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In the second week of the Raw Netflix era, things really heated up as it pertains to the Royal Rumble in three weeks. As John Cena and Roman Reigns have already entered, we had a few more major stars add their names into it.
Despite defeating Seth Rollins last week, it seems C.M. Punk will still have to get through him and many others if he hopes to finally main event WrestleMania.
Coming off that defeat, Rollins is now determined to get revenge in a way that will hurt Punk the most. With another heated segment between the two that almost went to blows once again, someone from their past appeared to spice things up.
While we haven’t seen it yet, all that happened this week set the wheels in motion for a Rollins heel turn. In addition to that, we had one of the best Raw debuts in recent memory, another banger between Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser, the answer to who Gunther’s next challenger will be, and the blow off to the feud between Damien Priest and Finn Balor.
While it may not have had the same hype and star power as the big Netflix premiere last week, this week’s Raw in many ways turned out to be the stronger show.
C.M. Punk vs. Seth Rollins
Latest Developments:
After weeks of promos and taking personal shots at each other, C.M. Punk and Seth Rollins finally faced each other in the ring last week. Both men put on the best match of the night as they hit each other with their best shots for close to 20 minutes. When Rollins attempted a Falcon Arrow, Punk reversed it into a GTS followed by a second one to get the big win. This week, Punk opened Raw in the ring and briefly referenced John Cena before he announced that he would officially be entering the Royal Rumble match. Despite Punk asking to have his song played, the music of Seth Rollins played as he came out to interrupt.
Rollins said that losing to Punk last week was the worst loss of his career, and the only way to seek redemption would be to win the Royal Rumble and throw Punk out of it in the process. In the middle of all this, Drew McIntyre then came out to interrupt and while Punk thought Drew came out to confront him, Drew said he was there to call out Rollins for being no better than Punk and only pretending to be.Punk said he was out of time and ready to fight either one of them and as Drew walked to the ring as if he was going to join in, he backed away and said no. He then stated that Roman Reigns was the bigger problem and the only way to stop Roman from getting the title back would be by entering the Royal Rumble himself. Later in the night, it was announced that Rollins will face Drew on Raw next week.
Analysis:
While not as memorable as the segment between these three men that took place on the March 25 Raw of last year, this segment succeeded in building interest for the Royal Rumble. With John Cena and Roman Reigns already in, adding Punk, Rollins, and Drew into it is making this year’s Rumble feel like the biggest one in a long time. As mentioned last week, the feud between Punk and Rollins was bound to continue despite Punk winning last week’s match cleanly. From how this segment went, it looks like their feud is going to play a big part in the Royal Rumble match, with Drew being added into the mix. Ultimately, this segment made you more focused on the Rumble match and the possibilities of different people facing off than just one set feud.
Of all the potential confrontations we could see in the Rumble match, the one this segment got people most excited to see is one between Punk and Cena. Considering that Punk mentioned him briefly in his promo and the fact that they haven’t faced each other in 12 years, the possibility of those two crossing paths is something no one dreamed could ever happen again. Even though it’s not official yet, something else to watch out for is the inevitable Rollins heel turn. After expressing how much last week’s loss hurt him and the way he spoke to Sami Zayn in the back later, it seems clear that his issues with Punk and also Roman are going to push him over the edge. This segment served as the perfect way to start the show, while also keeping the audience focused on what’s to come.
Grade: B
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Penta vs. Chad Gable
Latest Developments:
Last week, Chad Gable barged into Adam Pearce’s office to guarantee the success he and American Made would have in 2025. Gable then demanded a match with the best luchador that Pearce could find. After Pearce said he had someone in mind and asked if Gable was sure, Gable said he had never been surer of anything. This week, Gable came out for the match and waited patiently to see who his mystery opponent would be. The luchador Pearce recruited for him to face turned out to be the debuting Penta.
After a spectacular entrance, Penta and Gable had a competitive match that went close to 15 minutes. While Gable worked on Penta’s leg for a good part of it, Penta made a comeback with a leap onto Gable over the top rope and a Mexican Destroyer. Gable eventually trapped Penta in the Ankle Lock, but Penta then reversed it into a Sacrifice and finished off Gable with a Penta Driver for the win. After the match, Jackie Redmond came into the ring to interview Penta. Speaking both English and Spanish, Penta said that he waited a long time for this moment and ended the interview by saying that this was not only the Netflix new era, but this was now the Penta new era.
Analysis:
The debut of Penta this week may go down as one of the strongest debuts in WWE history. From the entrance, presentation, the match itself, and the promo afterwards, everything about Penta’s first WWE match was a home run. While it seems for years WWE has been trying to find their next Mexican superstar on the level of Rey Mysterio, it looks like they may have found that here in Penta. For it being his debut, this match with Gable was much more competitive than most were probably expecting it to be. However, it didn’t take anything away from Penta’s debut and if anything, the fact that the match was so competitive made him look even stronger.
What was also nice was the fact that Penta’s family was sitting at ringside and how emotional they were while watching all of this. In addition to that, it was great hearing how grateful he was to have this moment in the post-match promo. Considering all of that, it was hard not to be happy for him that he was able to have the debut that he did. With him having the potential of being WWE’s next Mexican superstar, a potential showdown with Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania could be an interesting direction to go in. While a lot remains to be seen as this was only the first night, Penta’s WWE career looks very promising from what we saw here.
Grade: A
Sheamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser
Latest Developments:
At Survivor Series on November 30, Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser competed in a Triple Threat match along with Bron Breakker for the Intercontinental Title. During the match, Kaiser attacked Sheamus with a shillelagh and broke his ribs in the process. Two weeks ago, Kaiser was cutting a promo in the ring and called out Breakker. What he got instead was a returning Sheamus, who laid Kaiser out with a Brogue Kick. It was announced last week that Sheamus and Kaiser would face each other once again on Raw this week.
This week, both men had another hard-hitting match. After Kaiser mocked Sheamus and missed a kick attempt, Sheamus hit him with the Brogue Kick to get the win. After the match, Sheamus was outside the ring celebrating with Pat McAfee when he suddenly noticed Bron Breakker in the front row. After a brief stare down, Breakker shoved Sheamus and the two were separated by the referee before it could escalate any further. Later in the night, it was announced that Breakker will defend the Intercontinental Title against Sheamus on January 25 at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Analysis:
As great as the chemistry is between Kaiser and Sheamus, this is a match we’ve seen too many times. With Sheamus once again winning this most recent match, it feels as if now this feud is over as there’s a strong possibility of Kaiser moving to Smackdown. With this feud seemingly in the rearview, it now opens the door for Sheamus to finally win the Intercontinental Title for the first time. After the Triple Threat match at Survivor Series ended how it did, it was clear that we would see Sheamus and Breakker eventually cross paths again. The way this all was set up when Sheamus suddenly noticed Breakker in the front row was done perfectly and was a strong way of furthering the tension between them.
Although they will face each other at the upcoming Saturday Night’s Main Event, it feels like ending the feud there would be too soon. With how long Sheamus has been chasing that title, having him win it on a Saturday Night’s Main Event doesn’t seem like the right pay off. As mentioned before, this feud between Breakker and Sheamus is one that is interesting enough to stretch all the way to WrestleMania. If that’s the destination, then Sheamus winning the Intercontinental Title for the first time shouldn’t happen anywhere else but there. Until then, seeing the story they could tell between these two and Sheamus chasing his first IC title are stories that will be worth investing into every week.
Grade: B
Gunther vs. Jey Uso
Latest Developments:
Last week, Jey Uso pulled off a huge upset with a win over Drew McIntyre. Surprisingly, one person who did not appear on last week’s show was World Heavyweight Champion Gunther. In his first TV appearance since Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 14, Gunther came out to the ring this week to cut a promo about how his title being the one prize worth fighting for. In the middle of his promo, he was interrupted by Jey. Jey said now that Drew and the Bloodline drama was behind him, he was ready to challenge Gunther for his title at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
While Gunther said he admired his courage, he reminded Jey that he already defeated him twice before during his Intercontinental Title reign. Gunther then stated that the term “main event” is only a tagline for Jey while the main event is the place where he belongs and when the bell rings, he would expose Jey for being nothing more than a talented tag team wrestler. As Gunther said he accepted the challenge before he left the ring, Jey cut a passionate promo about how he was scared to be a singles star and every week he bets on himself to earn respect. He ended the segment by stating he would earn Gunther’s respect by beating him for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Analysis:
While it seemed odd that Jey Uso defeated Drew McIntyre last week out of nowhere, the fact that he’s now facing Gunther explained why that happened. With Jey’s popularity at an all time high, a title match against Gunther is a great spot for him to be in. As Saturday Night’s Main Event is less than two weeks away, this match serves as a strong main event for it. If Gunther won’t be having a match at the Royal Rumble, this is the next best thing to have him occupied. While it’s been odd not seeing him on TV over the last month, a mini feud with Jey is a great way to feature him in something major.
As Gunther shines in talking down to his opponents like they’re beneath him, Jey was the perfect person for this segment. Gunther really got Jey good with a few of his insults, including the one where he said he’d expose him for being just a talented tag team wrestler. As great and genuine as Jey’s response was about earning the spot he has now, no one is really expecting him to win the title right now. While the match will deliver like their previous ones have, it feels as if we will see interference from Drew in this upcoming match in order to get even for his loss. Although this feud probably won’t last very long, this segment displayed that it will be a fun one to watch while it lasts.
Grade: B
Damien Priest vs. Finn Balor
Latest Developments:
At Summerslam on August 3, Finn Balor turned on Damien Priest by costing him the World Heavyweight Championship. While Priest gained some revenge with a win over Finn at Bad Blood in October, Finn would once again cost Priest the title at Survivor Series on November 30. After both men failed to win the title in a Triple Threat match with Gunther two weeks later at Saturday Night’s Main Event, Priest then cost Finn and JD McDonaugh the World Tag Team Titles the following Monday on Raw. Last week, it was announced that the two would finally settle their issues in a Street Fight on Raw this week.
In the main event of this week’s show, Priest waited for Finn in the ring to make his entrance before Finn attacked from behind with a kendo stick. The fight between the two then went all throughout the ringside area and into the crowd, where Priest hit Finn with a Broken Arrow from a high platform through the tables down below. Although JD and Carlito later interfered for an unfair advantage, the War Raiders showed up to fight them off and it was then just one on one. Finn gained the advantage with a Coup De Grace from the apron through a table, but Priest later rebounded with a Razor’s Edge to Finn through another table. As both men were back in the ring, Priest said to Finn “I am not my brother’s keeper” and hit him with a South of Heaven to put an end to this long feud and win the match.
Analysis:
While this feud did drag out longer than it should have, it had one hell of a payoff. Other than the Pento and Gable match, this match was the highlight of the whole show. These two didn’t waste any time as Finn attacked Priest from behind before the match started and it was just nonstop from there. While there were many highlights from this Street Fight, the main highlight was the Broken Arrow from the high platform that Priest did to Finn. Even though it’s only January, that spot will go down as one of the craziest moments of 2025.
With this match being as great as it was, it ultimately had the right outcome. Considering that this feud started when Finn cost Priest the title and kicked him out of Judgment Day, it was only right for Priest to get the last laugh in the end. Now that this feud is over, it leaves the question of where both men go from here. Since the World Title picture is crowded right now and he and Gunther has already been done, one person Priest could feud with that would be interesting is Karrion Kross. As far as Finn goes, it’s possible that he could feud with Dominik Mysterio as they’ve teased dissension between them recently and it could lead to either Finn being kicked out of Judgment Day, or the group breaking up all together.
Grade: A
Sami Zayn vs. The Miz
Sami Zayn ran into Seth Rollins backstage and told him he was there for him if he needed to talk. Rollins responded by telling Sami he should be happy since he helped Roman Reigns win last week and then asked if he was going to keep helping Roman or start helping himself. Sami then went to Adam Pearce’s office before being insulted by The Miz over never winning a World Title, which led to Sami requesting a match with him later in the night. In a relatively short match, Sami hit Miz with a Helluva Kick and won the match with a Blue Thunder Bomb.
Analysis:
From what we saw here, it looks like we are seeing a story being told surrounding Sami Zayn eventually challenging for one of the major titles. The fact that it was brought up by both Rollins and Miz is a clear sign that this will be something that will play out with Sami over the next few months. What was surprising here was the fact that Sami won with the Blue Thunder Bomb, as it’s a move he’s rarely ever won with. Now with the Royal Rumble around the corner, this story surrounding Sami should be one of the main ones we see play out in it.
Women’s Intercontinental Championship Tournament Finals
On the November 25 Raw, Adam Pearce revealed that there would be a tournament to decide who would become the inaugural women’s Intercontinental Champion. This week, the finals of that tournament came down to Lyra Valkyria and Dakota Kai. These two had a competitive match that saw Dakota hit Lyra with the GTK, only for Lyra to roll out of the ring to avoid being pinned. Lyra rebounded and hit the Nightwing on Dakota to get the win and becomes the first women’s Intercontinental Champion.
Analysis:
While this match would’ve benefitted from being a little longer, both women made great use of the time they had. Having a secondary title for the women will be a good way of showcasing talent like these two who have been overlooked. Lyra feels like the perfect first person to hold this title and with her talent and the potential great matches she could have, she will set the tone in making this title feel prestigious. Considering that Becky Lynch is on her way back soon, a title match between those two at WrestleMania would be a match worth investing in as well as one that will help establish the importance of this new title.
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