An exceptionally good show that moved at a better pace than last week. Solid booking up and down the card with a hot finish. This is a good episode to watch all the way through.
Must-see moments:
Iyo Sky vs. Liv Morgan
The finish took the wind out of the crowd, but they obviously have a plan. These two are good workers, which is surprising to say about Liv considering how poor her work was even a couple of years ago.
The match came together, building heat as it went on. The crowd desperately wanted Iyo to win by the end of the match.
Sami Zayn vs. CM Punk and the post-match angle
With two pros like Punk and Zayn, you knew this would be a good match. It delivered as a main event and could have easily been on a PLE. The post-match with Kevin came out of nowhere and had an intensity to it. If you watch nothing else, make sure you see this segment.
Quick Results:
- Penta defeated Ludwig Kaiser
- The New Day defeated Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee
- Liv Morgan defeated Iyo Sky by DQ to qualify for the Elimination Chamber
- CM Punk defeated Sami Zayn to qualify for the Elimination Chamber
Fun Facts:
- Royal Rumble winner Jey Uso has had two singles matches this year with a 1-1 record.
- Charlotte Flair has not won a singles match since September of 2023.
Chronological recap:
Jey Uso opened the show. I am not sure how everyone else felt, but I was shocked, and a little disappointed, that he won. Personally, I was cheering for Cena. I am not a fan of Jey, but you cannot deny how over he is.
Cole and McAfee started in with the sex jokes early. Talking about climaxing. As in Jey climaxed at the Royal Rumble, but with a teehee to make sure we know what they are really talking about. McAfee has been using “Yeet” as an ejaculation joke, which has been as unfunny as that sounds.
It took Jey a while to catch his breath. This was a ten-minute entrance, and the crowd loved it. It was quite the spectacle as always. The crowd “You deserve it!” as he took it all in. He earned it.
Jey talked about lacking confidence in the past and did not think he could make it as a singles wrestler. Then he bowed up and said, “I got it now.” The crowd was hanging on his every word. Jey began to choke up and tears gathered in his eyes.
Gunther interrupted the love fest. He told Jey that a rematch does not appeal to him. Then Gunther told him he refused to have another match with him. He said if he does pick him though he would “put him down like a diseased dog.” Yikes.
Jey said he would be on Smackdown and talk to Cody, but when he decides who he is facing he will be beating that person.
They replayed footage from the post-show press conference. Cena said he will be in the Elimination Chamber, and he will win and go on to WrestleMania. He then promised to win his 17th championship.
Penta vs. Ludwig Kaiser
Ludwig cut a pre-match promo. He dripped with jealousy as he complained about all the attention Penta is getting. Kaiser thinks he deserves the spotlight and not Penta.
One of the wonderful things about having Raw on Netflix is the fact that you can pay for no Ads. Getting to see matches from start to finish is an improvement for me. On USA they would go to commercial on the heel’s heat, which defeats the purpose of getting heat.
Pat started talking in a Mexican accent, which was irritating as well as a bad idea. He is beginning to grate on me.
This was another back-and-forth match with some good action. Not as good as Penta’s matches with Gable and Dunne, but still worth watching.
Winner: Penta
Jackie Redmond came into the ring to talk to Penta. He was immediately interrupted by Pete Dunne, which allowed Kaiser to attack Penta from behind. So, Penta has a couple of feuds brewing.
Finn Balor was in the back complaining to the other members of The Judgement Day. He blamed Dom for JD being injured. Why do the rest of this group put up with his whining?
Charlotte Flair was out next. She borrowed one of Seth Rollins’ outfits. Her jacket looked like it was inflatable. The shoulders were ridiculous. She was wearing a bra made of diamonds. Okay.
Flair ordered a ringside attendant to open the ropes for her and complained that she did not get there quickly enough. She looked uncomfortable in that awful jacket.
The crowd was already booing Charlotte. She acknowledged it and then said she had missed them booing her. Then she whined about how terrible her year was. Flair is not the most endearing individual, Ric or Charlotte.
Charlotte told the crowd she loved them. She called herself the greatest wrestler of all time. Then she was screaming about how she was broken, and they were booing her. Thankfully, Rhea Ripley interrupted her.
Ripley asked Charlotte to pick her for WrestleMania. Charlotte said she would visit NXT and Smackdown to see if one of them deserves to face her. Rhea begged her to pick her, so she can beat some respect into her.
Jackie Redmond interviewed Sami Zayn. He thought he had all the momentum going into the Royal Rumble. His focus is on beating Punk tonight and going to the Elimination Chamber. He walked off and congratulated Jey Uso on his win. Karrion Kross then showed up doing his new insult comedian gimmick. This guy is terrible.
The New Day vs. Rey and Dragon Lee
The New Day came out to some awful entrance music. They do have new ring gear. Pat reminded us that their parents hate them. Maybe just drop all that because it was stupid.
Xavier Woods cut a promo before the match. The crowd was not as loud as it usually is for them. Kofi said he has given the audience more Royal Rumble moments than anyone in history. The two of them did everything they could to get the crowd to boo them. They finally went with the local sports team insult, which worked.
For no good reason, Logan Paul came out in the middle of this match. He took time to laugh at Rey who was lying on the ringside pads. Paul then stood there awkwardly while the crowd chanted something that was bleeped on Netflix. This is so odd.
Cole finally explained that Paul will face Mysterio next week in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match. All the attention was on him, rendering the match useless in the process.
Finally, Rey ended up near Logan who rubbed his head like he was a small child. Then Rey shoved Rey into a chair next to the announce table. Chaos ensued and, thanks to the distraction, The New Day won.
Winner: The New Day
A video package aired of Seth Rollins attacking Roman Reigns at the Rumble. Then Cole said their update on Roman is that Roman will not tell them what the update is. What? Why did you preview that to begin the show and that was the update?
The Alpha Academy was in the crowd with Jackie Redmond. For some reason, they decided Maxxine Dupri should start the promo. A-Town Down Under interrupted, thankfully. Grayson congratulated Maxxine on learning her first two wrestling moves. That was hilarious.
Iyo Sky vs. Liv Morgan
They did an excellent job of building the drama in this match. Liv has come a long way in the ring. Late in the match, the crowd was hanging on their every move. A “This is Awesome!” chant started, but quickly died down, because they wanted to see Iyo win the match.
Raquel Rodriguez got involved in the match, which brought out Rhea. When she intervened, she punched Liv causing a disqualification.
Winner: Liv Morgan by DQ
The War Raiders were interviewed backstage. They said they gained respect for JD and his toughness. American Made interrupted and told the Raiders, they could out wrestle them. The Raiders asked what happens when they turn it into a fight?
After the Raiders left, Gable told his team that he was leaving to learn the “dark arts of lucha libre.”
Seth Rollins showed up in a black cowboy hat, a full-length leather coat, and sunglasses that looked like the front end of the Tesla Cybertruck. Where does he buy these silly outfits?
Adam Pearce announced AJ Styles was officially on the Raw roster. Bron Breakker told Pearce to keep Styles away from him. They went off to talk about Bron’s future.
Seth congratulated Jey Uso and said he “likes seeing people get what they deserve.” He used that to segue to CM Punk. Seth mocked Punk for getting eliminated by Logan Paul. Then Seth turned his attention to Roman Reigns, who he said may not make it to WrestleMania.
Rollins talked about Roman hurting everyone around him, so Seth returned the favor. The crowd was very mixed here, but Seth is not wrong.
Seth called out Sami Zayn saying Sami needed to handle his business tonight with Punk. Sami came out to talk with Rollins. Zayn looked a little warry of Rollins but broke into a smile when he got into the ring with this silly, silly man.
After cheering Sami, Seth said that Sami hates CM Punk as much as he does and that he needs to show that tonight. He reminded Zayn that Punk said Sami was not on his level. Rollins said Zayn was levels above Punk. This mounted to a pep talk, but there was a lot more going on here.
CM Punk’s music hit with Rollins still in the aisleway. They were quickly separated.
Sami Zayn vs. CM Punk
It was interesting that they booked Punk for a TV match. Maybe that is because of the Netflix deal, or they wanted him to be in ring shape. Or both.
Late in the match, Punk had Sami beaten up in the corner and turned Sami’s head toward the WrestleMania sign. He told Sami WrestleMania is for him (Punk) because Sami is not on his level.
Great action here. Punk hit the GTS for the win.
Winner: CM Punk
After the match, Punk offered a handshake to Sami Zayn. Out of nowhere Kevin Owens shoved Sami into Punk. Punk fell out of the ring and Owens hit the Package Piledriver on Zayn.
