Reviews

The John Report: WWE Raw Deal 01/01/24 Review (Day 1)

By John Canton • Published 1st January 2024
wwe raw deal january 1 final

This week’s WWE “Day 1” Raw featured Seth Rollins defending the World Heavyweight Title against Drew McIntyre, Becky Lynch facing Nia Jax and more.

Happy New Year, my friends. I hope 2024 is a happy, healthy and prosperous one for you. For me, it’s more of the same as I spend this New Year’s Day holiday writing about WWE for this Day 1 episode of Raw. The Royal Rumble is four weeks away on January 27th, so I’m looking forward to that.

Just in case you somehow missed it, my 15th Annual WWE Johnny Awards were posted on December 28th. I covered the year in WWE as best I could. A lot of highs and some lows too. I got a lot of feedback on the awards, so thanks for that. Your support means a lot to me.

This is the Raw Deal for episode #1597 of Monday Night Raw. It’s taking place at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport. Let’s get to it.

The Raw intro video aired to start the show. Michael Cole welcomed us to Monday Night Raw with Cole in the ring with Wade Barrett. They hyped up the big matches coming up on the show.

Analysis: That’s an interesting way to start the show with the hosts in the ring telling us what’s coming up. Normally they would just do that on commentary, but in this instance, they did it while in the ring so the crowd could hear it.

Becky Lynch made her entrance. A video package aired about the Becky Lynch-Nia Jax match. Nia Jax made her entrance in her hometown of San Diego.

Nia Jax vs. Becky Lynch

Jax loved Lynch, so Lynch came back with a punch. Lynch jumped onto Jax, who caught Lynch, but Lynch managed to escape and deliver a kick. Jax came back with a body slam. Jax splashed Lynch against the turnbuckle. Lynch hit a jawbreaker followed by Lynch delivering forearms and an uppercut. Lynch ran the ropes, Jax caught her and Lynch went for a sunset flip, but Jax blocked that and Lynch avoided a leg drop. Lynch went for a pin, but Jax got out of it easily. Lynch jumped off the middle turnbuckle with a neckbreaker. Lynch went up top and hit a missile dropkick for two. That led to a break.

(Commercial)

Lynch hit a Molly Go Round (hey Molly Holly, who is a Producer in WWE) off the top onto Jax for two. Jax came back with a leg drop attempt on the apron, but Lynch moved out of the way. Jax did not yell “MY HOLE” this time. They left the ring, Jax went after Lynch and Jax punched the ring post when Lynch moved. Jax went for a cannonball attack on the floor, Lynch moved and Jax hit the barricade. Back in the ring, Lynch hit a leg drop for two. Lynch went for the Disarm-her armbar, Jax countered it with her power and Lynch went for another armbar. Jax countered Lynch into a sitout Powerbomb for two. Jax took the majority of that bump on her ass before Lynch hit the mat. Jax went for her move off the middle turnbuckle, Lynch went after her and Lynch wanted a Manhandle Slam, but Jax picked up Lynch and Jax hit a Samoan Drop off the middle turnbuckle for one…two…no. Lynch got her shoulder up. The fight continued as Lynch sent Jax to the apron. Lynch punched Jax repeatedly. Lynch jumped off the middle rope with a leg drop, but Jax got her fist up and hit Lynch with an uppercut. Jax hit her Annihilator splash on Lynch for the pinfall win. It went about 12 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Nia Jax

Analysis: ***1/2 That was a very good match with a lot of intensity the whole way. There aren’t many Nia Jax matches that I would say are better than that, but Lynch is so awesome that she brings it out of everyone. They built the match around the punch that Jax hit Lynch with over five years ago, so of course that played into the finish with Jax stunning Lynch with the punch before Jax got the win. Lynch got plenty of offense in this match, but it took just two big moves to beat her, which puts over Jax’s power a lot. I think they are building Nia Jax for a match against Rhea Ripley at Royal Rumble, so Jax getting a clean win over Lynch certainly sets up Jax for a title shot. I think Ripley-Lynch is the WrestleMania match.

Becky Lynch had blood around her face. It was more like her chin. It didn’t look real, but I could be wrong about that. It wasn’t like Becky’s nose was bleeding like the last time.

Analysis: The idea was supposed to be that Jax bloodied Lynch again, but this didn’t look like it was real blood.

They aired the Shinsuke Nakamura video taunting Cody Rhodes that aired two weeks ago on Raw. Cody got into a brawl with Nakamura because of it.

Cody Rhodes was shown walking backstage for a promo up next.

(Commercial)

Let’s Hear from Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes made his entrance wearing one of his shirts and wrestling tights/boots even though he wasn’t scheduled for a match. It was a loud ovation for Cody as usual. Cody: “So San Diego…what do you want to talk about?”

Cody said that he had the privilege of being the first superstar to welcome you to a special Day 1 episode of Monday Night Raw. Cody talked about how people like to talk about their goals of where they want to be in 2024, but he’s a little stuck on Shinsuke Nakamura. Cody explained that he was stuck on Nakamura because this should be over. There were loud “Cody” chants. Cody said that he’s going to give Nakamura the opportunity to finish it tonight.

Shinsuke Nakamura appeared in a video talking (in Japanese with English subtitles) about how he’s going to be the author of Cody’s final chapter. Nakamura said that he whispered the plot in Cody’s ear. Nakamura told Cody he blinded him so he couldn’t see the ending. Nakamura said their story doesn’t end tonight. Nakamura wanted to give Cody one more week to dream. Nakamura said he’ll become what Cody could never be and he will finish Cody’s story. Nakamura said he’ll close his book. Nakamura sprayed the red mist into the camera. Nakamura’s music played to end it while Cody was frustrated by what Nakamura said.

Analysis: It was a good promo from Cody as usual while Nakamura continues to be a mysterious heel. That likely means they will be having another match. We found out later that the match will be next week on Raw.

Kofi Kingston made his entrance for tag team action with Jey Uso up next as his tag team partner. The fans loved both guys, especially Jey due to his arm swinging motion.

(Commercial)

There was a graphic letting us know that CM Punk returns to Raw next week. There were reports that Punk was backstage at this show, but he’s not appearing on TV until next week.

Imperium – Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci vs. Jey Uso & Kofi Kingston

There was GUNTHER with Imperium because he’s getting some time off. Barrett said congratulations to GUNTHER and his wife on the birth of their son a few days ago. Barrett wondered when GUNTHER’s newborn son would start chopping people. I give it a few weeks.

Vinci hit a running cross body block on Kofi. Kaiser tagged in and hit an uppercut punch on Kofi. Kaiser worked over Kofi with repeated kicks to the chest. Kofi jumped off the middle ropes with a dropkick. Vinci tripped up Kofi when the referee wasn’t looking. Vinci tagged in and Imperium hit their double team dropkick on Kofi at the same time. That led to a break.

(Commercial)

There was something that happened to Vinci in the match and the doctor was checking on him, so the bell rang to stop the match. The referee raised the hands of Jey and Kofi as the winners. It went about six minutes.

Winners due to referee stoppage: Jey Uso & Kofi Kingston

There was a replay of a spot in the match where Kofi dropkicked Vinci, who hit the mat hard with his head hitting the mat. The doctor checked on Vinci after that and that stopped the match.

Analysis: I’m not going to rate the match because of the referee stoppage. I assume Kofi & Jey would have got the win here, but I don’t know for sure. You don’t see that often where a referee checks on a guy and stops a match, but if the doctor could tell that Vinci was out of it then I get why it was stopped. Perhaps Vinci showed symptoms of a concussion or something else. I don’t know. I hope Giovanni Vinci is okay.

The Miz made his entrance in his wrestling gear to host Miz TV, so you know he’s going to get put into a match. The Judgment Day will be his guests.

(Commercial)

A video package aired about Ivy Nile to build her up as a “pitbull” challenger against Rhea Ripley later on Raw.

Ivy Nile was shown getting ready with The Creed Brothers and Alpha Academy encouraging her.

Miz TV with The Judgment Day

The Miz wished us a Happy New Year. The Miz mentioned a former WWE Champion, but rather than speculate, he introduced The Judgment Day. That led to The Judgment Day’s music, but then the music stopped and R-Truth made his entrance.

The Miz called R-Truth the most likable member of The Judgment Day. Miz asked where was The Judgment Day? Truth said they were behind him. Truth said: “All rise for The Judgment Day.” Miz said that worked better than when Daman Priest does it. Truth said he was doing PR work, then he was doing administrative work and Truth said that he’s trying to make The Judgment Day likable to everybody.

Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh walked out in their wrestling gear. JD said that Truth wasn’t in The Judgment Day and no member of J-Day would be on The Miz. Dominik was booed by his hometown crowd. Truth said it wasn’t right for Dominik to get booed in his hometown. Truth told JD that he wasn’t in Judgment Day so he should be gone. Miz reminded JD that he lost the match against Truth two weeks ago, so he wondered what JD was doing out there. Dominik was booed loudly every time he tried to speak. Dominik recapped The Miz’s 2023 getting destroyed by GUNTHER. Miz recapped that Dominik was getting booed by 20,000 people and he couldn’t even hear Dominik. Miz said that he kept going, performing as a main event caliber superstar and creating memories. Miz said his memory of Dominik was getting spanked by his daddy. Miz also ripped on Dominik for getting whooped on the holiday tour by CM Punk. Dominik said he was done talking and said they’ll continue Miz’s losing streak in 2024 in a tag team match right now.

Miz asked the fans if they wanted to see that match. Miz said that it looks like it’s Dirty Dom & JD against the reunited Awesome Truth. R-Truth asked if he was tagging with Dom, but Miz reassured Truth that Truth was tagging with him. Truth said on behalf of The Judgment Day, they accepted the match. Miz clotheslined JD out of the ring. Truth put his arm around Dominik and Dominik left the ring.

Analysis: It took a while to get there with some funny lines thrown in by Truth and a lot of booing for Dominik, but they got through it just fine. It was a simple way to set up a tag team match.

(Commercial)

The Judgment Day – Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh vs. Awesome Truth – The Miz & R-Truth

Miz was in there to start for his team while Truth started the match in a neutral turnbuckle. Truth got it right as he tagged in, Truth hit a running forearm on JD and hit a running corner splash. Truth wanted to tag in Dominik, but that was not going to happen, so JD hit Truth with a clothesline. Dominik tagged in when Truth was against the ropes, so Dominik hit a 619 kick on Truth. That led to a break.

(Commercial)

Miz hit a cross body block on JD for a two count. Truth was on the apron beside Dominik rather than being in the other corner. Miz hit a bulldog on JD for two as Dominik made the save. Miz dumped Dominik out of the ring. JD hit Miz with a headbutt. JD wasn’t looking and Truth made the tag. JD held Miz, so Dominik told Truth to hit Miz. Truth said he loved The Miz as if he was Shawn Michaels to Ric Flair, Truth threw a punch, Miz ducked it and Truth punched JD. Truth shoved JD towards Miz and Miz hit a Skull Crushing Finale on JD for the pinfall win. It went about eight minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Awesome Truth – The Miz & R-Truth

Analysis: **1/2 It was an entertaining comedy match. It’s hard not to love R-Truth since he’s so fun to watch. The fans were absolutely into everything he was doing and Truth showed that after 20+ years in WWE, he is still a popular guy with the fans. Obviously, it’s a silly storyline with Truth thinking he’s in The Judgment Day, but I enjoyed this for what it was. Miz getting the win on JD was a fine way to end it. Poor JD McDonagh seems to lose every match he has, so at some point he’ll need to get the win.

A video aired about Kayden Carter & Katana Chance winning the Women’s Tag Team Titles two weeks ago.

There was a video of Carter & Chance partying at a club. Chelsea Green & Piper Niven walked over to say they wanted a rematch. Carter didn’t want them to kill their vibe while Chance said they would be fighting champions. Carter & Chance threw drinks into Green & Niven’s faces. Carter & Chance celebrated with their titles at the club.

Ivy Nile made her for her title match.

(Commercial)

A video aired about Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley talking about her dominant 2023. Ripley spoke about dominating in 2024 as well.

Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley vs. Ivy Nile

They did a lockup to start, Ripley shoved Nile down and Ripley hit a dropkick. Nile hit a forearm. Nile went up top and hit a cross body block for one. Ripley was back up with a kick to the chest. Nile did a headscissors takedown followed by a belly to belly slam, so Ripley bailed to the floor to regroup.

(Commercial)

Ripley was in control with an abdominal stretch until Nile got out of it. Ripley hit a standing dropkick that knocked Nile out of the ring. They left the ring with Nile slipping behind Ripley and Nile hit a German Suplex on the floor. Back in the ring, Nile hit a headscissors, a jumping kick and Nile hit a jumping leg drop across the neck for two. Nile did an impressive DDT counter for a two count. Ripley got some offense going with a headbutt. Ripley went up top and hit an impressive missile dropkick for two. Nile avoided the Riptide, Nile delivered a kick to the head and Nile did a gutwrench slam for a two count. Ripley kicked Nile in the ribs, then a stomp on the toe and Ripley hit a clothesline. Ripley picked up Nile and slammed her front first into the mat. Ripley set up Nile on the top rope leading to Ripley wanting a superplex, but Nile fought out of it. Nile went for the sunset flip, Ripley blocked it and Nile punched Ripley in the face. Nile hit an elevated middle rope German Suplex for a two count. The fans chanted “this is awesome” for them. Nile worked over Ripley with kicks to the head. Nile went up top, she jumped off with a cross body block and Ripley blocked it with a headbutt. Ripley hit a knee to the face followed by the Riptide slam for the pinfall win. It went 13 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Rhea Ripley

Analysis: ***1/4 That was another good women’s match on this show. Nile got a lot more offense than I was expecting and perhaps it went longer than most people thought, but I was impressed by both women in this match. Ripley we know is outstanding and she reminded us of that with this performance because of how well she sold for Nile throughout the match. Nile did a great job of showing what she’s capable of. She has improved a lot in the last two years. Two strikes and a Riptide was all Ripley needed to get the win. Ripley winning was the obvious result.

Seth “Freakin” Rollins was shown getting ready for his World Title match later in the show.

The former WWE Champion was appearing next on the show.

(Commercial)

Return Of A Former WWE Champion

The return of a former WWE Champion was next…Jinder Mahal. Barrett said this was exactly who he was hoping for. The fans were not happy about it. Jinder was mad at the fans that were disrespecting him. Jinder said that thousands of superstars have competed in this ring, 50 of them are former WWE Champions and his name is at the top of the list. Jinder complained about what has become of the United States. Jinder asked the fans if they feel united. Jinder complained about how the United States was divided while saying it was ignorance and misinformation. Jinder told them to shut their mouths. Jinder claimed he will unite them. Jinder told them to shut their mouths and listen. Jinder spoke in Punjabi leading to more boos. Jinder said that the fans are united by booing their own national anthem in Punjabi. Jinder said that they boo him because he looks different and mentioned The Iron Sheik as well. Jinder said that he speaks with intelligence, he speaks with class and he speaks the truth. Jinder said he will tell us what the entire world thinks about them…IF YA SMELL!

Analysis: Nice troll job by WWE putting Jinder Mahal in that spot before The Rock showed up. It pisses the fans off for five minutes and then they got to be really happy when they saw The Rock appear.

It’s The Rock! What a pop! Wow! And yes, The Rock is that former WWE Champion that they were really promoting. There was a huge reaction for The Rock with Michael Cole screaming excitement for the People’s Champion. New Year’s Day so even The Rock gets a day off and since he was in LA at the Rose Bowl, a trip to San Diego isn’t that far away. The Rock did his signature poses around the ring with the fans popping loudly for him. The Rock was wearing sunglasses and wearing one of his tank tops.

The Rock told Jinder he was in trouble tonight. The Rock said that Jinder is not The Iron Sheik and The Rock said he knew the late Iron Sheik, so Rock did a Sheik impression calling Jinder a jabroni bitch among other things. Jinder said that The Rock is the People’s Champion to all you jingoistic people. Jinder said if he was The Rock he would be discussed about representing these people. The Rock said he wasn’t ashamed because he’s damn proud to be The People’s Champion. The Rock said he was damn proud to be an American and Rock did his “Finally” line about being back in San Diego.

The Rock said that they don’t boo Jinder because of how he looks, how he talks or because he speaks Punjabi. Rock acted like he was talking to The Iron Sheik in heaven again and Rock said something that was muted. I don’t know what he said exactly, but the censors got it. The Rock said that we are familiar with the resting bitch face and said that this was the resting asshole face. They did censor that but I read lips. The Rock said that if you aren’t funny and said that if you are one of The Rock’s movies, you would be Baywatch. Jinder said he didn’t see Baywatch and Rock said it doesn’t matter if you saw Baywatch. Rock got mad about Jinder saying that America is a joke. Rock said it ain’t a joke to The Rock and all these people or the Americans watching at home. There was a loud “USA” chant so The Rock paused. The Rock said that you can never run this country down with The People’s Champion in the building. Mahal reminded Rock he was the Modern Day Maharaja. Rock said that Jinder will be known as the Day 1 Douchebag. The fans figured out they had to chant that, so they started chanting that too.

The Rock said that the fans gave him an idea. Rock said one side of the arena will chant “Day 1” and the other side of the ring will chant “Douchebag” so Rock cued up the fans. That led to the fans chanting “Day 1 Douchebag” in unison. The chant must have lasted about a minute or at least it felt that long. Rock said that since Jinder loves the national anthem so much, The Rock will sing some of the anthem. The Rock sang part of the national anthem while saying that Jinder is jacked as hell, “but your balls still aren’t there.” Rock sang that he was an angry toxic douchebag who clearly has no class, so he left The Rock no choice but to whoop your candy ass.

Before Rock could finish, Mahal kicked Rock a few times against the turnbuckle. The Rock came back with punches and The Rock hit a spinebuster. The Rock ran the ropes leading to the People’s Elbow! The Rock’s belt came off, so he whipped Jinder with it before Jinder rolled out of the ring.

Rock: “San Diego, I love you. Happy New Year.” Rock said he was going out to eat tonight in San Diego. Rock asked if he should go to the booth, at the bar or should The Rock sit at the Head of the Table? The fans knew what that meant. There were loud “Rocky” chants in reply to that. Rocky left to huge cheers. Cole mentioned that last statement that The Rock made and Barrett told Paul Heyman to call Roman Reigns. Rock smiled and walked to the back.

Analysis: Any time you can get a surprise appearance from The Rock, it’s a great thing. The ending of that segment is what is going to get people talking since The Rock asked if he should sit at the Head of the Table, which is an obvious reference to his cousin Roman Reigns. I know people will assume WrestleMania, but it could be the Elimination Chamber show in Australia because Rock could get a huge payday if he worked that show too. Anyway, I thought Rock’s promo was very entertaining as usual with all the catchphrases and the fan involvement that he loves to do. It was also great seeing The Rock doing his classic offense including the spinebuster and People’s Elbow. Like I said, that ending line by Rock is going to get a lot of attention and get people talking about what it really means.

Drew McIntyre was shown getting ready for the main event.

(Commercial)

This Friday on Smackdown: Santos Escobar vs. Kevin Owens for a US Title shot, plus AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton vs. LA Knight for a Undisputed WWE Championship Match against Roman Reigns.

There were replays shown of The Rock’s appearance before the break. The announcers summarized what The Rock said with Barrett reminding us that Rock said he wanted to sit at the Head of the Table.

Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark vs. Natalya & Tegan Nox

This is a tough spot following The Rock. Natalya slammed Stark and Nox tagged in with a running kick. Baszler made a tag leading to a knee on Natalya for two.

(Commercial)

Natalya broke free and brought in Nox, who was on fire with offense including a headbutt. Nox hit a front suplex. Nox hit a running cannonball splash on Baszler against the turnbuckle. Nox hit a Molly Go Round off the top on Baszler for two. That’s the second one of those on this show since Nox usually does that move. Baszler delivered a kick to the head with a hard leg slap. Natalya made the save, but Stark kicked Natalya out of the ring. Stark got the tag, Baszler hit Nox with a German Suplex and Stark hit a Z360 knee to the face of Nox for the pinfall win after six minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark

Analysis: ** It felt like a rushed tag team match perhaps because the match before it was rushed a bit. I think having the heel team of Baszler & Stark win makes sense since there are babyface champions now, so perhaps Baszler & Stark will be future challengers. Natalya & Nox worked well together, but didn’t really look like threats in the match.

A video aired about how the Seth Rollins-Drew McIntyre match was set up for the main event of this show.

Drew McIntyre made his entrance for the main event.

(Commercial)

Next week on Raw:

* Cody Rhodes vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

* Women’s Tag Team Championships: Kayden Carter & Katana Chance vs. Chelsea Green & Piper Niven

* CM Punk returns

A recap was shown of Drew McIntyre injuring Sami Zayn about a month ago. They mentioned that Sami Zayn returned on the WWE Holiday Tour, but a picture showed that Zayn needed stables to close a wound on his head.

Seth “Freakin” Rollins made his entrance as the World Heavyweight Champion. The fans were singing Seth’s song as usual. Ring announcer Samantha Irvin did the in-ring introductions for both men.

World Heavyweight Championship: Seth “Freakin” Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre

Rollins sent Drew out of the ring. Rollins jumped off the steps with a punch. Drew slammed Rollins front first onto the commentary table. Rollins fought out of a slam attempt by Drew. Rollins kicked Drew on the floor. Rollins tried a suicide dive, Drew caught him and Drew hit a belly to belly suplex on the floor. They went to break there.

(Commercial)

Drew was in control with a hard chop to knock Rollins down and Drew followed up with punches. Drew caught a charging backbreaker for a two count. Drew picked up Rollins and teased a move off the turnbuckle, but Rollins got out of it. Drew managed to pick up Rollins only for Seth to hit a hurricanrana. Drew charged, Rollins avoided him and Drew went crashing shoulder-first into the ring post. Rollins hit a somersault dive over the top onto Drew on the floor. Great move. Back in the ring, Rollins countered a move leading to a spinning DDT. Rollins went up top and hit a Frog Splash for two. The action continued with Rollins hitting a superplex off the top rope, but Drew countered Rollins and Drew hit a Falcon Arrow slam for a two count. I know there’s Picture in Picture action in the US, but it’s not shown in Canada. I wouldn’t recap it anyway if I could see it.

(Commercial)

There were about seven minutes left until the top of the hour. Drew hit White Noise from his best friend Sheamus off the middle turnbuckle for a two count. They exchanged chops, Rollins hit a jumping kick, a kick to the leg and another kick. Drew avoided The Stomp attempt and Drew hit the Future Shock DDT. Drew hit a kip up to show that he had a lot left. Drew went for a Claymore Kick, but Rollins caught him and hit a sitout Powerbomb. Rollins jumped off the top, Drew avoided it, Drew went for a Claymore Kick, Rollins avoided that and Rollins hit a Pedigree for one…two…and no. Drew kicked out.

The music of Damian Priest hit and Priest walked out with the Money in the Bank briefcase along with a referee. Dominik Mysterio walked with the referee to ringside, so the referee in the ring was looking at that on the floor. Priest hit Rollins with the MITB briefcase in the head. Drew was on the floor and he hit Priest with a Claymore Kick. Drew took out Dominik as well. Drew hit Rollins with a Claymore Kick. Drew covered for one…two….but no! The way Drew was covering Rollins had Seth’s foot on the rope, so the referee saw the foot on the rope and stopped the count. Drew sent Rollins out of the ring and Drew cleared off the commentary table. Rollins hit Drew with a Pedigree on the table. It didn’t break the table. Back in the ring, Rollins hit The Stomp for the pinfall win after 18 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Seth “Freakin” Rollins

Analysis: **** Awesome match from two of the best wrestlers in WWE. They have great chemistry together especially since they wrestled at live events a lot over the last month. That nearfall with Drew hitting the Claymore Kick was terrific. I tried my best to describe it because it’s a case of Rollins getting out of it only because Drew pinned him so that Seth’s foot was on the ropes. It was heartbreak for Drew since he took advantage of the MITB briefcase shot and he hit his Claymore Kick, which should have been enough, but Rollins wasn’t beat just because of where Seth’s foot was placed. I don’t recall seeing a nearfall like that, so kudos to WWE and the guys in the match for being creative with a nearfall like that. There were so many counters, big moves and a brilliant finish. I really liked it.

When they showed the replay, Wade Barrett made the point that Rollins getting out of the pin after the Claymore Kick was just luck because Drew’s pin is what put Seth’s leg on the rope. That’s correct. It makes Drew look unlucky. Rollins had a smirk on his face since he won while McIntyre was frustrated at ringside. The fans were singing Seth’s song since Rollins retained the title and that was the end of the show.

Analysis: I like Drew as much as anybody and want to see Drew as a World Champion again, but this was not the right time. I assume that Drew will pick up his feud with Sami Zayn when Sami comes back, so that should be good. I think most of us assumed Rollins would retain because he’s likely holding that World Title until at least WrestleMania when he will probably face CM Punk. Having a major World Title match like that is a cool thing as well because we certainly don’t get that on Smackdown, so it gives a boost to Raw, which I think is the best WWE show right now.

===

Three Stars of the Show

  1. Seth Rollins
  2. Drew McIntyre
  3. The Rock

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The Scoreboard

7.75 out of 10

Last week: 8 (December 18)

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Final Thoughts on WWE Raw

I’m going to be brief in my final thoughts moving forward. The Rollins-McIntyre and Lynch-Jax matches were both very good. The nearfall for McIntyre was terrific. I don’t recall that kind of nearfall before, so good job being creative with that. Lynch put over Jax clean in a big way.

That appearance by The Rock wasn’t a total shock, but still nice to see it. Jinder Mahal did well in his role in terms of getting heat. Obviously, Rock mentioning Roman Reigns by saying “Head of the Table” will get people talking in a big way. Some might be angry about it too.

Overall, an entertaining start to 2024 and a newsworthy show as well.

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Thanks for reading. Please check out my reviews of every WWE PPV ever listed in order. Go Los Angeles Rams, Toronto Raptors and Toronto Maple Leafs. My contact info is below.

John Canton

Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter/X @johnreport