WWE Raw Review – January 22, 2024
Kicking off this week’s Raw with footage of CM Punk & Cody Rhodes arriving separately at the building.
World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins welcomes fans to Monday Night Rollins and says as it’s been a long week, he appreciates the warm welcome from New Orleans. He says he successfully defended his World Heavyweight Title against Jinder Mahal seven days ago, but he felt his knee go in the way it wasn’t supposed to when he landed a moonsault. He says he sat down when he went to the back and that’s when it set in that he might be out for a long time. He says he felt helpless being unable to bend his knee and for the 1st time, he thought he would have to miss WrestleMania 40. He says he had an MRI and the results came back in the middle of the week. He says he has a Grade 2 tear of his MCL and a partial tear of his medial meniscus and he’s looking at being on the shelf for the next 3 to 4 months. He says he would keep competing if it were up to him but it isn’t.
Imperium’s music hits and they make their way down to the ring. Intercontienetal Champion Gunther gets in the ring and Rollins tells them not to waste any time doing what they’re going to do to him. Gunther tells Rollins not to worry about Giovanni Vinci & Ludwig Kaiser, and says they’ve been avoiding one another for quite some time now. He says the time has come for him to let Rollins know how he really feels about him and says Rollins has been labeled as a workhorse champion since the beginning defending his title week in and week out. He says Rollins has been a champion everyone can be proud of like he’s been then says it tugs on his heartstrings to see Rollins the way he is. He says he’s saddened that Rollins may not make it to WrestleMania.
Rollins tells Gunther that he should’ve let him finish. He says he doesn’t care what the doctors tell him or how hard he has to work because he will keep his promise by taking the World Heavyweight Title into WrestleMania and walking out still being the World Heavyweight Champion. He tells Rollins he reminds him a lot of himself and says from one great champion to another, he’ll win the Royal Rumble this Saturday and choose to face Rollins at WrestleMania. He says that he’ll target Rollins’ knee and back to beat him and become the new World Heavyweight Champion.
Rollins tells Gunther he’s more than welcome to challenge him at WrestleMania if he wins the Royal Rumble but not to forget who he’s coming after. He offers his hand to Gunther & Gunther tells him not to forget who’s coming after him before shaking his hand.
Outside the ring New Day attacks Vinci & Kaiser as we go to a break.
Tag Team Match
New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. Imperium (Giovanni Vinci & Ludwig Kaiser)
After the break Giovanni Vinci hits a running crossbody to Kofi Kingston then follows it up with a chop in the corner then hits a boot to his face and fires off right hands.
Kingston responds with a series of stomps in the corner on Vinci then tags in Xavier Woods & he follows suit before he fires off several chops.
Vinci sends him crashing into the top rope face first then tags in Ludwig Kaiser & he rains down right hands on him then rocks him with a knee. Kaiser ends up on the outside and Woods sends Vinci to join him.
Kaiser drags Woods out of the ring while the referee isn’t looking and Vinci sends him crashing onto the ring apron then Kaiser sends him colliding with the barricade as we go to a another break.
After the 2nd break Woods delivers a boot to Vinci then Kaiser & Kingston tag in and Kingston hits an elbow drop to Kaiser off the top rope.
He fires off right hands on him in the corner then clotheslines him out of the ring over the top and delivers a tope suicida.
He fires off more right hands and sends Kaiser crashing into the barricade as Vinci & Woods brawl with one another.
Referee begins a 10 count as the referee reaches 10 as both teams were brawling on the outside.
Winners: No One (Double Count Out)
After the match Kingston & Vinci then end up in the crowd and Woods fires off right hands on Kaiser. Kaiser sends Woods colliding with the ring post then dumps him into the timekeeper’s area. Kaiser grabs a chair as Vinci holds Kingston in place and Kaiser looks to hit Kingston with the chair. Woods provides Kingston with a hand. Woods & Imperium end up on a road case. Kingston joins them and spears Vinci & Kaiser off the road case and into a table next to it.
Michael Cole & Wade Barrett shifted their focus to Cody Rhodes being on the cover of the standard edition of the new WWE 2K24 video game while Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley & Bianca BelAir will be on the cover of the deluxe version of the game. A trailer aired for the game and featured a mix of past and present stars.
After the break Cole & Barrett recapped the brawl between New Day & Imperium and said they were hoping all 4 men would be okay.
we head over to a video recapping what has led up to the match between Damian Priest & Drew McIntyre later tonight.
Judgment Day were shown watching on a backstage monitor. Ripley said Adam Pearce told her that Priest & Finn Balor will defend the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles against DIY next week.
Ripley said they obviously had bigger problems than Drew McIntyre. Priest was defensive and said he wasn’t going around and trying to fight everyone. He said he wasn’t the one walking around with a big head due to the 2K video game cover. Priest left after saying he was going to clear his head for the match.
Ripley started to scold Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh for not taking care of DIY sooner. Balor comedically echoed her comments. Ripley scolded Balor and told him that Priest would deal with McIntyre on his own. She told Balor that he would be ringside with McDonagh for Mysterio’s match. Ripley said it had been a while since she had seen Balor’s vicious side. Balor said he would show it.
Ivy Nile & Maxxine Dupri were interviewed by Jackie Redmond on the Gorilla Position & Redmond mentioned that Nile has been training for the Royal Rumble then shifted the focus to her match with Valhalla. Dupri cuts in and spoke for Nile before Creed Brothers shows up and tried to give Nile a pep talk. She told them she had it under control.
Ivy Nile vs. Valhalla
Ivy Nile gets Valhalla up on her shoulders but Valhalla escapes and Nile hits a kick to her head but Valhalla responds with a knee to her midsection as Nikki Cross paces at the top of the ramp.
The action spills out of the ring and Valhalla delivers a forearm to Nile then gets her back inside the ring and connects with a headbutt then pins her.
The referee catches her with her feet on the bottom rope, and Valhalla looks to land a knee on Nile in the corner.
Nile ducks out of the way and they teeter on the top rope before Nile hits a bulldog off the top rope for the win.
Winner: Ivy Nile
Jey Uso approached New Day and was hyped up then Jackie Redmond shows up and asked New Day where things end with Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci. Kofi Kingston said people see the pancakes and Booty O’s and don’t think they can’t get down when the time is right. Kingston said they want the big boss. Kingston challenged Gunther to an Intercontinental Title match for next week & after the New Day left Jey looks into the camera and said yeet.
After the break Nia Jax says the 1st time she came face 2 face with Rhea Ripley she got squashed. She says the same can be said for Becky Lynch, and she knows that neither Ripley or Lynch want to face her because they’re both scared. She says she’ll kill both their dreams this Saturday at WrestleMania at the Royal Rumble.
Lynch’s music hits and she makes her way down to the ring. She says she knows she has a big target on her back but no one has a bigger target on their back than Jax. She says the only thing the women’s locker room can agree on is that no one likes her and she can’t decide if she’ll enjoy winning the Rumble for a second time or seeing Jax lose the match.
Bayley’s music hits and she makes her way down to the ring. She says she came to Raw to find Ripley but she couldn’t resist reuniting with them and begins running her mouth. All 3 women begin brawling with one another and Lynch hits Bayley with a Manhandle Slam. Jax then dumps Lynch over the top rope and hits a leg drop to Bayley.
Part 1 of the Royal Rumble by the numbers video aired.
After the break Becky Lynch was shown walking backstage when she crossed paths with Rhea Ripley. It looks like you should make other plans for WrestleMania Ripley told Lynch before walking away.
Footage aired from earlier in the day of Miz telling R Truth that Judgment Day would drop the hammer on him eventually and he doesn’t want Truth to get hurt. Truth told Miz to keep an eye on the Mysterio Boys during his match.
The Miz vs. Dominik Mysterio
Match starts off with a lock up before The Miz delivers a chop to Dominik Mysterio but Mysterio responds with a boot.
Miz turns Mysterio inside out with a clothesline but Mysterio dumps him out of the ring and Finn Balor takes a cheap shot while the referee has his back turned.
Mysterio then delivers a tope suicida to him and gets him back in the ring before firing off right hands.
Miz responds with a few chops but Mysterio sends him crashing out of the ring as we go to a break.
After the break Miz delivers a pair of clotheslines to Mysterio then follows it up with a swinging neckbreaker and a crossbody off the top rope from the apron.
He goes for a pin but Mysterio kicks out and Miz fires off with IT Kicks then sets up for Skull Crushing Finale but Mysterio escapes and sends Miz crashing into the middle rope.
He looks to dial it up for 619 but Miz avoids it as JD McDonagh captures the referee’s attention and Balor takes a 2nd cheap shot at Miz.
Mysterio takes advantage and dials it up for 619 then follows it up with a Frog Splash for the win.
Winner: Dominik Mysterio
After the match Judgment Day continues to beat down Miz but DIY runs down to even the odds. Miz hits McDonagh with a Skull Crushing Finale then DIY looks to hit Meet In The Middle but Balor pulls him out of the ring before anything further happens.
Backstage Damian Priest was interviewed by Jackie Redmond. Priest congratulated Dominik Mysterio for taking care of business but R Truth interrupted him and tried to give him his merch cut. Priest said he appreciates Truth’s sense of humor but this wasn’t the time. Truth ran off. Priest went back to his promo about Drew McIntyre and accused him of stopping him from cashing in his Money in the Bank contract out of jealousy. He will receive his punishment.
After the break we go backstage where Bronson Reed cuts a promo and said he’s fully aware that Jey Uso intends to become a singles champion. Reed said he does too and then challenged Jey to face him on Raw next week.
Footage aired of Alpha Academy workout from earlier in the day as Maxxine Dupri shows up and gave Chad Gable a Thank Yew Crew towel.
Ivar vs. Chad Gable
Chad Gable wastes no time as he hits a cannonball to Ivar then ascends to the top rope and flies. Ivar catches him with a scoop powerslam but Gable responds with a dropkick.
He connects with a knee and an uppercut, then hits a boot to Ivar’s midsection and follows it up with a blockbuster. He ascends to the top rope and hits a diving headbutt then goes for a pin.
Ivar kicks out and looks to deliver a vertical suplex to Gable out of the ring but Gable hangs on and delivers a jawbreaker. Ivar then delivers a splash off the apron to Gable on the outside as we go to a break.
After the break Gable delivers a superplex to Ivar off the top rope then they go tumbling to the outside before they get back in the ring and Ivar delivers a powerbomb to Gable.
Ivar gets Gable up on his shoulders but Gable transitions into an Ankle Lock but Ivar fights him off and ascends to the middle rope then delivers a leg drop.
He looks to land a spinning back heel kick but Gable ducks out of the way and cinches in a 2nd Ankle Lock. Ivar makes his way over to the bottom rope to break the hold and hits a sit out spinebuster. Gable then hits a German suplex and ascends to the top rope.
Ivar catches him with a right hand and looks to bring him down with a superplex but Gable escapes and hits a German suplex to him off the middle rope.
He ascends to the top rope but Valhalla appears and captures his attention as Ivar pulls him down then hits Doom sault off the top rope for the win.
Winner: Ivar
CM Punk & Cody Rhodes shake hands before Punk says he & Cody should enjoy this moment ahead of the chaos of the Royal Rumble. Cody then asks New Orleans and Punk what they want to talk about and Punk says he wants to talk about Dusty Rhodes. He says in 2007 Dusty called him and said he was sending Cody to OVW to begin his journey as a pro wrestler. He says Dusty Rhodes told Punk he wanted him to keep an eye on Cody and while he had his reservations he still agreed. He says he’s watched Cody grow into a main event star then tells Cody he’ll do what he has to in order to win the Rumble and main event WrestleMania.
Rhodes says Punk isn’t alone in talking to him but thinking about himself. He says people can’t help but see Dusty in him and he’s done everything in his power since he left WWE to be the light in his shadow and be his own man. He says Punk could’ve treated him poorly in OVW but he instead treated him like a peer. He says there are no friends in the Royal Rumble and Punk says he knows that. He asks about Sunday morning and says he can separate business from personal but questions if Rhodes can do the same. He says they’ve traveled very different paths and he had to scratch and claw to get to where he was. He says while Rhodes has emerged from the shadow of his father he’s more of an American Dream than Cody having had a father who was an electrician.
Rhodes brings up Punk’s infamous pipebomb and says everything Punk said during that, he did. He says he talked where Punk walked and that makes him more CM Punk than Punk is. Punk says Rhodes has carried WWE on his back over the past 2 years and he was handed the cover of the WWE 2K24 video game. He says Rhodes was about to finish his story until he came back around to take everything from him.
Rhodes says he only has one direction he can go and that’s forward. He says that direction goes through Punk and looks to head to the back. Punk pulls him back and they stare one another down.
Tag Team Match
Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell vs. Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark
Candice LeRae & Shayna Baszler lock up to get this match started then LeRae delivers an arm drag before Zoey Stark & Indi Hartwell tag in. Hartwell gets Stark on the apron then delivers an uppercut.
LeRae tags in and Hartwell sends Baszler crashing out of the ring then LeRae ascends to the top rope and hits a hurricanrana to Stark that sends her crashing on top of Baszler as we go to a break.
After the break Stark looks to fly off the ropes but Hartwell catches her with a spinebuster before LeRae & Baszler become legal.
LeRae delivers a single leg dropkick to Baszler and a codebreaker to Stark landing on top of Baszler. Baszler cinches in a Kirifuda Clutch before Stark makes the blind tag in.
LeRae pins Baszler unaware that she’s no longer legal opening the door for Stark to hit Z360 for the win.
Winners: Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark
After the match Women’s Tag Team Champions Kayden Carter & Katana Chance get in the ring to stare down Baszler & Stark before Kabuki Warriors then come out of nowhere and attacks them as Dakota Kai watches on.
Backstage Jackie Redmond is with Drew McIntyre & McIntyre was asked if he had anything to say about the Punk & Cody Rhodes segment. McIntyre said he said everything he had to say to their faces.
McIntyre turned the focus to what Damian Priest said earlier. McIntyre recalls being champion and said things weren’t 100% right in the world. He said he’s tired of people putting a negative spin on it. McIntyre spoke about how WWE wrestlers were a constant in people’s lives and how people have told him that they literally saved their lives. McIntyre said there’s only room for one chosen one and that’s him
After the break we go backstage where Natalya & Tegan Nox bickered with Damage CTRL until Adam Pearce showed up and told them to save it for Royal Rumble. Natalya & Nox walked away. Pearce said he invited them to promote the Women’s Royal Rumble Match and the Women’s Tag Team Title match not to cause chaos. Bayley said that when Kabuki Warriors win the Women’s Tag Team Titles Pearce will be seeing a lot of them. Damage CTRL walks away.
Pearce turned and found Indus Sher blocking his path. Jinder Mahal shows up and took credit for injuring Seth Rollins. Mahal said he wanted to talk to Pearce about what his plans were for him. Mahal asked Indus Sher if now would be a good time. Pearce said he would meet them in his office then said he needed a drink after they walked away.
2nd part of the Royal Rumble numbers video aired.
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champion Mr Money In The Bank Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre
Match starts off with a lock up before Drew McIntyre hits a shoulder tackle before Damian Priest fires off stomps on him in the corner before McIntyre hits a clothesline to Priest and they spill out of the ring.
McIntyre catches Priest with a belly 2 belly suplex then gets him back inside the ring and delivers a chop then follows it up with a right hand but Priest responds with one of his own.
They end up back on the outside and Priest sends him crashing into the ring post then hits Broken Arrow to him on top of the announce table as we go to a break.
After the break Priest hits an open palm strike to McIntyre before McIntyre responds with a pair of chops but Priest catches him with a clothesline before they level one another with big boots.
McIntyre hits a pair of clotheslines and a belly 2 belly suplex and a swinging neckbreaker then kips up and sets up for Claymore but Priest ducks out of the way and looks to land a spinning back heel kick but McIntyre counters into a spinebuster and goes for a pin.
Priest kicks out and McIntyre gets him up on his shoulders but Priest escapes and sends him crashing into the top turnbuckle.
He hits an elevated flatliner and a few kicks but McIntyre catches him with Glasgow Kiss and ascends to the top rope & looks to fly but Priest moves out of the way and hits Broken Arrow.
Priest flies over the top rope and hits McIntyre on the outside then dumps him back in the ring. R Truth appears at ringside with Priest’s share of the merch money but Priest shoves him and looks to get back in the ring with a double ax handle.
McIntyre sees him coming and hits Future Shock DDT then sets up for Claymore but Truth captures his attention and McIntyre takes a shot at him.
Priest tries taking advantage and hits South Of Heaven then goes for a pin but the referee doesn’t see as he is distracted by Truth.
Priest dumps Truth out of the ring and Priest walks around into a Claymore from McIntyre for the win.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Royal Rumble Card (Jan 27th)
30 Man Royal Rumble Match
Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Intercontienetal Champion Gunther vs. Chad Gable vs. Otis vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champion Mr Money In The Bank Damian Priest vs. 19 TBD
30 Woman Royal Rumble Match
Bayley vs. Nia Jax vs. Becky Lynch vs. Bianca BelAir vs. Maxxine Dupri vs. Ivy Nile vs. 24 TBD
Undisputed WWE Universal Title Fatal 4 Way Match
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles vs. LA Knight
United States Title Match
Logan Paul (c) vs. Kevin Owens
Next Week’s Raw
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles Match
Judgement Day (Mr Money In The Bank Damian Priest & Finn Balor) (c) vs. DIY (Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano)
Jey Uso vs. Bronson Reed
Intercontinental Title Match
Gunther (c) vs. Kofi Kingston
