Here are the Raw results for January 27th 2025 from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
Seth Rollins promo
Burn it down! Here is the architect, the visionary, the revolutionary. Whatever you wanna call him. He talks about Wrestlemania Season which begins this weekend when he wins the Royal Rumble. He talks about his embarrassing loss to CM Punk on the Raw debut on Netflix.
He doesn’t doubt himself and he began his path to redemption last week and it will continue this weekend. He hopes Punk is the last man in the Rumble for him to eliminate and crush his Wrestlemania dreams. After he wins, who will he face?
It would be poetic for him to take the same championship that Seth helped Cody Rhodes win. He asks the crowd, but he is interrupted by the World Heavyweight Champion Gunther. Gunther asks Seth where has he been. Gunther has been defending his championship. Seth has been whining and crying about the drama he is involved himself in.
He tells Rollins to focus on winning the Rumble, but he questions if Seth is even able to make it back to the top. Rollins says that championship that Seth Rollins made. Gunther says Seth is one of the best wrestlers in WWE, but in 2025 he is not the best anymore.
Gunther is. Gunther asks Rollins to win the rumble and challenge him, so that Gunther can make Seth realise that the only name synonymous with the heavyweight title is Gunther. Logan Paul interrupts! Oh dear. He rips up the sign of a fan at ringside. He is booed ruthlessly. We can barely pay attention to what he is saying. He talks about how great he is.
He wants to be the new face of the era and Rollins and Gunther cannot be the face. The fans tell Logan he sucks, Rollins is laughing his ass off. Logan enters the Royal Rumble and he will worker smarter not harder. He will main event Wrestlemania against Cody or Gunther. Gunther wants Logan to win now and embarrass him. Seth says Gunther is the only one who will be embarrassed when Seth wins back his title.
B+ – A fun promo to build more hype for this weekend’s Royal Rumble. Logan Paul makes his Raw on Netflix debut. Yes, he is an absolute scumbag. Yes, he has done things he needs to be held accountable for. But my god is he a great and effective heel. I’m unsure if they’ll actually do Logan vs Gunther, it has been rumoured, but I feel Gunther wouldn’t want to work that match. Nonetheless, this was a hot start to the show.
-CM Punk is backstage, he is interrupted by Sami Zayn who talks about them not being on the same level. Zayn agrees, because he is a Wrestlemania main eventer and Punk is not (cold. Zayn vs Punk at Mania?!?) Zayn walks away and bumps into Karrion Kross who talks about the incident last week.
He says Zayn has an opportunity to do things for himself and gets under Zayn’s skin suggesting he enjoyed the boot to Rollins last week. Kross leaves, Cody Rhodes enters the scene! Sami is popular today. That is all they do together.
-Grayson Waller and Austin Theory are the newest members of Raw. Theory says he is no stranger to championships. He and Waller mock 2Chainz and other rappers who are ringside. They are ready to take over Raw. They have their eyes on the tag match upcoming.
War Raiders (Erik & Ivar) (c) vs Judgement Day (Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh), World Tag Championships
Dom and JD aim to bring back the tag gold to the Judgement Day. They attack the champions from behind as the bell rings, double teaming Erik. JD hits a moonsault on the outside to Ivar and hits his head on the announce table HARD. He continues to fight though, he and Dom continue to isolate Erik but Ivar gets the hot tag and runs wild.
Erik catches Dom and powerbombs him into JD. Ivar with a cannonball off the barricade onto both men. It seems that medically personnel have attended to JD but he persists to wrestle. JD runs from Ivar, Dom attacks from behind. Double back suplex by Judgement Day gets a 2. Senton by Dom gets a 2.
Double handspring elbow by Ivar and he gets a tag to Erik. He throws Dom around like a ball. Huge uranage by Erik on Dom. He drops him with a big knee, the pin broken by JD. JD hits the Devlin Side from the top rope to Ivar for a great near fall. Dom misses a frog splash and Ivar hits a spinning heel kick.
Carlito gets involved and spits apple in Ivar’s face. 619 from Dom. JD hits a moonsault to Ivar, Dom hits the frog splash for a 1-2-pin is broken up! Great sequence and near fall. Erik drops JD out the ring, War Raiders hit the War Machine on Dom and retain the tag titles.
B+ – Not only a great match, but an impressive feat by JD McDonagh who it was later revealed to have suffered an incredibly serious injury in this match, collapsing backstage. Dom and JD showed great fire, but they had no chance defeating the newly crowned champions.
-Pete Dunne is approached by Ludwig Kaiser. He mocks Pete’s loss to Penta, the New Day approach them and even they walk away from them. Xavier Woods, Atlanta’s own, is in his hometown and still being booed. He says he will beat Rey Mysterio here tonight in front of his family. They have yet to response to Woods’ messages though.
-Karrion Kross says The Miz is on an assignment. Kross has his eyes on a few people including Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn and CM Punk. He says Zayn finds ways to justify his shitty actions. He doesn’t think Zayn believes his own words.
Rey Mysterio w/LWO vs Xavier Woods w/Kofi Kingston
Kofi shushes the crowd during the entrance. Woods demands respect his family is here. Kofi calls him Atlanta’s favourite son. They mock the unsuccessful Atlanta Falcons. We pan to the seats but none of Woods’ family is here. Commentary reveals Zelina Vega is heading to Smackdown and no longer part of the LWO.
Rey gets the better of Woods early on, but Woods drops him with a shoulder tackle. Rey comes out of the corner with a clothesline, Woods rakes the eyes to regain control. Rey hits a hurricanrana and an enziguiri. Woods gets Rey on the second rope and hits a diving stomp onto Rey’s back. Woods with a baseball slide, kicking Rey out of the ring.
Woods wears Rey down on the ring apron. Woods pulls at Rey’s mask over and over. They trade blows, Woods with a stalling vertical suplex for a 2. Rey fights out the corner with a kick then a diving seated senton. He does his comeback, Woods cuts him off. Rey hits a sunset flip powerbomb from the top rope, then hits a Code Red for a near fall.
Woods dodges a 619 but he is distracted by his family arriving. Woods’ family and rapper Lil Yachty are wearing New Day Sucks t-shirts! Woods is furious. He runs into a 619 and a Drop Tha Dime. Rey Mysterio wins. He celebrates with Woods’ family.
B – A good match from these two. Woods played the heel great, Rey is the perfect babyface. I liked the continuation of the New Day being the most unlikable characters, even by other heels. A solid match, the New Day can still eat losses right now because they’re still gaining heat as heels.
-They recap the accidental kick by Sami on Rollins. Zayn apologises to him backstage. Seth understands but also sees that it might not have been an accident, since Zayn is aligned with Roman Reigns again. He says if it happens again, he cannot be sure it was a mistake. They are good (for now…)
Jey Uso promo
Jey comes out through the crowd with Atlanta rapper Quavo. Jey appreciates the fans. He lost on Saturday night, Gunther was good but he believes he can beat him. Jey says he will win the Royal Rumble and get another opportunity and main event Wrestlemania. He and Quavo continue to yeet with the crowd.
C – Short and simple. I think this could have been a pre-record, but I understand why not. Jey is super over, his chant is great crowd engagement and they had all of the rappers in attendance.
-Pat McAfee interviews Xavier Woods’ family and Lil Yachty. They hope that the New Day get better because they suck right now. Yachty wants him some Rhea Ripley. I don’t blame him.
-the inaugural Intercontinental champion Lyra Valkyria is backstage. She declares for the Royal Rumble. Chad Gable and his American Made stable comes in and says Ivy Nile will take it from her and eliminate her from the Rumble. Lyra says this is the closest Chad will get the an IC title. American Made walk on and see Alpha Academy. Gable mocks him and calls them pathetic and failures. They’re sad.
Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs Women’s Tag Champions Naomi & Bianca Belair
Bianca and Liv go counter for counter, Liv tags out and the two former NXT women’s champions square off. Liv distracts Bianca and Raquel clotheslines her. Double Russian leg sweep by the tag champions on Raquel. Naomi is now worn down by Liv and Raquel with a nice double-team sequence. Raquel saves Liv and we have a brawl in the ring.
Naomi cross-body to Liv, Bianca with one to Raquel and they’re in control. Naomi is worn down by the women of the Judgement Day. Naomi breaks away with a heat-seeking missile to Raquel on the outside of the ring apron. She hits an enziguiri and tags Bianca who hits her comeback.
She spears and punches both Liv and Raquel in the corner. Bianca with a spinebuster to Liv and a handspring moonsault for a 2. Raquel hits a choke bomb, she slams Liv on top of Bianca but only for a 2. Naomi with a springboard X-Factor for a near fall.
Liv with a codebreaker, Bianca counters Oblivion and hits a KOD. Dominik Mysterio runs out and distracts the referee. Bianca takes out Dom and Naomi hits the split-legged moonsault but Raquel breaks it. She hits Naomi with a Tehana Bomb on the apron, she rolls Naomi in for Liv to pin and win.
B- – A solid tag team match but I didn’t feel all that invested until the final 5 minutes. The win for the Judgement Day girls sets up a future tag title match for them surely. This was wrestled well, just not a lot of heat to keep me engaged.
-Rhea Ripley talks about her title retention on Saturday. She doesn’t care who wins the Rumble. Bayley interrupts and teases a match with her at Wrestlemania. Bayley walks away and bumps into former ally Iyo Sky. She simply says “see you Saturday.”
-Kai Cenat enters and Pat McAfee interviews him. Kai is having a good time. Pat invites him to the Royal Rumble. Kai throws fighting words at iShowSpeed. (I don’t care about this shit, but I understand its role for the younger demographic.) Paul Heyman makes his way to the ring.
Paul Heyman promo
Heyman shows the cover of WWE 2k25, featuring Roman Reigns. He bigs up Roman Reigns as usual, he calls himself “the one behind the one.” Roman lives up to expectations and this year Roman will continue his path of redemption. He took back his Ula Fala and he is coming back for his championship. Roman is not just the biggest star on Netflix and WWE, he is the biggest star in the industry and the planet.
There are 2 types of men in the Rumble. The One, and 29 Roman Reigns wannabes. They pray to God to be Roman Reigns. Heyman throws the mic, but outcomes Drew McIntyre. He tells Paul to relax, he is just here to talk. Drew says he is responsible for the success Heyman has had. Drew calls himself the Daddy of the Bloodline. He won the 2020 Rumble, eliminated Reigns and defeated Brock Lesnar.
Heyman got into Roman’s ear at a low time and convinced the evil in him to come out and here we are. Drew wants a thank you for their success. Heyman thanks him but he feels crowded. Drew steps back and asks a favour. He says he is going to beat “Roman “his boy” within an inch of his life and eliminate him.
Heyman promises to pass on the message. Drew won’t let Heyman leave. Drew says he wasn’t talking about Roman, he is talking about Punk
B+ – Both men are incredible on the mic and do a great job to hype up the rumble and progress the plethora of storylines going into what very well could be the best Royal Rumble match of all time.
-Bron Breakker is backstage. He is focused on the Rumble match, the most of the entrants are senior citizens. He is cut off by Penta who eyes up the IC title and does his Zero Miedo gesture.
Sami vs Drew McIntyre
Drew overpowers Sami early on, but it quickly becomes a strike fest from both men. Zayn with an Arabian moonsault to Drew on the outside. Drew drops Sami with a double chop. Sami hits an impressive DDT reversing a tilt-a-whirl slam. Sami has a busted nose from that, blood is everywhere. Drew drops Sami crotch first on the top rope.
Drew goes for a Claymore but lands on the announce table. Drew throws Sami into the crowd, but Zayn beats the crowd. Drew continues to bludgeon Sami with strikes and demands the referee stop the match. Zayn can barely stand with every chop he takes. Sami fights back with strikes and a clothesline.
Drew hits a spinebuster and a powerbomb for a near fall. Zayn reverses white noise into a sunsets flip powerbomb for a near fall. Huge throw by Drew, setting up for the Claymore. Sami counters with a kick and a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near fall. Drew suplexes Sami from the top rope, Sami counters Claymore into a 2 count. Exploder suplex in the corner, Drew dodges the Helluva kick and rolls up Sami, using the ropes for the win.
Drew continues the assault after the match, here comes Cody Rhodes! He attacks Drew and takes him out with a Cody Cutter. Out comes Kevin Owens and they get into a brawl. Drew helps Owens, Sami Zayn goes for a Helluva kick on Drew and once again he misses and this time takes out Cody. Owens thanks Zayn and leaves. Sami looks on devastated.
B+ – Another great match, but once again the highlight for me is the storytelling between Zayn and his peers. He even received a few boos from the crowd here. I don’t see Zayn turning heel, but some very interesting character development. I look forward to seeing how they decide to book this rumble.
Cody Rhodes promo
Cody Rhodes recovers from the Helluva Kick. He gestures to the world championships hung high above the ring. All he wanted was to be a world champion. The belt is not what matters. It is the mindset and putting in the work. He is looking forward to moving past Kevin Owens. He is interrupted by CM Punk. (Holy Shit!) We get ourselves a Punk vs Cody face to face.
Punk asks if Cody is alright. He is worried that all of this is starting to get to Cody and he knows the pressure of champion. He was burnt out during his massive 400+ day reign and it damaged him. They all want to be Superman but they cannot. Rhodes says he doesn’t have many friends, but asks Punk if he is his friend. Punk says yes and that is why he is here.
He promises to always be his friend, due to a promise to his dad and because he loves him. He and Dusty could not prepare him for being a champion. Cody cuts him off and asks what is next for Cody. Punk says short term, Cody gets to sleep in his own bed tonight in his hometown but he won’t sleep. He is thinking about his match and doing media.
If Cody survives Owens, there is always another show. This is what Cody asked for, being a champion and less time with his family. Whilst Cody is wearing himself down, someone is getting in the best shape of his life and he will win the Royal Rumble and take the title from Cody and that is the good news. The bad news is that somebody is going to be CM Punk. Punk will be a true friend and stab him in the front.
Cody respects that, he talks about his early times in OVW and WWE when he was always chasing Punk, then Punk disappeared for 10 years whilst everyone chanted for him and chasing him. The dynamic changed and their relationship has changed. Cody is no longer chasing Punk, he is chasing him. Both men stop each other from leaving and continue to put themselves over one another. Cody ends with “the best in the world is not the best in the world anymore.”
A+ – Amazing. There was a stunned silence when everyone was just listening contently and attentively throughout. I loved that. They have teased so many matches and so many possibilities, but this has been the biggest tease of them all. Rhodes vs Punk in the Main Event of Wrestlemania feels like the money match. Who would have thought that would happen 3 years ago? Amazing promo work by two of the best talkers in the business.
B+ Overall Grade – Guess what? It is another excellent show in the Netflix era. Plenty of hype for the Royal Rumble and no bad matches to talk about. This might be the most excited I have been for a Royal Rumble since 2017. This is a stacked Rumble and I am expecting it to be killer.
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