Date: January 27, 2025
Location: State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA
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The Big Takeaway —
Lots of seeds were planted on the final Raw before the Royal Rumble. Sami Zayn lost again to Drew McIntyre and mistakenly knocked out Cody Rhodes with a Helluva Kick. The show ended with CM Punk addressing Rhodes and calling his shot for WrestleMania. See more below.
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Show Recap —
Cody Rhodes, Brandi Rhodes and their daughter were shown arriving at the arena. Naomi and Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, Sami Zayn, and Drew McIntyre were also shown. A dizzying drone shot showed us the packed State Farm Arena in Atlanta before Pat McAfee quickly ran down the SNME results.
Seth Rollins kicks off Raw, Gunther and Logan Paul interrupt
Rollins entered to a good reaction. It was his favourite time of year—WrestleMania season, which kicked off on Saturday when he won the Royal Rumble. He admitted that 2025 got off to a bad start. He suffered the worst loss of his career on the first Raw of the year and suffered a black eye. (The crowd chanted for CM Punk, so he remarked that Punk looked no better off than he did when the match was over.)
After he lost, Rollins wondered who he was and who he wanted to be. But he knew who he was, he was Seth freakin’ Rollins. When he was the most focused version of himself, there was no one on the planet better than him. He started his path to redemption when he beat McIntyre last week, and it would continue on Saturday.
He had no problem tossing out John Cena, Jey Uso, McIntyre, Sami Zayn or Roman Reigns. He especially hoped to toss out Reigns. He dreamt of CM Punk being the final person in the ring with him so he could crush his Mania dream to dust.
The real question was which title he would go after when he won. We all knew Gunther was just holding the world title until he decided to go after it. But it would be poetic if he took the same title from Rhodes that he helped Rhodes win last year.
Gunther interrupted. He informed Rollins that he wasn’t keeping the belt warm for him. He wondered where Rollins has been while he has been defending the title. He beat that clown Jey Uso on Saturday. The crowd Yeeted, so Gunther reiterated that he beat Jey’s ass. Gunther advised Rollins to ignore the drama and focus on the Rumble, but he wondered if Rollins still had it in him.
Rollins said the World Heavyweight title that he held only existed because of him. Rollins wasn’t Jey Uso or Damian Priest or Finn Bálor.
Gunther knew that and called Rollins one of the best wrestlers to ever step foot in this company. But it was 2025, and he was no longer the best in the company—Gunther was. Gunther wanted Rollins to face him at Mania so he could feel the same way as everyone else when they faced him.
Logan Paul interrupted. He was booed a decent amount when he entered, but it got exponentially louder the more he spoke. He said the Netflix era needed a new face, one that oozed with charisma. He said Gunther and Rollins were both great in the ring but they reached their peak. (It was hard to hear what he said next because the crowd loudly chanted, “You suck.”)
Paul announced he was entering the Rumble. He had no plans to eliminate 29 other men because that was grunt work. He would be smarter than that. He would win the Rumble and main event Mania. The crowd gave him the “What” treatment. Rollins was amused.
Gunther changed his mind and said he wanted Paul to win the Rumble so he could knock the smirk off his face. The crowd cheered. Rollins got the last word and said he would be getting his title back—if he chose to.
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Cathy Kelley interviewed CM Punk backstage. Punk didn’t care about Paul and planned on winning the Rumble. He’d throw out Kelley if he had to.
Zayn interrupted to ask about Punk’s comment last week about them not being on the same level. Zayn said that was true because only one of them was a WrestleMania main-eventer. They said they’d see each other at the Rumble.
Karrion Kross approached Zayn after he walked away. Kross basically advised him to listen to Kevin Owens because there was a world of opportunity at his feet. After Kross left, Rhodes suddenly appeared and patted Zayn on the back. Zayn acted surprised to see him. Zayn quickly patted him on the chest and left.
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There was an interview during commercials with Austin Theory and Grayson Waller in the crowd.
After the break, Noah Centineo, Lil Yachty, 2 Chainz, Quavo, Theory and Waller, and The Creed Brothers were shown in the crowd.
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The War Raiders defeated Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh to retain the World Tag Team Championships (11:54)
There was a scary spot early in the match where McDonagh hit a springboard moonsault to the outside (on Ivar), but his head bounced right off the announce table. Michael Cole freaked out and repeatedly asked that somebody check on him. They showed a replay, and it looked brutal. McDonagh got to his feet and to the apron and actually got a nice applause from the crowd.
During a break, the doctor checked on McDonagh, and he waved her off.
Erik and Ivar went for their finisher, but McDonagh ducked it and headbutted Erik. Ivar went to the top, but McDonagh brought him down with a suplex. Cole said McDonagh must be the toughest man in the WWE the way he’s still going.
Dom tagged in, but Ivar hit him with a spinning kick. As McDonagh distracted the referee, Carlito spat an apple in Ivar’s face. This allowed Dom to hit a 619, and McDonagh followed with a moonsault. Dom hit a frog splash for a nearfall after Erik shoved McDonagh into Dom to break up the cover. (Cole suggested the ref look at all the apple bits in the ring.)
Dom went for another 619, but Erik tagged himself in, and they hit Dom with War Machine for the pinfall win. This turned into a pretty good match.
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Ludwig Kaiser approached Pete Dunne backstage. It seemed like Kaiser wanted to form an alliance, but before they could say much, they were approached by New Day. Even these heels wanted nothing to do with New Day, so they walked away. Kelley approached New Day for an interview.
Kofi Kingston said Atlanta’s favourite son was home. Kelley thought they meant Bron Breakker. They said no. She also guessed Austin Theory and Cody Rhodes. Woods said he was Atlanta’s favourite son, and he would beat the brakes off Rey Mysterio in front of his town and his mother, father and sister. His family wasn’t there yet, but Woods knew they would show up because he spent a lot of money on their front-row seats.
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New Day entered during commercials. They were booed. Woods wanted the crowd to show respect, and Kingston said he would bring Atlanta something that Kirk Cousins and the Falcons never could—a win. (Because they were still in a break, Cole remarked that they were really bad guys now because they ran down the local sports team.)
Lil Baby and Miller Mike were shown in the crowd. Also shown were the empty reserved seats that Woods paid for.
Cole announced that this was Zelina Vega’s final night on Raw because she was being sent to Smackdown as part of the transfer portal.
Cole also announced a sold-out crowd of 12,432.
Rey Mysterio (w/LWO) defeated Xavier Woods (w/Kofi Kingston) (10:56)
Woods wrestled in black jeans (and black knee pads), as Kingston did in his recent match. Woods cut off Rey’s comeback attempt after a break, but Rey hit a sunset flip powerbomb off the ropes, followed by a Code Red for two. However, Woods shoved Rey into the announce desk moments later.
Woods noticed that his parents and sister finally arrived, sitting next to Lil Yachty in the front row. Woods approached them only for his parents to reveal they were wearing “New Day Sucks” t-shirts. Lil Yachty was wearing one, too, which was funny. Woods’ sister tossed a shirt at his face.
Woods was pissed, so he went back into the ring, where Rey gave him a 619 and springboard splash for the pinfall win. Woods’ family cheered.
Rey put on a “New Day Sucks” shirt and posed with Woods’ family.
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Rollins approached Zayn backstage. Zayn wanted him to know the Helluva Kick last week was a mistake. Rollins knew that but said you could understand why he may have thought otherwise. If it happened again, Rollins would not think of it as a mistake. They shook hands. Rollins told him to get his win over McIntyre tonight.
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Jey entered through the crowd alongside Quavo. He got a huge reaction. Jey told the crowd he needed that, and he thanked them. He lost on Saturday, but he knew he could beat Gunther. Now Rollins had his name in his mouth, too. Jey knew what he had to do. He would toss all their assess out in the Rumble, and he would become the world champion at WrestleMania.
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Pat McAfee kept the crowd warm during commercials. He interviewed Woods’ family and Lil Yachty. McAfee asked Lil Yachty if he’d ever get into the ring. Lil Yachty said he’d only be interested if it involved Rhea Ripley. The crowd was amused by that. (He held up a Ripley shirt earlier in the show.)
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Jackie Redmond interviewed Lyra Valkyria. Valkyria was ready to defend her Intercontinental Championship, but she also announced that she was entering the Rumble.
American Made interrupted. Chad Gable told Valkyria that Ivy Nile would be winning the belt for him… and for them. Valkyria said this was as close as any of them were getting to the IC title. Nile got in her face, but Valkyria brushed it off.
American Made bumped into Otis and Akira Tozawa, who were dancing nearby for Maxxine Dupri’s cameraphone. Gable called them pathetic for doing TikTok dances.
(It makes sense that Valkyria would enter the Rumble, but this segment also made it pretty clear they don’t have much of a plan for her first IC title challenger.)
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Cole plugged Belair and Naomi defending their tag titles against Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson on tomorrow’s NXT.
Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez defeated Women’s Tag Team Champions Bianca Belair & Naomi in a non-title match (12:33)
Belair made a hot tag shortly after a break and ran wild on Morgan. Rodriguez tagged in and gave Belair a spinebuster. She also powerbombed her partner onto Belair for a two count. Naomi tagged in and hit an X-Factor for two. Rodriguez followed with a fallaway slam. Morgan tagged in and hit Belair with a Codebreaker.
Morgan went for Oblivion, but Belair caught her and hit a KOD. However, Dom distracted the referee from making a cover. Belair wiped him out with a slingshot dive.
Naomi hit Morgan with a split-legged moonsault, but Rodriguez pulled Naomi out of the ring to break up the cover. This happened right in front of the referee, who, instead of admonishing Rodriguez, played dumb and checked on Morgan instead. This allowed Rodriguez to slam Naomi onto the apron. Morgan crawled into a cover for the pinfall win.
This was a weak finish. It’s also odd that Belair completely disappeared after hitting a simple dive. The crowd was quiet for the match, but they were into Belair when she was doing stuff.
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Kelley interviewed Ripley. She said it didn’t matter who won the Rumble because she would brutalize them if they faced her. Bayley appeared and issued a warning. Ripley chuckled and wished her luck. She left. Iyo Sky approached Bayley and sternly told her, “See you Saturday.”
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There was a Penta video package. He thanked the fans for their reaction, but this was only the beginning. He wanted to be the best in the world, but the only way to do that was to face the best. He was entering the Rumble, and he would get his WrestleMania moment. This was good.
The announcers ran down the Royal Rumble card, which begins at 6pm ET (3pm PT).
- 30-man Royal Rumble match
- 30-woman Royal Rumble match
- Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens in a ladder match for the WWE Championship
- DIY vs. Motor City Machine Guns in a 2-out-of-3 falls match for the WWE Tag Titles
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Paul Heyman/Drew McIntyre segment
Paul Heyman sauntered out to the ring to announce that Roman Reigns is the cover man for WWE 2K25. A banner dropped from the ceiling showing the cover. The crowd chanted, “OTC.”
Heyman said Reigns was coming back for his championship. He said it would be 29 vs. 1 at the Rumble because he knew that all 29 other men were coming for Reigns. Reigns was the biggest star in WWE, on Netflix, on this planet and would be the biggest star on Mars when Elon Musk colonized it. He called the rest of the locker room Reigns-wannabes.
Drew McIntyre entered before Heyman could leave. Heyman was nervous, but McIntyre told him to relax because the only person who should be nervous around here was Zayn. McIntyre just wanted to talk. The crowd chanted, “We want Roman.” McIntyre said he was responsible for all the success Heyman was having. The crowd chanted, “We don’t care.”
McIntyre said they will care. He called himself the daddy of the Bloodline and said, “I hate it, but I’m the catalyst of it all.” McIntyre said he eliminated Reigns to win the Rumble (in 2020) and slayed the beast at WrestleMania. That beast was Heyman’s client. (He never said Brock Lesnar’s name.)
After that, McIntyre said, Heyman found Reigns at a low time and harnessed his talent for evil. Heyman went on to make more money than ever. Heyman was even on the video game cover. (McIntyre pointed to Heyman bowing to Reigns on the very bottom-right of the cover.) McIntyre just wanted a ‘thank you’ from Heyman.
Heyman thanked him but said, “You’re crowding me right now.” McIntyre backed off but asked Heyman for a favour: tell your boy that I will target him and toss his carcass over the top. Heyman sarcastically agreed to deliver the message to Reigns. McIntyre said he wasn’t talking about Reigns—he was talking about Punk. Heyman left looking distressed.
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Redmond interviewed Bron Breakker. He called half the other Rumble entrants senior citizens. They’d realize they were no match for the badass because it wasn’t 2014 anymore. He declared himself for the Rumble. He was interrupted by Penta (wearing a suit). He made the “cero miedo” gesture without saying a word, and the crowd chanted along.
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Drew McIntyre defeated Sami Zayn (14:27)
Zayn came up bleeding from the tip of his nose early in the match. (I’m not sure where it happened but he did get booted in the face a couple of times.) McIntyre went for a Claymore outside the ring, but Zayn ducked, and McIntyre landed on the announce table.
During a break, McIntyre chucked Zayn into the barricade. Zayn and his bloody face managed to crawl back into the ring. However, after a break, McIntyre hit a spinebuster for two and a sit-out powerbomb for two. Zayn came back with a sunset flip powerbomb out of the corner for two. McIntyre suplexed Zayn and kipped up to his feet, but Zayn nailed a boot and Blue Thunder Bomb for two.
Zayn went to the top, but McIntyre brought him down with a suplex. He tried a Claymore, but Zayn countered into a cradle for two. McIntyre ran shoulder-first into the ring post, and Zayn hit an exploder into the turnbuckles. Zayn went for a Helluva Kick, but McIntyre dodged it and covered Zayn with his feet on the ropes for the pinfall win.
That’s 11 straight losses for Zayn against McIntyre.
— As Zayn pleaded with the referee, McIntyre attacked him from behind. Cody Rhodes ran out to make the save, but Kevin Owens ran out next to attack Rhodes. Rhodes fought him off, but McIntyre attacked Rhodes from behind. Zayn tried to make the save, but he hit Rhodes with a Helluva Kick by mistake.
Owens stood next to Zayn and smiled. He patted Zayn on the chest and left the ring.
Zayn was distressed as he looked down at Rhodes. Cole wondered if he would choose a title opportunity over his friends.
— The camera followed Zayn during a commercial break. Zayn was upset as he walked toward the back. He even got some boos. He looked back toward Rhodes and repeatedly said, “I’m sorry.” Zayn left.
(For a moment, I thought the show was over when they faded to black on a shot of a sullen Sami Zayn. But it continued.)
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Cody Rhodes/CM Punk segment
Rhodes got to his feet to address his hometown fans. He looked up at the two WWE Championship belts hanging above the ring. He said he’s learned that being champion was not about the physical belt despite what Owens has convinced himself of. It was a mindset. It was about the work. Nobody in WWE worked more matches than him. He showed up first and left last. He was so looking forward to Saturday when he could finally move past Owens.
CM Punk interrupted. Punk asked if Rhodes was feeling alright. Rhodes was his friend, and Punk was worried about him. It seemed like everything was finally getting to him. Punk knew what the title could do to a man.
Punk was champion for a historic 434 days. Somewhere around the 300-day mark, it started to weigh on him. He was burned out, and it turned him into somebody he didn’t enjoy being most days. He lost friends, and it’s happening to Rhodes now. He understood Rhodes wanted to be Bruno Sammartino and John Cena, but none of them could be Superman.
Rhodes said he didn’t have a lot of friends, but “CM Punk, you’re my friend, right?” Punk said Yes, that’s why he was out there. Unlike everyone else, Punk would always be his friend. Not just because of a promise he made to Dusty but because he loved him. But not even Dusty could’ve prepared Cody for this. When you were on top, there were no friends because you had a target.
Rhodes asked Punk what was next for him. Punk said he knew Rhodes wasn’t going to get much sleep because he either had an early call time or he’d be thinking about the biggest match of his career against Owens—one of the toughest SOBs in the locker room. If he got past that, there would be more waiting for him after that. That’s what’s next for Rhodes. Less time with his family, feeling alone ironically in front of sold-out crowds. Meanwhile, somebody in the best shape of their life would win the Rumble and take advantage of Rhodes and take his belt. And that was the good news.
Rhodes wanted to hear the bad news. Punk responded, “The bad news is that somebody is me.” Unlike everyone else who stabbed Rhodes in the back, Punk would win the Rumble and stab him in the front.
Rhodes had a story. When he showed up in OVW, he met Punk, and they were the only ones who wanted to learn arm drags from Greg Gagne. Everyone there wanted to be Punk. They chased him. Punk got called up, and Rhodes followed later. Rhodes chased Punk. Everyone chased Punk. But that dynamic changed because Punk was now chasing him.
Rhodes wanted Punk to win the Rumble “because I want you to catch up.” Rhodes wanted to see the look on Punk’s face when he realized the “best in the world” wasn’t the best in the world anymore. Rhodes’ music played, and the show ended.
(This was a strange segment. Mostly because of Rhodes’ behaviour. He sounded upset in the first part of his promo, where he spoke about doing the work. Instead of sounding like a proud champion, he sounded annoyed and even whiny. He was also oddly confrontational to Punk from the get-go and a bit overdramatic—even for him. Perhaps we’re to feel like he’s losing it a bit, but that also came out of nowhere. This was also very long. It didn’t help that the show felt like it ended 15 minutes ago.)
