The John Report: WWE Raw Deal 01/20/25 Review

It’s WWE Raw featuring Drew McIntyre against Seth Rollins, Bayley facing Nia Jax, words from Sami Zayn, Penta in action, and more.

Last week’s Raw ended with Damian Priest beating Finn Balor in a Street Fight in the main event. Earlier today, Adam Pearce announced that Bayley is now a part of the Raw brand after moving to Raw via the “transfer window” that WWE created a few weeks ago. The first Raw on Netflix was 3 hours, 3 minutes long and last week was about 30 minutes shorter, so we’ll see what they go for this week. I feel like 2 hours, 30 minutes is going to be what it is most weeks. I like that as a show length.

The Royal Rumble is less than two weeks away on February 1st while Saturday Night’s Main Event takes place this Saturday, January 25th. A lot of content is coming and I’ll be here to review it as always.

This is the Raw Deal for episode #1652 of Monday Night Raw. It’s taking place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport, friend me on Facebook, or chat with me on the Bluesky App as well. Let’s get to it.

There was some backstage walking from earlier in the day featuring Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre and CM Punk. Also, Penta is in action against Pete Dunne.

Rhea Ripley, the Women’s World Champion, was shown walking backstage earlier in the day when she was ambushed by Nia Jax. They were up against some kind of railing and Jax sent Ripley into it a few times. Jax hit a hip attack into Ripley against the railing. Some WWE officials showed up to break it up.

Analysis: There was a Ripley/Jax feud last year at this time that led to them headlining Elimination Chamber in Australia. It looks like they are feuding again.

The Raw commentary team of Michael Cole and Wade Barrett were at ringside welcoming us to the show. Cole noted that Pat McAfee was at the college football championship game in Atlanta, so Wade was filling in. Cole introduced Jey Uso.

Let’s Hear from Jey Uso

Jey Uso made his entrance from the crowd and greeted some fans on his way to the ring. The fans were going wild for the Yeet Man on his way to the ring and even Michael Cole was “yeeting” at ringside. Barrett said that Cole was dancing like a drunk grandad at a wedding. Great line. This entrance took a few minutes with the fans doing the arm-swinging with Jey.

Jey said at Saturday Night’s Main Event he’s taking home the big one…but here comes the World Heavyweight Champion Gunther. It’s Gunther against Jey at Saturday Night’s Main Event this Saturday in San Antonio.

Gunther said he assumes Jey was going to say he was going to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Jey said he’ll take the title and hang it up in his room. Gunther told Jey it’s not going to happen. Gunther said that Jey bets on himself while Gunther said he was looking forward to squaring off with “Main Event” Jey Uso. Gunther said he felt that way until today when Jey acted like a complete dork and the company mascot. Gunther said he could just as well be challenged by Jimmy Uso. Gunther told Jey he never follows up with his words. Gunther said that the fans are naïve enough to believe every word that Jey says, but Gunther does not believe it. Gunther talked about how Jey bets on himself until his cousin Roman, brother Jey, Sami or Cody need him, so Gunther called him a useful idiot. Gunther told Jey his words and action do not align, but Gunther’s words do. Gunther said he’ll expose Jey for being a flash in the pan that has no business being this close to the World Heavyweight Championship.

Jey said that what Gunther said is true again because Jey is the mascot and the fans are his team because they ride with him. Jey said that they’ll be with him when he beats Gunther for the World Heavyweight Title. Jey told Gunther he’ll put some respect on Jey’s name. Jey said there’s only one of them who main evented WrestleMania and it ain’t Gunther.

That led to Gunther hitting Jey with a punch. Gunther worked over Jey with forearms. Jey fought back with punches along with a superkick that sent Gunther out of the ring. Jey picked up the World Heavyweight Title in the ring, so the fans popped for that. Gunther grabbed his title while Jey celebrated in the ring.

Analysis: It was a solid segment to continue the story that Gunther doesn’t like how Jey Uso uses the fan support a lot while Jey has no problem because he loves the support of the fans. It’s not a groundbreaking story or anything like that. Gunther does this with all of his opponents where he insults them to get heat, so it was more of the same. I don’t expect Gunther to lose to Jey at SNME.

The New Day’s Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods were shown walking backstage when they saw WWE Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield. Woods said that JBL understands them. Kofi said that JBL is on commentary for his match with Rey Mysterio. Kofi put some money in JBL’s suit jacket while Woods said that they wanted Bradshaw to be an Acolyte for them. JBL responded talking about how the fans loved Big E while putting over his charisma, personality and big muscles, so maybe with Big E gone, the fans had to pay attention to them. Kofi and Woods didn’t like that, so they left. JBL asked if he should keep the $2 that Kofi bribed him with? That was it.

Rey Mysterio made his entrance for singles action. The graphic said “up next” so some fans got commercials while for fans like me in Canada, it was just Rey finishing his entrance. John Bradshaw Layfield made his entrance to join commentary for this match.

Bayley was interviewed by Cathy Kelley saying she was officially back on Raw. Bayley said it feels good and it feels right. Bayley declared that she is the Women’s Royal Rumble while reminding us that she won the Rumble last year. Bayley said she could take on Tiffany Stratton or Rhea Ripley. Nia Jax interrupted to threaten Bayley while reminding her that she took out Rhea Ripley. Bayley dared Jax to do something, so Jax just left and said she’ll see her in the ring later.

They showed PBR Professional Bull Rider Mason Taylor at ringside along with another PBR Bull Rider Austin Richardson and announcer Matt West. I’ve never heard of any of them. Maybe some Texans in the crowd have heard of them.

The New Day’s Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods made their entrance claiming they didn’t want the New Day song anymore. Kofi said they were pissed off. Kofi said that they are walking Hall of Famers, not like JBL and Kofi took his money back from JBL’s pocket. Woods said Kofi is going to beat Rey and the fans booed.

Kofi Kingston (w/Xavier Woods) vs. Rey Mysterio

The WWE Hall of Famer JBL was on commentary for this match.

Kofi was wrestling in black jeans rather than colorful attire like when New Day were faces. Kofi and Rey locked up while JBL trashed Rey for being a deadbeat dad. Cole mentioned Rey retired JBL about 15 years ago, so JBL claimed he had a fever. Rey did a headscissors followed by a dropkick to the knee to send Kofi into the ropes. Kofi left the ring where he pulled Rey off the apron to the floor. Kofi stomped on Rey repeatedly. Kofi hit a spinning kick to the head and Rey came back with a jumping kick. Rey went for a sunset flip off the apron, but Kofi held onto the ropes. Kofi picked up Rey and hit a Powerbomb on the floor although there was a slip, so it wasn’t done perfectly. Kofi stomped on Rey a few times. Kofi picked up Rey and Rey countered with a headscissors into the steel steps. There was a black screen meaning a break for some fans, but the action continued here. Woods Rey from the apron, so Kofi took over with an armbar. The black screen was there again as the show returned.

Rey broke free of Kofi leading to a running cross body block. Rey went up top and jumped off with a seated senton. Rey went for a springboard cross body block, Kofi moved and Rey hit the mat. Kofi went for a sunset flip, but Rey followed up with a dropkick for two. Kofi did an eye gouge followed by Kofi jumping off the top with a splash onto Rey’s back. Rey gave Kofi a hurricanrana into the ropes. Rey ran the ropes, Woods tripped up Rey and referee Chad Patton ejected Woods from ringside. Rey punched Woods off the apron. Kofi hit Rey wit ha forearm to the back. Rey sent Kofi into the ropes followed by Rey hitting a 619 kick. Rey tried a slingshot splash, but Kofi got his knees up to block for a two count. It looked like that was about to be the finish and then Kofi countered him. Kofi went for the SOS, but Rey countered it and flipped Kofi around for the pinfall win after about 10 minutes. Cole said that Kofi was going for the Boom Drop, but then Cole corrected himself saying it was the SOS, which is right.

Winner by pinfall: Rey Mysterio

Analysis: ***1/4 A very good match by two talented former WWE Champions. Woods tried to help Kofi, it backfired and Rey found a way to win. I liked the counter of the SOS because you don’t see a lot of guys do that, but they did it well and it worked as a finisher.

After the match, Xavier Woods hit Rey from behind in the aisle. Woods and Kofi attacked Rey in the ring. The LWO’s Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro checked on Rey, so New Day left the ring. Kofi ran around and grabbed Wilde from behind. Kofi sent Wilde into the ring post. Cruz left the ring, so Kofi & Woods left. The fans booed the New Day guys.

Analysis: Cheap heat for The New Day guys doing the attack on Rey and then running away. The New Day is one of the best heel acts in WWE right now. I’m enjoying it.

A video aired about Penta’s win over Chad Gable last week in Penta’s Raw debut.

Chad Gable was interviewed by Cathy Kelley while Chad had his American Made with him. Gable admitted he lost to Penta while also talking about problems with luchador wrestlers like Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee. Gable said he got Dominik Mysterio to help him. Ivy Nile said she has her eyes on the Women’s Intercontinental Title. The Creed Brothers talked about going after the World Tag Team Titles. Gable said that they would be covered in gold.

Sami Zayn was shown walking backstage because he had a promo coming up. In the background, Natalya was talking to Maxxine Dupri. We don’t know what’s going on there, but maybe they’ll be aligned in the future.

Karrion Kross and Scarlett were interviewed by Jackie Redmond in the upper deck part of the arena. Kross bragged about taking care of the Wyatt Sicks while claiming that The Miz was on assignment this week. Kross claimed he had his eye on a few people: Seth Rollins, CM Punk and Sami Zayn. Kross trashed Zayn saying don’t believe what Zayn says because he doesn’t think Zayn believes what he says. Jackie asked if Kross had an issue and Kross said we’ll find out. Zayn was up next.

Analysis: That’s one of those interviews that they do when some of the audience is seeing a commercial and some of us get the interview. It’s fine to air interviews in those spots.

The announcers mentioned this is where Wade Barrett was crowned the winner of the first NXT season in 2010. There was a clip of that.

Let’s Hear from Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn was in the ring saying he spoke to Raw GM Adam Pearce and Zayn is officially entered into the 2025 Royal Rumble match. Zayn said that last week Seth Rollins told him it was time for Zayn to help himself instead of everybody else. Zayn said it got him thinking about when he was 14 years old. Zayn said he thought about the people who dreamed about being pro wrestlers and the small group that can say they are the WWE superstars. Zayn said then he thinks about the upper echelon talent in WWE and he thinks he is in that group of top talent. Zayn said that he’s talking about Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, CM Punk, Seth Rollins and the only thing they have is a World Championship to their name, but Zayn doesn’t have that. Zayn said he has had a great life and great career. Zayn said he doesn’t need a World Championship to complete him because the fans support has meant more to him than any championship could ever mean. Zayn said that he doesn’t need it, but dammit he wants a World Championship. Zayn said that he wants that World Championship so he is going to take it.

Surprise! It’s Kevin Owens. The best friend of Sami Zayn was here on Raw even though he’s a SmackDown talent. Owens had the Winged Eagle WWE Championship while Cole reminding us that Owens is not the WWE Champion because Owens stole it from Cody Rhodes. Owens was wearing a Bret Hart jacket.

Zayn wondered what Owens was going to do to him. Zayn talked about how Owens attacked Cody Rhodes when he teamed up with Roman Reigns, so what’s going to happen to Zayn because he teamed up with Reigns at WarGames. Owens talked about how Zayn was a good person. Owens mentioned that Zayn forgave Owens in the past. Owens told Zayn that he was his best friend that more like a brother to him. Owens said that Zayn can win the Royal Rumble and he said he will win the Royal Rumble. Owens said that Zayn deserves to fight for the WWE Championship. Owens talked about what they dreamed of doing 25 years ago when they first met while Owens said that they main evented WrestleMania as tag team partners. Owens said they’ve never met eachother at WrestleMania one on one for the WWE Championship. Owens said he knows that it can happen at WrestleMania if Zayn wins the Royal Rumble and Owens walks out as the WWE Champion. Owens said he knows it will happen. Owens said he has Zayn’s back while he knows that just like Zayn had Roman’s back, he knows Zayn has KO’s back. Owens said that if he needs Zayn, Owens knows that Zayn will be there. Owens left without Zayn saying another word. Owens left the ring at that point while Zayn was left to think about what Owens said.

Analysis: It teases the idea that Owens wants Zayn to help him at the Royal Rumble, but a babyface like Zayn helping a heel like Owens seems unlikely. That could create a conflict between the best friends, so maybe there will be another Owens/Zayn feud. I liked the passion that Zayn showed in his interview. As much as I like Zayn, the time to put a World Title on him was two years ago when he was much hotter than he is now, but back then there was just Roman Reigns with the WWE Title and he wasn’t going to lose to Zayn. I hope Zayn gets to that World Title level at some point in his career.

Sheamus was interviewed by Cathy Kelley backstage. Sheamus talked about how he beat John Cena for the WWE Title for the first time over 15 years ago. Sheamus said that the Intercontinental Title drew him to WWE while saying he’s never won it, but he’s so close to winning it and he’ll get his chance at Saturday Night’s Main Event against Bron Breakker with the IC Title on the line. Bron Breakker interrupted to tell Sheamus that this is the closest he’s going to get to the IC Title. Bron said he’ll beat him like an old man, so why doesn’t Sheamus just retire? Sheamus shoved Bron, who backed away.

Analysis: That should be a great match at Saturday Night’s Main Event. We’ve seen Sheamus and Bron Breakker a few times, so it should be fun to watch again.

Bayley facing Nia Jax was up next and both women were shown walking backstage.

Ludwig Kaiser was interviewed Jackie Redmond on a podium for an interview during a commercial for some of the audience. Kaiser spoke about losing to Sheamus while saying he was not worried about anybody in the locker room. Kaiser trashed Penta saying he’ll welcome him to Raw on Kaiser’s time.

A graphic was shown for baseball legend and WWE Hall of Famer Bob Uecker, who died at the age of 90 last week.

Bayley vs. Nia Jax

They showed NXT’s Roxanne Perez at ringside since she has had an issue with Bayley. Perez was on Smackdown last Friday as well.

Jax lifted Bayley onto her shoulders, so Bayley bounced off the ropes and hit a DDT. Jax lifted up Bayley leading to a headbutt to the chest. Jax missed an elbow drop and Bayley hit a belly-to-back suplex for two. Bayley sent Jax out of the ring and hit a suicide dive. Bayley got in Perez’s face at ringside and Bayley slapped her in the face. Perez tried to after Bayley, but a security guy carried her away. The screen went black leading to a Jax knocking down Bayley on the floor. Jax hit a running hip attack with her big booty. Jax remained in control with a body slam for two. Jax stomped on Bayley’s left hand. Jax put her foot against Bayley’s left shoulder while the left arm was against the ropes. Jax continued the attack with some punches the black screen returned and the match continued.

Jax was in control with a leg drop across the chest. Bayley fought back to knock Jax down with a clothesline and elbow drop. Jax pulled on Bayley’s left arm against the ropes. Jax went for a leg drop, but Bayley moved her arm so Jax hit the apron. Jax had to wait on the apron with her head down, which led to Bayley hitting a sunset flip into the ring post. When Jax rolled back in the ring, Bayley hit her own version of an Annihilator splash and Bayley hit an elbow drop off the middle ropes for two. Jax countered Bayley leading to a shoulderbreaker onto the knee. Jax splashed Bayley against the turnbuckle. Jax punched Bayley in the jaw followed by Jax sending Bayley shoulder first into the ring post. Bayley splashed the ribs into the ring post. Bayley tripped up Jax on the turnbuckle leading to Bayley hitting a running knee for two. There were “let’s go Bayley” chants from the crowd. They battled by the turnbuckle where Bayley was on the top rope, Jax went over there and Bayley hit a sunset flip Powerbomb for two. Bayley jumped off the top with an elbow drop for two. Bayley was selling the left shoulder injury after trying a left. Jax hit a popup Samoan Drop followed by a running senton splash. Jax hit her Annihilator splash off the turnbuckle for the pinfall win after about 14 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Nia Jax

Analysis: ***1/4 It was a very good match as Nia Jax picked up the big win for some momentum while Bayley lost again like she lost to Tiffany Stratton on SmackDown. Bayley was on offense for a lot of the match with a bunch of nearfalls, but then Jax found a way to slow her down, hit three moves and that was it. They were obviously building up Jax for what happened next.

After the match, the Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley ran down to the ring to fight Jax. Ripley headbutted Jax and they fought against the turnbuckle. Multiple security guys went into the ring to separate the women, so Jax hit a running splash on Ripley. Ripley broke free leading toa running forearm. Ripley kicked Jax out of the ring. Jax tripped up Ripley on the apron. Jax cleared off the commentary table and wanted to do a move, but the security guys held Jax back. Ripley hit a running somersault dive onto Jax on the floor. The WWE Officials held Ripley back. Ripley did a promo on the commentary table: “You…me…Saturday Night’s Main Event.” The fans cheered for that as Ripley’s music played.

Analysis: As I mentioned earlier, it’s a match that WWE last year a few times and we’ll see it again at Saturday Night’s Main Event. It’s a tough match for Ripley that should lead to Ripley getting the win because she just won the title recently, so it’s not like she’s going to lose it so soon after winning it.

There were replays of Damian Priest beating Finn Balor in the Street Fight main event last week.

The Judgment Day was shown in the locker room with Chad Gable talking to Dominik Mysterio. That led to Dominik handing Gable a sheet of paper saying that’s the guy to go to for help. After Gable left, JD McDonagh said they got a World Tag Team Title rematch against the War Raiders, but Finn was injured after last week. Dominik suggested that he team up with JD instead and JD agreed to it. Liv Morgan spoke about how he hoped Dominik’s plan worked better than his plan when Liv faced Ripley and lost. Dominik said he had an idea for Liv and said he would make it up to her. Dominik left with Liv at that point.

There was a video about Lyra Valkyria winning the Women’s Intercontinental TItle last week.

A video aired paying tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. since it’s MLK Jr. Day in the US on Monday. Good video as usual.

Pete Dunne made his entrance during this part of the show which was a commercial for some fans. Dunne complained about the fans calling him Butch. Dunne claimed he was the best pound for pound wrestler in this company and you think it’s okay to disrespect him. When the show returned, they showed a shot of the outside of the arena, so that was it for that promo.

There was a clip of Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman talking about how he is a wrestling fan. He said he was friends with former OSU linebacker James Laurinaitis, who is the son of Animal of Legion of Doom. Freeman talked about taking his kids to wrestling shows. They showed Freeman at a Smackdown show last year.

Seth “Freakin” Rollins was shown backstage. Sami Zayn walked up to Rollins saying he appreciated their talk last week and said he needed to hear that. Zayn said that Rollins got through to him. Rollins said he’s glad feels that way. Rollins told Zayn when push comes to shove in the Rumble, he’ll throw Zayn out and Zayn said not if he throws Rollins out first. After Zayn left, we saw Karrion Kross looking on from a distance.

Penta vs. Pete Dunne

This is Penta’s second WWE match after making his debut last week. Cole mentioned Penta faced Dunne in the past in RevPro in 2017, so that’s a nice mention for RevPro. Anyway, Penta hit a move, but Dunne hit a running forearm to knock Penta down. Dunne snapped Penta’s fingers. Penta sent Dunne into the turnbuckle leading to a jumping kick and Dunne came back with his own kick. Dunne went for a moonsault, but Penta kicked Dunne to knock Dunne out of the ring. Penta went for a dive that failed because Dunne hit him with a forearm. Dunne suplexed Penta on the apron. The black screen showed up for a break and I’m going to take a writing break.

It was Dunne in control with a running forearm to the jaw. Penta avoided a charging Dunne leading to a kick and a Slingblade. Penta hit a headstand into a kick. Penta hit a spinning slam off the shoulders for a two count. Dunne came back with a kick while Penta was on his knees. Penta came back with a superkick followed by a Mexican Destroyer that led to Dunne rolling out of the ring. Penta hit a somersault dive that Cole correctly called a tope con hilo. They went back into the ring where Dunne blocked a move, Penta was on Dunne’s back and Dunne dropped down to his knees for a slam for a two count. Penta taunted Dunne, so Dunne snapped the fingers and Penta did a Powerbomb backbreaker. Penta pulled back on the right arm called the Sacrifice. Penta hit the Penta Driver for the pinfall win after about 10 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Penta

Analysis: ***1/4 It was another good match for Penta against a talented opponent. Dunne is obviously a talented worker, but he’s not a guy who wins a lot. They are obviously going to give Penta some wins to make him look strong as a newcomer in WWE. I’m interested in seeing who Penta’s first WWE feud is with.

A video package aired about Logan Paul talking about how it must suck to be a Logan Paul hater. Paul said he won’t fail because when he does something, he becomes the best at it. Logan claimed he was the King of the Internet, he was the only man to beat Floyd Mayweather (that’s a questionable statement) and he claimed WWE is his life now while saying he’ll eat, sleep and breathe wrestling until he becomes the greatest superstar to ever step foot in the ring. Logan said you’re looking at the GOAT.

Analysis: Logan Paul hasn’t had a match since last August. Just a tip, Logan, but you need to wrestle a lot more often to be the greatest superstar ever.

Next week on Raw:

* Logan Paul is there.

* World Tag Team Championships: War Raiders vs. The Judgment Day’s JD McDonagh & Dominik Mysterio

* WWE Champion Cody Rhodes will be there.

CM Punk Interview

CM Punk was interviewed by Jackie Redmond in the upper deck of the arena. Punk hyped up the crowd about how great it was to be in Dallas on a Monday Night. Jackie mentioned the Royal Rumble having one of the most stacked fields ever while mentioning other big names in the match. Punk talked about how three short weeks ago he main evented the first Raw on Netflix. Punk said that lately he has made history and he’ll do it in the Royal Rumble when he wins it by throwing 29 other superstars over the top rope. Punk said he comes alive when the pressure is on. Punk said nobody can beat him at his best with these people behind him. Punk said he can’t see John Cena throwing him over the top while adding that Roman Reigns needed him to win in WarGames. Punk bragged about beating Drew McIntyre and said that Sami Zayn wasn’t on his level. Punk said he’d throw Hulk Hogan’s dusty old ass over the top rope and kill Hulkamania once and for all. Punk said he’s settling scores, cashing in debts and calling in favors if he needs to. Punk said one man is getting his hand raised…CM Punk. Cole claimed McAfee won’t have Punk on his show.

Analysis: I would have rather seen Punk do a promo in the ring, but this was shorter and just a classic wrestling promo by a guy claiming he’s going to win the Royal Rumble. The Hulk Hogan mentioned was a bit strange, but I don’t mind it. Anyway, Punk will be a popular pick to win the Royal Rumble along with John Cena and possibly a few others.

Drew McIntyre was shown getting ready for the main event.

The War Raiders duo of Ivar and Erik were interviewed by Cathy Kelley. This was during a break for some fans. Ivar talked about how they would take care of The Judgment Day next week. Erik said that they aren’t looking past anyone because nobody knows how hard it is to capture these championships better than them. Erik said both of them were old that they would never wrestle again, but they were here as champions. Erik said they are ready for all teams at any time and anywhere.

Analysis: A confident promo from the babyface champions. Simple enough.

Damage CTRL – Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky vs. Pure Fusion Collective – Zoey Stark & Shayna Baszler (w/Sonya Deville)

Kai started with Baszler, Stark tagged in and Stark hit a springboard dropkick on a running Kai. That was an impressive move that was done perfectly. Baszler hit a running knee on Kai and Stark was back in there with a running clothesline. The heels isolated Kai for a few minutes until Sky got the hot tag. Sky tagged in with uppercuts and a German Suplex on Baszler. Sky hit a suicide dive onto Baszler on the floor. Sky went up top and hit a missile dropkick on Stark, who was legal for her team. Sky hit a running double knee attack for a two count. Deville was on the apron to distract Sky, so Kai pulled Deville on the apron. Baszler clotheslined Kai on the floor. Sky was looking at that, so Stark knocked Sky off the turnbuckle. Stark hit a flipping slam on Sky for two. Baszler tagged in with a running knee on Sky for two because Kai broke up the pin attempt. Stark tried jumping on Kai on the floor, Kai avoided it and Kai kicked Stark on the floor. Baszler kicked Kai to the floor. Baszler hit a Kirifuda Clutch, Sky got out of it by sending Baszler into the ropes. Sky hit the Over The Moonsault off the top rope onto Baszler for the pinfall win after about seven minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Damage CTRL – Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky

Analysis: **1/2 This was okay. A basic tag team match with Kai as the face in peril, Sky got the hot tag and it picked up a bit from there. I liked that spot with Sky sending Baszler face first into the ropes, which led to Baszler letting go of her submission and Sky finished Baszler after that. Easy win for the babyfaces.

The announcers did a rundown of Saturday Night’s Main Event this Saturday on NBC:

* Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Nia Jax

* Braun Strowman vs. Jacob Fatu

* Intercontinental Championship: Bron Breakker (c) vs. Sheamus

* Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens contract signing with Shawn Michaels moderating it

* World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther (c) vs. Jey Uso

Analysis: That was awkward because here on the Canadian version of Netflix they just showed the San Antonio riverwalk and we never saw the graphics on the screen. I get that I’m not in the US, but I get NBC in Canada. Anyway, that’s only a minor issue.

A video package aired about the Seth Rollins-Drew McIntyre match in the main event. It’s a WrestleMania 40 rematch.

Seth “Freakin” Rollins made his entrance for the main event with the fans singing his song as usual. The graphic said “up next” so there was a break for some fans. Rollins went around ringside to have some fun greeting the fans.

The “Scottish Warrior” Drew McIntyre made his entrance looking serious as usual.

Drew McIntyre vs. Seth “Freakin” Rollins

This match started at 2 hours, 15 minutes into the show.

There were some chops exchanged followed by Drew hitting a shoulder tackle to knock Seth down. Rolins did a leap frog followed by his own shoulder tackle, so Drew bounced off the ropes with another shoulder tackle to knock Seth down. Rollins ran the ropes leading to a Slingblade followed by a clothesline over the top to the floor. Rollins hit a suicide dive two times in a row. Rollins tried another suicide dive, but Drew caught him and Drew suplexed Rollins onto the commentary table to knock Rollins down by the table. The screen went dark leading to a break for some fans. Drew continued on offense with a backbreaker when they were in the ring. Drew hit a snap suplex. Drew applied an armbar, Rollins broke free and Drew kicked Rollins in the ribs.

The match continued with Drew going for a reverse Alabama Slam, but Rollins countered it into a forward roll pin attempt for two. Drew charged right into Rollins getting both feet up to knock Drew down. Rollins worked over Drew with chops. Drew tried a suplex, Rollins slipped behind him and Rollins sent Drew into the ring post. Rollins sent Drew shoulder-first into the ring post two more times. Rollins rammed Drew’s arm into the ring post. Rollins hit a springboard knee followed by Rollins doing a running knee to the head for two. Rollins hit a springboard senton on Drew for a two count. Drew went to the apron, he punched Rollins and when Drew went to the top rope, Rollins hit a superplex. Drew countered Rollins by hitting his own Falcon Arrow for a two count. The fans got into the match more after that great spot. That’s normally a spot with Rollins doing two moves in a row, but Drew was able to counter it. Drew went for a Claymore Kick, but Rollins avoided it. Seth charged, which led to Drew hitting a spinebuster for two. Seth hit a hurricanrana and a superkick. Seth hit a Falcon Arrow for two. Seth and Drew exchanged big move attempts, which led to Drew hitting a clothesline to knock Seth down. Drew went up top, jumped off with nothing, Rollins caught the left arm and Drew applied a Crossface submission on the left arm. Seth yelled at Drew about questioning Seth’s integrity. Drew did an eye gouge while the referee was pulling Seth back, Drew grabbed Seth by the hair and Drew hit a Future Shock DDT for two. Drew shouted at Seth for running his mouth while saying his words and actions didn’t add up. Drew nailed Rollins with two clotheslines in a row. Seth countered Drew on a third clothesline attempt and Rollins did a jackknife pin for the pinfall win after 17 minutes

Winner by pinfall: Seth “Freakin” Rollins

Analysis: ***1/2 It was the usual very good match from two of WWE’s best. When it’s wrestlers of this caliber and status it’s hard to predict a winner. I wasn’t surprised that Rollins won on jackknife pin instead of a decisive finishing move. It was slow a bit at times, but after they did that superplex spot the fans got into it more. Drew lost two weeks ago on a rollup to Jey Uso and now he lost on a jackknife pin by Rollins, so he lost twice in a row without taking a finisher.

After the match, Drew attacked Seth while Seth tried to fight back. Drew charged at Seth leading to a Helluva Kick. Drew set up Seth’s head against the ring post, so Sami Zayn showed up at ringside to save his friend Seth. Zayn sent Drew into the steel steps. Zayn sent Seth back into the ring and Drew nailed Zayn with a headbutt. Drew sent Zayn into the barricade. Drew shouted at Seth that they should be on the same team, but Seth is so damn selfish. Zayn was back in the ring, he charged, Drew moved and Zayn hit a running Helluva Kick on Seth. Drew left smiling while Zayn felt bad about what he did. Seth was down on the mat selling the attack. When Seth sat up, Zayn said that he wasn’t aiming for him. That’s how Raw ended.

Analysis: We see this kind of booking during Royal Rumble season all the time where a friend accidentally hits a friend, so then it makes you wonder what will happen in the Rumble. It also makes Drew look like he outsmarted both guys because of Zayn kicking Seth.

This week’s Raw was 2 hours, 35 minutes so it was similar to last week.

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I’ll be back a bit later in the evening with my final thoughts.