SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
With Survivor Series and War Games in the rearview, CM Punk now has his sights set on other goals. Before he could dive into what those goals were, a certain someone let it be known that their issues with him are far from over. Those bitter feelings were aired out on full display on Raw, with others being added into the mix. Instead of just having issues with CM Punk, this person now has issues with multiple people. As Jey Uso was mysteriously found attacked backstage later in the night, many pointed to this person as the attacker.
By the time Raw was over, the identity of Jey’s attacker became even more of a mystery. In addition to that, we had the New Day 10-year anniversary that ended in shocking fashion, an answer on who Gunther’s next challenger is going to be, and Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez once again getting the better of Rhea Ripley. For as much as there was that took place, this was perhaps the best post-Survivor Series Raw since 2001.
Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk
Latest Developments:
CM Punk was mocked by Seth Rollins during his last appearance on Raw after Bad Blood, as Rollins said he couldn’t wait for Punk to come back so he could retire him. In the last few weeks leading up to Survivor Series, Seth Rollins refused to join Team Roman Reigns despite constant pleas from Sami Zayn. As a favor to Paul Heyman, the man who took that spot on the team instead was CM Punk. Despite his past issues with Roman, Punk played a huge role in helping his team defeat Team Solo in War Games.
Fresh off that win, CM Punk would open Raw and declare what was next in his future. As he pointed to the imaginary WrestleMania sign, he was interrupted by Seth Rollins. Rollins stated that he regretted not knocking out Punk when he first came back last year and after seeing him team with Roman, it was time to rectify his mistakes. Punk then said that Rollins was the champion and once had something he wanted, but now he had nothing. He continued by stating that while Rollins spends so much time thinking about him, he doesn’t think about him at all. After telling Rollins to stay out of his business, Rollins responded by saying that this was his business and then he shoved Punk down. A shocked Punk got back up and the two of them brawled before being separated by Sami Zayn and Jey Uso.
Analysis:
You can always feel the tension in the air when these two are together. Like Punk’s feud with Drew McIntyre, you get the vibe between Punk and Rollins that they really don’t like each other. After Punk ended up being on Roman’s team, it was obvious that Rollins was going to be upset about it. While it seemed as if he would’ve played a factor in the outcome to War Games, it was smart to wait for this segment to heat things up between them again. While we were supposed to get this match earlier this year at WrestleMania, this segment showed that it’s going to be worth the wait once we do get it.
With WrestleMania still four months away, that leaves plenty of time for them to be busy in other feuds. While Rollins still has unfinished business with Bronson Reed (if he won’t be out for too long with his injury from War Games), it feels as if Punk could challenge Gunther for the World Heavyweight Title. Segments like this during this time of the year always give you something to get excited about heading into the new year. This is a feud we’ve waited for since Punk came back last year and now that nothing else stands in the way of it, we finally get to watch the fireworks. As we’re entering the most exciting time of the year, the feud between these two will be a prime example of why it is.
Grade: A
Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan
Latest Developments:
At Survivor Series, Team Rhea defeated Team Liv in War Games after Rhea Ripley pinned Liv Morgan following a top rope Riptide through a table. Despite pinning the champion, Rhea will have to wait a little longer for a title shot as Liv’s next challenger will be number one contender Iyo Sky at Saturday Night’s Main Event. On Raw, Liv & Raquel Rodriguez would face Iyo and Kari Sane in a tag team match. As Iyo took Liv out with a dive through the second rope, Raquel finished off Kari with the Tejana Bomb to get the win. After the match, Liv and Raquel continued their attack on both women.
Rhea would then come out to make the save, but Liv ran away before she could get to her. Rhea and Raquel then fought to the point where they ended up outside the ring and as Rhea had the advantage, Liv jumped on her back. Although Rhea bumped her into the ring post, Raquel took advantage as she threw Rhea face first into the edge of the announce table. Raquel and Liv stood tall over her as security came to break everything up. It was later announced that Rhea will face Raquel next week on Raw.
Analysis:
This segment basically established that Rhea will now have to go through Raquel to get another shot at Liv. Considering that Liv still must defend the title against Iyo Sky, this route makes sense. While Liv and Iyo will be a good match, the on-going feud between Rhea and Liv makes the outcome for it a forgone conclusion. The way they had Raquel throw Rhea face first into the edge of the announce table was brutal and is a sign that their scheduled match next week won’t just be a one off. When you look back at how great their matches together were in NXT (especially their Last Woman Standing match), this feud has a lot of potential.
When Rhea was out with her injury last month and it seemed like she would be gone a long time, it felt like her feud with Liv could be stretched out until WrestleMania since they’d have to get away from it for a while. Now that she’s already back, it would be pushing it to stretch out the feud that long. Even though she now must fight off Raquel, to extend this storyline for another four months would cause it to become stale by the time we get to WrestleMania. From how it looks now, the eventual blow off to this feud should either be at the first Raw on Netflix on January 6 or at the Royal Rumble the latest. Regardless of when the final blow off should be, this will still go down as one of the best feuds of the year and one of the best women’s feuds WWE has had in recent memory.
Grade: B
Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Podcast weekly Tuesday Flagship episode with guest cohost Jason Powell: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “wade Keller” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
The New Day 10-Year Anniversary
Latest Developments:
Last week, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods got into a heated argument where they took every personal shot at each other that you could think of. With this week being their 10-year anniversary celebration, you had a feeling with everything going on that it wouldn’t have a happy ending. As the two came out for the celebration this week, you could tell that they weren’t really in a celebrating mood. While reflecting on the history they had made over the past decade, they said that what they were about to say next was not the fault of the audience. Before they could say what that was, they were interrupted by Big E.
Big E came out to remind them of why they all came together in the first place and how in the beginning, they only had each other. He continued by saying until he’s medically cleared, he’s going to be around every week to serve as their managers to help get them back on track. Xavier angrily responded to this by criticizing Big E for waiting so long to show up like this and then Kofi added to this by saying that Big E left them. While Big E tried to defend himself by bringing up his neck injury, Kofi & Xavier were having none of it as they mentioned all the people in the past who had come back from similar injuries (even Xavier when he tore his Achilles) and how he left them to start a new life. Kofi & Xavier then told Big E to get out of the ring and the two of them shook hands as E left the ring in tears.
Analysis:
While many of us figured Big E was going to be a part of this segment, no one expected for it to turn out like this. It felt as if Xavier was going to be the one to turn, but having Xavier and Kofi both turn on Big E was not anything anyone saw coming. As unpredictable as it was, it all made for a great segment. The New Day split has been one of the best parts of Raw in recent months and with this new shake up added to it, it now feels like it’s only getting better. Considering it’s been eight years since they’ve been heels, seeing both Kofi & Xavier in this role is going to be an interesting change of pace.
With Big E’s involvement in this, it may be a sign that he could be on his way back into the ring soon. As mean and harsh as they were to him in this segment, it doesn’t feel like his involvement was just a one off. After what happened this week, there is no way that this storyline doesn’t stretch all the way into WrestleMania season. Between all three of them, this is the best work they’ve all been a part of in years. For a segment with as much of a story and anticipation behind it as it did, it really delivered and left the door open for more compelling stories to tell.
Grade: A
Gunther vs. Finn Balor
Latest Developments:
At Survivor Series, Gunther successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Damien Priest due to outside interference from Finn Balor. However, during the match, Gunther thanked Finn for his help with a big boot to the face. This week, Finn along with Dominik Mysterio confronted Gunther backstage as he claimed Gunther owed him a title shot due to helping him in the match. Gunther responded by saying he didn’t owe him anything since he never asked for his help and said that Dominik deserved a match against him since he actually defeated Priest before. Claiming he had some pull since he was the champion, Gunther said he would have a talk with Adam Pearce, which resulted in a match being made between Gunther and Dominik later that night.
As the match happened, Gunther unsurprisingly gave Dominik a beating that only the champion could dish out. However, Dominik made a surprise comeback with a low blow, 619, and a Frog Splash. Despite the effort, the champion ultimately finished Dominik off with a Powerbomb. After the match, Finn attacked Gunther and hit with a Coup De Grace. Finn then looked at Dominik and said “Watch and learn kid” as he then hit Gunther with two more Coup De Grace and told Dominik “That’s how it’s done” before he left the ring. As Finn later confronted Pearce backstage, Pearce made the match official between Gunther and Finn Balor for the World Heavyweight Title to take place at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Analysis:
Although Finn Balor interfering in the title match at Survivor Series felt like the same finish as the one at Summerslam, Finn now having issues with Gunther spices things up. Gunther and Finn is a fresh matchup and from what happened between them on Raw, it’s a feud that has a lot of potential. More than likely, Damien Priest is going to end up getting added to this and that will lead to a Triple Threat match possibly on the first Raw on Netflix. As it felt like Priest feuding with Finn again would be a step backwards, doing it in this scenario makes it more intriguing than just another singles match between them. Having both men to feud with should keep Gunther occupied from now until WrestleMania season, with some fun matches to watch along the way.
Even though it was basically a squash match, the match between Gunther and Dominik was entertaining. The sequence where Dominik looked like he was about to win with the Frog Splash was a great near fall, and you could even hear some fans chanting “Dirty Dom.” With his performance in this match and there now being tension between him and Finn, all of this could be the start of a new direction for his character. Also, with Finn now in the title picture, it’s inevitable that he and JD McDonaugh will drop the World Tag Team Titles to the War Raiders before the year is over, possibly because of Dominik. From everything we saw this week, it’s starting to feel like the beginning of the end for this version of Judgment Day.
Grade: B
Seth Rollins vs. Sami Zayn
Latest Developments:
As Sami Zayn and Jey Uso came out to break up the brawl between CM Punk and Seth Rollins at the beginning of Raw, Rollins told Punk and Jey as they walked to the back to run along to Roman. When Sami spoke up for Jey, Rollins said that he was sorry because he understands that Jey is Roman’s family but then looked at Sami and asked, “What’s your excuse?” He then went on to say Sami stabbed him in the back by teaming up with Punk, and Sami responded by reminding Rollins that he initially asked him to be on the team twice, but he turned him down because he was too stubborn. While Rollins ranted about how Sami was asking him to put Roman back in power by joining his team, Sami brought up how Rollins helped create the Roman we see today by hitting him with a chair a decade ago. Rollins then told Sami that he also did the same thing and that his stubbornness isn’t the issue considering Roman’s past behavior, Sami’s stupidity was. Set off by those comments, Sami challenged Rollins to a match for later that night, which Rollins agreed to.
Jey Uso was found attacked backstage before the match, leading Sami to believe that it was Rollins who did it. As the match between the two went on, Sami constantly accused Rollins of being the attacker to the point where he was even about to hit him with a chair. Rollins maintained that he didn’t do it and that it could have possibly been Punk, leading Sami to throw the chair away. This distraction would allow Rollins to pick up the win with a small package, and afterwards he told Sami “I love your heart, but you’ve got to start using your head.” As Sami stared down Rollins as he left the ring, he turned around to a Claymore Kick from a man in a hoodie that turned out to be a returning Drew McIntyre.
Analysis:
As great as the segment was between CM Punk and Seth Rollins, we were immediately treated to another good one between Rollins and Sami Zayn. The intensity between the two of them was very convincing and there’s potential for a long-term feud between the two before Rollins eventually gets to Punk. With the mystery attack of Jey Uso and Jade Cargill a few weeks ago, we now have a storyline like this on both shows where everyone’s guessing who the attacker was. As Sami constantly accused Rollins, the way Raw ended made him as the attacker not such a sure thing. With Drew McIntyre’s surprising return, there’s a good chance it could’ve been him considering his history with the Bloodline.
Coming out of Raw, there’s a lot of potential feuds we could see over the next few months. From Sami and Drew, Drew and Jey, and Sami and Rollins, there are endless stories they could tell between all these men. From how things are looking now, there could even be an alliance formed between Rollins and Drew over the next few weeks since they both have issues with Roman, Punk, and anyone else who sides with them. Everything done involving these men this week was a home run, and how the show ended was the perfect cliffhanger heading into next week. While the show this time of the year is usually less interesting, what we saw on this week’s Raw showed that everything is only heating up going into 2025.
Grade: A
Stay right here and keep the flow going. We think you’ll like to read this next…
RECOMMENDED NEXT: WWE Raw Ratings Report (12/2): Big surge in viewership for first episode after Survivor Series with advertised show-opening CM Punk promo plus New Day anniversary
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: Bobby Lashley on signing with AEW, ideas for doing more with Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman, working with Lana during the love triangle storyline in WWE
(You can always reach PWTorch editor Wade Keller at kellerwade@gmail.com. You can also send live event results and news tips to pwtorch@gmail.com. Also, we’re always looking for volunteer contributors to help us round out of coverage of the pro wrestling scene.)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.