WWE Monday Night Raw #1652 (January 20th, 2025) Review

Building off of an amazing show last week, we are going to see how WWE keeps its momentum and pushes forward.

WWE has been on a massive roll for a while, and they have shown no signs of slowing down at all. Just getting more and more popular and hot as time goes on.

We start off the show seeing people walking in and building up the matches for tonight. Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, and CM Punk arriving. Announcing that Penta will have a match against Pete Dunne. And then we see WWE Women's World Heavyweight Champion Rhea Ripley get ambushed by Nia Jax, being laid out backstage as the show starts proper.

Pat McAffee is off doing college football stuff, so Michael Cole is on commentary with Wade Barrett. Do I want to go into the drama with Corey Graves and talk about how weird it is that he is not the one doing commentary?

Not really. It's just a messy situation that I don't want to get into.

We start off the show with Jey Uso making his way through the crowd, doing his signature taunt with a kid while fans hold up giant paper letters to spell out YEET behind him in what looked pretty cool.

Jey Uso is a wrestler who I feel like is the dictionary definition of charisma and popularity to make up for skill. Now, I do think that Jey is a good wrestler, but all of his best stuff was teaming with his brother Jimmy. Wrestling wise, he is quite basic and repetitive. Punches, Superkicks, Spear, Uso Splash, Samoan Drop, Hip Attack. That's really it, and I feel a little bad for saying that. Especially with Jey going on to challenge GUNTHER for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship this upcoming Saturday.

Jey doesn't have much time to talk before GUNTHER interrupts him. Jey says that he is going to beat GUNTHER, while GUNTHER just calls him a "funny little man" and that Jey is delusional. Jey will not be able to beat GUNTHER. GUNTHER even gives respect to Jey, saying how he respects his courage and his willingness to improve himself and better himself.

GUNTHER actually makes a great point, telling Jey that his shenanigans and character isn't serious. Jey is a "mascot" for WWE and the fans, not a real wrestler. GUNTHER said that he might as well be wrestling Jimmy Uso and tells Jey that he isn't serious. That Jey bets on himself until Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, Sami Zayn, or Cody Rhodes need help. Jey is a "useful idiot who doesn't even realize it" and GUNTHER just continues to tear into him.

GUNTHER is one of my favorite wrestlers on the planet and one of the absolute best today, but man Jey winning would be awesome. GUNTHER says that when they have their match, he is going to embarrass Jey and reveal that he is just a flash in the pan.

The crowd is firmly behind Jey as he begins to respond.

"Everything that came out of your mouth is true." Jey says that he is a mascot with the fans being his team. Jey is incredibly honest and agrees with the criticism, showing that he knows that he needs to improve and he believes that he can. Jey is going to earn respect from GUNTHER and whoever else doubts him. Jey also says "Only one of us has main evented Wrestlemania...and it wasn't you."

This leads to GUNTHER throwing his title belt at Jey in order to give him a cheap shot. They brawl for a bit, with Jey being a little smart by pulling GUNTHER's suit jacket up to blind him and lay into him. Jey hits a Superkick and poses with the World Heavyweight Championship, which makes GUNTHER go irate. Instead of getting into the ring to keep fighting, GUNTHER takes his title belt and walks away.

We go backstage to see The New Day run into wrestling legend John "Bradshaw" Layfield. The New Day talks about how nobody understands them and it seems like everyone is disrespecting them, but they think JBL will be on their side. They try to play up to his ego and his history. Kofi even slips some money into JBL's pocket to try and bribe him into saying nice things about them on commentary later on. But then JBL sort of lays into them with some backhanded compliments that upsets New Day in a pretty great segment. New Day has been off to a perfect run and are some of the most entertaining stuff in all of WWE.

Rey Mysterio comes out for his upcoming match against Kofi Kingston.

A match that has been building for a while. Ever since the New Day turned on Big E in the best segment in all of WWE last year, everyone has turned their backs on them. Rey Mysterio was the locker room leader who told New Day they weren't allowed in and to change in the bathrooms. Mysterio has been the one sort of leading the charge against New Day and telling them that they are disrespectful and should be ashamed of themselves.

During the commercial break, JBL comes out to be a special guest commentator since they are in his home state of Texas.

There is some funny bits with the commentators sharing jabs and setting stuff up that we don't normally get to see, which I enjoyed for what it was. Made it feel more light hearted and unserious in a way where it works.

Before the match can start and when we get back from the commercial break, Bayley is being interviewed about her busy week last week appearing on every weekly show. Bayley announces that she will be in the 2025 Women's Royal Rumble match, but gets interrupted by Nia Jax who says that she is going to win the Rumble and attack Bayley like she did to Rhea Ripley earlier on tonight.

We get a quick little thing to show the PBR professional bull riders in the front row behind the commentary desk, tying in some other things owned by Endeavour and part of TKO Holdings.

Match 1:

Rey Mysterio vs Kofi Kingston (with Xavier Woods)

The New Day come out to their old theme song, but then come out and shout for it to end and cut a promo on the way down to the ring, getting the loudest boos you will hear.

Kofi says the fans are pissing him off and that the New Day is tired of being disrespected because they are future Hall of Famers.

Kofi goes over to JBL and insults him, taking his money back while Xavier continues to cut into the crowd and tell them that New Day is right.

Kofi has some new gear, now wearing plain black pants and tennis shoes due to the fact that they can't change in the locker room. He doesn't have the crazy bright and colorful tights anymore, and it is a perfect look for this new era.

Kofi starts off aggressive and Rey is clearly a little annoyed. They try to make things technical at first, but Kofi just overpowers Rey and keeps adding insult to injury. But Rey's expertise and experience allows him to take advantage, hitting some crazy stiff despite his age and history of injuries. It honestly amazes me with how well he can still move. Rey very quickly goes for a 619, but Kofi is able to dodge it.

Rey prepares for a dive to the outside, but lands on the apron when Kofi moves out of the way. Kofi pulls him down in a bit of a cheap, dirty move to get the upperhand for a bit. Throwing Rey into the corner and stomping away with some pure anger.

Things escalate when Kofi is on the apron and Rey goes for a Sunset Flip Powerbomb off the apron, but Kofi fights out and tries to go for a Powerbomb on the floor.

I don't entirely know what happened, but Rey slipped while he was flipping and just crashed hard onto the outside floor, Kofi going over to shout at JBl for a bit and let Rey recover. It looked incredibly nasty, but Rey seemed like he was fine. Kofi goes to Powerbomb him again, but Rey reverses with a Hurricanrana that sends Kofi into the steel stairs, followed by slamming his face into it over and over again to teach Kofi a lesson about respect.

Both men almost get counted out, so Rey rolls Kofi in. Kofi distracts the referee, letting Xavier grab hold of Rey and not let him take advantage. Kofi then attacks Rey from behind and gets very aggressive, clubbing his chest and kicking him in the head to get back on top with the crowd booing like crazy.

We get a bit of messy technical wrestling at the end of the commercial break, with Rey fighting out of the hold just as we get back to the television feed.

We get a strike exchange where the crowd cheers when Rey hits Kofi, and boos whenever Kofi gets the punch.

Rey runs off the ropes back and forth, dodging strikes before hitting a big Crossbody to a loud ovation.

Rey goes to the apron and tries to climb the corner, but is slow from how physical this match has been. Kofi runs over to attack him and climbs up to prepare for a Superplex, but Rey is able to reverse and twists Kofi's hand to send him off. Rey hits a Diving Senton and goes for a Springboard Crossbody, but Kofi ducks and Rey lands hard. Kofi rolls Rey up, but Rey rolls through and hits a Dropkick right to the face.

Kofi goes to the corner and into the ropes se the referee has to pull Rey away, but Kofi uses this to poke Rey in the eye and hit a Diving Splash to Rey's back for a nearfall.

The crowd is going wild as Kofi goes for a Trouble in Paradise, but Rey dodges and sets up for a 619. Xavier trips Rey from the floor, but instead of being a disqualification, the referee throws Xavier Woods out and sends him to the back. Rey is distracted and Kofi attacks him from behind, but Rey is able to reverse and hit a 619. When he goes for a Springboard Splash, Kofi gets his knees up and covers.

The crowd is white hot for this, but Rey is able to just barely kicked out in a great false finish.

Kofi goes for his other finisher the SOS, but Rey reverses in a great way and pins Kofi down to get the win.

Result: Rey Mysterio pinned Kofi Kingston

Star Rating: 3.75/5 Stars

Literally right as the bell rings, Rey leaves the ring only to get attacked by Xavier Woods. The New Day beat up Mysterio in the ring until Mysterio's stable mates the LWO (Latino World Order) run down to save him. New Day run through the crowd and blindside Joaquin Wilde before Cruz Del Toro makes them retreat to more boos.

We get a video recap over the debut of Penta from last week, which was one of the coolest things in WWE in quite a while. A PERFECT debut and a great match.

We then follow this up to see Chad Gable and his faction American Made backstage. Chad talks about his history of struggling against luchadors like Penta, Dragon Lee, and Rey Mysterio. Chad then reveals that he has talked to Dominik Mysterio for advice while the rest of American Made talk about how they plan on winning titles and are the next generation of stars while everyone else is past their prime.

We then see Sami Zayn preparing to come down to the ring, passing by Maxxine Dupri and Natalya who have been shown talking backstage for weeks now with no follow up as of yet.

During the commercial break, we get a interview with Karrion Kross and Scarlett.

Karrion is so funny and charismatic before he is asked about Wyatt Sicks going off to Smackdown. He says that he is the only person to beat Uncle Howdy, then says how The Miz is off on assignment so he isn't in attendance tonight. Karrion is asked about his future, where he talks about Seth Rollins, CM Punk, and Sami Zayn being his next targets. He harps on Sami, calling him a emotional man who tries to rationalise the "awful" things he has done.

I personally love Karrion Kross, and his current run since forming the Final Testament and his feud with the Wyatt Sicks has been the best stuff on Raw for a few months. I really hope he can keep the momentum going.

We come back from commercial just as Sami Zayn comes down to the ring to cut a promo, with the crowd firmly behind him.

We get a quick run down of the arena that they are in tonight, which has hosted 27 Monday Night Raws and 2 different Wrestlemanias. Then, the video shows Wade Barrett winning the first season on NXT back in 2010, which is a crazy thing to remind people of. It was cool and all, but really caught me off guard.

Sami thanks the crowd for loving him before he goes straight to business. He spoke to Adam Pearce and has entered the Royal Rumble, then goes on to talk about Seth Rollins briefly before talking about "what is it that I want" and was starting to become very open and honest about his dreams as a kid and rookie. Talking about the thousands who are able to wrestle but only the smallest few who can become WWE Superstars, than the even smaller amount who can call themselves top guys in WWE. Sami Zayn said that he is up there in that level, along with most of the people who have announced for the Royal Rumble like Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, and many others.

Sami talks about how they all have World Championships in their careers, but Sami has yet to win one in WWE. He doesn't need a World Championship to complete him as he is thankful for his life and his career, thanking the fans for supporting him as it means more than any world championship. Sami doesn't NEED it...but he does want it.

He has wanted it since he was a kid, and he wants to say that he is a World Champion.

In a shocking turn that I wasn't expecting, he is interrupted by Kevin Owens.

The history between Owens and Zayn is a VERY long one, having been friends when they both started off wrestling and have traveled the world together, with every single promotion they have gone to being a team and rivals. The likes of PWG, ROH, and NXT having all sorts of crazy matches and moments. But even on main roster WWE, they have had countless matches both alongside and against each other. Heck, they main evented Wrestlemania 39 Night 1 together, defeating The Usos for the then Unified WWE Tag Team Championships.

Sami says "I knew it was only a matter of time" and says that he is ready to fight or hug.

"How do you want to do this?" and it keeps this so intriguing.

Kevin plays dumb and says that Sami teaming with Roman Reigns at Survivor Series and he was upset at first, but then he understood it. He plays on the history between himself and Sami, even saying that he is very similar to Roman Reigns in that they have both done horrible things to Sami and he always forgives them. Sami is a good person and Kevin calls Sami his best friend and like a brother to him.

Kevin then says that Sami can and will win the Royal Rumble because Kevin believes in him. Because Sami deserves it.

But then Kevin said that he is going to beat Cody for the WWE Championship at the main event of Wrestlemania will be Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn.

Kevin tries to play on Sami's emotions and say that this is a dream that they have both wanted.

But then, Kevin basically says that "I am going to help you win the Rumble" so long as Sami helps Kevn win his match.

It puts Sami in a moral dilema that I am beyond excited to watch evolve and change. A direction for Sami that is the most interesting and intriguing that he has been perhaps in his entire time in WWE (Bloodline Sami aside) and will make the Royal Rumble a very interesting watch.

We go backstage to see Sheamus being interviewed about his upcoming Intercontinental Championship match against Bron Breakker.

Sheamus talks about how his career has been great in reverse. Starting off defeating John Cena for the WWE Championship, then going backwards through storylines and characters and teams. But there is only one accolade that Sheamus has not won.

The Intercontinental Championship.

Sheamus had incredible matches with GUNTHER for it, but couldn't win. And now, he is going up against the young superstar Bron Breakker, who has been on a roll.

Bron walks up and tells Sheamus that he is going to break the "old man" and that Sheamus should retire.

Sheamus shoves him, but Bron just walks away laughing.

Before our next match and during the commercial break, we get a interview with Ludwig Kaiser. Asking him about his histories with both Sheamus and Bron Breakker.

Sheamus beat Kaiser last week and then went on to challenge for the IC Championship, so Kaiser has talked about how he is not overly upset about it. Kaiser went to war with Sheamus like they always do, but he is focusing on winning whatever championship he can. He is not worried because there is nobody to be worried about.

He mentions Sami Zayn, Bron Breakker, and especially Penta. Saying that he is not impressed with any of them and that he would beat them all.

I am beyond excited to see a Penta vs Kaiser match and I know it will be a classic.

Match 2: Singles Match

Bayley vs Nia Jax

Before the match starts, we get a recap of Nia attacking Rhea as well as showing NXT's Roxanne Perez in the front row. Continuing the simmering feud between Perez and Bayley.

Bayley and Nia have a whole lot of history, wrestling a whole lot with Nia even being the one to dethrone Bayley as WWE Women's Champion at Summerslam last year. Both women even reference and do a lot of the same spots that they have done in past matches.

The match starts off very even, both women hitting a lot of moves and doing a lot of stuff until Bayley is able to get the advantage, hitting a Tope Suicida to the floor. But instead of focusing on Nia, Bayley goes over to antagonise Roxanne in the front row. Roxanne goes for a slap, but Bayley caught it and laid her out. Roxanne tries to jump the barricade, but is dragged off by security. This allows Nia to be on top and dominate Bayley as we go into the commercial break, dominating for the entire break.

We come back from commercial just as Bayley kicks out of a move and tries to fight back. Nia keeps crushing her until Bayley does fight back a bit, but then Nia goes after Bayley's previously injured arm. Nia goes for a Leg Drop on the apron, but Bayley dodges and then hits a running Sunset Flip onto the ring post, which is a move Bayley typically does inside the ring into the turnbuckles. Nia is laid out and just barely gets back into the ring before she gets counted out.

Bayley even hits Nia's own finisher the Annihilator, but Nia kicks out. Bayley then hits a Elbow Drop right after, and Nia kicks out again.

They trade momentum back and forth until Bayley dodges an Annihilator and hits some big moves to get back on top.

The crowd is incredibly loud and vocal cheering Bayley as Nia lifts Bayley onto her shoulders on the middle rope, but Bayley slides down and hits a massive Powerbomb for a near fall. Bayley quickly climbs to the top rope and hits a Diving Elbow Drop for another massive near fall that had the crowd go wild.

Both women are exhausted and beaten up while the crowd is white hot. Bayley went for the Bayley to Belly, but her arm was too hurt. Bayley dodged a move and hit a Chop Block to Nia's leg, but then Nia hit a Samoan Drop, Senton, and a Annihilator to get the victory.

Result: Nia Jax pinned Bayley

Star Rating: 4.25/5 Stars

While Nia was catching her breath and celebrating her victory, Rhea Ripley ran down to the ring for a massive brawl with the crowd going wild.

Security and officials run down to seperate them to massive boos.

They continue to fight even to the ringside area, where Rhea climbs on top of the commentary table and does a flipping senton onto Nia and a bunch of security.

Rhea grabs a microphone and stands on top of the table to massive cheers.

"You! Me! Saturday Night Main Event!"

While everything is brought back to order, we get a recap of the street fight between Damien Priest and Finn Balor last week.

We then see the Judgement Day backstage with Chad Gable approaching Dominik. Dominik gives Chad a paper and tells him to call a friend to conquer luchadors, which has Chad leaving quickly.

There is still more tension and in fighting with JD and Liv arguing over if they should listen to Finn, and then more tension between Liv and Dominik.

Liv and Dominik walk off to discuss something or other, leaving the other members alone after a maybe 1 minute segment.

We then get a video package for Lyra Valkyria, showing her becoming the first ever WWE Women's Intercontinental Champion last week by defeating Dakota kai in a great but short match.

We get a Martin Luther King Jr video package, since this episode of Raw is on the holiday. We even see pictures of black WWE wrestlers and fans, which is always cool to see.

Pete Dunne comes out for his match. A wrestler I have loved since his UK indy days well before WWE, and somebody who I think was treated as a total top guy back in NXT UK and NXT, but since then has sort of just become a jobber to the likes of R-Truth and Sheamus. He is no longer called "Butch" anymore which is great, but he hasn't been able to truly showcase himself. He is one of the best technical wrestlers in the world and a hell of a striker and fighter as well. Having him get to show this off with the brand new talent Penta is exciting to me, and this is a match I would love to see for a midcard title or even back in places like PROGRESS or PWG and just go for like 30 minutes.

Dunne cuts a promo while we're still in commercial break, going after the fans for disrespecting him and not letting him show his ability and skill, but then the break ends and we cut away from him while he was talking.

Whether that be an actual mistake or just a funny thing to push his character forward, it works for both.

We then get a quick video about Notre Dame Football Head Coach Marcus Freeman talking about his love for WWE and showing him in the crowd of a Smackdown show last year. Just to kill more time I guess.

Before we even go back to ring for the match that is supposed to happen, we see Sami Zayn and Seth Rollins backstage. Seth talks up Sami and says he is excited to see a motivated, serious Sami, but that Seth will eliminate Sami with ease. Sami says that he'll throw Seth out of the ring and walks off, where we see Karrion Kross watching Rollins from a distance, clearly wanting to corrupt Rollins next.

Match 3: Singles Match

Pete Dunne vs Penta

Penta finally comes out so we can get our next match underway. They changed up his entrance a bit with the fire and pyro, but Penta still looks like an absolute star.

The commentary also mentions how these two have faced off once before back in RevPro, a UK based wrestling promotion. Always great to hear them talk about indy promotions.

This match starts off technical, with Dunne getting some time to shine with some joint manipulation and targeting Penta's arm. I love how the WWE isn't having Penta just do super quick matches to look dominant. They are having him wrestle normal matches and just showcase both men and how great they are.

There is a quick sequence with both men going into corners only to be hit with a move back and forth, but then Dunne is thrown into the corner and tries to do a backflip off the ropes, but Penta catches him in midair with a Superkick. Penta goes for a Tope Suicida, but Dunne atches him with a Forearm and then an X-Plex onto the apron as we go into commercial break.

The crowd doing the "Cero Miedo" taunt with Penta is also awesome to see and shows that he is already super popular and over with the more casual fans.

During the break, Dunne continues to do a lot of technical wrestling and targeting Penta's arm. The crowd is very vocal and loud, which is great.

Penta hits some stiff strikes with his other arm, Penta getting a bit of a comeback before Dunne lays him out with a Clothesline.

Even just in the beginning of this match, this is the best that Dunne has looked in quite a while.

Dunne takes the ties of Penta's mask and traps him in the bottom rope before stomping away to show some anger and violence. Dunne getting all serious and continuing to beat down on Penta with relative ease until we get back from commercial break.

Penta fights back with some very awesome and unique offense that had the crowd getting very excited for this match. An inverted Slingblade, a headstand on the top turnbuckle into a Dropkick, and then a weird Fireman's Carry slam thing that he started doing towards the end of his AEW run.

Dunne had some time to fight back with stomping on Penta's hands and a Kick to the end, but Penta hits a Superkick and a Mexican Destroyer to massive cheers.

The only issue I sort of have is that WWE is all about "The piledriver is banned! Kevin Owens hit them and he is awful!" but then people do flipping ones and it's all okay? Weird.

Anyways, Penta hits a Tope Con Hilo and looked amazing, this time landing much more safely and not just a splat on the floor like last week.

Penta goes for another Destroyer, but Dunne reversed into a Dudebuster, almost getting the win in a great moment that sadly didn't have the crowd getting vocal or anything.

The two men trade strikes on their knees when Penta does the Cero Miedo to Dunne, but Dunne "breaks" Penta's fingers and then locks in a Armbar. Penta deadlifts Dunne up into a Powerbomb onto his knee, then hits his Armbreaker called The Sacrifice.

Dunne sold it incredibly well, acting like he couldn't use his arm at all, until Penta hit him with the Penta Driver.

Result: Penta pinned Pete Dunne

Star Rating: 4/5 Stars

Penta stood tall to loud cheers, clearly a megastar in the making with the crowd loving him so much.

We then go to a video package of Logan Paul. Yes he is great in the ring, but I'm exhausted of his character and seeing him in WWE.

We get a lot of announcements for next weeks Raw, with the announcement of Cody Rhodes in his home town and a WWE World Tag Team Championship match with the War Raiders defending against Judgement Day, but this time the team of JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio rather than JD and Finn Balor.

CM Punk comes in through the crowd for an interview to massive applause.

Punk is asked about the Royal Rumble absolutely packed full of stars and how Punk plans on winning it. What the future of Punk looks like.

Punk talks about beating Seth Rollins 3 weeks ago in the Raw Netflix debut, how he will handle all of the pressure and bright lights. How Punk at his best with the fans behind him is unbeatable.

CM Punk calls out John Cena, perhaps one of the best rivalries in WWE history. Punk calls out Roman Reigns, a man he helped at this past year's Survivor Series. Punk talked about how he buried Drew McIntyre under some dirt, how Sami Zayn isn't on his level, and that Punk would throw Hulk Hogan's "Dusty ass" out and end Hulkamania for good, which was pretty funny and felt unscripted, which I loved.

We then cut backstage to Drew McIntyre preparing for his main event match coming up later on in the main event.

We then see the WWE World Tag Team Champions the War Raiders getting interviewed about their match next week.

They are always prepared to fight and defend their gold. They want to return the tag team division to one full of prestige and action and honor.

When Cathy Kelley asks about other teams who might want the Championships, Erik cuts her off and says that they don't look past anybody. How they both came back from career ending injuries and are still fighting. Ready to fight anyone and everyone.

I am so happy that they are the champions, and I really hope that WWE finally puts some focus and attention on the division.

Match 4: Tag Team Match

Pure Fusion Collective (Zoey Stark & Shayna Baszler) (with Sonya Deville) vs Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai & IYO SKY)

A feud that has been going on for quite a while, this match is one that I was decently looking forward to because I know that everyone involved is talented, but WWE's attention to the Women's Division, and especially the Women's Tag Division, has made it hard to get excited about things like this.

I will say that having Damage CTRL as faces has been incredibly beneficial for them, because all of the members are so freaking talented and charismatic and popular that booing them is difficult.

We start off with Shayna and Dakota, two women who have a lot of history back in NXT. When Shayna was a dominant, undefeated NXT Women's Champion, she actually broke Dakota's arm just because she was sadistic and angry.

But that's not the only history in this match.

Zoey Stark and Iyo Sky were once NXT Women's Tag Team Champions together.

Zoey gets a blind tag in and hit a WICKED Springbaord Dropkick to Dakota. The crowd went wild because the speed and the force and impact was all off the charts. It was crazy and looked great.

Baszler comes back in and we get a good amount of tag team offense to beat down on Dakota, the crowd a little quiet for the match.

PFC are packed full of good wrestlers who are legit and tough, but the crowd just hates them because they aren't overly charismatic or get time to show off their character. I still really like them and want them to succeed, even if I am not sure that they will.

Iyo gets the tag and the crowd lights up! Loud cheers and chants for literally everything she does because she is just SO good.

Perhaps the most popular woman on the roster just behind Rhea Ripley.

Iyo hits a Tope Suicida onto Shayna, a Missile Dropkick and Meteora to Stark, and then tries to go for a Moonsault. Sonya distracts her before getting taken out by Dakota, but then Shayna takes out Dakota. Starks is able to beat up Iyo, tagging in Shayna to work together on Iyo. Dakota makes the save from a pinfall, then takes out Stark on the floor. before getting taken out by Shayna.

This sequence is super fast paced and wild, so it might be hard to keep up.

Baszler locks in her finisher the Kirifuda Clutch, but Sky does an awesome reversal by going through the ropes to escape, then hits a Moonsault to get the win.

Result: Iyo Sky pinned Shayna Baszler

Star Rating: 3.75/5 Stars

We get a video package about the feud between Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre, including the fact that at Wrestlemania 40 last year, Drew McIntyre defeated Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship.

The year of tension and hatred between them building to this moment.

Seth, who has been the face of WWE for over 10 years at this point. While Drew was released by WWE, went on a massive independent run to become a star again and come back, only for his time on top to be during the COVID-19 pandemic, no fans able to watch him wrestle live.

Since then, Drew has gone further and further and further into madness and obsession and rage. Constantly screwing himself over by being distracted or just wanting to hurt people rather than win.

Main Event: Singles Match

Drew McIntyre vs Seth Rollins

The match starts off tense. Not really fighting, but clearly full of hatred and built up animosity. The crowd is very loud and once they start to chop each other, it is loud thuds hat shows they aren't holding back.

The crowd seems split on who they want to win, cheering and supporting both men.

They keept it physical when Rollins hits two Tope Suicidas, but Drew stays on his feet. On the third one, Drew catches him and hits a really nasty and scary looking Belly to Belly Suplex with Seth violently being thrown onto and over he announce table while we go into the commercial break.

During it, Drew just beats down Rollins on the outside. Slamming him onto the announce table and steel steps before getting back into the ring.

Drew keeps dominating with slams and choking Rollins with the ropes, posing and taunting the crowd who can't help but cheer him.

Rollins tries to avoid a move but going over Drew in the corner, but Drew blasts him in the gut with a knee.

Just as the commercial break ends, we get back to see Drew picking Rollins up. Rollins finally starts to fight back with punches and strikes. Drew throws Rollins to the corner, but Rollins gets his boot up. Drew absorbs it and then grabs Rollins, going for an Inverted Alabama Slam, but Rollins reversed into with a Victory Roll in a great moment.

They trade more blows until both men are down and exhausted.

More action back and forth that is hard to describe until Rollins sends Drew into the ring post to target his arm. Rollins hits a pair of Knees for a nearfall, the crowd still very into the match.

Rollins hit a Springboard Swanton which looked great, but it still wasn't enough to win.

Rollins goes after the arm he has been targeting, but Drew is able to go for a Air Raid Crash, but then the pair keep reversing and dodging moves.

We end up with Rollins hitting a Superplex and going straight for a Falcon Arrow, but Drew reversed into a Falcon Arrow os his own for a great nearfall.

Drew goes for a Claymore, but Rollins dodges and almost wins with a rollup. We get a quick sudden exchange of moves when Rollins finally hit a Falcon Arrow of his own, but Drew kicked out again.

Drew hits a wicked Lariat and then decides to climb to the top rope, which is unusual for him.

Drew goes for a diving move, but Rollins catches his arm and goes for a hold. Drew tries to power out, but Rollins flips onto his feet and takes Drew down into a Crossface.

Rollins starts to snap and try to completely take out Drew, overcome with anger. Drew hit Rollins in the eye and hit a Future Shock DDT, but Rollins was able to kick out.

We get some drama with the two shouting at each other, but then Drew tries to end the match before Rollins suddenly rolls him up for a sudden win.

Result: Seth Rollins pinned Drew McIntyre

Star Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

After the match, Drew attacks Seth and lays him out with a Claymore Kick.

Drew prepares to permanently take out Seth by booting his head into the ring post, but Sami Zayn ran down to save Seth and take out Drew.

Sami checks on Seth and pushes him to safety, but Drew starts to fight back against Sami.

Drew gets into the ring to keep beating up Seth. Sami gets back in and tries to hit a Helluva Kick to Drew in the corner, but Drew moves out of the way and Sami blasts Seth as the show goes off the air.

Overall, I thought this was another amazing week of Raw. A whole lot of intrigue and progression for a lot of stories and a lot of characters.

But not only that, every single match delivered. Every match was at the very least good and at most great. This was a great show that ran for 2 and a half hours, which seems to be the perfect length for a weekly wrestling program.

Overall Rating: 9/10