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WWE RAW REPORT
JANUARY 13, 2025
SAN JOSE, CALIF. AT SAP CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON NETFLIX
BY MAURICIO POMARES, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee
Ring Announcer: Alicia Taylor
Attendance: WrestleTix reports that 12,536 tickets were distributed. The arena has a capacity of 19,190spectators when configured for concerts.
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[HOUR ONE]
– The show opened with a video package featuring numerous highlights from the debut of Raw on Netflix.
– CM Punk arrived at the arena and made his way to the ring. Punk briefly addressed the first responders combating the fires in California and showed his support. Punk gloated about defeating Seth Rollins last year and said that he was no longer on his plate. He talked about getting injured at last year’s Royal Rumble and feeling like he could no longer see his dreams. Punk addressed John Cena declaring himself for the Royal Rumble and confirmed that he would enter too.
– Seth Rollins interrupted and revealed that he had a black eye. Rollins said that he was here because he promised to do it regardless of the result. Rollins said that last week was the worst loss of his career. He said that to redeem himself he would destroy Punk’s WrestleMania dreams and win the Royal Rumble.
– Drew McIntyre interrupted to say that he was disgusted. Punk threatened Drew, only for Drew to point out that he was talking to Rollins. Drew said that Rollins was not a leader and that he allowed Roman Reigns to win Tribal Combat. Punk said that he had no time for either of them and dared them to fight him. Rollins was ready to fight, but Drew refused to enter the ring and said that there was a much bigger problem. Drew said that the only way was to get the title before Roman does, and he would do it by winning the Royal Rumble.
(Pomares’ Analysis: A solid opening with the intention to mainly push the stories of Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins. This should be the start of what seems to be an intriguing program going into WrestleMania and it could play out in many ways at the Rumble. Having said that, I’m not sure we needed the first 20 minutes of the show to get to this point.)
– Chad Gable made his way to the ring, ahead of his match against a mystery luchador.
[Commercial Break]
– Chad Gable’s mystery opponent was revealed to be the debuting Penta.
(1) CHAD GABLE vs. PENTA
Gable put Penta in a wrist lock and swept him off his feet, setting him up for a headlock. They traded pinning combinations and arm drags before having a face-off. Penta caught Gable with a thrust kick, followed by a roll-through and a leg drop. Gable stopped Penta before he could go for a suicide dive with a Xploder. Penta trapped Gable’s head in the turnbuckle and hit him with a thrust, followed by an elevated dropkick. Gable blocked a springboard move and put Penta down with a German suplex on the apron. Gable smashed Penta’s leg into the ring post and laid him out with a back suplex for a two count.
Penta kicked Gable away, only for Gable to shut him down with a belly-to-belly suplex into the corner. They started exchanging chops to the chest, until Penta took Gable down with an inverted sling blade. Penta launched Gable out of the ring and crushed him with a Tope con Hilo. Back in the ring, Penta nailed Gable with an enzuigiri, followed by a high crossbody and a kick to the leg. Penta dropped Gable with a backstabber, but he managed to kick out at two.
Gable caught Penta off-guard with a bridging German suplex for a close two count. Gable avoided a chop and put Penta in an armbar using the top rope. Penta surprised Gable with a chop, setting him up for an avalanche headscissors takeover and a Destroyer for a nearfall. Gable countered a kick to the leg with a dragon screw and trapped him in an ankle lock. Penta managed to break the hold and snap Gable’s arm before finishing him with the Penta Driver.
WINNER: Penta at 13:26
– After the match, Jackie Redmond interviewed Penta about making his debut in WWE. Penta thanked the crowd, said that this was his new home and that he was waiting for this moment. Penta spoke in Spanish to address the Latino American fans and thank them for supporting him on his road to WWE.
(Pomares’ Analysis: A really strong showing for Penta in his WWE debut. He very quickly got the live crowd on his side and Chad Gable was an excellent choice for a first opponent. The post-match promo was well-delivered and the crowd was fully on board with it. I don’t know what the future holds for Penta in WWE, but this match and promo already paint a promising start to his run. The only major negative was his incredibly generic entrance music.)
– Backstage, Finn Bálor mockingly said that Liv Morgan would soon be world champion once again. Liv said that it was more about taking something from Rhea RIpley. Dominik Mysterio showed up with flowers for Liv, but Liv insisted that things were okay and she was not mad. Finn said that tonight he would put an end to Damian Priest before they could focus on getting the tag titles back.
– Sheamus made his way to the ring, ahead of his match against Ludwig Kaiser.
[Commercial Break]
(2) SHEAMUS vs. LUDWIG KAISER
Sheamus laid Kaiser out with a clothesline, only for Kaiser to respond with a kick to the head. Kaiser pulled Sheamus’ head into the ropes to block the Beats of Bodhran and made him crash onto the announce table. Kaiser nailed Sheamus with a running dropkick into a chair and the barricade, as WWE Raw went to commercials.
[Commercial Break]
[HOUR TWO]
Back from break, Kaiser planted Sheamus with a fireman’s carry slam for a two count. Kaiser attacked Sheamus with a series of kicks, only for Sheamus to take him down with a clothesline. Sheamus pummeled Kaiser with the 10 Beats of Bodhran and flattened him with a White Noise. Kaiser picked up Sheamus’ shillelagh, but Sheamus stopped him from using it with a pump knee. Kaiser blocked the Brogue Kick with a chop and nailed Sheamus with an enzuigiri for a two count. Sheamus cracked Kaiser with a pump knee and Kaiser responded with a rolling senton for a nearfall. Sheamus evaded an enzuigiri and knocked Kaiser out with the Brogue Kick.
WINNER: Sheamus at 8:48
(Pomares’ Analysis: This was another good match between these two, but I’m ready to move on. This is the fourth singles match between these two and unlike Andrade and Carmelo who made a story out of their series of matches, this feels like a lack of creativity. Hopefully, Kaiser can move on to a different opponent or even swap brands to revitalize himself.)
– After the match, Sheamus had a face-off with Bron Breakker and a referee stopped them from getting into a brawl.
– Backstage, Cathy Kelley interviewed Seth Rollins about his upcoming match with Drew McIntyre on next week’s Raw. Rollins said that he wanted to fight him tonight, but next week would be fun. Sami Zayn showed up to speak with Rollins about his loss to CM Punk. Rollins said that he had a tough week, unlike Sami who helped Roman Reigns get back his Ula Fala. Rollins asked Sami if he would keep on helping Roman win the Rumble and get back the WWE title or start helping himself.
[Commercial Break]
– Backstage, Karrion Kross came out of Adam Pearce’s office and confronted The Miz about The Wyatt Sicks apparently being moved to SmackDown. Sami Zayn interrupted to ask if Pearce was in his office. Kross told Sami that he overheard his conversation and talked about his friendship ending over his world title ambitions. Miz mocked Sami for not being a threat to the world title and Sami decided to go talk with Pearce and get a match against him.
– Gunther made his way to the ring to criticize the level of wrestling from last week and said that he needed someone to step up and fight him for his world title. Jey Uso interrupted to say that Drew McIntyre and The Bloodline were behind me and challenged Gunther to a title match at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Gunther said that it would be naive for Jey to think that he will be the man to take the belt from him.
– Gunther reminded Jey that he had already beat him twice and that he would expose him as a really talented tag team wrestler. He said that to Jey ‘main event’ was a nickname while to him it was where he belonged. Gunther accepted to face Jey, but told him that it was up to him to take the match. Gunther walked away, only for Jey to grab a mic and said that he was still trying to earn people’s respect and would make him respect him at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
(Pomares’ Analysis: Decent segment to set up a placeholder title program. It’s cool to see Jey show more emotions than just yelling ‘yeet’ every other sentence. I’m really hoping Gunther gets into a much better program after the Rumble because he’s been on a bit of a lackluster run since losing to Cody.)
– A video package was shown, recapping the history of Dakota Kai and Lyra Valkyria on their
[Commercial Break]
(3) LYRA VALKYRIA vs. DAKOTA KAI – Women’s Intercontinental Championship
They avoided each other’s moves, until Lyra pulled Kai out of the ring. Kai blocked a dropkick through the ropes and put Lyra down with a facebuster on the apron. Lyra swept Kai off her feet and laid her out with a suplex off the apron to the floor, as WWE Raw went to an ad break.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Lyra pulled Kai’s arms back while putting pressure on her back with her feet. Lyra kicked Kai away and blocked a Scorpion Kick, only for Kai to keep her away with a bunch of kicks. Kai knocked Lyra down with a hurracarrana, followed by a running boot to the face and the sunset flip backstabber for a nearfall. Lyra blocked the GTK and planted Kai with a sitout powerbomb for a close two count.
Lyra nailed Kai with a kick to the head, setting her up for a diving leg drop to the back and another two count. Kai caught Lyra with a Scorpion Kick, following it with a Curb Stomp and the GTK, but Lyra immediately rolled out of the ring. Lyra evaded a running boot to the face to hit Kai with a back slam before finishing her with the Nightwing.
WINNER: Lyra Valkyria at 8:32 (Inaugural Women’s Intercontinental Champion)
(Pomares’ Analysis: A pretty good encounter to finally crown the women’s intercontinental champion. Lyra Valkyria’s run since moving to the main roster has been mixed to say the least, but this feels like the re-start she needed to make a name for herself on Raw. Part of me wanted Dakota to win, but I get why they went with Lyra instead.)
[Commercial Break]
(4) SAMI ZAYN vs. THE MIZ
Miz put Sami in a headlock, only for Sami to take him down with a clothesline and an axe handle. Miz caught Sami with a knee to the mid-section and a running boot to the face. Sami attacked Miz with a bunch of right hands and dropped him with a Xploder into the corner. Miz blocked the Helluva Kick with a boot to the face, followed by a DDT for a two count. Miz blocked the Blue Thunderbomb and Sami countered the Skull Crushing Finale with a roll-through. Sami shocked Miz with the Helluva Kick and finished him with the Blue Thunderbomb.
WINNER: Sami Zayn at 4:08
(Pomares’ Analysis: Just a quick win to put Sami Zayn back on track as a viable singles wrestler. He kind of needed it after not winning any one-on-one encounter since September.)
[Commercial Break]
[HOUR THREE]
– It was confirmed that Bron Breakker would defend his title against Sheamus; and that Gunther would battle Jey Uso at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
– Rhea Ripley made her way to the ring to celebrate her title win, only for Nia Jax to interrupt her. Jax declared that she would win the Royal Rumble and that she would take whatever title she wanted. Jax mocked Bayley who was watching from the crowd and insulted San Jose. Bayley got up from her seat and entered the ring to confront Jax before Jax pushed her down. They got into a brawl, until Bayley and Ripley stood tall and sent Jax out of the ring.
(Pomares’ Analysis: An okay segment to have Rhea Ripley on the show and maybe tease a Ripley and Bayley match. Kind of a lackluster follow-up to last week’s title change.)
– It was confirmed that the New Day would return to action; JBL would make an appearance; and Seth Rollins would take on Drew McIntyre next week.
– A video package was shown, recapping the rivalry between Damian Priest and Finn Bálor.
– Damian Priest made his way to the ring and started throwing weapons into the ring, ahead of his Street Fight against Finn Bálor.
[Commercial Break]
(5) DAMIAN PRIEST vs. FINN BÁLOR – Street Fight
Finn showed up behind Priest to pummel him with a kendo stick. Priest blocked a kendo stick shot and whacked Finn with it numerous times. Finn smashed Priest’s head into the announce table, only for Prist to drop him with a flatliner onto it. Priest set up a table at ringside before Finn swept him off his feet and threw him over the barricade. Finn clobbered Priest with a trash can to the head and back, but Priest responded with a forearm strike to the head.
Priest smacked Finn’s head with the trash can and dumped him back into ringside. Finn sent Priest over the barricade and nailed him with a chair shot before Priest Irish-whipped him into a guardrail. They took the brawl into the stands and Priest dropped Finn off a balcony with a Falcon Arrow through two tables, as WWE Raw went to its final commercial break.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Finn was carried away on a stretcher alongside the rest of Judgment Day. Priest ran across the ramp to beat JD McDonagh and Carlito down before pummeling Finn with a series of forearm strikes. Priest drove the stretcher back into the ring and clobbered Finn with a rebound clothesline. Carlito saved Finn from South of Heaven by hitting Priest with a backstabber. JD crushed Priest with a moonsault, setting him up for Finn’s Coup de Grace for a nearfall. The War Raiders showed up to take JD out with a pop up powerslam and beat Carlito down all the way to the back.
Finn hit Priest with a sling blade and attacked him with a bunch of chair shots to the back. Finn put a chair on Priest’s neck, only for Finn to drop him with South of Heaven for a nearfall. Priest pulled Finn out of the ring and tried to for the Razor’s Edge, but Finn shut him down with a sling blade. Finn laid Priest on a table and put him through it with a Coup de Grace. Priest rammed Finn through the barricade and put him through a table with the Razor’s Edge. Back in the ring, Priest hit Finn with one final South of Heaven for the victory.
WINNER: Damian Priest at 17:16
(Pomares’ Analysis: A strong main event to finally put an end to this neverending feud. The early parts of the match kind of dragged on, but the action really picked up after the balcony Falcon Arrow spot. Now that both parties involved will be able to move on to new and more exciting feuds on the road to WrestleMania. I assume the Judgment Day will slowly move to a break up story that finally puts the group out of its misery. Meanwhile, there’s no clear opponent for Priest, but based on how much his stock has risen since last year’s Mania, I could see him in a marquee singles match against a guy like Bron Breakker.)
Advertised Matches & Appearances
- Dakota Kai vs. Lyra Valkyria – Women’s Intercontinental Championship match
- Damian Priest vs. Finn Balor – Street Fight
- Sheamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser
- Chad Gable vs. Mystery Luchador
- C.M. Punk to appear
- Rhea Ripley to appear
- Gunther to appear
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