This was the final episode of Raw before WWE Royal Rumble this Saturday. More participants announced and more drama unfolding, it was a great precursor for the rumble.
Seth Rollins kicked off WWE Raw this week with an in-ring promo. After declaring that he would win the Royal Rumble this Saturday, he asked the crowd which title he should go for. The current WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Gunther, took the opportunity to confront Rollins in the ring. Gunther would plead with Rollins to win the rumble and pick him to face at WrestleMania for the joy of embarrassing him.
Logan Paul would try to speak on the matter, but the crowd was giving a genuine boo so loud, it overpowered his promo. Paul tried to explain he would win the rumble, to the amusement of Rollins and Gunther. Gunther laughed off the thought of facing Logan Paul at WrestleMania.
The first match of the night was for the WWE World Tag Team Championship, with War Raiders defending against The Judgment Day. The undersized Judgment Day tried to take advantage before things officially started and then isolated Erik in their corner. Of note, JD McDonagh accidentally smashed his head on the corner of the announce table after a flip from the ring to the floor. The fact that he kept going was incredible.
The War Raiders proved too powerful and would gain control. McDonagh somehow completed the match, including headbutts and headshots, even getting a close false finish. Carlito would help Judgment Day with a distracted referee, leading to a perfect false finish. This was a PLE-worthy match. The War Raiders would retain after reversing a 619 into their tandem finisher, The War Machine.
Rey Mysterio and Xavier Woods faced off in a singles match with both having faction mates at ringside. Raw was in Xavier’s hometown, and his family was ringside. Unhappy with his recent heel turn, Xavier’s family would pull out “New Day Sucks” shirts. The distraction would cost Woods the match.
Jey Uso and Quavo took around 10 minutes to yeet around the building before an out-of-breath Uso grabbed the mic. It was a 10-minute yeet to say he would win the Royal Rumble.
Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez would challenge Bianca Belair and Naomi in a non-title match. There was a lack of chemistry, resulting in numerous sloppy moments. Belair reversed Morgan’s finisher into her own, only for Dominik Mysterio to distract the referee. The match improved after the rough start, including another tense false finish. Morgan pinned Naomi to win this non-title match.
Paul Heyman announced that Roman Reigns will grace the cover of WWE 2K25, but he’s also winning the Royal Rumble. Drew McIntyre came to the ring to confront Heyman. McIntyre took credit for The Bloodline, as it was after Roman’s loss a couple of years ago, he would be broken enough for Heyman to scoop him up. This was a misdirect however, as McIntyre’s focus is on CM Punk, when he made it seem like he had a message for Reigns the whole time.
Drew McIntyre followed up with a match against Sami Zayn. Stiff striking both ways, Zayn broke his nose, bleeding all over the floor. McIntyre continued to dominate, but Zayn had some amazing false finishes. Sami was carried to the top rope, but finally caught some momentum, reversing into a sunset flip powerbomb. It seemed Zayn was about to hit Helluva Kick for the win, but Drew reversed it, using the ropes for leverage to win.
After the match, McIntyre jumped Zayn before Cody Rhodes came to help. The action kept on, as Kevin Owens appeared out of nowhere to start a fight with Rhodes. Zayn tried to hit Helluva Kick on McIntyre, only to hit Rhodes, making it two weeks in a row where he accidentally hurt an ally.
After the commercial, a beat-up Cody Rhodes started to address his upcoming ladder match against Kevin Owens at WWE Royal Rumble but was interrupted by CM Punk. Punk gave a drawn-out promo with little substance, saying he knows the weight Rhodes carries for the company. Cody told him to get to the point. Punk plans on choosing his championship after winning the WWE Royal Rumble.
There are so many interesting storylines leading up to the WWE Royal Rumble, and they have the physicality to match. Who will solidify their WrestleMania moment this Saturday?
Howe Fresh
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