champion for 3 minutes at 46 years old is a hell of a Sunday". Then he could have stayed home but instead he stayed ready and put everything he had. Then Seth gets hurt and Punk got an opportunity. He says if he didn't stay ready, they'd be here right now yeeting and Jey Uso would be in the ring. The crowd boos and Punk asks why because he likes to yeet (BURN!). Punk says he's smiling because he's still the best in the world and the baddest ass. Punk says his childhood dream was to prove it on the biggest stage and it just wasn't his night. He says he's not going anywhere and he's going to stay ready when you never know when a title shot will fall out of the sky.

Right on cue, here comes WWE Champion Cody Rhodes supporting a massive shiner and a limp after his war with Randy Orton the night before. As Cody gets in the ring, Punk checks out the shiner and screams "Woahhhh" with the song (Hahahaha!). Punk asks if he went over his time and Cody says don't leave because its Raw and its his time as well. Cody sounds downtrodden as he says this isn't what he expected out of Punk and Punk waives his arms saying "Did you think I was gonna freak out?" Punk asks "You thought I was gonna crash out?" Cody says "Yeah. You know who I am and I know who you are and how you like to handle things. You're buttoned up and I'm glad Vegas gave you the flowers that they did because you deserve them." Cody says he's glad Punk is handling it like this because Cody himself feels like a loser. Punk "Wait, you think I should feel like a loser?" Punk tells the crowd "Stop it, we're friends." Punk says its okay to think that but he doesn't feel like a loser. "I have a tattoo of a marshmallow on a stick. I know, its weird." Punk says Cody isn't a loser as he beat a first ballot hall of famer and it was hard because he beat a friend and a mentor. Punk says he fought someone he hates and its easy to stomp "his stupid face" and make fun of his sweet pepper necklace but Cody was the real challenge. He says Cody is the winner and in a word, he's the loser. Punk says Cody feels like that because heavy is the head that wears the crowd and now he's free as a bird. Punk says his path is to stay ready and look directly at Cody's belt. He says "You never know when a championship opportunity is going to fall out of the sky." Punk leaves but Cody says "Hey Punk, just say when." The crowd roars as Punk nods his head in approval.

We cut to Finn Balor saying last night Dom brought out the Demon and the Demon put Dom down. He says he's not finished with Judgment Day because Dom drew first blood but was only the first to fall. He expected Dom to betray him but not from JD McDonough. Finn remembers JD as a 12 year old and how he trained JD when McDonagh was 16. Finn says he helped JD become one of the greatest performers on Earth and when he needed someone to have his back, it was only going to be JD...but JD made a choice. Finn says he brought JD in but tonight he's going to take JD out. Very good stuff from Balor here. On to the next match.

Match 2

"All Ego" Ethan Page vs Je'Von Evans

The battle of the NXT guys as Cole says they've met 3 times including a street fight. Graves say he called that match. Page gets a headlock in and shoulderblocks Evans down. Evans hits a leapfrog roll up for 2 then backflips out of trouble. Evans kips up into a stunner and Page bails to the apron only to cheapshot Evans down. Page executes a side backbreaker but Evans chops him in the chest. Evans lands left hands but Page hits a big right. Page drops Evans with a back elbow smash and covers for a deuce. Cole says Evans isn't 100% after last night as Graves says he needed a bodycast and he wasn't even in the match. Ethan gets in another headlock but Evans rolls out of it, hitting a dropkick. Evans hits a hurracarana and tells the camera "We at". Evans dives over the top rope to the floor on Page as we go to break. Back from commercial we get another Evans suicide dive to the floor. Cole says Graves wrestled Page before and Graves said he knew then Ethan would be special. Evans rams Ethan's head in the buckle and land a kick to the back. Evans hits a springboard crossbody for 1..2....no. Evans cathers to the crowd as Cole says it must be nice to be young. Page catches Evans on the middle rope and throws him onto the middle of the ring. Ethan hits a powerslam for 1...2..no. Ethan taunts the irate crowd by pointing at Evans as if to say "This your boy?" Ethan rips Evans shirt off to show the athletic tape on Evans body, the scars of last night. Outside the ring Evans sends Page into the ring post and a superkick puts Page on the Spanish announce table. Out of nowhere Alexander Rusev appears and takes a swing at Evans. Je'Von ducks and clocks him. Evan dives over the barricade on top of Rusev then runs into the ring. Evans goes for Tiffy Time but Page knocks him off the turnbuckle. Ethan hits Twisted Grin and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Damn good match showcasing the classic heel tactics of Page and the high flying Evans. Relatively clean win too as the Rusev distraction didn't prove that fatal.

Time of match: 10:15

Winner: Page by pinfall

After the bell Rusev runs in and starts stomping Evans. Ethan Page laughs at Evans and just exits the ring. Rusev stomps on Evans' back and hits the Accolade. Ruh roh....here comes Penta to even the odds. Penta chops and kicks away at Rusev. Penta superkicks Rusev and goes up to the top rope...only for Page to throw him off. Rusev superkicks Penta in the face and Page applauds him. Page says "all yours" and leaves. Rusev locks Penta in the Accolade for a little more heat. The crowd chants Rusev sucks as he holds the IC strap on his shoulder. 11 years ago he was the US Champion going into Wrestlemania and never fully recovered his heat. This might be a last ditch effort to get something out of him.

We get a vignette advertising the upcoming Hulk Hogan Netflix documentary on Wednesday and cut to Cole saying this was the first Wrestlemania without Hulk alive and Graves says he was immortalized in a different way. Loved him or hate him, he's still one of the most talked about wrestlers ever. Here comes Judgment Day heading to the ring as we go to break. Back from commercial here comes Judgment Day for a conference. Dom Mysterio, Roxanne Perez, Raquel Rodriguez, JD McDonagh and of course World Women's Champ Liv Morgan.

Morgan does a victory lap around the ring holding the mic to the crowd and the men start chanting "You deserve it" and she says that's the smartest thing they've said all day. Liv calls herself the greatest world champion of alllllllllllllllllllllllll time. She wants to thank a few folks first including Judgment Day for helping her and Stephanie Vaquer for helping her remind herself she's the most talented woman in WWE. Liv says its her ring, her show, and her women's championship. Liv goes to say something else when none other than Sol Ruca from NXT walks out. She gets in the ring and says "Hey Liv" getting a pop. She apologizes for interrupting and she says Liv is an inspiration to her and it taught her that Liv is the top woman in the division. Sol says she deserves it and Liv says thanks but she has SOME NERVE interrupting. Liv says since Sol was nice to her she'll be nice too in saying Sol is no Liv Morgan. Liv says if Sol wants to make it to the next Wrestlemania then she'll leave her ring right now. Sol says this is a misunderstanding since she's not here to pick a fight....but she's not gonna back down from one. They go to throw down when Adam Pearce walks out saying "Hold on, hold on." Pearce says he knows the crowd wants to see a fight and he brings out Jessika Carr for an impromptu match right now....after commercial that is.

Match 3

Sol Ruca vs World Women's Champion Liv Morgan (with Judgment Day)

Non title match and as the bell rings, Sol handstands and kips up out of clothesline trouble. Ruca hits a superkick but Liv slugs and kicks away at her. Liv victory rolls for 1...2, Ruca reverses for 1...2..no, Ruca carthweels out of trouble then dropkicks her. Cole apologizes for making a mistake on commentary as Ruca back elbows Liv in the corner. Ruca goes for a standing moonsault but Liv gets the knees up. Ruca rolls to the apron and goes for a springboard but Liv kicks the rope to cause Sol to go crashing. Liv pounds away on Ruca as Cole says Sol will face Zaria tomorrow night on NXT. Liv stands on Ruca then hits a back elbow in the corner as Cole brings up Ruca's victory on Saturday Night's Main Event. Liv hits a running knee in the corner and a dropkick. Cole says Tatum Paxley will take on Blake Monroe tomorrow night on NXT as well. Liv covers Sol and sticks her tongue out at the camera for 1...2...no. Liv charges twice right into kicks but she blocks and O'Connor Roll attempt. Sol rolls out of a scoop slam and hits a waistlock. Liv rerverses into a front head lock. Liv knees Sol in the ribs but Sol carthweels into an X-Factor on Liv. Liv bails to the outside and Sol hits the apron moonsault as we go to break. Back from commercial  Liv hits a snap supex...and goes for the 3 Amigos to chorus of boos. Sol Ruca blocks the third suplex and hits one of her own. Liv's face is priceless. They trade punches for "yay boo" with Ruca getting the yays. Ruca hits an uppercut and a back elbow smash. Ruca hits a second one before sending Liz into the corner for a released German suplex. Up to the second rope, Sol hits a missile dropkick and a kip up. Sol hits a running knee and covers for 1..2...no. Sol sells her lower back and goes back to the top rope. She jumps off into a codebreaker by Liv. She covers for 1...2...no. Sol backflips out of ObLivion and hits a superkick. Sol hits Sol Snatcher but Liv rolls to the floor in front of Roxanne and Raquel. Ruca does a handstand backflip to the floor on top of the interlopers and throws Liv back in. Out of nowhere Zaria appears and shoves Sol into the ring post, of course. Zaria hits a spinebuster onto the floor, yells at her as Cole says they have a Last Woman Standing match tomorrow night. Jessika Carr turns around to see Zaria leaving but didn't see what she did. Sol slides in at nine but Liv catches her with ObLivion, covering for 1...2...3 to win the match. Damn good effort by Sol to use her athleticism to put Liv on the run. It took a run in from Zaria to help Liv retain.

Time of match: 11:57

Winner: Morgan by pinfall

Nice to see WWE using Raw to further NXT storylines like Zaria/Ruca. As Liv celebrates with her girls, here comes Stephanie Vaquer. They stare each other down and Liv holds up the title. This feud is NOT over. After awkward silence, we're shown celebs at ringside. Fabulos...who hasn't had a hit in 25 years, Maino, Dave East and Jim Jones....did they pay for a plug? Cole at ringside sends us to a Brock Lesnar career vignette set to I Stand Alone by Godsmack. 

Speaking of Brock, his manager Paul Heyman comes out with the World Tag Team Champions Logan Paul and Austin Theory....after commercial. Paul gets on the mic and the crowd boos. He says he had a speech prepared but the program threw him off. He says his favorite part of Wrestlemania is expect the unexpected and he starts getting teary thinking about the Lesnar impromptu retirement. He then snaps  and says the WWE production team still has Brock in the "Now" part. He says the stupid bitches need to take him out of Now and put him into Forever because he'll forever be the baddest motherfucker (he doesn't actually say those two words but implies it) that will ever be in a WWE ring. That beasts name....is BROCKKKK LESNARRRRRRR. The crowd pops and chants "Thank You Brock" before Paul gets back in character. Paul says the Now is Austin Theory and Logan Paul, your heavyweight tag team champions of the world. Paul passes the mic to Logan Paul and the crowd lets him have it. Logan soaks in the boos and tries to say the only reason the Usos won at Wrestlemania is IShowSpeed but the crowd won't let him speak. Logan says he's sick of Youtubers and Streamers thinking they can come into the business and do what they do, he hates those outsiders. (Ha, clever!) Logan says nothing at Wrestlemania matters because Speed got punched in the face and they're still the champs. Logan hands the mic back to Paul and the champs pose. Paul says its only fitting that they take a moment to give thanks to Guther for taking out Seth Rollins and he owes him one. Paul says the best moment of the weekend was Seth Rollins getting cut in half by Bron Breakker. Paul introduces Bron as he heads to the ring. Bron takes the mic and crowd does his father's dog chant.

Bron says one year ago in this very same arena, he became the leader of the Vision because Seth Rollins was too weak. More like six months ago but anyway. Bron goes on to say he ruined everything for Seth as the crowd starts singing Seth's song. Bron says he hopes Seth is watching because he's going after him every single day. Seth's music hits and Seth appears from behind, whacking Bron in the back with a chair. Seth takes down Logan but Theory catches him with a left hand. Theory and Paul beat down Rollins when out of nowhere THE STREET PROFITZ hit the ring for the first time since October to even the odds. Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford clean house of The Vision and Montez flips outside. The duo take out Theory and Paul as Rollins superkicks Bron. Rollins punches away at Breakker and kicks, busting him wide open. Breakker hits the spear and takes his shirt off. Breakker says all these people will remember Seth as a shel of who he used to be. Bron runs the ropes and hits another spear to keep some heel heat. Graves "Who can stop Bron Breakker?"  This was a great segment with Paul tearing up paying tribute to Brock, Logan drawing massive heat, the return of Breakker & the Profitz and Bron keeping his heat intact.

We cut to a JD McDonagh vignette and tells Finn Balor that he brought him in and taught him that Judgment Day is family. He says put the others to the side and says Finn changed by taking his cues from CM Punk getting in his head. JD says he's been behind him for 20 years and what about him? He says he defended Balor while Balor talked down to him like he was the leader. People asked him how he could do that to Finn and he says it was easy, he'd do it again. He claims he's going to step out of Finn's shadow and the Finn we knew and loved is dead. Normally Balor vs McDonagh would be cucka so I at least appreciate them making this a big deal.

We cut to WWE US Champion Trick Williams at ringside for a "Whoop That Trick" chant.

Match 4

Finn Balor vs JD McDonagh

We all know the story by now. Finn Balor was kicked out of Judgement Day and now he wants revenge. He brought back the Demon to take out Dom Mysterio at Wrestlemania and now he's after his protégé McDonagh who comes out alone. Finn doesn't wait for the bell to clothesline him to the floor. They brawl on the floor and then into the crowd. Finn beats JD all around the arena as Graves on commentary says he can see Dom turning on Finn but not JD. Eventually Balor throws JD inside for the official bell ring. Balor chops JD in the corner but catches a back elbow smash. JD punches away at Finn and sells his taped ribs from last night's ladder match. Finn goes for the Coup De Gras early but JD rolls out of the way. JD knees Balor through the ropes to the outside as we go to break. Back from commercial Balor powers out of a chin lock and hits an Eye of The Hurricane. Finn punches away at JD, trips him up and hits a big stomp. Finn hits the slingblade and his mouth is visibly bloodied. He calls for the shining wizard but misses. JD jacknife covers for 1..2...no. JD hits a headbutt and covers for 1...2...no. JD's top rope moonsault eats knees. Balor hits a dropkick, goes up top and hits Coup De Gras. He covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. Balor takes out both members of Judgement Day 24 hours apart. Not the best worked match but this was Balor out for revenge, holds be damned.

Time of match: 6:14

Winner: Finn by pinfall

After the match here comes Dom Mysterio for the beat down. Cole calls him a sore loser and Dom calls for the 619. Balor counters with a clothesline and a dropkick. Finn goes for the Coup De Gras but JD pulls Dom out. This feud isn't over either. We cut to Jackie Redmond with a very pleased looking Gunther. She asks how he feels after his big win and he says he feels fantastic. He says he was right about Seth Rollins and she asks if he knew about Bron Breakker. Gunther says there's no "me" and Paul Heyman, only that Paul owes him a favor. She asks what it is and he says he's going to be World Heavyweight Champion very soon. LA Knight shows up and says from one Wrestlemania winner to another congratulations. Knight goes on to say he beat Rollins but Gunther knows he's not the only one who wants the World Championship and Gunther needed 3 guys to help him win. Knight says he deserves the title shot and leaves. Graves "How dare ANYBODY interrupt the ring general"

Cole runs down next week's card in Laredo, Texas as new Women's Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch will be there, Joe Hendry will be in concert (seriously?) much to Graves' chagrin. We cut to Rhea Ripley and Iyo sky looking sad. Rhea essentially says goodbye as she's off to Smackdown and they hug it out. Rhea walks down the hall past Liv Morgan. Liv "Guess I'll see you around." Rhea "I'm looking forward to it." We get a fact that this was the first time Roman Reigns has won the World Heavyweight Championship and right on cue, a limo pulls up with him coming out. He's on his way to the ring as the crowd chants "Roman...Roman Reigns". Once he gets to Gorilla there's Jimmy and Jey Uso to greet him. The original Tribal Chief theme hits and the trio make their way to the ring. Thank god they brought that back.

Inside the ring Roman soaks up the crowd cheering before asking to acknowledge him. He says he was going to keep it short tonight but he ran into his cousins and wanted to discuss family business. He says he misses "this" and Jey says "Yeet." Roman misses having their trust, respect, love and admiration. He misses doing business with them and right now they're separated and scattered. He says separated CM Punk can run his mouth and disrespect them and some 90's rapper can disrespect Jey. For those that don't know, Jey got in a worked argument with Cam'ron....who hadn't had a hit since Hey Ma in 2002. Roman says he's Main Event Jey Uso the Yeet Man and right on cue the crowd chants Yeet. Roman says Jey changed the environment and he's got washed rappers running their mouths. Roman holds up 5 fingers and says that's because we're like this, this ain't us.  Roman makes a fist and says THIS is us and this is the power. He says combined they ran the business for 4 years straight. He's not asking them to serve him but to be his blood and stand with him. Jimmy says he speaks for Jey and he'll always be their OTC and any city they go to, they're the two and they the ones. Jey and Jimmy does the Bloodline signal but as Roman goes to put his finger up, here comes Jacob Fatu. If there was ever a time to recruit Jacob to fight the MFT's for WWE dominance, it would be now.

Jacob enters with a mic and the crowd chants Fatu. Roman says its been a while and there can only be a few reasons he'd come out. Roman says the first is he's there to acknowledge him but Jacob says "Naw, that ain't it." So much for the MFT war. Roman says its because Jacob wants a title shot. Jacob says he doesn't want the title, he needs it. Roman sighs and rolls his head around as Jacob says he's not there to be tribal chief. He needs everything that the tribal chief has. He needs the shoe deal, the private jets, a rolex, vehicles, a bigger house and his children in better schools even if he has to go through Roman. He says at Backlash Roman will know Jacob is all gas and no breaks with it. The crowd chants Fatu as Roman says he agrees with Jacob that he wants those things for him too. He says maybe Jacob can beat him but asks if he can handle the burden of being champion. Roman says if he can't beat him, can he handle the burden of acknowledging him. Roman says its thin air at the top and he'll give him a week to think it over "little cousin". Roman and the Uso's leave as Roman tells Jimmy to talk some sense into Jacob.

All in all if you were looking for pure wrestling, you got 40 minutes of actual wrestling. But between Sol Ruca and Ethan Page's debuts, Jacob Fatu putting Roman Reigns on notice, the return of the Street Profitz and Breakker vs Rollins forming....at least it was eventful. A lot of people say Oba's short and sweet speech rivaled Roman Reigns the night after he beat The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 33 where its his yard now. The funny thing is, that's a LOT of potential main event talent. If its gonna be Roman vs Jacob at Backlash, now you have Punk, Rollins, Oba Femi and Gunther hanging around. Liv vs Vaquer isn't over yet and Rhea leaving opens the door for Iyo vs Kabukis. Maybe she can get Kairi to turn face or overcome both to beat Asuka. All in all there's a lot of good things on the horizon if you can look past the nonstop commercials and unnecessary celeb shoutouts. As Cole mentioned, tomorrow night's NXT featuring Sol Ruca vs Zaria is up next. 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.

WWE Raw (1/6/25)

WWE Raw

Intuit Dome

Los Angeles, California

January 6, 2025

Commentators: Michael Cole & Pat McAfee

Ring Announcer: Alicia Taylor

Welcome to the most overhyped Raw in decades. Raw leaves its home on USA where its been for 19 years and comes to Netflix. Now Raw won't have to cater to USA standards and practices and a fixed run-time. This was more or less being hyped as a ppv and that's how it might be treated tonight. Jey Uso takes on Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins takes on CM Punk, John Cena returns and Roman Reigns goes one on one with Solo Sikoa in Tribal Combat. Let's get to it.

Michael Cole welcomes us to Los Angeles and Cole says Seth Rollins will be in the biggest match of his career....what? Not Wrestlemania against The Rock and Roman Reigns last year, not Triple H in 2017 or Sting at Summerslam....a match on Raw against CM Punk? We're shown CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Judgment Day and Rhea Ripley entering the arena.

Before anything happens, we're treated to a vignette hosted by Triple H about the history of wrestling. Wrestling had been around in the Roman times and in carnivals but television changed wrestling. Wrestling needs a face (a painting of Hulk Hogan) and a heel (Andre The Giant). The late 90's changed how we looked at who was good and who was bad (with a nice montage of the nWo and the Montreal screwjob), the real, and unreal. "Every damn story had an element of truth. The screens get smaller but the show gets bigger." From television to streaming, from America to the world, never to end....story of WWE. The giant curtain drops and HHH is standing in the ring. HHH "17,000 plus sold out Los Angeles LET ME HEAR YOU!" Triple H says this is the moment they're all being seen and heard by the entire globe. HHH says show them who you are and tell them that his is the WWE and we are louder than anything you have ever seen before. HHH knows the answer but he asks anyway, ARE YOU READYYYYYY. "Then, welcome to Monday Night Raw, welcome to the Netflix era". Great opening montage, didn't do too much, just said wrestling grew over the last 70 years.

HHH leaves and the lights go out.....IF YA SMELLL, WHAT THE ROCK...IS COOKIN. Here comes The Rock with the Muhammad Ali belt shaking hands with the fans. He greets some dignitaries at ring side before posing for some fans. Rock even shakes hands with Michael Cole and Pat McAfee before greeting Rock's two youngest daughters Jazzy and Tia along with his mother, Ata Maivia-Johnson. Cole also brings up Rock has a claim to be high chief of Samoa as well. Rock talks about how he used to travel with his father when he was just a pebble (there goes my nickname for Ava Raine). He says back then you either bought a ticket or had to be in front of your TV on Saturday morning. He goes on to say you're watching it worldwide on Netflix and they broke another gate record. "Finally WWE has come back to Netflix....no no no that's bullshit, get to the real one." Rock "FINALLY, THE ROCK HAS COME BACK TO LOS ANGELES!" The Rock thanks some Netflix execs in the VIP suite and says if Netflix glitches when he's in the ring, he'll go Squid Games on their candy asses. This was a reference to the Mike Tyson/Jake Paul fight that broke Netflix. The Rock then puts over Cody Rhodes for carrying the company on his back the past year and he's shown in the crowd. Rock "Tell mama Rhodes I said hello." Rock then shouts out Roman Reigns which gets a huge OTC chant from the crowd. Rock says Tribal Combat is next and the world will be watching. He puts himself over as high chief and says the winner of this match will be deserving of tribal chief. IF YA SMELLLLLLL...WHAT THE ROCK....IS COOKIN. Rock shakes hands with Cody at ring side and says hi to his kids as he leaves. Now its time for Tribal Combat. This has been building since Wrestlemania. After Roman Reigns lost to Cody Rhodes, he went on vacation. While he was gone, Solo picked up the Ola Fala and took over the Bloodline. He got rid of Jimmy Uso and Paul Heyman while adding Jacob Fatu and the Tongans. Then little by little the OG Bloodline returned culminating in Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso recruiting Jey Uso and Sami Zayn to reform the original Bloodline. After the OG's were victorious at Wargames, its still been OG vs New until now. If Solo wins, the OGs are done. If Roman wins, the New is essentially useless. It actually would be a lot more interesting if Solo wins but the writing is on the wall.

Match 1

Solo Sikoa vs Roman Reigns (with Paul Heyman) in Tribal Combat

Alicia Taylor introduces Solo but Paul Heyman introduces Reigns as the "reigning, defending" OTC. Bell's gone and Solo says the Ola Fala is his as they tie up. Solo and Roman back each other up until Roman throws Solo out of the ring. Solo backs Reigns into the ring post outside as Cole says this is Roman's first one on one match since Wrestlemania.....wow. The death of house shows really shows here. Solo rams Roman's head into the announce table and back inside the ring. Solo drops Roman with a clothesline and delivers a headbutt. Roman then floors Solo with back to back lariats. Roman clubs Solo in the corner with forearms and brings up all the HoFers Roman has beaten as Reigns big boots Solo to the outside. Roman goes outside and walks right into a Rock Bottom onto the announce table, clearing out Pat and Michael. Solo grabs a monitor and decks Roman with it. Solo taunts the irate crowd as Cole says he has to get the hell out of here. Solo grabs the ring steps and tells Roman to get his ass up. Cole "This is gonna be one of those nights, Pat." Solo rams Reigns with the steps as we go to break. Back from commercial, Solo grabs a chair and gets in the ring. Solo hits Roman in the ribs then in the back. Solo then caves in Roman's ribs with the chair and puts it around his neck. Solo taunts Roman that he gave him everything and always loved him. Solo goes for the Umaga but Roman rolls out of the way. Roman grabs the chair and hits Solo in the ribs, then the back with it. Roman unloads on Solo with the chair and rams his head into it. Roman goes for the Conchairto but Solo moves. Solo hits a low blow and another spinning Rock Bottom . He covers for 1...2....no. Cole brings up the very first Raw was January 11, 1993 and we've had 1,649 episodes total on cable TV....until tonight. Solo grabs a table from under the ring but Roman hits a dropkick from the apron. Roman throws the table into the ring and sets it up, but Solo whacks Roman with a singapore cane. Solo wails on him with the cane while taunting Heyman. He then chokes Roman with the cane and says to acknowledge him. He loved Roman but he never loved him back. Roman then uses his strength to push the cane off him then powerbombs Solo through a table. Roman covers for 1.....2....noooo, Tama Tonga pulls referee Chad Patton out. Here comes the shenanigans. Jacob Fatu comes in from the other side, slaps Reigns, hits a superkick and delivers the Impaler. Fatu then hits the standing moonsault and picks Solo up. Solo hits the Samoan spike on Roman and covers for 1...2...NOOOOOOO! Jacob can't believe it as the crowd chants OTC. Jacob backs down Chad in the corner but Solo has to tell him to back off.....so he can hit the samoan spike on Patton. Cole says that was dumb as nobody's there to count the fall. Here comes Sami Zayn and Jimmy Uso to even the odds. Sami heaves Jacob into the ring steps as Jimmy throws Tama into the ring post.  Inside the ring, Jimmy superkicks Solo and Sami follows with the Helluva Kick. Roman hits the spear and covers but there's no ref. Finally here comes another ref to count 1....2.....NOOOOO. The crowd chants "This is awesome" and now we got a stalemate. Jimmy and Sami dive outside and fight to the back with Jacob & Tama. Roman loads up another spear but here comes Kevin Owens of all people. He hits a stunner on Roman and tells Solo to pin him. This makes no sense, why would KO help either of them considering Solo made his life a hell too. Solo covers for 1..2....nooooo. KO pummels Roman and goes for the package piledriver as the crowd chants for Cody Rhodes.....and here he comes. Cody in the suit and tie hits the Cody cutter, causing KO to bail. Cody brawls with him into the barricade and we're back to one on one. Solo blocks the Superman punch, but Roman ducks under the Samoan Spike. Roman hits the spear. Roman caters to the crowd and calls for another one. Roman hits a second spear and covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. That was a damn good PPV style match that would have fit right in at the Rumble. Roman ends the Solo Bloodline once and for all.

Time of match: 23:27

Winner: Roman Reigns by pinfall

Paul Heyman goes to put the Ola Fala back on Roman but here comes The Rock to steal the spotlight AGAIN. The Rock takes it from Heyman and presents it to Roman. They shake hands and the crowd cheers. Roman takes a full minute to soak in the emotion before we cut to the back where CM Punk is preparing for his one on one match with Seth Rollins. Cole says this is one of the biggest matches in wrestling history....how?? We're then shown the VIP suite where Byron Saxton, Kayden Carter, Jaida Parker, Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller, Zoey Stark, Austin Theory (in a hilarious red suit) are having a party. Then we go to ringside to see Gabriel Iglesias holding the big gold belt, naturally he has a special airing the next day. Ashton Kutcher and his son are shown as well as Netflix comedian Michael Che. Then we're shown LA Knight, Rey Mysterio, Erik and Ivar sitting in the front row. Why are they treating these guys like common fans? Rey is wearing an Eddie Guerrero jacket to boot. 

John Cena is here to begin his farewell tour. He holds up "The last time is now" towel as he runs to the ring. Cena caters to the crowd and thanks the fans, causing a massive "Thank you Cena" chant. Cena says the fans are smart and the audience just got a lot bigger. He tells the crowd to let the world know they can see them. Cena thanks Netflix for the experience of airing Monday Night Raw and for letting him wear jorts in the ring one last time. He says the farewell tour kicks off in LA because he used to sleep in his car working for Gold's Gym and wrestled for UPW in Orange County. Cena rented a two bedroom apartment 600 feet from this building because Inglewood was up to no good. He says this is where his first gimmick "The Prototype" was born and where he won the WWE title at Wrestlemania 21. He says for 25 years LA has allowed him to perform in the ring and he humbly thanks the fans. Cena says this year is about making moments and who he's going to face at Wrestlemania or his last match in December. He lists Drew McIntyre, CM Punk, Logan Paul, Gunther...Cooooody Rhodes. He says people are asking when he becomes the record holding 17 time world champion but he wants to be honest, he doesn't see it happening. Cena says he's got a streak going on, its been 2,446 days since he won his last match. One look at Google shows the mixed tag match he won on New Year's Day 2019 confirms this.....wow. Cena says his time up and their time is now (the fans boo). Cena says title 17 is never gonna happen then catches himself and says never say never. Cena says it would take a miracle and has a better chance of winning an Oscar. Cena says he can't just waltz into the main event with a streak like that unless he wins Money In The Bank, Elimination Chamber.....or the Royal Rumble. Cena "Wait.....maybe I could win the Royal Rumble." He says its a long shot but he can't win the lottery if you don't play. Cena says he's officially entering the Rumble for the last time. Cena says he'll never give up and he's going to win the Rumble. "YOU WANT SOME, COME GET SOME!" So this long speech was to set up Cena entering the Rumble, good.

We cut to a Logan Paul vignette. He puts himself over and plays off the very real heat he has with people and says everyone hates how successful he is. Logan Paul himself is shown in the crowd and says its his time now. Liv Morgan then makes her entrance for the next match with Dom Mysterio and Raquel Rodriguez in tow. Cole has to give Liv her props for potentially being superstar of the year in 2024. Before Rhea makes her entrance, we're shown more celebs. Seth Green, longtime WWE fan Macaulay Culkin, O'Shea Jackson Jr (who's a hilarious troll on Twitter), Wil Friedle and Danielle Fishel from Boy Meets World. Will is not mentioned, only Danielle....wow, Eric Matthews gets the shaft. Right in front of them are Naomi and Bianca Belair, the women's tag team champions. Next to them is X-Pac and Shinsuke Nakamura, the US Champion. McAfee drools over Ripley during her intro as Cole says "she lost her way and was manipulated into Judgment Day by Edge". Wow, throwing shade at Edge now? Cole says it was his influence that led her to turn on Liv Morgan and set Liv on the path of turning on her in return. We get a frightening graphic that since May of 22 Rhea Ripley is 22-0 against everyone else but only 3-2 against Liv Morgan. On to the match.

Match 2

Rhea Ripley vs Liv Morgan (with Raquel Rodriguez and Dom Mysterio) for the World Women's Championship

Bell's gone and they brawl to start. Rhea stomps on her foot and grabs her by the throat. She choke bombs Liv down and Liv bails to the outside. Rhea cannonballs onto Raquel Rodriguez as Cole says unlike Tribal Combat, there are rules here. If referee Daphanie LaShaunn catches Dom or Raquel doing anything funny, that's it....even if it screws Ripley. Speaking of Dom, he grabs her foot allowing Liv to knock Rhea off the apron. Liv goes for a head scissors but Rhea powerbombs her onto the announce table. Pat and Cole heckle Liv as we go to break. Back from commercial, Liv apparently has been dominating during the commercial break. Liv stands on Rhea in the corner and shrieks at Daphanie. Liv elbows Rhea and hits a tornado bulldog, covering for 1..2....no. McAfee "This dumbass Dom can't even count to three" and Dom heckles him in return. Liv kicks Rhea in the head and in the ribs before stepping on her. Liv rakes the back which only makes Rhea mad. Rhea no-sells a few slaps and says "You fucked up" before clotheslining Liv down twice. Rhea kicks Liv in the ribs and face plants Liv. Rhea hits a shining wizard and goes for a package piledriver that she turns into a suplex much to Dom's dismay. Liv goes for a victory roll but Rhea hits a reverse Taz plex. She covers for 1.....2...no. Rhea goes for Riptide but Liv slips out of it to apply a backstabber. Liv hits a tornado DDT and covers for 1..2....no. Liv hits a step up enziguiri but Ripley slides under Liv, hitting riptide. Ripley stacks her for 1...2...NOOOOO. Somehow Liv kicked out and Ripley can't believe it. Raquel throws a chair in the ring only for Ripley to knock her off. Liv hits ObLivion onto the chair. Cole "Referee didn't see it, she was dealing with dumbass Dom." Liv covers for 1...2....NOOOOO. McAfee "The wrestling gods are blessing us this evening." Liv can't believe it and she goes for the three amigos. She hits all three and goes up to the top for the frog splash. Liv hits it and covers for 1..2...nope. Ripley blocks ObLivion and shakes her head no. Rhea blows her a kiss, throws her down, hits Riptide twice and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. The crowd explodes as we have a new World Women's Champion. Odd decision for to Rhea get her revenge on Raw instead of a PLE, but it was a good match. Liv couldn't beat Rhea straight up and Rhea finally caught her.

Time of match: 11:29

Winner: Ripley by pinfall (New World Champion)

Post match Dom sneaks up on Rhea. Cole "Oh what is this idiot doing?" Rhea turns around and Dom wants a hug. Cole calls him a gold digger and McAfee calls him a rat bastard (ha!). Rhea "You want me?" She kisses the belt and puts it down. She fakes a hug and kicks him full force in the gonads much to Cole & McAfee's delight. Rhea hits Riptide and the crowd explodes. McAfee "The kick was good" We get a highlight of Rhea winning the match before she celebrates on the ramp. Suddenly The Undertaker's theme hits and sure enough, here comes the deadman on a motorcycle to "American Bad Ass" by Kid Rock like its 2000 again. Cole brings up how Taker main evented the first Raw in history (against Damien Demento) and he salutes Rhea. They raise their fists as the fireworks go off.

We go back to the VIP section where Cruz Del Toro, Joaqin Wilde, Kayden, Maxxine Dupri, Saxton and Dragon Lee celebrate. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods aren't so happy and Cole points out he wants to interview them soon. We cut to Cathy Kelley standing nearby as Adam Pearce and Bayley have a conversation. Cathy asks what can we expect moving forward but here comes all four members of American Made (Ivy Nile, Julius Creed, Brutus Creed and Chad Gable) to interrupt. Gable says his group are elite and he's destroyed Alpha Academy. He says he wants the single best luchador and send him his way. Pearce asks if he's sure about that and Chad says absolutely. Adam has a smile and says he's got to make a phone call. This should be good.

We cut to Jey Uso about ready to make his appearance as we go to break. Drew McIntyre is on his way to the ring as well. Back from break, we're shown The Rock's instagram as he was leaving. He greeted Jimmy Uso, Paul Heyman, Triple H, Roman Reigns, rapper Travis Scott and Cody Rhodes. Rock drives off with a bottle of tequila in his hands saying he'll be at NXT tomorrow night....just don't tell the cops. We're shown more celebs including Bill Simmons flashing a Boston Celtics logo, perfect for heel heat in Los Angeles. We're shown more Netflix execs and actress Vanessa Hudgens. Then we're shown Michelle McCool, Iyo Sky, Dakota Kai and Lira Valkyria. Lira and Dakota go one on one next week in the Women's Intercontinental Championship Finals. Travis Scott is here holding a belt and hitting a dab before Jey Uso makes his entrance right behind him. Cole and McAfee Yeet on the table and Cole doing it in suit and tie makes it even funnier. McAfee "Wait for the beat to drop, Cole." Cole "How the hell do I get down now?" Before the match we get a graphic of the most televised wins in 2024 and Jey Uso is tied for fifth place with 21 behind Pete Dunne (??) with 22, Damian Priest with 23, Bron Breakker with 24 and Bianca Belair with 29.

Match 3

Jey Uso vs Drew McIntyre

Cole was in the middle of bringing up how Drew McIntyre's entire heel turn was based around never getting over the Bloodline costing him the WWE title at Clash at The Castle....when Jey immediately suicide dives him before Drew gets a chance to take off his ring jacket. Jey suicide dives through the ropes on top of Drew but Drew counters with an overhead suplex. Cole finishes his thought from earlier that once Jey Uso came to Raw, Drew was never the same. Drew inside the ring goes for the claymore as the bell officially rings. Jey hits an avalanche in the corner followed by a running enziguiri. Jey goes for the up and over but Drew kicks him in the head. Cole says Jey has never beaten Drew one on one as Drew gets in a big right hand. McIntyre mocks the Yeet to the irate crowd and chops the nine time tag team champion. Drew chops him again before punching him in the corner. Drew chops again before doing 10 punches in the corner...as a heel? Jey does a sit down powerbomb and they slug it out in the middle of the ring. They play "Yeet/boo" with Jey hitting an enziguiri. Jey hits the Umaga in the corner and hits a top rope crossbody for 1..2....no. McIntyre hits a reverse neckbreaker and kips up before staring at Jey. He calls for the Claymore but runs into a superkick. Jey covers for 1.....2...no. Jey goes for the Uso splash but McIntyre gets his knees up. Drew hits a spinebuster and jackknife covers for 1..2...no. Drew tries a sitdown powerbomb and covers for 1...2...nope. McAfee says Drew should be a champion but gets inside his own head. The crowd plays "Let's go Drew/Let's go Jey" as they slug it out in the center of the ring. Drew's future shock is blocked by Jey but his samoan drop is blocked. Drew hits future shock and covers for 1..2...no. Drew calls for another Claymore but runs into the spear. Jey covers for 1..2....nooooo. Jey hits a superkick to the left arm then catches him in the jaw. Jey goes for another spear but Drew kicks him in the head. Jey superkicks him into the ropes but Drew fires back with a Claymore Kick. Drew covers for 1...2....noooooo. Drew can't believe it and unloads on Jey with right hands. Drew picks up Jey and chops him relentlessly in the corner. Drew does a Glasgow Kiss and calls for another Claymore. Drew runs but Jey collapses in the center of the ring. Drew laughs at him and then taunts the irate crowd. Drew tells him to get up so he can finish him. Drew goes for the Claymore but Jey ducks under it and crucifixes Drew for 1..2...3 to win the match. Drew goes ballistic inside the ring as Jey bails as the winner. Jey had never beaten Drew until now in a good match. That was a hell of a fight and McIntyre loses another big match to add to his misery.

Time of match: 10:22

Winner: Uso by pinfall

We go to a vignette on Gunther to show he's an emotionless killer. Back to Cathy Kelley who's with comedian Gabriel Iglesias. He's got a new special dropping tomorrow but before he can say anything, here's New Day to interrupt. Xavier Woods says they haven't been allowed to explain why they dropped Big E Langston as Kofi Kingston says this is the biggest platform on earth and Cathy should be talking to them instead of the "fluffy buffoon". Gabriel "Buffoon? Dude, I liked you guys better when you had cereal. What's going on?" Woods "Its always jokes with you, isn't it?" Alpha Academy shows up and says Happy New Year and puts their arms around Iglesias. He thanks the Universe and he leaves with Otis, Maxxine Dupri and Akira Tozawa serenading "New....Day sucks. New....day sucks." 

We cut to Paul Heyman singing Roman Reigns' praises as they walk down the hall. Heyman says they need a platform to when the world can acknowledge him. He says January 27th.....what? Oddly specific but okay. We show a determined Seth Rollins in the locker room before we go to break. Back from break we're shown more celebs in the crowd. Finally IC Champion Bron Breakker and WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton are shown in the crowd as well. If anyone should be in the ring tonight its them. We're shown Nikki Bella in the crowd as well when a familiar theme song hits.

Hulk Hogan comes out with none other than Jimmy Hart in tow and gets booed relentlessly despite Michael Cole and Pat McAfee singing his praises. Hulk goes into his familiar promo of "Well ya know something brother" and he says the fans have been his greatest tag team partner. He says he has a new tag team partner, his own beer company. He talks about his ex-partners like Randy Savage and Andre The Giant but the best partner ever is WWE and Netflix. Hogan rips off his shirt to reveal a Netflix is Raw t-shirt and poses as the crowd doesn't give a rats ass. Poor Jimmy Hart, he didn't deserve that.

Next week Lira Valkyria takes on Dakota Kai to determine the first Women's Intercontinental Champion and Sheamus takes on Ludwig Kaiser, Chad Gable will face a mystery luchador and Damian Priest faces Finn Balor in a street fight. We're shown Stephanie McMahon herself in the crowd next to Rory Culkin as BURN IT DOWNNNN hits.

Match 4

Seth Rollins vs CM Punk

This goes all the way back to Survivor Series 2023 when Punk returned to a VERY unhappy Rollins response. Rollins' storyline beef was Punk walked out in 2014 and he himself stayed all these years. Injuries to both Punk and Rollins delayed their inevitable showdown until now. The bell rings and they have dueling chants to start. They brawl to start with Punk getting the upper hand. Rollins clubs him against the ropes then Punk ducks a line, clotheslining over the top to the floor. Punk misses a dive to the floor and Rollins hits a suicide dive onto Punk. Rollins rips apart the announce table early as referee Rod Zapata gives him shit for it. Rollins yells "Let it rideeeeee" to him but Zapata is having none of it. Punk outside sends Rollins over the barricade and dives on top of him. Back over the barricade Rollins goes for an axehandle, but gets punched by Punk for it. Punk throws the top of the table on him as the crowd duels chants. Punk slides in the ring and narrowly misses the curb stomp. Rollins blocks the GTS attempt and kicks Punk in the corner. Zapata yells at Rollins again and Punk boots Seth in the face. Cole points out Rollins is too obsessed with the ref to concentrate on Punk. Punk hits a swinging neckbreaker from off the top rope as we go to break. Back from commercial Rollins clubs away at Punk in the corner and yells at him to get up. Rollins runs into the corner but Punk was right behind him with the running knee. Punk hits a second knee but Rollins blocks the bulldog. Punk rallies with two clotheslines and a swinging neckbreaker before calling for the GTS. Punk pulls Rollins up by the hair and snaps him off the top rope to the floor. Punk throws Rollins inside and goes to the top rope. Rollins rolls through a crossbody and hits a GTS of his own, sending Punk to the outside. Rollins just stares at Punk on the floor for a bit before coming out to get him. Rollins caters to the crowd to let Punk breathe a bit before throwing him inside. Rollins slides in and Punk hits a curb stomp of his own, covering for 1...2..no. Punk rallies with right hands and calls for the GTS. Rollins blocks it and hits the GTS himself, covering for 1...2...noooo. Punk rolls out of the ring and Rollins throws him onto the announce table. Punk goes for the GTS but Rollins rolls out of it. Rollins hits the pedigree on top of the announce table and sells his own knee. That looked for real. Rollins rolls him inside and hits the pedigree in the center of the ring. Rollins covers for 1....2..noooo. The crowd chants for both men again as they slug it out in the center of the ring. Punk goes for the running knee but Rollins hits the buckle bump followed by the curb stomp. Rollins covers for 1...2...nooooo, foot on the rope at the last second. Rollins can't believe it and he picks Punk back up onto the the top rope. Punk pushes him off and Rollins gets mad. He scales the top rope and hits a superplex, rolling through for the Falcon Arrow attempt. Punk blocks it and hits GTS. Rollins staggers into the ropes and back into Punk for a second GTS. Punk covers for 1.....2...3 to win the match. That was certainly a choice to have Punk win but this feud is far from over. Punk gets the opening salvo in a damn good match. Rollins is bleeding from the eye as we end the show.

Time of match: 19:54

Winner: Punk by pinfall

This was a pay-per-view style show but only four matches is criminal. So much time was wasted with The Rock, Hulk Hogan and Gabriel Iglesias that you could have had the Women's IC title match or have some of the guys in the crowd in the ring. Still, tribal combat was fun, Rollins vs Punk was great and Rhea winning the strap back was monumental. Jey vs Drew was okay but its just the fact you had four matches in a 3 hour show isn't good. Raw and SD going to 3 hours was supposed to enhance the roster, not shrink it to only a few matches a night. How sad is it that WWE did more in 2002 with a 2 hour show than it does with 3 now? Still, the matches themselves were good and that's the most important. Netflix is off and running so hopefully this was a one time event to kiss their ass before moving on to more important things as the Royal Rumble approaches. The next show after this is tomorrow night's NXT, I'll see you there.

WWE Bad Blood 2024 (10/5/24)

WWE Bad Blood

State Farm Arena

Atlanta, GA

October 5, 2024

Commentators: Michael Cole and Corey Graves

Ring Announcer: Samantha Irvin

Its the return of Roman Reigns to active duty as he teams with WWE Champion Cody Rhodes to take on his cousins Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu. The story to this one is pretty simple. After Cody Rhodes defeated Roman at Wrestlemania, Roman disappeared. In his absence, Solo Sikoa assumed the role of "tribal chief" and took out both Jimmy Uso and Paul Heyman with his new squad of Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa and Jacob Fatu. At Summerslam, Roman Reigns made his first appearance since Wrestlemania to help Cody defeat Solo and announce the real tribal chief was back. Now Cody and Roman battle the Bloodline tonight. Also, we got Hell in A Cell with Drew McIntyre and CM Punk. At the Royal Rumble Drew McIntyre injured CM Punk's shoulder (in real life it was an accident) and put him out for six months. McIntyre bragged about it and Punk cost him not only the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania but a failed Cash-In after Drew won Money In The Bank. McIntyre won the first match at Summerslam with Seth Rollins the guest referee, CM Punk took the rematch in a strap match at Bash in Berlin. This final battle for bragging rights should be epic. Also the big rematch from Summerslam with Bayley taking on WWE Women's Champion Nia Jax. Finally the Terror Twins/Judgment Day feud continues with two singles matches. Liv Morgan puts the Women's World Heavyweight Championship on the line against Rhea Ripley while Finn Balor goes one on one with Damian Priest. Also Triple H has a big announcement....yay.

We open the show with Samantha Irvin introducing our hosts, Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair and Naomi. Social media pointed out how there hadn't been a black singles winner in over a year so HHH responded by having these three as our hosts. Naturally people were upset that they weren't wrestling. The trio stand in the ring and tell us up first is Hell in a Cell. During the entrances we see a shot of Goldberg and his son Gage in the crowd. Next to him is Atlanta rapper Killer Mike....yeah.

Match 1

Drew McIntyre vs CM Punk in a Hell in a Cell Match

As mentioned in the intro, this is the rubber match. McIntyre won at Summerslam, Punk won in Berlin. Cole before the match says it was 27 years ago tonight that the first Bad Blood took place featuring Hell in A Cell. Drew McIntyre also made his debut 15 years ago the day before at 2009 Hell In A Cell. McIntyre tweeted earlier in the day that he match would be mutually assured destruction. Bell's gone and they stare at each other in the corner to start before walking slowly to the center of the ring. They slug it out before Drew punches Punk in the corner. They trade corner punches before Drew block a kick and heaves Punk in the other corner. Drew chops Punk then throws him through the ropes to the outside. Cole says that Punk has gotten to McIntyre so bad that even Drew's wife says she's not as important as revenge on Punk. Punk goes back first into the Cell but they both fail to ram heads into the Cell. They slug it out on the floor before Punk whips Drew into the cell. Punk shoulderblocks Drew twice before ramming the back of Drew's head into the cell twice as well. Punk goes under the ring for a table as the crowd cheers. He grabs a chair too but Drew takes it and hits Punk in the back with it. Cole gets a shot at Dave Meltzer by saying this won't be a 5 star wrestling classic....of course, its not in AEW or Japan. Drew throws Punk into the steel steps and stands on him to a chorus of boos. Drew grabs a toolbox and empties it in the ring. He swings and misses with a wrench and Punk punches Drew down before driving the wrench into the forehead of Drew. Cole says Shawn Michaels vs Triple H was 47 minutes long in 2004 (don't remind me). Back inside McIntyre boots Punk in the forehead and goes to set up the table but he rips the legs of it by accident. He goes to hit punk with the broken legs but gets booted in the mid-section. Punk drops Drew throat first into the table and chokes him with the broken table legs. Punk rams Drew back first into the table legs still attached twice as the crowd chants "One more time". Drew has noticeable back bruises and blocks Punk's attempt to ram the legs into his eyes. Outside the ring Punk goes for the GTS but Drew grabs the cell to block it. Drew hits a Claymore Kick on the outside and torpedoes Punk face first into the cell. Punk is busted wide open and Drew cracks an evil grin. Drew grabs the steel steps and rams Punk in the head with them then rams CM's head into them. Drew stomps on Punk's head and says he's going to end his career and his wife will leave him. McIntyre grabs a wrench and rams it into Punk's open wound. McIntyre goes outside and grabs another table from under the ring. Drew punches Punk in the head and stares at the blood on his hand as Cole says he's a psychopath. Punk hits the running knee in the corner but McIntyre dumps him on the apron. Punk goes to the top rope and hits an axehandle smash. Punk grabs a wrench and goes back to the top but McIntyre catches him on the way down. Drew hits a Taz-plex and sits in the corner just staring at Punk. He nips up and calls for the Claymore Kick but Punk rolls out of the ring. Punk waffles Drew with the toolbox itself and Drew is now bleeding like crazy. Punk cracks Drew in the face again and goes up to the top with the box. Punk smashes  Drew with the box as Drew's face is a mess. Punk hits three running knees in the corner and the bulldog. Punk calls for the GTS but Drew rolls out of it. Punk then counters a backslide with another GTS attempt, hitting this one. Unfortunately for Punk, Drew rolled out of the ring. Punk laughs as he throws Drew back in the ring. Punk rolls in and Drew hits the Claymore before covering for 1...2...nooooo. Quick strike by McIntyre almost worked. Drew calls for another Claymore but misses it. Punk goes for a modified sharpshooter but Drew grabs a wrench. Drew hits Punk with the wrench to break the hold then rams it into Punk's face. Punk and Drew slug it out in the center of the ring as Drew goes for Future Shock. Punk blocks it and goes for another GTS but Drew rolls out of it. Drew chops Punk but gets kicked in the head. McIntyre rolls to the apron and Punk hits another running knee. Drew then suplexes Punk from the apron through the table below. Drew goes for the ring steps as Graves says Punk isn't moving and he's concerned. Drew doesn't even have the strength to put the ring steps in the ring to show how brutal this match as been. Drew finally gets the steps in the ring as Punk is rolled into the ring. Punk hits the GTS out of nowhere and covers for 1..2.....noooooo. Cole "Somebody win this damn match and end this brutality." Graves "Both of them are flirting with career threatening injuries." Drew hits White Noise on the steps on Punk and covers for 1..2....noooooo. Drew counters a tilt-a-whirl with the anaconda vice as Drew grabs a wrench. Punk grabs the wrench away and pummels Drew with it. Drew begs off as Punk screams "You're gonna beg?" Drew then hits a low blow and grabs a black sack....you know what that means! Referee Shawn Bennett goes to wipe the blood off McIntyre's face with a white towel but Drew shoves it away. Drew dumps the bag.....of beads on Punk. Ahhhhhhahahaha, what a troll move. Drew finally wipes himself off with a white towel and goes for the Claymore. Punk moves and Drew lands back first on the side of the ring steps...ow. Punk wraps a metal chain around his left leg and grabs a handful of beads. Punk rams the beads in Drew's mouth and hits the GTS. Punk covers for 1....2....3 to end the war. Punk's prediction of Drew begging came true as Graves says the ring looks like a crime scene. This was never supposed to be a wrestling match, this was a a brutal war and it delivered on that. Punk wins the war as Bennett has to hold Punk up to raise his hand. Cole "Tonight the second city saint is the second city devil" as Punk symbolically slams the door on his way out, collapsing in the aisle. Great match and feud ender, hats off to both guys.

Time of match: 31:24

Winner: Punk by pinfall

Adam Pearce and Gregory Helms rush the ring to tend to McIntyre after the match as the EMT's tend to Punk sitting on the ground. McIntyre stares at Punk in agony as Punk rips the mask off his face, standing up with Pearce's help. Punk poses on the ramp victorious as we cut to commercial of the Firefly Funhouse for WWE2K24....damn I miss Bray. Back from break Cole says Kurt Angle won Gold here in the 1996 Olympics. Then we get a graphic for Nia Jax vs Bayley up next. How the hell do you top HIAC? They're going to try. 

Before the match, Samantha Irvin introduces WWE Hall of Famers Jacqueline who looks as great as ever, Lilian Garcia who hasn't aged a day in 20 years, and Booker T. Then we go over to Cathy Kelley in the VIP Suite. There's a party going on with the hosts along with WWE Intercontinental Champion Jey Uso, Diamond Dallas Paige, Tully Blanchard, X-Pac and Mickie James in the background. Jade wants to see Rhea vs Liv while Naomi wants to see Nia vs Bayley. Onto the next match.

Match 2

Bayley vs Nia Jax for the WWE Women's Championship

After Bayley defeated Iyo Sky at Wrestlemania to become the Women's Champion, Nia Jax was pushed as a monster heel. Nia won Queen of The Ring in Saudi Arabia to earn the title shot at Summerslam. Nia then beat Bayley to become the new women's champion. Since then, she's employed the MITB winner Tiffany Stratton and Pretty Deadly as stooges. With Bayley's unlikely allies up in the VIP Suite, she's kind of on her own against the monster. Bayley rushes Nia at the bell and they slug it out. Nia shoulderblocks Bayley in the corner and throws her to the otherside. Nia hits an avalanche in the corner and another splash. Nia takes Bayley's head off with a clotheslines and covers for 1...2....no. Nia locks in a chinlock then slaps at Bayley. Nia hits another corner splash then the running ass bump. Nia hits another bulldozer and slaps Bayley around. Nia locks in a bearhug before Bayley rolls out of it for a sunset flip for 1...2..no. Nia rolls on top and applies a single leg crab as Corey says this is unlike her to go for a submission. Nia splashes Bayley against the ropes then goes for a modified camel clutch. Bayley gets to her feet then goes and up and over, sliding under Nia. Nia charges but Bayley sends her through the ropes to the outside. Nia slides in only to eat a leg drop. Bayley runs off the ropes but Nia slides outside the ring. Bayley hits a baseball slide and punches away on her. Bayley rolls Nia inside and covers for 1...2...no. Bayley snaps Nia off the second rope and hits a suicide dive through the second rope. Problem is she damn near missed and Nia had to bend down to take some of it. Back inside Nia lands a headbutt and rams Bayley onto the top rope before landing another avalanche. Nia lands another ass bump and goes for the banzai drop. Bayley punches away at Nia and they totally botch a hurracarana. Nia took the powerbomb bump and Bayley took the hurracarana bump anyway....whoops! Nia hits a belly to belly suplex and covers for 1...2...no. Nia throws Bayley on the top rope and goes for another ass bump, but misses. Bayley hits a running knee and goes for the sunset flip but Nia just sits down on her. That was too close to the ropes for Bayley to try that. Bayley drops a few elbows and limps around as she sells her right leg. Bayley hits the top rope elbow and covers for 1....2..no. Both roll outside and Bayley moves, Nia crashing into the steel steps on a charge. Bayley hits an elbow drop off the ring steps but Bayley has to get back in the ring to break up the count. Nia punches Bayley down then powerbombs her onto the steel steps. Nia slings her into the barricade as we go back inside. Nia poses for the irate crowd and totally botches a samoan drop. She covers anyway for 1...2...no, this is getting ugly. Nia goes for the banzai drop but Bayley pulls her off. Nia drops Bayley with a back elbow smash but Bayley counters with a samoan drop of her own. Bayley covers for 1...2..no. Nia press slams Bayley off into referee Jessika Carr. Carr goes to get up but Bayley kicks Nia in the head, Nia landing ontop of Jessika. Bayley hits a pop up stunner and a rose plant but Carr is down. Here comes Tiffany Stratton with the Money In The Bank briefcase and she waffles Bayley with it. Tiffany pulls up Carr but Nia sits up, staring a hole in Tiffany. Tiffany says she wasn't going to cash in as Bayley from behind avalanches Nia into Tiffany in the corner. Bayley rolls up Nia for 1...2....no. Nia misses a splash in the corner and goes up to the tope rope. Tiffany tosses Bayley the briefcase as distraction and Bayley throws it back at her. This allows Nia to deliver a second rope Samoan drop. Nia pulls Bayley in the corner, hits the banzai drop and covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. Bad, bad match but at least its over. Nia wins the feud with Bayley as Tiffany still lurks in the shadows.

Time of match: 14:17

Winner: Nia Jax by pinfall (Still WWE Women's Champion)

We cut to commercial which is hype for Summerslam 2025. Its going to be two nights at Met Life Stadium with Cardi B calling Bianca. We then cut to outside the arena with Xavier Woods shilling Dragonball Sparking Zero video game. Up next is Damian Priest against Finn Balor but before that, Samantha shouts out more hall-of-famers. X-Pac, Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson stand up and say hi. Onto the next match.

Match 3

Finn Balor vs Damian Priest

In case you missed it, both Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest got screwed over by Judgment Day and now its singles action. Bell's gone and they stare down in the center of the ring. Balor slaps his chest to start and Priest levels him with a forearm. Priest slams Balor in the corner and puts the boots to him. Priest hits a flapjack and hits a super kick. Balor rolls to the apron, shoulderblocks Priest and kicks at him. Balor chokes Priest on the top rope but Damian kicks Balor off the apron. Outside the ring, Finn hits a slingblade on the floor and rolls inside. Damian rolls inside and Finn stomps a mudhole in him before posing for the irate crowd. Balor locks in a sleeperhold then gouges the eyes. Balor pounds away with elbows and locks in a chin lock. Priest powers out of it as Graves says Balor never recovered mentally after relinquishing the Universal Championship. Priest charges but each boot but Finn jumps off the top right into a live round, Priest punched him for real by accident and hurt his hand. Balor counters a tilt-a-whirl with a Russian leg sweep and covers for 1....2...no. Balor kicks away at Priest then poses for the crowd again. Balor goes for the abdominal stretch before Priest hiptosses out of it. Priest unloads with right hands and a discuss punch. Priest hits a broken arrow and covers for 1...2...no. Priest misses a big forearm and Balor hits a slingblade. Priest hits two spin kicks and a clothesline before covering for 1...2...no. Priest hits a bellringer and kicks Balor in the chest twice. Finn hits a Pele Kick and chops Damian in the corner. Balor takes down Priest twice then stomps him on the chest. Priest blocks the third attempt and hits the Razor's Edge. Priest covers for 1...2...no. Outside the ring Priest sends Balor into the announce table. Priest hits a Razor's Edge on the ring apron and slides back in. Balor begs off as Priest pulls the singlet straps down. Here comes Carlito to distract the ref and JD McDonough to snap Priest off the top rope. Balor dropkicks Priest into the corner and Damian drops. Balor goes up to the top rope and hits Coup De Gras. He covers for 1...2....no. McDonough and Carlito can't believe it as the crowd chants Yeet. Carlito distracts the ref again as JD tosses Balor a chair. Priest kicks the chair into Finn's face and knocks Carlito off the apron. He backdrops McDonough on top of Carlito on the floor and goes for the South of Heaven. Balor victory rolls out of it for 1...2...no. Balor counters a powerslam with Eye of The Hurricane. Balor hits the Coup De Gras to Priest's back not once but twice. Balor jumps off the top a third time right into South of Heaven. Priest covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Pretty good match but naturally we had to have the run ins. Priest says this won't bring back the World Heavyweight Championship but it had to feel good to win.

Time of match: 12:48

Winner: Priest by pinfall

We get a vignette for Survivor Series in British Columbia on November 30th before Cole shills some merch. We show Triple H in gorilla position as he's supposed to be up next then a graphic for Monday's Raw where Jey Uso puts the IC title on the line against Xavier Woods. Sheamus vs Pete Dunne in a "Good old fashioned Donnybrook" match and Sami Zayn challenges Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship. Here comes Triple H for a conference with some kind of podium in the ring. The podium has Crown Jewel written on it so this must be related to that. HHH opens by saying 30 years ago he was Terra Ryzing WCW...ha. Our attendance is 16,092 and 60th sellout of the year. Triple H says the next history making event will be four weeks from now at Crown Jewel. The catch is neither world title will be on the line, but the world champions will face each other. The winners will be the Crown Jewel Champion. HHH unveils a Crown Jewel belt with 50 karat diamonds and then World Heavyweight Champion Gunther walks out. Gunther gets in the ring and says Bad Blood wouldn't be anything without the World Heavyweight Champion. Gunther says he won King of The Ring in Saudi Arabia and HHH handed him the trophy, now HHH will do the same with the new belt. Gunther hypes up his match against Sami Zayn this Monday on Raw and tells Triple H that Sami isn't cut out to be top guy. Gunther says he's a future legend and wants to shout out the legends today. The crowd chants for Goldberg and right on cue, Gunther points him out in the front row. Gunther says Goldberg was NOT his childhood hero, he was a one trick pony. Gunther says he's busting balls but has a message for Gage Goldberg. He hopes Bill is a better father than he is a wrestler. Goldberg stands up, rips his hat off and hops the guardrail. Cole tells Graves to get the hell out of the way. Gunther says he's got 3 minutes, let's go. Security pushes Goldberg back until the Suit Brigade of Adam Pearce, Jamie Noble and others show up. Suddenly Sami Zayn himself rushes the ring and beats down Gunther. Zayn hits a plancha as the suit brigade grab Zami allowing Gunther to hit a big boot. Zayn chases him to the back. To sum up this entire segment, Champion vs Champion at Crown Jewel for a Saudi title, Zayn vs Gunther tomorrow night. HHH raises Goldberg's hand as his old theme plays as we move on. 

The Royal Rumble will be February 1, 2025 at Lucas Oil Stadium. The first time ever the Rumble will not be in January. Up next is World Women's Champion Liv Morgan defending against Rhea Ripley with Dom Mysterio locked in a shark cage. Before the next match, Samantha Irvin shouts out DDP, Mickie James and Scott Steiner. Cathy Kelley is up in the VIP section where Metro says Cody Rhodes is an Atlanta legend and to handle his business. Chelsea Green walks in and everyone is grossed out. Piper Niven can stay but Chelsea's gotta go. This is in reference to last night's Smackdown where Mia Yim defeated Chelsea in a dumpster match. Then we get a vignette of Dom Mysterios riding around with Liv Morgan in a low rider before they make their entrance in the low rider.

Match 4

Rhea Ripley vs Liv Morgan (with Dom Mysterio) for the World Women's Championship

Cole brings up Tommy Rich and Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer in the Last Battle of Atlanta with Paul Ellering locked in a cage before the match starts. Cole mentions how Rhea never actually lost the championship as Cole brings up Triple H had to be in a cage as well. Rhea shills Dirty Dom toilet paper which is actually ingenious. Cole "I'd love to see all the ways WWE fans would use that toilet paper." Graves "Do you have any idea the pandora's box that would open? Have you SEEN our fans?" Graves then says "This is cruel and unusual. He can't hang up a poster of Rhea and dig himself out with a spoon like he did the last time he was locked up." Rhea grabs a mic before the match starts and says "One more thing, Dom. You're afraid of heights? Raise him up!" Cole is loving it as the bell finally rings. Rhea attacks at the bell and throws Liv down before hitting a dropkick. Rhea heaves Liv across the ring and stomps on her foot. Rhea drops Morgan with a clothesline and hits a fallaway slam. Liv bails to the outside and rams Rhea into the steel steps. Liv misses a chick kick and Rhea electric chair drops Liv into the ring apron. Rhea throws her back inside as Graves say this is unfair. Rhea baseball slides Liv and sends her into the barricade. Liv is thrown inside as Corey says Rhea needs to move on from Dom. Buddy Mathews is comin for you Graves. Liv snaps Rhea's leg off the second rope and goes to work on the left knee. Dom is sitting down inside the cage as he looks legit terrified. Liv kicks away at Rhea inside the ring and hits a dropkick to the knee. Liv's charge eats elbow but rolls into a half crab. Rhea grabs Liv's head and rams it into the ring to escape. Rhea rallies with clotheslines and a northern lights suplex for 1...2...no. Graves "Poor Dom, he's white as a ghost." They slug it out in the ring before Liv rams Rhea's knee into the apron. Graves "That shark cage might be worse than prison. At least Dom got 3 hots and a cot in prison." Liv continues to ram Rhea's knee against the ring post as the crowd chants "Dom you suck!" Liv heaves Rhea against the barricade twice and she spin kicks Ripley. Liv hits a sunset flip bomb into the barricade and throws Rhea inside.  Liv does a DX crotch chop and hits a codebreaker from the second rope. Liv covers for 1...2...no.  Rhea counters Ob-Liv-ion and smiles at her. Ripley hits a knee to the stomach then goes for Riptide. Liv rolls out of it and hits a crucifix bomb (!!!) for 1....2...no. Graves says that move is called the "Home Wrecker". Liv looks up at Dom as Cole says they have three things in common "Shoes, movies and nuggets". Liv slams Rhea and says "That's my man, you're nothing." Liv slaps Rhea and does the Eddie Guerrero shimmy before going for the 3 Amigos. She hits two but Rhea blocks the third. Rhea hits a Razor's Edge as somehow Dom gets the shark cage open. Cole asks if he learned that in prison with Rhea on the top rope. She taunts Dom with  YEET and hits the frogsplash. She covers for 1...2..no, Liv rolled out of it. Rhea hits the Prism Lock but Liv makes it to the outside. Cole "Yeah he got the door open but its like escaping from Alcatraz, where's he gonna go?" Chyna jumped to the floor back in 1998 so its possible he can too. Rhea outside taunts Dom and throws Liv into both sides of the barricade. Rhea stomps on the derriere of Liv and hits Riptide on the floor. Dom somehow falls out of the cage but is hanging by his foot that's chained to the cage. Two security guards show up and Graves asks "Who are these derelicts?" Rhea spanks Dom and goes back inside and tells the referee to give her one minute to handle unfinished business. Referee Dan Engler says she deserves that...ha! Even the ref doesn't like Dom. Graves "Caught on camera, you crooked fool!" Rhea goes under the ring and grabs a singapore cane as Cole is enjoying this. Rhea looks at the camera and says "Happy birthday to me" (her birthday is coming up on the 11th) before busting Dom with the cane. Rhea unloads on Dom when someone bashes Rhea from behind that's unseen due to the camera angle. We get another shot and its RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ! Liv Morgan's former partner that's been on the shelf due to MCAS is back. The bell rings and Raquel hits a powerbomb to lay out Ripley. Raquel picks up Liv and frees Dom. Corey "Ain't love grand!" Bad match but they finally threw a monkey wrench in Rhea's revenge plan. Liv can't hang with Rhea one on one, but Raquel can. Having Raquel and Dom as stooges makes Liv more tougher to beat. Not to mention these are all women that Ripley terrorized when she was a Judgment Day heel. Rhea is going to need backup of her own but who'd want to come to HER aid after all she did to people?

Time of match: 14:34

Winner: Ripley by DQ (Liv retains)

Cue a vignette for Ford Field and a music video saying "Coming soon." Oh...its the Motor City Machine Guns, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin. They were known mostly for their Ring of Honor and TNA runs, now they're coming to WWE. We then get our upcoming holiday live schedule, December 26 in Jacksonville Florida. December 27 is a double shot with Raw guys in Pittsburgh, PA and Smackdown coming from Tampa, Florida. December 28 has a double shot with one crew in Baltimore and another in Orlando. December 29 one crew in Chicago and the other in Miami. December 30 is a double shot with Raw in Houston while Smackdown guys were in Detroit. That's a little too Vince for my taste to have a five day stretch with 9 shows but hey, it'll give them reps. Then we get a Crown Jewel vignette for Saturday November 2nd. Then we get our PLE schedule with Survivor Series on November 30th in Vancouver, Saturday Night's Main Event December 14 at the Nassau Coliseum, the Royal Rumble on Feb 1st at Lucas Oil Stadium, Wrestlemania 41 April 19th and 20th in Las Vegas and Summerslam 2025 August 2nd and 3rd at Metlife Stadium. Not a fan of two nights for Summerslam but oh well. After a vignette for the main event, let's get to it.

Match 5

Jacob Fatu & Solo Sikoa vs Roman Reigns and WWE Champion Cody Rhodes

Long story short...after Cody beat Roman at Wrestlemania, Roman disappeared and Solo Sikoa took over the Bloodline. He had Paul Heyman and Jimmy Uso dispatched by new members Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa, the sons of Haku. Then the son of Tonga Kid, Jacob Fatu also joined Solo. At Summerslam, Reigns returned to cost Solo his title match against Cody but is now without backup. Cody told Roman this would happen but he's doing the right thing to help him out against the Bloodline.  Roman says after this is over, he's coming after the title again. Solo and Jacob enter together without the Tongans who won the Triple Threat Ladder match last night but got beat up in the process. The Arkansas Pine Bluff Marching Band plays Cody Rhodes' theme as he enters which stems from them going viral weeks earlier for doing it during a game. Roman has his own orchestra play his theme as Cole brings up Ole Anderson turning on Dusty Rhodes in the Omni in 1980 and wonders if Roman will do the same. He also says this is the first match where Roman hasn't walked into it as a champion in over four years and hasn't wrestled in six months. Solo holds up the Ulafala as Roman facepalms. Bell's gone and Roman and Cody argue who's gonna start as Cole brings up Battleground 2013 when it was Cody and Dustin Rhodes against Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins of The Shield with Dusty in the corner of Cody. Cody starts with Jacob and Cody starts with a headlock. A shoulderblock goes nowhere and Jacob says to run it. Cody does an uppercut and a disaster kick but Jacob is barely fazed. Cody ducks the superkick and Solo gets in to tongue lash Jacob. Roman steps in to even the odds as the crowd chants "OTC". The crowd chants "Fuck you Solo" as Roman puts his hand to his ear. Jacob tags out to Solo and Cody says hold up. Cody slowly turns his head to Roman and Roman shrugs. Roman reaches for the tag and Cody tags him in. Roman and Solo circle and Roman unloads with right hands. Solo kicks him in the head and lands a headbutt before taunting the irate crowd. Roman gets the upperhand with 10 corner punches and an elbow smash. Roman clotheslines Solo over the top rope to the floor as Jacob gets in the ring despite no legal tag. They circle but Solo from behind clotheslines Roman down. Solo chokes Roman on the second rope as the crowd chants "You can't wrestle". What? Solo hits the ass bump in the corner to Roman before tagging out to Jacob. Fatu hits the same ass bump his uncle Umaga made famous as he taunts Roman. Jacob shoulderblocks Roman in the corner and says Solo is the tribal chief. Jacob eats ringpost on a charge and Roman throws him through the ropes to the outside. Cody gets the hot tag who punches away at Fatu before hitting a forearm. Cody hits the powerslam and Dusty Punches followed by the Cody cutter. Cody goes for Cross Rhodes but Solo distracts, allowing Jacob to hit the samoan drop. Jacob tags Solo and throws Cody outside, where Solo does a Rock Bottom onto the apron. Jacob and Solo double team Cody as Cole says if Solo pins Roman, he's the tribal chief. Graves asks if Jacob Fatu were to pin Cody, imagine HIM as champion. Solo and Jacob hit the wishbone but Cody tries to fight back with right hands. Jacob hits a spinning back elbow and tells Solo he loves him. Jacob bites the hand of Cody to prevent a tag as Cole calls him a scary man. Jacob locks in a nerve hold as the crowd chants "We want Roman". Cody fights out of it but Jacob tags out to Solo who pounds on Cody in the corner. Solo whips Fatu into Cody and Solo hits the as bump as well. Jacob tags in to cover for 1...2..no. Jacob tags in Solo but gets thrown out of the ring by Cody. Cody kicks Solo away and jumps for the tag....oh no, Roman hops down to avoid the tag. No wait! Jacob pulled him off....nevermind. Jacob rams Roman's head into the steel steps as Solo back inside clotheslines Cody. Solo covers for 1....2...no. Graves says Jacob may be a destructo in the ring but is very intelligent out of it. Jacob tags in to pummel Cody in the corner and powerslams him. Jacob goes to the top rope for the swanton but Cody gets the knees up. Roman is ready for the tag and Cody finally makes it there. Solo tags in and Roman cleans house with clotheslines to Solo. Roman hits a splash in the corner and a big boot. Roman punches him 10 times and locks in for the Superman Punch. Solo counters the punch by grabbing the arm and goes for a Samoan Spike. Reigns counters with a crucifix for 1.....2...no. Roman hits the Superman punch and covers for two as Roman caters to the crowd. Roman calls for the spear but Jacob stops him. Roman uppercuts Solo but runs into a double superkick. Fatu hits a moonsault and Solo hits a top rope splash. Solo covers for 1...2..no, Cody breaks it up. Jacob throws Cody outside and follows him out. Jacob is sent into the steel steps and Cody prepares the announce table. Jacob kicks Cody in the face but Rhodes moves, allowing Jacob to crash through the barricade. Jacob goes nuts as Cole says he's alive. Graves "Alive??? The sonovabitch is throwing chairs!" Cody rams Jacob's face first into a chair and shouts "go down!" Cody hits the Cross Rhodes on the floor and Jacob gets up almost immediately. Cody kicks Fatu twice to send him on the announce table. Cody goes to the top rope, salutes Reigns and splashes Jacob through the table. Down to Roman and Solo the crowd chants "This is awesome". Roman and Solo play "Yay boo punchathon" until Roman drops him with the Superman Punch. Roman calls for another spear but here come the Tongans. Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa distract Roman allowing Solo to hit a spear of his own. Solo covers for 1..2....nooooo. The crowd chants "YEET" as Corey tries to tell Cole that his monitor went out but someone just hopped the guardrail out of the corner of his eye. Solo taunts Roman as he notices someone in a hoodie standing behind the Tongans...gee, who could THAT be? Sure enough the hoodie dude superkicks both Tongans revealing himself to be Jimmy Uso, who hadn't been seen in six months. Cole "JIMMY USO IS BACK!" Solo turns around into a spear and Reigns covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. Damn good match even if it took a while to get to the good part.

Time of match: 25:43

Winners: Reigns and Cody by pinfall

After the match Jimmy gets in to acknowledge Roman and they hug it out. Jimmy holds up Roman's hand in victory and Roman turns to Cody Rhodes holding the WWE Championship. Roman stares at the belt and Cody and says let's go to Jimmy. Roman and Jimmy go to leave as the Tongans mug Cody. Jimmy "You gave him your word, Uce." Roman and Jimmy run back in and clean house of the Bloodline. The Tongans and Solo retreat as Roman picks up the WWE Championship belt. Roman hands the belt to Cody......IF YA SMELLLLLLLLL hits and the crowd explodes. Here comes The Rock still holding the Muhammad Ali belt standing at the entrance. Well this just got interesting, who does HE go after or side with? Cody, Jimmy and Roman stand in the ring staring at him. He counts 1,2,3 with his hands and says cut before leaving. He DID pin Cody at Wrestlemania Night 1 so him going after Cody is definitely in play as we sign off. Fans have been speculating what Wargames was going to be for months and it does appear that it might just be Roman, The Rock, Cody and The Usos against Solo, The Tongans, Jacob Fatu and a possible wild card.....or The Rock himself and have Sami Zayn come back for one night as the honorary Uce on Team Roman. Either way the story continues.

Bottom line was this was a 2 match card with three others thrown in there to fill it out. Not that Priest vs Balor was bad or the women's matches didn't deserve to be there, but this was Drew/Punk and Bloodline/Roman & Cody. 5 match cards really take away the hard work the rest of the roster does, but it shows you that you have to be special to get on there. Nia Jax is starting to bully Tiffany Stratton more and Liv now has more backup against Rhea Ripley. We got some business to take care of before we set off for Saudi Arabia in four weeks. This Monday's Raw is at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. I'll see you there.