Monday Night Raw #1651 (January 13th, 2025) Review

The second episode of Monday Night Raw to air live on Netflix. Hopefully it will be much more of a consistent, weekly show and not another repeat of moments and nostalgia over actual premium content. I am hoping for something that is truly proper WWE.

We get a quick recap of the debut on Netflix last week, which much like this previous week's Friday Night Smackdown was incredibly well produced and made the show feel much bigger and better than it truly was.

We then get CM Punk pulling into the arena and following him in one shot to backstage and then to the ring with his music playing.

The first thing I noticed was the crowd. They had a much more normal looking layout for the arena compared to the Inuit Dome last week, which looked all sorts of hi tech and crazy. This just looked like a normal week of Raw, hwich I thought was great. We get some amazing drone shots around that really makes this show feel massive, and is a great addition that they have been making recently.

Punk is in the ring preparing to cut a promo, the crowd loudly chanting his name and distracting him for a few moments. Punk does give a special call out to the firefighters and volunteers fighting the disasters in California, which is a lovely touch.

Punk talks about last week and how it was a big show. A big episode of Raw, including the fact that he beat Seth Rollins. Punk announces that he will be entering in the 2025 Royal Rumble. With Punk, John Cena, and Roman Reigns all being a part of it, this is looking to be the greatest rumble in history. One with so many different, believable winners.

When Punk asks for his music to play to finish, Seth Rollins' music plays and he comes out. Punk looks furious, which was incredible.

Rollins looks much more serious and reserved, not being his over the top and goofy personality that he often is. He is focused and determined.

Rollins is hot and talks about how he regrets the fact that he lost to Punk last week. He talks about seeking revenge and stealing his Wrestlemania dream from him. But more excitedly, Seth Rollins announces that he will be entering the Royal Rumble and will be the one to personally eliminate CM Punk. He is seeking vengeance and winning the massive match.

We get another interruption from Drew McIntyre, who has a LONG amount of history with both men. Punk immediately thinks that Drew and Seth are working together, but Seth doesn't seem overly happy to see him either. The three verbally tear into each other, going over their history. Especially calling back to Punk vs McIntyre inside of Hell in A Cell, where Punk won in a incredibly brutal, violent, bloody match full of emotion and drama.

There is a lot of arguing and fighting, hinting to a fight between Punk and Rollins. Drew teases that he will join in, but he then steps back and says his plead. He calls out Roman Reigns and The Bloodline, talking about how they will reclaim power while everyone is too stupid to realize. He then announces that he will also be in the Royal Rumble, with his determination being that he just wants to take out Roman and not much else.

The segment ends full of tension and intrigue. We see Damian Priest and Finn Balor entering the arena ahead of their street fight later in the night. Followed by Lyra Valkyria, and Dakota Kai. The two women fighting to become the first Women's Intercontinental Champion. They are building up to a night full of action and importance, which I am excited for.

Match 1: Singles Match

Chade Gable vs Mystery Luchador

Chad Gable comes out next, preparing for his match against the best luchador that General Manager Adam Pearce could find. The crowd chants "You Suck" much like Kurt Angle from years and years ago. A great way to tie them together as they are very similar talent and character wise.

During the commercial break for the television feed, Chad starts to cut a promo. Saying the crowd is stupid while also saying that he will defeat whatever "masked loser" he is put in the ring against. Chad finishes with a call to his faction he leads, saying that "I was not just born here. I was not just raised here. I was MADE here."

We get some dead air time as we prepare to come back from the commercial break. I understand having them still in for televised audiences, but using European Netflix where I continue to see the show can get a little bit tiring but nothing ever too ridiculous. Just wish the pacing could be slightly better since I am getting the "extended" version.

The lights go down and we get the new theme song playing.

Penta (the former Pentagon Jr from AEW, Lucha Underground, and many more) comes out. The crowd goes wild, seeming to know who he is which is great to see. The commentary talks about how this was a poorly kept secret, which I thought was pretty good. It was basically known that he was going to be the opponent, so it was cool that they referenced it.

The fact that I am a LONG time fan of Penta, seing him in a WWE ring just feels surreal and weird. It will take a long time to get used to, much like when CM Punk returned or Ethan Page arrived in NXT.

I am also happy that WWE did not make Penta wait for a year or so for his brother Fenix to join him. Treating Penta like a major star right off the bat feels amazing. His entrance and presentation was top tier, which really is what WWE does better than any other promotion.

The crowd is very hot for this match. Penta (it feels weird for me to just refer to him as that) and Chad wrestled a very technical match in the beginning which was very impressive. The crowd cheered and gasped at some of the incredibly unique moves and holds that Penta was doing, very clearly impressed from the get go. They even played along with his taunting and his "Cero Miedo" thing, seeming very wise to who he is. The crowd even chanted for him at a few different moments, which just helped in making him feel like a big deal from the very moment that he arrives.

There was a slightly messy moment with some missed moves and getting tied up in the ropes, but it wasn't anything too egregious.

I also am a major fan with the fact that this match was very even and competitive. It wasn't a squash match for Penta, making both men look good while showing every aspect of Penta's skill and talent.

Chad hit a big German Suplex on the apron, the crowd going wild and letting him stay on top for a bit. Targeting Penta's leg, the commentary doing a great job of going into the psychology as to why it was a good idea. Target the leg and Penta can't use his high speed, high flying offense.

Penta did an incredible job of selling in the match, especially following an insanely impressive Overhead Belly to Belly into the corner, which looked wild but the crowd ate it up.

We get a strike exchange with Overhead Chops, Penta's some of the best in the business in regards to volume and force. The crowd loved it, and I loved the fact that Penta continued to sell his leg incredibly well. The crowd very much investing. Even when Penta ran off the ropes to hit a Tope Con Hilo, he sold it well. The impact also was ROUGH as Chad barely caught Penta.

We get an incredibly impressive Hurricanrana and a Mexican Destroyer, which had the crowd going wild. Chad's sell of it was perfect as well, vertically spiking himself in a brutal looking way. The crowd was very firmly behind Penta and the match as a whole. Penta was able to hit The Sacrifice, the crowd going wild as Penta snapped his arm back. Penta then showcased his finishing move, the Penta Driver.

The crowd exploded for him and are very VERY clearly big fans and supporters of him. Such an awesome moment for him and showcasing his incredibly massive amount of talent and charisma. A huge fan of this match and everything it did to make Penta feel as big and important as possible.

Result: Penta pinned Chad Gable

Star Rating: 4.25/5 Stars

Afterwards, we get a interview in the ring with Penta. The crowd going wild for him as Jackie Redmond asks him what the moment of debuting means to him.

He thanks San Jose, who go wild for him. He talks very eloquently and smoothly in English, which I will admit surprised me. I always only ever heard him cut promos in Spanish, so this was good to see. It will help him in the long run in WWE, since they tend to push English speakers more. He does then talk in Spanish, getting a massive amount of cheers from the audience.

Penta's look is absolutely incredible. Just seeing him stand there is just so imposing and incredible. The coolest looking luchador on the planet.

Penta announces that he will be a major player in the new era of WWE, saying that it will become the Penta Era.

He does his Cero Miedo, with the crowd doing it loudly with him.

An incredibly moment that I loved so much. Super incredible for him.

We go backstage to see The Judgement Day, with their clearly being more tension between Finn Balor and Liv Morgan. A whole lot of passive aggressiveness. I am already a little tired of the tension in Judgement Day. It is a group that has never ever really been on the same page, which in this newest form is even more true. It just makes me feel like a story that will take way too long to end, meaning that so many weeks just repeat and continue down the same path.

Dominik Mysterio walks in with flowers, hoping to apologize to Liv. But she says she isn't mad, and the two have some slight tension. Liv is clearly using him to run chores for her as she walks away.

Finn builds his match with Damian later, JD announces that he will go to Adam Pearce to get a rematch for the WWE World Tag Team Titles, and there is a quick and funny moment with Carlito and the flowers.

We go down to the ring, Sheamus coming out to a loud ovation, coming down for what is sure to be a clears throat BANGER.

His long running feud with Ludwig Kaiser has been packed full of incredibly hard hitting and physical matches, which have all been incredible to see.

During the commercial break, we go to Cathy Kelly backstage who builds up the Women's Intercontinental Championship match. She then throws to a recap video of when Pure Fusion Collective attacked Kairi Sane, removing her from the tournament.

We then go back to an interview with the Collective, with Sonya Deville cutting a rather good promo about how they are often disrespected and it's seen as fine. But then they disrespect others and it's bad.

Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark have great moments to shine on the mic as well.

I genuinely do think the group is great, just neeeds better creative and booking. A feud with the likes of Damage CTRL seems like a great idea to put on some great matches, but time will tell how it works out for them.

We get a pretty funny moment with Pat McAfee and a showcase of the Philadelphia Eagles game where one of the players tried to hit a Pedigree as a touchdown celebration, but did a horrible job with it. It was really funny and a great bit to make the crowd laugh while also doing a good job about showing just how big and popular WWE truly is, with even major sports leagues like the NFL referencing it.

Match 2: Singles Match

Sheamus vs Ludwig Kaiser

Ludwig Kaiser finally comes down to the ring, showing Men's Intercontinental Champion Bron Breakker in the audience before throwing to the match from Survivor Series this past November where Breakker defeated both Sheamus and Kaiser.

The match started off hot and hard right away. Ludwig hit an incredible Running Dropkick to Sheamus on the floor that looked rough. Ludwig dominated a large amount of the early match, both before and during the commerial break. Working over Sheamus and very quickly getting to the point where Sheamus' chest was red and bruised. They have a great moment on the top rope, trading loud slaps back and forth with Kaiser reversing a big move off the top.

We come back from commercial break just as Sheamus kicks out of a move, the two men looking so physical and beat up this shortly in the match. They keep hitting such stiff and loud strikes with the crowd going wild. Sheamus goes for his 10 Beats of The Baldrum, with every single clubbing blow being accompanied with a sickening THUD that was very clearly audible and sounded like it hurt. Sheamus then climbed the corner with Kaiser on his shoulders, hitting a Avalanche White Noise that looked devastating.

Kaiser crawled towards the shillelagh that Sheamus brought with him to the ring. A traditionally Irish club that they have used on each other before.

Kaiser tries to use it, but Sheamus gets the advantage and goes for his Brogue Kick finisher. Kaiser dodged it, leading to a near fall. They get an incredibly fast paced sequence of hitting and reversing big moves back and forth, Kaiser hitting the last one for a near fall. Kaiser goes for his own running kick, but Sheamus dodges and immediately blasts him with a Brogue Kick to win.

Result: Sheamus pinned Ludwig Kaiser

Star Rating: 3.75/5 Stars

After the match, Sheamus goes to celebrate with Pat McAfee on commentary before he gets in a tense staredown with IC Champion Bron Breakker. They share trash talk and is hopefully building to another match between them.

We go backstage to see Seth Rollins be informed that he would be facing Drew McIntyre next week, clearly annoyed as he wanted to fight tonight. He is becoming more and more jaded and cynical, a perfect direction for his character.

He runs into long time friend Sami Zayn. Getting upset with Sami over helping Roman Reigns despite the long time history with Roman being evil, especially with the history between Roman and Seth. He is clearly close to his breaking point, and Sami is unsure how to respond.

We get a interview in the crowd with Judgement Day members Carlito and JD McDonagh, asking them about tension within the group. JD talks about how Judgement Day is fine, saying that commentary and interviewers are making a mountain out of a mole hill. That the drama is all fake and pushed onto them. JD cut a great promo, and is somebody who I have been a fan of since his Over The Top Wrestling days. He really could be a top guy from his talent alone.

Carlito talks, getting the loudest boos of the night. He is just a comedic goofball in the best possible way, but is still hated which is perfect for him.

We go backstage to see The Miz and Karrion Kross. We learn that Wyatt Sicks have been transferred to Smackdown due to the transer window, which is a interesting idea. Kross and Miz seemingly can't get their revenge, which I am excited for.

Sami Zayn walks in and we get some great drama. Karrion seeming to play the devil on both of their shoulders, leading to Sami wanting a match with Miz later in the night. Karrion looked very happy while Miz's performance of being more serious and dramatic awesome.

This is honestly the best work of Karrion's career, and having Miz be a overly serious guy is perfect for him. I would've loved if they kept the wild and manic star struck actor thing they hinted at when Miz first joined Kross and the Final Testament, but this is just as good.

We get to see Men's World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER come down to the ring, the commentary doing a perfect job of truly building him up as a big deal. Only ever being pinned twice in his main roster career, which started back in April of 2022.

GUNTHER talks about the Netflix debut of last week's show, sounding impressed of the production but then saying how the wrestling performances were weak and lackluster. That the wrestlers on the roster can't wrestle on the same level as him. It was honestly perfect and fits his character. He cares about wrestling and nothing else.

Jey Uso interrupts him to a massive ovation, one of the most popular people in the entire company.

Jey announces that he wants the next show at the championship. The crowd going wild for him. Jey also announces that he is done with Bloodline drama, and that he wants GUNTHER at Saturday Night's Main Event on January 25th. GUNTHER asks if Jey is sure and serious, with Jey responding in a serious way. GUNTHER acknowledges and respects Jey's courage and determination. GUNTHER says that he will not be able to hold the title forever, but that it would be an embarrassment to lose it to Jey. He then recalls their history, with GUNTHER defeating Jey in their previous 2 matches while he was Intercontinental Champion. GUNTHER tells Jey that he is funny and charismatic, but not world champion material. Not on the same level and calls him "a good tag team wrestler" which got the crowd quiet and respectful.

GUNTHER continues to tear into Jey in a rather reserved and serious way. He accepts the challenge from Jey, warning him that it may not be what's best for him. GUNTHER goes to leave, showing very little respect to his future opponent.

Before he can fully leave, Jey tells him to wait.

Jey cuts an absolutely incredible promo. Full of doubt and emotion. Talking about how he isn't supposed to be at this point in his career. That everyone has doubted him and said that he is just a tag guy. Jey said that is going to earn his respect and acclaim as a single's star, getting the crowd firmly behind him and building so much more drama and intrigue for the match.

A great way to build the match that is sure to just be a simple defense for GUNTHER.

We get an incredible video package for Lyra vs Dakota, building up this championship match as one of the biggest things to ever happen on Monday Night Raw.

We go to the crowd to see Smackdown star Bayley, getting interviewed in her home town to a massive amount of cheers. She talks about her career in this specific arena and the crowd keeps cheering. She also builds up her match on Friday against Tiffany Stratton for the WWE Women's Championship. She also comments on Dakota vs Lyra. Even though Dakota turned on Bayley and kicked her out of her own group, but she couldn't help but show excitement talking about her. She doesn't really pick a favorite, but builds it up as sure to be a great match.

Match 3: Women's Intercontinental Championship Tournament Finals

Dakota Kai vs Lyra Valkyria

Both women come out to loud cheers. This match is truly treated like something special, and is given the most amount of pomp and circumstance possible in the build up and intros. I am beyond excited to see how it does.

The match starts off fast and furious, both women trying to win as quickly as possible. We get some bug reversals quickly, including an awesome reversal from Dakota as Lyra went for her Dropkick through the ropes and to the floor. The two women were clearly wanting to impress, which was very evident when Lyra hit a insane Suplex from the apron onto the floor. The crowd went wild and the impact looked ROUGH, but it just made the match even bigger and better just a few minutes in.

Lyra sells her back incredibly well despite being on the dominant side for a bit, including an amazing Romero Stretch that she rolls over into another one over and over again, showing such athleticism and technical skill.

They continue to trade all sorts of holds and big moves. Reversing moves back and forth to hit even bigger ones like Sit Out Powerbombs, Spin Kicks, and a big Leg Drop to the back from Lyra to Dakota. An awesome collection of moves with both women selling the pain perfectly well. Truly great and epic moments.

Lyra went for her finisher the Nightwing, but Dakota reversed with a stiff Scorpion Kick and a INCREDIBLE stomp in the ropes. Dakota hit her finishing move the Go To Kick, but Lyra rolled out of the ring to prevent getting pinned and recover. Dakota leaves to try and drag her back in, but it takes a while and lets Lyra recover.

Dakota went for a Running Boot in the corner, but Lyra moved out of the way.

Lyra hit a Nightwing, getting the victory to a massive ovation.

I might have personally gone with Dakota, more so due to the story, but Lyra is incredibly talented and truly does deserve it. She has been great since her NXT days, and continues to show that she is one of the best women on the entire roster.

Result: Lyra Valkyria pinned Dakota Kai to become the first ever Women's Intercontinental Champion

Star Rating: 4/5 Stars

We go backstage during a commercial break to see The New Day. Xavier cuts a great scathing promo on Cathy Kelly and calls out Rey Mysterio. They talk about being kicked out of the locker room and being treated unfairly. Kofi talks about his mother turning her back on him, Rey Mysterio being a deadbeat dad, and The New Day saying that they will be running rough shot and be more aggressive in the coming weeks.

Match 4: Singles Match

The Miz vs Sami Zayn

We go back to the ring to see The Miz coming out for his impromtu match. A bit of time before Sami comes out, the two starting off rather fast but not necessarily full of drama. Miz gets the advantage very briefly before Sami goes on a quick run, but then Miz has to chat to get the advantage again. This current version of The Miz is great, ever since his turn on R-Truth. And even then, his team with Truth was something I very much enjoyed.

Miz is on top for a while, even avoiding a Blue Thunder Bomb. Sami keeps trying to get moments to take advantage, but Miz keeps shutting him down. But then, Sami hits a Helluva Kick out of nowhere followed by a Blue Thunder Bomb. A very short and basic match with Sami not getting all that much offense in, but it made him feel so dangerous and smart in that he can seemingly win at any moment.

Result: Sami Zayn pinned The Miz

Star Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

We quickly cut backstage to see the new WWE Women's World Heavyweight Champion Rhea Ripley walking towards the ring.

We get a quick video package of Logan Paul, saying that he is determined to become the top guy in all of WWE. He is focused to become the face of the company, which is spoken over a training montage that did make him look good.

Rhea comes down to the ring looking like a superstar, the crowd going wild while she looks great with her newly regained championship belt. She gets interrupted by Nia Jax, which was a surprising choice. Nia talked about the transfer window, which was a interesting choice for her direction just after losing her Women's Championship on Smackdown.

Nia mentions Tiffany Stratton, Rhea Ripley, and even Bayley in the crowd. Nia trash talks the city and Bayley, making Rhea feel slightly like an afterthought.

Nia then just goes on to say that she is the top woman of the WWE, with Bayley getting in the ring with a mic to trash talk Nia while showing some respect to Rhea.

Again, Rhea just feels like an afterthought. Nia shoved Bayley and then laid out Rhea, but then Bayley and Rhea worked together to send Nia running away. Bayley and Rhea shook hands, but Bayley kept looking at her championship belt and clearly wants a chance to win it.

For Raw next week, we get a quick run down. The New Day have their first match since their heel turn, JBL is announced to appear, and a Wrestlemania rematch between Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre.

We get a quick run down video package of the feud between Damian Priest and Finn Balor, long time friends and partners turned bitter rivals.

Main Event: Street Fight

Damian Priest vs Finn Balor

Damian comes out to the ring first, carrying with him a kendo stick with the Puerto Rico flag. Damian looked 100% business, ready to go to war. He gets to the ring, and immediately starts to throw steel chairs into the ring to get started with the violence as quickly as possible.

During the commercial break, we get Jackie Redmond breaking down Penta's debut. We then get an interview with Rey Mysterio talking about Penta. It is automatically a stamp of approval from a long time wrestling but WWE specific legend in Rey saying how great Penta is. They then transition into Rey talking about the New Day, saying how they need to show respect and suffer the consequences of their actions.

We go back to the ring for the main event match. Damian is waiting for Finn to come down, but Finn attacks him from behind with his own kendo stick. He beats down on Damian for a while until Damian just overpowers him and beats him down. The move to fight outside, the two trading the match back and forth. Both men getting time to be on top. Damian listens to the crowd chanting "we want tables" by grabbing one from under the ring and standing it up near the announce table. Balor gets the advantage and hits a dive off the table, followed by sending Damian over the barricade and into the crowd.

They brawl surronded by fans, using some trash cans and throwing each other into steel railings. Feeling so chaotic and fun and violent, with Balor leading Damian up some stairs and into more fans.

We get an awesome moment with Damian going over the railing and standing on top of some boxes before grabbing Finn and hitting a massive Alcon Arrow off the boxes and through some tables covered in tarps and equipment. The crowd went absolutely nuts, making this match something insane and epic.

Some EMTs come out to check on the talent, making the match feel more dangerous and hard hitting to really sell their feud. They put a neck brace on Balor and put him on a stretcher while Damian is panting and exhausted.

I will admit that I was pretty convince that Balor might have been actually injured. The way it was filmed and the commentary talked had me think it was a real injury, which had me really worried.

But then, something that I honestly don't think was the right call, was Damian running down and laying out Carlito and JD. The crowd even seemed to be booing him at first as he grabbed hold of Balor, beating him up while he was tied down to the stretcher and with a neck brace on. he pushed the stretcher to the ring, Balor rolling back inside as Balor could barely stand. Damian hit a brutal Clothesline and then went for a South of Heaven, but Carlito and JD ran down to beat up Damian. They continued on for a bit, including a great Moonsault from JD. They helped Balor up and helped him to the top rope. Balor removed his neck brace and hit his finisher the Coup De Grace, but Damian somehow kicked out.

JD and Carlito put another table out when the WWE World Tag Team Champions the War Raiders, who beat Judgement Day to win them thanks to an assist from Damian Priest 2 weeks ago. They send JD and Carlito back in a brawl while Balor starts to hit some moves and take the advantage back, still selling his neck. He beats down brutally on Damian with a steel chair.

Balor looks for a brutal move with a chair wrapped around Damian's neck, but he reverses into a sort of spinning South of Heaven.

They kept fighting even more, leading to an absolutely insane Coup De Grace off the apron to Damian through a table. For me, that really should've been the finish. Maybe one more in the ring for good measure. But instead, Damian lifted Finn up and slammed him through the barricade into the time keeper's area.

The match started to feel a little bit too long for me, like it should've ended a few minutes early. I also am such a big Finn Balor fan that I thought he should've won, but oh well. They are pushing Damian as one of their top superstars on the entire roster.

He hit's a Razor's Edge through the other table on the floor, then a massive South of Heaven in the ring to finally get the win.

Result: Damian Priest

Star Rating: 3.75/5 Stars

The show was a massive improvement from last week. This one was all about the wrestlng and properly moving stories forward. The additions to the Royal Rumble, the Penta debut, and announcing Jey Uso vs GUNTHER was all perfect future directions for Raw. The matches were all good to great, with Sami Zayn vs The Miz being the weakest primarly due to it being the shortest. The main event wasn't my favorite match, more so because I wanted Balor to win, but it was still a lot of fun. I was a huge fan of this episode and hope that they can keep the momentum moving forward.

Overall Rating: 8/10