-Another week and another strong promo segment to start the show with goal being to build up the men’s Royal Rumble. Instead of Drew McIntyre and CM Punk, it was Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes, but once again, both men very much delivered personal, believable, and deep-cutting verbal barbs that undoubtedly left the audience wanting to see a battle. Luckily, the Royal Rumble is only a couple weeks ago and will serve as the battlefield. McIntyre continues to toe the line of a truth-telling babyface and madman heel. Cody is such an over babyface that anything he touches right now turns to gold — minus the “what do you want to talk about” gimmick that should have been dropped from his schtick a year ago. The bottom line is this. Last week’s segment between Punk and McIntyre helped create stakes and rivalries within the Rumble match. McIntyre and Cody built on top of the foundation from last week. Great stuff all around.
Show me the money R-Truth
-Man, R-Truth selling counterfeit Judgement Day merchandise out on his own was WWE comedy gold. Truth has not hit with all of his Judgement Day segments so far, but he did with this. Damian Priest was excellent in selling for Truth’s humor too.
-Good to see Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa earn another win. Their journey toward tag team gold continues now. This type of build for them as a team is smart. DIY is about being organic. It’s how they started in NXT and Triple H is trying to find that same momentum again. It probably won’t hit in the exact same way, but by the time they challenge for the titles, the duo should have a large portion of the audience on their side. Look for these two to dethrone Judgement Day for the tag titles at some point in the future.
-On one hand, it was good to see another tag team featured in the women’s division. On the other, three minutes of time just isn’t enough to build a full investment from the crowd. Chelsea Green and Piper Niven are still the most over team in the division even without the championships.
Ludwig Kaiser on his own
-Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser. Oh, Gunther. Ohhhhhh Ludwig. I love this act right now. Gunther is a force to be reckoned with on Raw and even interactions with Xavier Woods this week feel like a bigger deal than it should because of his involvement. Gunther is very old school in that way and in his importance to the current day WWE product.
-Kaiser surprised me on the microphone. Gunther spoke first and it’s rare Kaiser delivers anything other than supporting lines or lines that hoist Gunther up on a pedestal. This week it was all about Kaiser himself. The guy came across as vicious and unforgiving. He showed some range and skill as a talker, which is obviously a necessity to make it in WWE long term. Kaiser is the kind of act that Vince McMahon didn’t care about taking care of. Triple H clearly sees long term value with him and segments like these are examples of an investment being made.
-Bronson Reed had to be calling out Seth Rollins this week. If so, I’m intrigued, but that’s a major step up in relevancy for Reed. Too soon? We’ll find out.
-Alright, what the hell is with Akira Tozawa beating Ivar, but then getting destroyed by Ivar? This was pointless. It hurts Ivar because he’s losing to Tozawa. It hurts Tozawa because the win is rendered useless just seconds after it happened because of the beatdown. Pick lane or don’t. This flopped big time.
Rhea Ripley vs. Becky Lynch — the WrestleMania match we need
-Holy Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch promo Batman. Wow, that was wonderful. Two top stars in the ring talking, laying out stakes, laying out a mission, and laying out a potential date for a match. This was effective because WWE has protected these two women from one another for so long. With now being the time for them to clash ahead of the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania season, the company is starting to cash in. Look out CM Punk and Seth Rollins. These women will challenge them for a main event WrestleMania slot on the show for night one.
-A bit of a silly tag team match between Judgement Day and The Miz/R-Truth. Even though they play off it well, I’d like to see Priest and Balor away from Truth given the comedic nature of his entire act. That said, the crowd loved every bit of his work in the match. Triple H is going to have to pick a direction here. Go with the Truth stuff or stick to presenting Judgement Day as a serious and viable top faction. He’s straddling the line now, but he can’t for much longer.
-The environment for the women’s tag was ice cold. Again, they are trying to establish teams in the division, but are just checking boxes. The women and teams need more time to get any kind of reasonable footing underneath them.
Serviceable main event for a serviceable Jinder Mahal
-I liked the main event. Jinder Mahal vs. Seth Rollins doesn’t knock your socks off or anything, but it’s serviceable with the right build. The match was just that — serviceable. Any expectation of it being more than that was unfounded. WWE gave Mahal and Rollins backstage promos and filmed them both walking into the arena to start the show in order to give the match a big fight feel. An “A” for effort in that regard. Rollins getting the W here was the only way to go, but the potential knee injury he suffered could end up devastating. Here’s to hoping he’s ok.