Date: January 20, 2025
Location: American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX
**********
The Big Takeaway —
Kevin Owens appeared and offered Sami Zayn words of
encouragement for the Royal Rumble match. Owens made it
clear that he wanted Zayn to win so the two men could main-
event WrestleMania against one another. Owens also suggested
that he would have Zayn’s back at the Rumble if Zayn had his
(against Cody Rhodes).
Zayn saved Seth Rollins from a Drew McIntyre beat-down at
the end of the show, only for Zayn to hit Rollins with a
Helluva Kick by mistake.
The inaugural Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra
Valkyria was advertised for the show but did not appear.
**********
Show Recap —
Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, and CM Punk (wearing a t-shirt
of Marvel’s The Thing) were shown arriving. Rhea Ripley was
shown earlier today, too, but she was attacked by Nia Jax.
They also plugged Penta against Pete Dunne.
Michael Cole said Dallas was hosting Raw for the 27th time.
Wade Barrett is filling in for Pat McAfee, who is at the
College Football National Championship.
Jey Uso and Gunther segment
Jey Uso entered to a huge reaction. Cole danced like an
idiot, and instead of heading to the announce desk with
Barrett, he awaited Jey to slap hands with him.
Gunther quickly cut off Jey’s promo. Gunther called him a
funny little man for thinking he would win the world title.
Gunther was looking forward to facing him—until today. Until
he saw Jey acting like their conversation hadn’t happened
last week. Acting like a complete dork and a company mascot.
At this point, Gunther may as well be facing Jimmy Uso.
Jey warned him not to talk about his brother. Gunther asked,
“Or what?” because Jey never followed up on his words. Jey
claimed he bet on himself, but he wouldn’t be doing that if
Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn or Cody Rhodes came calling for
help. Jey was just a useful idiot. Jey’s words and actions
didn’t align, but Gunther’s did. Gunther would expose Jey on
Saturday.
Jey said Gunther was right again. Jey was the mascot, but
the fans were his team. Because they ride with him, and they
would be with him when he beat Gunther for the title. Jey
respected Gunther, and Gunther would respect him, too. Only
one of them had main evented WrestleMania, and it wasn’t
Gunther.
Gunther heard enough and attacked, but Jey fought him off
and sent him out of the ring with a superkick. Jey held up
the world title belt, and the crowd popped.
********
The New Day ran into JBL backstage. Kofi Kingston was glad
JBL was doing commentary for his match and slid cash ($2)
into his coat pocket to butter him up. Kingston and Xavier
Woods assumed he would be on the same page as them because
he cut the dead weight of his own tag partner and went on to
the most success of his career—just not as much success as
them.
JBL gave them a backhanded compliment. He understood why
they cut ties with Big E because the fans loved him way more
than them, and he figured they wanted the fans to pay more
attention to them. New Day didn’t appreciate this, so they
left.
********
Cathy Kelley interviewed Bayley. She announced she was
officially back on Raw and declared herself for the Royal
Rumble. She said she could go after either brand’s champion
if she won. She was about to tease perhaps going after the
NXT champion but was cut off by Jax. Jax wanted Tiffany
Stratton for herself and planned on winning the Rumble.
Professional bull riders Mason Taylor and Austin Richardson,
and PBR announcer Matt West were shown in the crowd.
JBL entered for commentary.
********
The crowd booed New Day heavily as they entered. They were
pissed at the fans constantly booing them since they were
walking Hall of Famers, unlike JBL. Kingston took back the
two bucks out of JBL’s coat pocket.
Rey Mysterio defeated Kofi Kingston (w/Xavier Woods) (10:30)
Kingston wrestled in black jeans (with black knee pads).
Kingston worked over Rey and had a lot of heat until Rey
drove him into the steel steps ahead of a break.
Interference by Woods behind the referee’s back allowed
Kingston to take over. The crowd chanted, “Let’s go, Rey,”
and he fought back with a seated senton and low dropkick for
two.
Kingston poked Rey in the eyes behind the ref’s back and hit
a splash on Rey’s back for two. Rey set up for 619, but
Woods blatantly tripped him, so the ref tossed him out.
Woods argued, so Rey knocked him off the apron. Rey hit a
619, but Kingston got his knees up on a springboard splash.
Kingston went for an SOS, but Rey reversed into a cradle for
the sudden pinfall win.
— Woods attacked Rey from behind and attacked him alongside
Kingston until the LWO ran out to make the save. New Day
bailed, but as LWO checked on Rey, New Day ran back down
through the crowd, and Kingston posted Joaquin Wilde. New
Day bailed again before Rey or Cruz Del Toro could get them.
(New Day running back down just to attack one of the LWO
guys was pretty funny.)
*******
There was a video package highlighting Penta’s debut.
Kelley interviewed Chad Gable, who was pissed off. He spoke
of his recent struggles in the ring with Penta, Dragon Lee
and Rey Mysterio. He realized he knew a man who could help
with his luchador problems, and that was Dominik Mysterio.
Ivy Nile and the Creed Brothers stated their intentions of
winning gold. Gable said they would all be wrapped in gold,
and it would be glorious.
********
During a break, Jackie Redmond interviewed Karrion Kross and
Scarlett. Kross dismissed the Wyatt Sicks. He said, “I’m the
only guy to beat Uncle Howdy. I derailed all their momentum.
He’s gone, I won, they lost.” He had his eyes set next on
Rollins, Punk, and Zayn.
********
The announcers spoke briefly about pro wrestling’s history
in Dallas. They aired a clip of one of the many things to
happen in Dallas: Wade Barrett winning the first season of
NXT.
*******
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens segment
Zayn entered and announced he was in the Rumble after
speaking with Adam Pearce. His conversation with Rollins
last week really made him think about what he wanted. It
opened up a lot of thoughts.
He thought about his 14-year-old self and all the people who
grew up wanting to be wrestlers. He thought about the few
thousand who did become wrestlers and the many fewer who
actually got to WWE. He thought about the even smaller group
of guys, the upper echelon of five or six or seven guys.
He considered himself in that group, and all of those guys
were in the Rumble with him. The only difference between
them and him was that they had a world championship in their
name, and he didn’t. He has had a great life and career. He
didn’t need the world title to feel complete.
The fans have supported him throughout the years, and their
support has meant more to him than any world title could
ever mean. “So no, I don’t need the world champion. But
dammit, I want it!” Because 14-year-old Sami wanted the
championship, and 14-year-old Sami was still with him.
Kevin Owens interrupted. (Owens wore a Bret Hart zip-up
jacket.) Zayn said he knew it was just a matter of time
before Owens came. Zayn asked how he wanted to do this.
Owens didn’t know what he meant. Zayn brought up his issues
with Rhodes after he teamed with Reigns.
Owens wasn’t here for that. Owens admitted he was upset when
Zayn teamed with Reigns, but it wasn’t the same as Rhodes.
Zayn and Reigns had a lot of history, just like they did.
Reigns did terrible things to Zayn that he chose to
overlook. Owens did terrible things, too, and Zayn forgave
him, just like he forgave Reigns. Zayn did that because he
was a good person.
Owens called Zayn his best friend and brother. Owens wanted
to tell Zayn, “You can and will win the Royal Rumble.” Zayn
deserved to win the Rumble and go on to Mania to win the
title. They’ve done a lot together, but there was one more
thing they could do, and that was main event WrestleMania
one-on-one for the WWE Championship.
Owens said that could only happen if Zayn won the Rumble—and
if Owens walked out as champion. Owens knew that would
happen because he had Zayn’s back, and Zayn would have his
back. Owens ended with, “As my brother, if I need you, I
know you’ll be there.” Owens left as Zayn contemplated what
he said.
********
Kelley interviewed Sheamus backstage. Sheamus said he may
have had the best career backwards. He beat John Cena just
six months into his career for the WWE title. But
ironically, the Intercontinental title drew him to WWE as a
kid and it’s the title he has been chasing for five years.
The stars were aligned on Saturday where he would beat Bron
Breakker for the title.
Breakker interrupted. Bron said he would beat Sheamus and
break him like an old man. Bron advised him to retire.
Sheamus shoved Bron, who laughed and backed away.
********
They aired a memorial graphic for Bob Uecker. RIP.
********
Nia Jax defeated Bayley (12:21)
Roxanne Perez watched from the front row (squeezed between
two regular fans). Perez tried to slap Bayley, but Bayley
blocked it and slapped her instead. Perez was about to jump
the barricade, but a random security guard grabbed her and
held her way up in the air with one arm. She was carried
away (off-camera).
Bayley was amused, but Jax attacked her from behind as they
went to break. After the break, Jax missed a leg drop on the
ring apron, and Bayley hit a sunset flip powerbomb into the
post. Bayley followed with an Annihilator (Jax’s finisher)
and an elbow drop off the middle rope for two.
Jax responded with a shoulder breaker. Jax drove her
shoulder-first into the ring post and squished her into the
post. Bayley blocked an Annihilator attempt and hit a
running knee strike for two.
Jax went up for her finisher again, but Bayley brought her
down with a powerbomb for two. Bayley followed right away
with a flying elbow drop off the top for a nearfall. Jax
followed with a pop-up Samoan drop, senton, and Annihilator
for the clean pinfall win.
— After the match, Ripley ran out to attack Jax, but the
brawl was quickly separated by security. As you can imagine,
they broke through the pack a few times which led to Ripley
knocking everyone down with a cannonball off the announce
table. Ripley angrily challenged her to a match at SNME.
********
Gable eagerly asked Dom for help with his Lucha problems in
the Judgment Day clubhouse. They didn’t seem to want him
there and even Dom initially resisted his request. However,
Dom handed him a piece of paper containing the name of
someone who could help. Gable was excited, and he dismissed
the rest of Judgment Day as he left to learn the dark arts
of Lucha libre. They weren’t sure why Dom would help him,
but Dom said it wasn’t the worst thing for Gable to owe them
one.
JD McDonagh was worried because they were getting a tag
title rematch next week, but Finn Bálor was out. Dom offered
to take Bálor’s place, and McDonagh accepted. McDonagh was
worried Bálor may not like this idea but Liv Morgan assured
him that he would. Morgan poked fun at Dom for trying to be
helpful like he was (or wasn’t) in her match against Ripley.
Dom said he would make it up to her.
********
There was a video recap of Lyra Valkyria winning the Women’s
Intercontinental Championship. (She was advertised for the
show but never appeared.)
********
There was a Martin Luther King Jr. tribute video.
********
Zayn approached Rollins to let him know that his words got
through to him last week. Rollins knew it and was glad to
see this side of him. However, Rollins wouldn’t hesitate to
throw him out of the Rumble. Zayn said he would toss him out
first. They had a friendly face-off before Zayn left, and
Rollins continued to warm up.
********
Penta defeated Pete Dunne (10:02)
Cole mentioned that these two first wrestled at RevPro years
ago (2017), which is true.
Dunne tried a backflip off the top, but Penta superkicked
him out of mid-air. Penta went for a dive, but Dunne cut him
off with a forearm ahead of a break. Penta fought back after
the break with a slingblade, corner dropkick and DVD for
two. Penta followed with a Canadian destroyer, but Dunne
rolled out of the ring, so Penta hit a flip dive.
Dunne blocked another destroyer attempt and hit a DeadEye
for two. Dunne snapped Penta’s fingers and applied an arm
bar, but Penta hoisted him up and hit a backbreaker, The
Sacrifice (armbreaker) and Penta Driver for the pinfall win.
This was pretty good. The crowd was into Penta’s entrance.
They got into the match more toward the end and popped for
the win.
********
There was a Logan Paul video package.
********
CM Punk promo
CM Punk entered. He basically stole Jey Uso’s entrance. He
entered from the concourse through a sea of fans. He joined
Redmond in the stands for an interview. She asked Punk about
the Rumble, a match he’s never won against a stacked field.
Punk called himself the maker of history. He made history by
main-eventing the first Raw on Netflix, where he beat Seth
Rollins. He would make history at the Rumble by beating 29
other superstars, and nobody was better than him when the
people were behind him.
Punk ran down the names Redmond listed. He dismissed the
idea of John Cena or Roman Reigns eliminating him and he
already put Drew McIntyre in the ground. (He got some light
boos for his line about Cena.)
He didn’t want to hear about Sami Zayn because Zayn wasn’t
on his level. You could put Hulk Hogan in the Rumble, but
Punk would throw his dusty ass out and kill Hulkamania. (The
fans cheered, which is exactly what Punk was hoping for.)
Punk said he would settle a score and would call in a favour
or two if he needed to. Only one man would get his hand
raised, and that was CM Punk.
********
Kelley interviewed the War Raiders (who spoke in their
normal guy voices). Ivar said they were always ready to
defend the tag titles. They would return honour and prestige
to the division, something that was tarnished by Judgment
Day. Erik said they weren’t overlooking any teams, but no
one was taking their titles.
********
IYO SKY & Dakota Kai defeated Zoey Stark & Shayna Baszler
(6:24)
Early in the match, Stark obliterated Kai with a springboard
dropkick, and the crowd buzzed at the spot. (The ref checked
on Kai, and the match continued.)
Sky eventually made the hot tag, and the fans chanted her
name. Sky took out Baszler with a German suplex and suicide
dive. Sky hit Stark with a missile dropkick and a running
double knee strike for two.
Sonya Deville tried to distract Sky, so Kai wiped her out.
Sky was distracted instead by Baszler taking out Kai. Stark
knocked Sky off the top and suplexed her for two. Baszler
hit a running knee but Kai broke up the cover. Kai hit Stark
with a PK, and Baslzer knocked Kai off the apron.
Baszler put Sky in the Kirifuda Clutch, but Sky slipped out
of it and hit a moonsault for the pinfall win. This was more
or less a showcase for Sky. The fans were into her.
********
There was a video package for Rollins vs. McIntyre. Rollins
entered ahead of a break, and if you are among the lucky
people who get to watch during the breaks, you got to hear
Rollins’ music play and play and play.
(The main event began at 10:15 pm ET.)
Seth Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre (16:59)
Rollins hit a suicide dive, but McIntyre caught his second
attempt and suplexed him over the announce desk. After a
break, McIntyre tried a reverse Alabama Slam, but Rollins
countered into a victory roll for two. Rollins followed with
jabs and chops and drove McIntyre shoulder-first into the
ring post three times. Rollins followed with a flying knee
and running boot for two, followed by a springboard senton
for two.
McIntyre went to the top, but Rollins brought him down with
a superplex. Rollins tried to transition into the falcon
arrow but McIntyre hit the falcon arrow instead. Rollins
ducked a Claymore, but McIntyre hit a spinebuster for two.
Rollins hit a falcon arrow for two.
They traded counters until Rollins applied a crossface, but
McIntyre got a rope break. Rollins got in McIntyre’s face
(in the ropes), and as the ref pulled him away, McIntyre
poked Rollins in the eye. McIntyre followed with a Future
Shock DDT for a nearfall.
McIntyre hit consecutive clotheslines and seemed to think
Rollins was done. He took his time pacing around the ring,
so Rollins caught him in a jackknife cover for the sudden
pinfall win.
— McIntyre was pissed, so he attacked Rollins after the
match and nailed a Claymore Kick.
McIntyre placed Rollins’ head against the ring post and was
about to kill him with a Claymore but Zayn ran out to make
the save. Zayn checked on Rollins, but McIntyre headbutted
Zayn.
McIntyre taunted Rollins in the corner. Zayn went for a
Helluva Kick, but McIntyre moved out of the way just in
time, and Zayn kicked Rollins instead. McIntyre was amused.
Zayn explained himself to Rollins as they went off the air
(at about 10:36 pm).
(They had a good match but the crowd was pretty quiet for
it. There was nothing on the line, and Rollins hasn’t been
the most endearing babyface lately, so that could explain
it.
One negative was they repeated a few spots we saw earlier
tonight. The shoulder-into-the-post spot was done multiple
times, as it was in the Bayley-Jax match. Although Bayley
and Jax varied it a bit. McIntyre poked Rollins in the eye
to set up a nearfall, only for Rollins to win with a flash
pin. In the opening match, Kingston poked Mysterio in the
eye to set up a nearfall, only for Mysterio to win with a
flash pin.)
