-What a promo segment to open up the show this week. Before CM Punk even walked out there, Drew McIntyre was bringing it on the microphone and framed up his loss to Seth Rollins last week in a believable, but heelish way. Once Punk walked out, the promo lifted to an entirely different level. First, the Punk interaction with McIntyre was fresh. It was a first time encounter, which added a layer of intrigue right out of the gate. I didn’t have McIntyre eviscerating Punk on my Raw bingo card this week, but that’s exactly what happened. McIntyre was great running Punk down. Punk was equally as effective selling the shots for Drew, but then eviscerating right back. The Punk line about the demon was a classic. Look, not only was this a fun watch, it was a phenomenal piece of business for the Royal Rumble as well. There is a story between these two now going into the match with both having the same goal. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Punk have some kind of interaction like this with Cody Rhodes prior to the event. Great stuff.
Johnny Gargano no longer a jackass
-It’s nice to see Johnny Gargano shed the “I’m a jackass” babyface schtick for a traditional babyface personality. Thank goodness. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Finn Balor was fine enough, but only existed to have potential challengers generate an avenue to a title shot. The slow burn on Gargano and Ciampa as a team is the right way to book them. That duo is capable of organically pulling the audience onto their side.
-Holy hell. Pigs are flying. Becky Lynch owned up to a loss. That NEVER happens on WWE television, but it was effective. Lynch spoke about losing to Nia Jax last week, but framed it up in a way that kept her strong at the same time. Becky can now overcome the Jax mountain or the Royal Rumble mountain. Either way, she’s not hurt at all by the loss last week. Plus, look, owning losses makes perfect sense for WWE to do more often. Doing so automatically makes wins mean more and allows for better drama even in meaningless TV matches.
-Speaking of Nia Jax, she had a really good night. In her in-ring promo segment she came across as a unstoppable force, which was strong follow-up to her big win over Lynch. Jax is polarizing for some reason, but she did her job here.
Hello babyface Rhea Ripley
-This week we got a taste of what a babyface Rhea Ripley would look like. Ripley got an enormous pop ahead of confronting Jax and if you were wondering if she’ll stick away from the heel gimmick, this was all the proof you need. Ripley is a supremely confident performer and ready for yet another elevation in status and stardom this year.
-You could take or leave the Ludwig Kaiser vs. Kofi Kingston match itself, but the post-match angle is can’t miss. For the first time ever, Kaiser showed a legitimate bad ass side to his character. His attack on Kingston was vicious and sold perfectly thanks to Kaiser’s facial expressions and backstage promo. The segment was an elevation in relevancy for Kaiser, which could mean a few things. First, a break from Imperium sooner than later. Second, a key Royal Rumble moment opposite New Day with Gunther. Third, the first step and a toe dip into the waters of a Kaiser singles run. Either way, Kaiser aced the test.
-Yeah, I’m out on the R-Truth vignette from this week. Sure it was creative and well produced, but what’s the point? His presence around Judgement Day just drags the group down. Plus, the group playing along with Truth’s nonsense is unbecoming and makes the faction come across as unserious. It was creative, but just because you can do something creative, doesn’t mean you should.
Jinder Mahal?
-I liked the Seth Rollins promo this week quite a bit, but Jinder Mahal as a world title challenger? C’mon. It doesn’t matter that Rollins is obviously winning the match next week, but earning world title shots has to be more defined that just getting your ass kicked by The Rock.
-So, it seems that Ivar is being elevated a big thanks to some victories he’s strung together the last few weeks. I don’t see it. The viking gimmick has a clear ceiling to it and I can’t help but just chuckle when he walks out to the ring. It stands out in 2024 WWE and not in a good way.
Home run main event
-A tremendous television main event this week between Cody Rhodes and Shinsuke Nakamura. They got a lot of time to do their thing and the result was a hard-hitting compelling match.
WWE hit a home run with this match. With just a little bit of build and hype week to week, they got a long main event that the audience cared about. It’s smart booking, especially during a stretch of time where there wasn’t a PLE for over six weeks. WWE’s willingness and ability to build these kind of matches in this way is an impactful way to deliver true main events week in and week out, while keeping stars like Cody Rhodes busy, but not overexposed.