The final stop on WWE’s European tour took place today as RAW came to us live from London, U.K. SmackDown was also live from London, though it will originate from Chicago this Friday as WWE programming switches back to stateside ahead of the final few weeks of WrestleMania promo.
In the last couple of overseas “RAWs,” John Cena and Cody Rhodes were the ‘marquees’ of the show as they furthered their title feud ahead of WrestleMania. Cena promised to ‘ruin wrestling’ last week by winning his 17th record-breaking title and riding off into the sunset with it. Expectations were high for their final segment before WrestleMania—Cena is not scheduled for any shows prior to WrestleMania week.
The women’s title match at WrestleMania gained more clarity as former champ Rhea Ripley challenged the woman who took the belt from her, Iyo Sky, with Bianca Belair refereeing the match. It might not have been the best decision from Pearce as it seemed inevitable Bianca would get physical in the match.
Cody-Cena 3: Love Lost, Gloves Off
Cena made his entrance first, rocking a new piece from his most recent merch launch—a London-themed shirt complete with a Cena mascot dressed in a King’s Guard uniform. But Cena did not utter a word before Cody’s music hit, and then when Cena attempted to speak for the first time, Cody cut him off. “The American Nightmare” did his best B-Rabbit (8 Mile) impression by claiming he knew everything “Papa Doc” would use against him.
Cody brought up Stardust, his neck tattoo, and his ‘AEW failures’ but said he knew Cena wouldn’t use any of that anyway. Cena agreed with him by digging at Cody’s lisp before getting to the core of his promo, the theme of which was Cody’s ‘burial.’ He claimed that Cody’s ‘ego outweighs his ability’ and then tapped into the narrative that followed Cena for years as he ascended the company ladder. “They’ve been saying for years that ‘John Cena buries talent.’ I don’t bury talent; I am talent,” Cena squawked. “I burry mediocrity.”
This was Cena’s most personal promo directed specifically at Cody and not just in an effort to lump him in with the ‘common fan.’ He tried to give us the “why?” by using Cody as our proxy, and he was ruthless in his delivery. Cena even used Cody’s nostalgic example of them riding together from town to town by claiming that Cody ‘stole’ everything from Cena that he needed to become his replacement. However, in Cena’s mind, Cody is still nothing more than his chauffeur.
The personal attacks hit a nerve for Cody because he came back for blood. Cody took issue with Cena claiming that he was nothing more than a polished fraud that tricked the fans into singing his song and playing into his ‘super-fan’ gimmick. So, Cody reminded Cena that the fans were the ones who chose him—a reference to last year’s Mania situation that saw The Rock pivot plans for a Roman Reigns program when the fans revolted in favor of the world champ.
Then, Cody dropped the bomb when he reminded Cena who chose him.
“They chose me. Can you say the same, John Cena, or was it one guy in an office who chose you who’s not here anymore, and we don’t talk about him,” Cody said as audible gasps rang out and producers cut to the shocked faces in the London crowd. “If anybody is a company creation, it’s you, John Cena, and not me.
“Everyone is so terrified of you on the mic. I’m not because I know you got more d**k in that promo than you do in your jorts.”
Cody then took a ‘no Diddy’ shot at Cena and Zac Efron and hit him with the real talk by telling Cena that he did not leave the company in a better position than when he started. He asked Cena which of the two sold out to The Rock before admitting he was still Cody’s hero. In the same sentence, he called him a piece of sh**– a statement the crowd turned into a chant.
Cena fought back, claiming he was never as ‘protected from an audience’ as Cody (maybe this promo was meant for Jey?). “You had to leave because you realized at your best you can’t wipe my a**.”
“I make empires for billionaires. All you’ve ever done is steal money from their kids,” Cena said with a mic drop in a clear reference to Tony Khan and AEW.
Of course, Cody could not let that go, and he reminded John as he walked out of the ring that the fans had never chanted, “You can’t wrestle,” when Cody was working. Cena took the bait and went back into the ring to attempt a cheap shot. Cody countered and hit the “Cross Rhodes” on Cena—the first offense we’ve seen Cody deliver onto Cena to end the segment.
Cena is not expected to appear on WWE programming until Mania week, so this segment was meant to keep the promo machine running until then, and both men delivered only days after the ‘other’ main event — Roman vs. Punk vs. Rollins–raised the bar on their own program.
Iyo Sky (c) vs. Rhea Ripley—Women’s World Title
Rhea Ripley was on the ‘road to WrestleMania’ as the champion, waiting for an opponent to emerge after Elimination Chamber. However, a ‘fighting champion’s’ place is never secure, and after beefing with Iyo Sky, the Japanese standout took advantage of her opportunity and won the title from Rhea.
Bianca Belair and Sky seemed destined for Mania, but Rhea forced herself into every moment between champ and challenger. That is when Pearce felt forced to give Rhea her rematch before Mania instead of inserting Rhea into the title match as a triple threat. Belair was also inadvertently mixed into Rhea’s revenge, and that is how the winner of EC found herself as the ref for this title match booked last week. The match was terrific and received a much-deserved ‘this is awesome’ chant from the crowd, but after several ‘unintended’ shots landed on referee Bianca, she decided to call for the DQ and, thus, allowing Sky to retain the title.
Rhea went ‘ham’ after the match and started beating down both women, making a point to get extra physical with Belair. RAW ended with Rhea holding the belt and standing tall over both downed superstars in the ring. There is a good chance Rhea is added to the Mania match next week in a desperate ploy by Pearce to keep the sanity. It feels wrong for Rhea to be inserted into that match, even if she did deserve a rematch for giving a voluntary title defense. However, RAW’s final segment was successful in displaying the necessity for Rhea to compete at Mania.
Gunther Lets Loose On Uce
Jey and Jimmy reunited their hall-of-fame team (The Usos) last week, and in the middle of it all, Jimmy got himself caught up in his brother’s beef with Gunther. So, Jimmy challenged Gunther before slapping the taste out of his mouth last week to raise his bro’s spirits and confidence ahead of his heavyweight title fight at Mania.
Jimmy was little match for Gunther, and he eventually defeated Jimmy after a brutal one-sided fight. But that was not enough for Gunther as he attempted to beat on Jimmy to lure Jey out to ringside. Jey fell into Gunther’s trap, literally, and was ultimately zip-tied to the ropes on the entrance side of the ring.
Gunther took his time getting to business, instead slow playing the situation for Jey. He slammed the belt into Jimmy’s head, causing a cut. Then, the champ began power bombing Jimmy before delivering right hands with Jey forced to watch.
The champ took Jimmy’s blood and smeared it all over his body, and just when you thought it was over, Gunther slapped a rear naked choke on Jimmy until security made its way out for the second time. Gunther held up the belt as officials were screaming at him, and the crowd watched in horror as moments of shock spurned moments of silence. WWE kept the camera on commentary as they scrapped Jimmy off the mat and attempted to clean up the bloody mess.
Penta+Breaker=$$$
Penta teamed with intercontinental champion Bron Breakker to take on Judgment Day’s Fin Balor and Dom Mysterio. Breakker defended his title against Penta last week, but the match was interfered in after Mysterio and Carlito decided Penta needed help. Penta was made an offer by Dom to join TJD, but Penta decided against and that is why the tag match was booked.
Balor and Mysterio seem to be on better terms, and they ended up picking up the win against the crowd favorites. Penta and Breakker took it to the limit with the fans, and they responded favorably, with both men leaning into the baby face roles in the match. But it ended up being a miscue on the part of Breakker that led to their demise after he accidentally hit Penta with a spear meant for Balor.
Later, in the back, Penta was seen confronting Breakker, likely continuing their feud for the IC strap. Interestingly, Penta tagged with Breakker on the week his longtime tag partner Rey Fenix debuts on SmackDown Friday.
AJ Styles vs. Stylish Logan
The feud that would never surpass the intrigue of the in-ring expectations, Styles and Paul continue to hype their showdown destined for the Mania stage. It has not really hit the heights expected, but that is mostly from Creative’s weak motivation to kick off this program.
It is the same feud with Paul, as he pretends to be secure while feeling the urge to remind every live crowd that his success is not tied to wrestling and that he is the A-side versus every superstar he is paired with for promos. Of course, AJ has been a constant name on fans’ minds when considering ‘the next test’ for Logan. Paul has passed every physical test he has had in-ring—a resume that includes Rey Mysterio Jr., Roman Reigns, and a number of highlight reel spots in gimmick matches like Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank.
The matchup on paper is enough to sell tickets, and it feels like a Mania match without any stakes. Yet, they have enough time to book a segment between now and Mania that would advance this program beyond the ‘paper matchup’s pomp. If you do not enhance the feud, then you put more pressure on both guys to deliver on the grandest stage of all.
In-Ring/Other Tidbits
New Day Number One Contenders?
- RAW GM Adam Pearce told Kofi and Woods that a win tonight could line them up for a title match. Pearce had a surprise for New Day and the London crowd when he introduced their opponents: Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne. Bate and Dunne reunited the New Catch Republic—their tag team from their time in NXT brands. New Day were able to get the win against NCR, taking advantage of Bate returning from injury and the lack of tag action either man has seen since they went singles. After the match, RAW tag champs, the War Raiders, made their way out through Gorilla to face off with their new challengers.
- A ton of celebrities and professionals in the entertainment industry were in attendance, including Charlie Brooker. Brooker is a writer and executive producer of his own creation, the show Black Mirrors, which was announced to have an April 10th streaming date.
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