The ‘RAW-after Rumble’ is pound-for-pound one of the biggest nights of WWE programming all year— falling somewhere between the RAW-after Mania and the first RAW of the new year. With the fallout of Saturday’s Royal Rumble, tonight will hopefully provide clues for what we can expect now that the “Road to WrestleMania” is officially locked in on the GPS.
Jey Uso shocked the world by winning the most competitive Rumble in recent memory, with big names like John Cena, CM Punk, and Roman Reigns all coming up short behind ‘Mr. Yeet.’ As for the women’s Rumble, Charlotte Flair shocked nobody by showing up and dominating her way to a second Royal Rumble victory.
Seth Says No Mo Ro, Man!
Just call him Seth “Vince Lombardi” Rollins! 👏👏👏#RawOnNetflix pic.twitter.com/OZCuS1WxDm
— WWE (@WWE) February 4, 2025
Seth Rollins claimed he injured Roman Reigns in the Rumble when Seth curb stomped the “OTC” twice—once on the steel stairs. It was unclear what the extent of Roman’s injury is nor how long he’s expected to be out of action. He came out in a long black leather trench coat and attempted to amp up Sami Zayn ahead of his Elimination Chamber qualifier with CM Punk.
Seth’s entire promo felt directionless, and it felt like the entire WrestleMania landscape is one big evolving game of chess, but Zayn stayed mostly quiet and contemplative. Earlier in the night, Sami was interviewed backstage and asked about Kevin Owens following his loss to Cody on Saturday, but he ignored the question and made a beeline to Jey Uso. Jey eliminated Sami on his way to Rumble supremacy, and he expected hard feelings from Zayn, but it wasn’t his vibe. Seth shouted at Sami like it was ‘Friday Night Lights’ and all that mattered was “State.” He challenged Sami to beat Punk and fight him at Elimination Chamber. Upon exiting the ring, Punk’s music hit, and the two briefly traded shots as they passed one another on the walkway.
CM Punk vs. Sami Zayn—Elimination Chamber Qualifier
SPEECHLESS. pic.twitter.com/hAqMGmZg7B
— WWE (@WWE) February 4, 2025
Punk-Zayn is a battle between two of the most high-functioning wrestling minds in the game, and the match was masterfully wrestled. Both men wrestled in a manner fitting of the stakes—Punk working with an intensity against Zayn.
Punk worked heel, but it may have only been because the fans reacted to Zayn as the face—he managed to get over with the crowd as the perpetual underdog. Punk had Zayn in a submission, but Zayn was able to reverse momentum—setting up Punk for the Helluva Kick, but Punk countered with the GTS for the win. Punk and Zayn delivered a banger, but Punk will be joining John Cena and four other superstars TBD. For Zayn, his crawl towards a darker existence feels closer than ever before because every man has his breaking point.
Punk screamed at Zayn that he was not on his level during the match, but afterward, Punk extended his hand to Zayn out of respect. The two shook hands, but that’s when Kevin Owens popped out of the crowd and began beating on Zayn. Ownes took out Zayn from behind, and the momentum caused Zayn to knock Punk out of the ring—another example of Zayn ‘accidentally’ making contact with a ‘face.’
Last Man Standing, First Man Yeeting
Jey Uso was given the opening segment on RAW—a fitting choice after entering at #20 on Saturday and securing his place at Mania. After Yokozuna, Roman Reigns, and The Rock, Jey becomes the 4th member of the Anoai Family to win the match. All three men went on to successfully win their Mania main event title match, so Jey has high expectations behind him—though after a couple of unsuccessful title shots, you have to imagine Jey is as prepared as possible.
He spent more time Yeeting than speaking before Gunther came out, but Jey is better at promos when he has a dance partner. Even so, there still exists some doubt in his voice, and you cannot help but think back to the week after he won his first singles belt—the intercontinental championship. He struggled to encapsulate his message, but it is his genuine expressions that resonate with the fans.
Gunther harped on Jey winning the Rumble and admitted that he hoped to face someone with more to gain from beating—like one of the couple legends and several future Hall of Famers eliminated. Jey was able to fall into his preferred promo rhythm and claimed he’d leave Mania as champion despite being undecided on which champion to face.
Jey winning was terrific for the company if the goal is to go with a face that fans of any age can get behind, but the Uso-Gunther match is a recycled matchup pitted for a card meant to exist as an extravaganza. These two are worthy of a Mania match, but do fans deserve to get a match at Mania that was already seen this year on ‘free TV.’
Charlotte Flair-Rhea Ripley Showdown
After months of the same feud for Rhea, the returning Charlotte feels like a breath of fresh air despite them being 1-1 against each other at WrestleMania 36 and 39, respectively. Flair would not commit to a decision on which champ she’d choose to face at WrestleMania, and she made it clear that she would be at both NXT tomorrow and SmackDown on Friday to visit Giula and Tiffany Stratton. Rhea urged Flair to choose her out of respect for the wars they’d been through against each other, but if Mania is already featuring rematches in the men’s division, then the fresher the better for Flair.
New Day Rocks… With Logan Paul?!?!
The New Day took on Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee in a fire match with the crowd fully invested. Logan Paulmade his way to the ring shortly after the match was underway in some gamesmanship between the former U.S. champ and Rey Mysterio Jr. The two men will face off next week in an Elimination Chamber qualifier. The teams traded offense back and forth with stiff kicks and momentum swings. Ultimately, Paul got physically involved and helped New Day secure the victory.
Penta Experiment: Over!!
Being ‘over’ in most forms of entertainment is considered negative, but in WWE, being ‘over’ is the same as being ‘money.’ Penta is money and with nearly a full month since his debut on RAW, he is shattering preconceived notions of the best ‘indie guys’ not getting over in WWE. Penta has proven that this new era of WWE creative is capable of prioritizing high-valued incoming talent without altering the visual package in a way that becomes a disservice to fans.
Penta landed the ‘Penta Driver’ to pick up another win on RAW and remain undefeated. However, Kaiser was very generous and should be close to racking up enough ‘favors’ that a major push could be incoming (but after WrestleMania). Penta was in the middle of his post-fight interview when Pete Dunne’s music hit and caused a big enough distraction that Kaiser got the jump on Penta. After Penta was beaten down post-match, Kaiser walked out of the ring and passed Dunne without issue.
Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky—Elimination Chamber Qualifier
Haven’t seen a match finish that brilliant since that one tables match @CodyRhodes had years ago! 😆#RawOnNetflix pic.twitter.com/8Qshli5ls6
— WWE (@WWE) February 4, 2025
In Saturday’s Royal Rumble, Liv Morgan and Iyo Sky entered #1 and #2. Morgan lasted 67 minutes to Sky’s 66 minutes and 45 seconds (Roxanne Perez set the all-time women’s Rumble record by lasting 67 minutes and 47 seconds), but both women were eliminated from the Rumble by Nia Jax.
Tonight, Liv and Iyo get the chance for another chance with an EC qualifier—they both deserve a spot in the Chamber. These two women have put on terrific matches lately, but Liv felt like the one with the momentum, and she defeated Iyo back in December at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Sky would start to favor her back as Liv sniffed out the injury, but she just couldn’t string together enough offense to keep Liv neutralized. The crowd started a “This is awesome” chant just before Sky landed a huricanrana on Liv. Sky was looking for the moonsault, but Raquel caused a long enough distraction for Liv to regain and reverse. Rhea came out to help even the odds, but she struck Liv and caused the DQ. Liv goes on to qualify, while Sky was left with Rhea beef. Rhea tried apologizing, but Sky had none of it.
Other Tidbits
- WWE announced ‘Evolve’ premiering March 5th on Tubi. This will be a development show meant to showcase potential future stars.
- Chad Gable is ‘going on a quest’ to conquer the ‘dark arts’ of Lucha Libre. He told American Alpha that he expects them all to acquire gold by the time he returns. This could be a brilliant direction for the athletically gifted Gable.
- John Cena ‘entered’ the Elimination Chamber match at the post-Rumble presser in a somber speech following the disappointment of coming up short on Saturday. Despite EC competitors typically earning their spot via qualifying matches, Cena said he believed an ‘automatic entry’ was owed to him after decades of loyal service. It is a fair point, and it keeps Cena’s appearances special.
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