The transition to RAW on Netflix has been advertised, booked, and hyped to the point that it felt like the entire world was anticipating the show. The tickets for the event at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, CA — home of the LA Clippers — reached steep financial prices, though the card was stacked from top to bottom. WWE released the ‘cold open’ for the show earlier in the day, narrated by Paul “Triple H” Levesque. It was packed with the most monumental moments in professional wrestling (at least within the lore of WWE), and it was shown on a giant curtain covering the ring that unveiled ‘Trips’ standing in the middle of the ring, prepared to deliver his opening battle call—a staple for anyone watching NXT.
The Final Boss Needs To ‘Know His Role’
The Rock’s music sent shockwaves through the arena as it hit perfectly, following the crowd quieting from Trips’ opening remarks. He wore tinted glasses, a 5-o’clock shadow, and a surely tailored high-end brand vest wrapped around his massive shoulders. It was tough to gauge his mood or character as he clapped up the fans and dapped up Michael Cole and Pat McAfee seated ringside.
He started by announcing that this event broke the record for the richest arena gate. Sure enough, it was corporate Rock (and not the character)—who now operates with skin in the game since TKO made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. It was weird that we had both Trips and The Rock come out and give speeches that were not part of any storyline—we did not need both. He even thanked Netflix executives in a luxury suite (ready with a camera).
After The Rock played his role, he moved on to the actual wrestlers, but he thanked Cody Rhodes, who was weirdly positioned in the audience. This was not a storyline. It was genuine. He also thanked ‘his cousin’ Roman Reigns, who prompted the entire crowd to break out into an “OTC” chant.
It was a big fat nothing burger, but the fact that RAW began with Roman Reigns vs. Solo Sikoa gave hope that The Rock’s role was still unknown and that he could play a part in the match’s finale.
Cont…
Roman Reigns (w/Paul Heyman) vs. Solo Sikoa—Ula Fala On The Line
The battle for The Bloodline was the first match out of the gate; a smart booking to keep this match as far away from the main event: CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins. The match started fast as in a matter of moments the two men had already battled around the ring and commentary desk. This was only the second-ever “Tribal Combat” match in WWE history, and yet they feel overused because there is no real distinction between this match and a NO DQ/NO HOLDS BARRED.
To his credit, Solo fought much of the match on his own accord, but eventually, he utilized Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu. The Bloodline put Roman down, but he beat the count as Heyman held his hands together in prayer, with the Ula Fala replacing a rosary. Solo took out the ref with a spike because Roman kicked out, I guess. Without a ref, Sami Uso and Jimmy Uso came down to put the ‘tribal’ in Tribal Combat. The faces were able to then put Solo down as a new ref ran in to make the count only for Solo to then kick out. That is when Sami and Jimmy leaped out of the ring to take out Tonga and Fatu.
THIS IS AWE-SOME! 👏👏 👏👏👏#RawOnNetflix pic.twitter.com/sy0i6zjpkk
— WWE (@WWE) January 7, 2025
Next, Kevin Owens came out to stun Roman, and it started to feel similar to the last overbooked ‘Tribal Combat’ match. Roman was able to kick out, and that is when Cody Rhodes came out to take care of K.O., leaving Roman and Solo alone in the ring. Roman was able to hit the spear for the win. The crowd celebrated, and Paul Heyman rejoiced. Then The Rock came out to put the Ula Fala around Roman’s neck before extending his hand. They shook hands and hugged it out, and that was good enough for whatever lingering beef the two had to be squashed.
It felt like the first hour was dedicated to completely undoing everything this storyline had built up, including whatever The Rock meant when he came out after a PLE to point out Roman and Cody before making a slit-throat sign. If glazing over Rhodes at the beginning was the only example, the ‘say hi to momma Rhodes’ felt too much like a joke, but later in the show, they followed The Rock as he showed love to Triple H (another potential long-term storyline undone) and Cody (AGAIN) before he was seen driving away in his oversized truck.
Main Event: CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins
The main event of the evening started off hot, much like the evening’s opening bout, as they spent less than a minute in the ring before making their way ringside and eventually into the crowd. Punk was game from the get-go, diving to the outside but coming up short as Rollins moved out of the way. Rollins was able to hit Punk with his own finisher midway through the match, but the veteran Punk was able to make his way out of the ring. Both men were able to pull off near-falls throughout the bout, including one where Seth hit a buckle bomb and then a stomp that was not enough to put away Punk.
🗣️ LET’S GO ROLL-INS!
🗣️ CM PUNK!#RawOnNetflix pic.twitter.com/KvnaxFSw5U— WWE (@WWE) January 7, 2025
The “Fight Forever” chant started as the clock struck 11 pm ET, and both men were on their knees following a tough and physical match. Punk was able to hit his GTS, but Rollins stayed on his feet before bouncing off the rope and landing on Punk’s shoulders once again. Punk, gassed from the match, failed to lift Rollins initially before he finally dug deep to hoist him up to deliver a consecutive ‘Go To Sleep’ that barely connected on Rollins for the win.
This was a great match and felt like the kick-off to a classic feud, but these two should get the chance to showcase their hatred of each other in the form of violence—let’s just hope that they also give us some technical mat stuff for the junkies.
John Cena Never Been A Smoke Dodger
John Cena, dressed in his newly launched ‘Dodger’ blue gear– launch kicked off the second hour of RAW, and it started off the way you would expect as the perpetual baby face thanked the fans. It was routine for a while, but then he started going down the list of PLEs—specifically the PLEs where the winner gains a shot at the title. Cena reminded the crowd that he is on the verge of his record-breaking title defense before announcing himself for the Royal Rumble (booked for Indy) and committing to winning—not just coming in with and dropping the 5-moves of doom.
This was the only significant indication of WWE’s near-future booking, which was just days into the “Road to WrestleMania.” While Owens and Rhodes made cameos, nothing else on the show furthered the Rumble booking as we stand a mere four weeks away from the 30-man over-the-top battle royal. There was even an opportunity to give us hints of who Cena will be feuding with by having other superstars come out during his segment to declare for the rumble – Bron Breakker jumping the barrier during that announcement would have been a moment. Sure, it was cool when Cena name-dropped Gunther and Cody as potential foes in his final year, but the first rule of storytelling: show us, don’t tell us.
Rhea Ripley Wins The Belt
THE UNDERTAKER IS HERE!!!#RawOnNetflix pic.twitter.com/aA2CJWfY1e
— WWE (@WWE) January 7, 2025
It was (hopefully) the last time we would see Rhea Ripley–Liv Morgan for at least a while, but it was a great match. Liv’s entire title reign was built on her feud with Rhea, and it is difficult to recall any other meaningful moments with any other superstar on the roster. She managed to pick up the victory in perhaps the only match that was truly under booked. Dom Mysterio came in the ring post-match, and it looked like he might attack Rhea, but instead, he lifted his arms for a hug. She contemplated for a moment before kicking him between the legs, much to the crowd’s delight.
There was no run-in or Charlotte Flair return, and instead, Rhea was joined by “American Badass” Undertaker as he rode into the arena and around ringside in his motorcycle. He held up his fist and Rhea joined to close the segment. It did not make a ton of sense—Rhea is certainly a badass, but she is most definitely not American.
Hulk Hogan Gets Booed, Brother!
In one of the rare moments where a former superstar/celebrity was given the mic, Hulk Hogan made his way ringside with Jimmy Hart. The Hulkster was booked for the show and was seen earlier in the day arriving in L.A. with Hart in a WWE chartered plane. His entire appearance was a product placement ad for his new beer line, but the WWE would have been better off letting Jimmy Hart come out solo. The crowd booed nearly every word Hogan uttered, and it was so overwhelming that commentary felt forced to acknowledge the reaction as McAfee remarked that there weren’t many consumers of Hogan’s beer in the building.
There were many celebrities and former superstars in the building, not to mention SmackDown superstars seated in the audience and RAW superstars not on the show dressed to the nines. While it’s tough to argue that anyone in attendance was more significant or meant more to WWE than Hulk, but his ‘line in the sand’ political stances should have been considered before touting him out there in front of a VERY blue town that borders Mexico.
Fluffy, a consistent guest of the WWE, was given a short backstage segment, and Travis Scott escorted Jey Uso to the ring from the crowd in what must have been a real treat for fans that contributed to the highest-grossing (most expensive) card in company history. Yet, many of the others went unused, including actual celebrity fans like O’Shea Jackson and Vanessa Hudgens—these are fans of wrestling that happen to be celebrities. All of them would have been a better choice than the Hulkster under the circumstances.
Jey Uso vs. Drew McIntyre
CLAYMORE!#RawOnNetflix pic.twitter.com/8GNG7HAX6l
— WWE (@WWE) January 7, 2025
It is hard to inject enthusiasm into a crowd when your match is bookended between a Roman match and a CM Punk one but starting off with Travis Scott is certainly one blueprint to achieving such reactions. The pair came out, Scott with the belt gifted to him by Triple H, and the crowd went nuts.
Unfortunately, the match will get lost in the headlines, but Jey Uso represents another potential major star for the WWE. For Drew, he is in his prime right now and can do no wrong. Whatever WWE has planned for him as he continues to ‘politic’ around the locker room for like-minded superstars has steam, but, unfortunately, the match felt more like the end of something as opposed to the ramping up of it.
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