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After weeks of build up and heavy promotion, Raw finally had its big premiere on Netflix this week. Considering this big premiere, the fact that it was the first Raw of 2025, and the card that was set for it, this show had a huge PLE feel. Perhaps no match was as anticipated as the meeting between C.M. Punk and Seth Rollins. With the long personal issues between them that have escalated over the last five weeks, there was no other match that was worthy of the main event slot. With all the talking over, now was the time to see how those heated feelings transitioned into a match.
While its outcome may have had a clear-cut winner, there is a sense that this feud is far from over. In addition to that, we had Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa battle over the ula fala, the final chapter in the Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan feud, and the start of John Cena’s retirement tour. With it being a new year and now being on Netflix, this week’s Raw ushered in a new era for WWE.
Roman Reigns vs. Solo Sikoa
Latest Developments:
After last April’s WrestleMania XL, Solo Sikoa took over the Bloodline in the absence of Roman Reigns as he created his own version with Tomma Tonga, Tonga Loa, and Jacob Fatu. Solo’s Bloodline even went as far as to brutally attack Roman’s “wise man” Paul Heyman after he refused to acknowledge Solo as the “Tribal Chief.” Roman eventually returned to cost Solo the WWE Championship at Summerslam but soon realized he was outnumbered by Solo and his new Bloodline. Roman later gained back up in the form of Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, and even CM Punk as they would defeat Solo and the new Bloodline in War Games at Survivor Series. On the December 13 Smackdown, a match was made official between the two for this week’s Raw under Tribal Combat Rules where the winner would once and for all gain the ula fala and the title of “Tribal Chief.”
This week, both men made history as having the first match on Raw as part of the Netflix era. Solo put up a fight throughout that saw him hit Roman with a kendo stick and even kick out of a Spear. As Jacob Fatu & Tomma Tonga interfered, Sami Zayn and Jimmy Uso came out to fight them off. Kevin Owens even interfered as he hit Roman with a Stunner, but Cody Rhodes came in to fight off Owens. With it now being one on one, Roman would finish off Solo and this feud with two Spears and be once again christened as the “Tribal Chief.” After the match, The Rock appeared and while some may have expected this to lead to a face-off between the two, The Rock simply placed the ula fala on Roman and hugged him.
Analysis:
Despite the ending being predictable, this version of Tribal Combat far surpassed the one from Summerslam 2023. With this feud going on as long as it did, Roman vanquishing Solo for the ula fala was the only logical way for it to end. While Solo has really grown into this new role since WrestleMania, another major loss brings up the question of where he goes from here. When you think about how he stated that losing has consequences when he first started this new Bloodline, the fact that he’s lost so often could be a sign that Jacob Fatu and Tomma Tonga could turn on him as early as Smackdown this Friday. If that does happen, that could set up a feud between Jacob Fatu and Solo going into WrestleMania season.
One interesting part of the post-match was The Rock coming out to simply just put the ula fala on Roman. As it almost felt like there would be a confrontation between them given that WrestleMania is around the corner, this all turned out to be a big love fest and nothing more. With the way The Rock acknowledged Cody earlier in the show and endorsed Roman here, it feels like The Rock won’t be doing WrestleMania this year. Unless this all turns out to be a swerve, it’s clear now that we shouldn’t expect him to be facing Roman or Cody anytime soon. With Roman not scheduled back until the January 27 Raw for his “Tribal Chief” ceremony, perhaps then we will get an idea of what’s next for him going into WrestleMania season.
Grade: B
The John Cena Retirement Tour
Latest Developments:
Over the last seven years, John Cena has practically had one foot out the door as it pertains to his WWE career. With his career in Hollywood occupying most of his time, Cena has only done occasional matches and appearances since 2018. Last July at Money in The Bank, Cena made a surprise appearance to announce his retirement. However, he later clarified that his retirement would consist of a retirement tour that would see him wrestle for the entirety of the year 2025. With Cena scheduled for the Raw premiere on Netflix, that retirement tour would start this week.
John Cena came out in the middle of the show to a huge reaction from the LA crowd, a place he went on to say he had a lot of history from his days working at Gold’s Gym days to winning his first WWE Title. Cena then got into his chances of winning his 17th World Championship, which he said he doesn’t see happening. The reason he didn’t see it happening is because it had been 2,446 days since he won his last singles match. He said it would take a miracle for him to be put in the title picture like winning Money in The Bank, the Elimination Chamber, or even the Royal Rumble. He then declared he was entering the Royal Rumble match and ended the promo by stating the best way for him to thank the audience would be by winning it and main eventing WrestleMania.
Analysis:
With it being the start of Cena’s retirement tour and the Royal Rumble less than a month away, we all knew that this was going to be the announcement he would make. There’s a lot of great stories that could be told in Cena’s last year wrestling and there’s arguably none bigger than his quest for title number 17. While this segment didn’t set up any potential feuds and was more of a standard promo, it ultimately accomplished what it needed to. With Cena being a part of the Royal Rumble in his retirement year, he is the clear favorite to win it. The story of Cena going to WrestleMania to win title number 17 is too compelling to pass up and one they may never get another chance to tell.
If The Rock ends up missing WrestleMania this year, a match between Cody and Cena would be the next best thing. Right now, that feels like the biggest match either one of them could have for Mania this year and while it’s not official yet, no one would be wrong to expect it to happen. Even if this is his last year, having Cena back regularly is a huge plus and with the endless people he could work with, Cena’s last run will be the biggest thing of 2025. Considering how big of an event the Royal Rumble is, Cena probably won’t have any matches until then. As it’s still a few weeks away, it’ll be interesting to see who Cena goes back and forth with on promos as the build to it progresses.
Grade: B
Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan
Latest Developments:
The night after WrestleMania XL on April 8, Liv Morgan injured Rhea Ripley’s shoulder during a backstage attack that resulted in Rhea being forced to vacate the Women’s World Championship. During Rhea’s absence, Liv won the Women’s World Title and spent most of the summer putting the moves on Rhea’s boyfriend, Dominik Mysterio. When Rhea returned to face Liv for the title at Summerslam, Dominik helped Liv retain and he afterwards revealed that he and Liv were now a couple as he kissed her. Rhea and Liv continued to feud throughout the fall as Liv added Raquel Rodriguez as her bodyguard, then injured Rhea’s orbital bone, and Rhea pinned Liv to get the win for her team in War Games. Three weeks ago, Adam Pearce made one final match between Liv and Rhea for the Women’s World Championship official for this week’s Raw premiere on Netflix.
Rhea got the better of Liv early on as she Powerbomed her on top of the announce table. After kicking out of a Riptide, Liv hit Rhea with an Oblivion on a chair thrown into the ring by Raquel, but Rhea kicked out. As Liv attempted another Oblivion, Rhea blocked it and then blew her a kiss before slamming her onto the mat. Rhea would then hit Liv with two Riptides to get the win and regain the title that she never lost. Dominik then came into the ring and attempted to give Rhea a hug, only for Rhea to hit him with a low blow and lay him out with a Riptide. As Rhea was walking to the back, The Undertaker came out on a motorcycle to his “American Badass” theme and he and Rhea put their fists up together.
Analysis:
With this whole rivalry escalating when Rhea had to forfeit the title due to Liv injuring her, the way this match ended here was the natural conclusion to all of this. As great of a job as Liv did being the champion, anyone who’s watched this story since April knew that Rhea was eventually going to win it back. What was odd though was the fact that the Last Woman Standing stipulation was randomly dropped and this just ended up being a regular one on one match. For how many times we’ve seen these two wrestle each other, that special stipulation would’ve been fitting for this match being that it was the blow off. While the match itself turned out fine and had the right outcome, the special stipulation would’ve made it stand out more.
Now that she’s no longer the champion, Liv’s future seems a little uncertain. As it would be a shame to see her fall out of the spotlight after the year she had, the two best scenarios to keep her relevant would be a run with the women’s tag titles with Raquel or perhaps a move to Smackdown to give her new women like Tiffany Stratton or Bailey to feud with. Now that Rhea has the title again and her feud with Liv is over, the door is now open for her to feud with somebody fresh. With the brief face off she had with Iyo Sky four weeks ago, there’s a strong chance that a match between the two of them could be the direction for WrestleMania. When you look at the women’s roster on Raw from top to bottom, that feels like the most intriguing match that they could put together.
Grade: B
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Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso
Latest Developments:
On the December 2 Raw, Drew McIntyre returned following a two-month absence and laid out Sami Zayn with a Claymore Kick. As Jey Uso was found attacked backstage that same night by an unknown assailant, Drew later revealed that he was the one who did it. Jey returned to gain some revenge on the December 23 Raw as he stopped Drew from attacking Sami. Last week, Jey was attacked from behind by Drew while he was cutting a promo in the ring and Drew would lay him out with a Claymore Kick. Later that night, Adam Pearce made a match between the two of them official for the Raw premiere on Netflix.
Jey Uso came out through the audience after a brief performance from Travis Scott (who was openly smoking a blunt) and even Michael Cole and Pat McAfee were dancing on top of the announce table during the entrance. The match went at a slow pace as Drew had the advantage throughout most of it. Despite hitting Jey with a Claymore, Jey surprisingly kicked out. As Drew attempted another Claymore, he missed and that allowed Jey to put Drew into a crucifix for the pin. Jey quickly left the ring before Drew could attack him and the angry look on Drew’s face after signaled that this feud will continue.
Analysis:
For the potential that this feud has, this match turned out to be a disappointment. Although we will probably see a rematch within the next few weeks, this first meeting didn’t do much to make you excited to see it again. The biggest surprise that came out of this was the way Jey won the match. The crucifix pin came out of nowhere and considering that he won that way, this is probably going to lead to Drew going off the deep end. While this match had a surprising outcome, it’s one that made sense to keep the feud going.
Other than Jey’s entrance and the surprising ending, this was easily the worst part of the whole show. From what we saw here overall, it feels like the best parts of this feud are being saved for the next few weeks. Even though Jey won this match, Drew will eventually get his win back when this feud ends as feuds with Roman and possibly Cody Rhodes seem to be in Drew’s future. For as big as those feuds have the potential to be, this one with Jey feels more like something to kill time until then. If it didn’t feel that way before, it clearly did after what we saw between them this week.
Grade: C
C.M. Punk vs. Seth Rollins
Latest Developments:
When C.M. Punk returned to WWE at the end of the 2023 Survivor Series, Seth Rollins threw a fit at ringside to the point where he needed to be restrained. Other than a few back and forth promos and Rollins being the referee for Punk’s match with Drew McIntyre at Summerslam, both men have been separated from each other up until the December 2 Raw. That night, Rollins voiced his disapproval of Punk being on the same team as Roman Reigns for War Games and this would lead to a heated back-and-forth promo between them that erupted into a brawl. This would happen again on Raw two weeks later and Adam Pearce later made a match between them official for the Raw premiere on Netflix. After one final heated face off between them last week, the stage was set for them to settle their issues in the ring.
In the main event of the show this week, both men put on a match that more than lived up to its anticipation. Certain points in the match even saw Rollins hit Punk with a GTS and Punk return the favor as he hit Rollins with a Curb Stomp. Rollins regained the advantage later and attempted a Falcon Arrow. As he was about to finish it, Punk reversed it into a GTS and proceeded to hit Rollins with another GTS for the win. Jackie Redmond interviewed Punk at ringside after the match, where Punk declared that he would enter this year’s Royal Rumble match.
Analysis:
With the anticipation this match had going into this week’s Raw, it turned out to be the highlight of the whole show. The match delivered in quality, heat, and even though Punk won cleanly, this feud doesn’t feel like it’s over. For how heated things have become between them and the many personal shots they’ve taken at each other, it wouldn’t make any sense to blow this off in one match. The one surprise from this was the fact that Rollins didn’t turn heel when it seemed like it in recent weeks things were heading in that direction. While it didn’t happen here, it is something that will likely happen by the Royal Rumble.
Much like everything else on the show this week, this match felt like WWE’s way of playing it safe. With no heel turn from Rollins or some sort of shocking angle at the end, it would be understandable if someone walked away from watching this feeling kind of let down. While it may not have delivered in that department, this match more than delivered action wise. After seeing how great the chemistry is between these two on promos, now we see that their chemistry is just as good in the ring. Even though the ending may have been a little predictable and somewhat underwhelming, it still feels like the best in this feud is yet to come.
Grade: A
Other Highlights from Raw:
The Rock Opens the Show
The Raw premiere on Netflix opened with a promo from The Rock, his first appearance on Raw since the night after WrestleMania XL in April. While many expected him to be his “Final Boss” character, The Rock cut a promo as more of a company ambassador. He spent most of the time talking about how it was a history making night, while thanking all the executives and WWE. He even gave a shout out to Roman Reigns and even Cody Rhodes, who was sitting in the crowd and the two shared a brief laugh after The Rock mentioned Cody’s mom.
Analysis:
Unless this turns out to be a swerve, this segment pretty much confirmed that The Rock won’t be wrestling at WrestleMania this year. While it was great to have him on the show, he didn’t do anything that really stood out. This segment served as more of a motivational speech about WWE’s future than one used to build to a potential match. Overall, we saw less of The Rock here and more of Dwayne Johnson.
Hulk Hogan Makes an Appearance
In the middle of the show, Hulk Hogan came out with Jimmy Hart to cut a promo. Throughout the brief segment, the audience booed Hogan heavily. Despite attempts to kiss up to the audience by telling them they were his greatest tag team partner; the audience wasn’t interested. The booing only intensified as Hogan plugged in his Real American Beer that WWE now owns a minority share in.
Analysis:
For the reputation Hulk Hogan has built for himself over the years with his out of the ring antics, it is no surprise that the audience responded to him this way. No one could say he was booed over his political views in this case as despite also being a Trump supporter, The Undertaker was cheered earlier in the show. This segment just served as a prime example that most of the audience is wise to the kind of person that Hogan is. From all the stories about his lying, politicking, and the racist rant of his that was caught on tape, it’s easy to see why people have soured on him.
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