Cody Rhodes returns to Raw, Seth “Freakin” Rollins VS Chad Gable
Raw kicked off with the winner of the 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble, Cody Rhodes. Rhodes talked about his recovery before he spoke about what he would tell his 19-year-old self. He then said that he was going to face the biggest star in the world before he was interrupted by the Judgment Day. Dominik Mysterio said that Cody ruined his moment whilst Damian Priest was furious at the fact that he won from number 30 whilst Rhea Ripley won from number 1. That is a very fair point. Cody Rhodes then challenged any of the three to a match before Edge came out and started to brawl with the JD. Cody Rhodes got involved before officials were forced to break it up. For an opening promo segment, this was fine.
Grade: C+
We were then straight into the action as Seth “Freakin” Rollins battled Chad Gable in an Elimination Chamber Qualifying match. It’s fair to say that both Seth Rollins and Chad Gable have been at the top of their game for the past 12 months (maybe even longer) and this was a really fun bout. There were a bunch of different styles used in this match and Chad Gable got a lot more offense in than I expected. Earlier on in the match, Chad Gable had been targeting the leg of Seth Rollins (I think it was the right one) and near the end of the match, Master Gable locked in an ankle lock. Rollins reversed it twice, but Gable kept getting him in the submission move. In the end though, Seth Rollins did a brilliant reversal that turned into the Pedigree to get the win and advance to the Elimination Chamber. The Chamber match is for the United States Championship if you didn’t already know.
Grade: B
Candice LeRae VS Iyo Sky, Rhea Ripley announces her Mania opponent, Baron Corbin VS Johnny Gargano
In a quite surprising turn of events, we went straight into our second match of the night as Candice LeRae took on one-half of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, Iyo Sky. These two have had plenty of matches together and they work really well together so this was another solid contest. Candice LeRae showed off her plucky, never give up attitude to good effect whilst Iyo Sky hit this awesome crossbody/suicide dive to remind everyone why she’s called the Genius of the Sky. Bayley and Dakota Kai were causing issues on the outside which resulted in Mia Yim having a go at them. In the end though, Michin didn’t really help LeRae at all and after more interference from the Role Model, Sky got the victory with a roll-up. I’m happy that Iyo won as she needs to win more and LeRae really needs to find some better friends/helpers because Yim was useless in this scenario.
Grade: C+
The Winner of the 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble Rhea Ripley came out and she said that she wanted to be alone for this promo to shine the light fully on her. She then talked about how she has two really good choices for WrestleMania before she mentioned that Charlotte Flair took her NXT Women’s Championship off of her at WrestleMania 36. What then shocked me was Ripley chose Charlotte as her Mania opponent. The reason this surprised me is that when Ripley missed Money in the Bank last year, I straight away said that it will be Ripley-Belair at Mania 39. However, I’m not against this because Ripley-Flair was arguably the best in-ring match of the entire WrestleMania 36 weekend. Also, it now means that after WrestleMania 39, Rhea would’ve fought at 4 WrestleMania and competed for 4 different Women’s titles. That’s pretty sick.
Grade: B-
Seth “Freakin” Rollins was celebrating backstage at his victory and he made it clear that he is going to take back the United States Championship at the Elimination Chamber. However, when Cathy Kelley asked Seth about the Royal Rumble, Rollins didn’t say a word and he just walked off. Interesting. We then went into another Elimination Chamber qualifying match as the “Modern Day Wrestling God” Baron Corbin took on the “Rebel Heart” Johnny Gargano. Baron Corbin was really in control for a lot of this match, but Gargano doesn’t stay down so he was able to get back into it. After both men came close to winning (neither hit their finisher though), JBL tried to distract Johnny Wrestling and this resulted in Dexter Lumis getting out his axe. This freaked Layfield out before Lumis stabbed the axe through the Hall of Famer’s hat. Meanwhile, back in the ring, Johnny Gargano reversed Corbin’s attempt at the End of Days and he picked up the surprise win with a roll-up. Johnny’s one of my all-time favourites so I’m super happy that he’s going to the Elimination Chamber. As for the match, it was another solid one.
Grade: C+
The VIP Lounge, Rick Boogs returns, Bayley and Becky Lynch
MVP was in the ring as it was time for another of the VIP Lounge. His guest was Austin Theory and after originally praising Theory, he then went on to make it clear that he still believes that Bobby Lashley would beat him for the championship. Austin Theory said that he is done with the Lashley before the All Mighty’s music hit. Lashley stormed to the ring and he dropped Theory, but as he was going for the spear, Theory pulled MVP in his way meaning Lashley went through his former Business associate. It’s interesting that they are furthering this Theory-Lashley storyline considering Bobby isn’t even going to be in the Elimination Chamber. In terms of the segment itself, I’ve never particularly enjoyed the VIP Lounge. It just isn’t a very good talk show.
Grade: C
Finn Balor was being interviewed backstage by Byron Saxton and he made it clear that he was going to beat Cody Rhodes in tonight’s main event. The Miz was then out in a suit and he was complaining about how he isn’t being treated like a star. He then complained about not getting an opportunity to compete in the Elimination Chamber match and this brought out Adam Pearce who gave the Miz a match. That match was against none other than the returning Rick Boogs! Miz wasn’t happy about this because he was in a fancy suit, but Pearce didn’t care and the match took place. This was a pretty short match and Rick Boogs picked up the victory. I really like Boogs so it’s cool to see him back, but I do have a few questions. Why didn’t he return in the Royal Rumble? What does this mean for him and Shinsuke Nakamura? Why would you have him return and it not be on a show that Pat McAfee commentates on? Feels like a bit of a mistake.
Grade: C
The Alpha Academy were walking backstage and looking on was the Maximum Male Models. Both Mace and Mansoor looked horrified at Otis, but Maxxine Dupri seemed to think he was perfect. Don’t know where this is heading, but I’m excited to find out. We then got the big recap package showcasing what happened at the end of the 2023 Royal Rumble before Bayley came out to the ring. The Role Model laughed at what happened on Raw is XXX last week before she also commented about eliminating Becky Lynch from the Women’s Royal Rumble. Becky Lynch then came out and told Bayley to shut up before Bayley cut a promo where she called Lynch overrated, not good enough to be champion again and that she isn’t good enough for her husband Seth “Freakin” Rollins. You could tell this bothered Becky so she challenged Bayley to a Steel Cage match for next week's show. When the leader of Damage CTRL said no, Becky went backstage and came back out holding Dakota Kai. She then threatened to smash Kai’s knee with the chair (that’s not a babyface move), but Bayley accepted her challenge. If they get loads of time and main event next week’s show, the match not taking place at Raw XXX might actually be a good thing.
Grade: B
Backstage Segments, Bronson Reed VS Dolph Ziggler
Adam Pearce was talking backstage were he announced that there will be an Elimination Chamber match to determine Bianca Belair’s WrestleMania challenger. He announced that Liv Morgan, Asuka, Nikki Cross and Raquel Rodriguez will all be a part of the match due to them being in the final 5 of the Women’s Royal Rumble and there will be a fatal-4 way qualifying match next week between Candice LeRae, Nikki Cross, Piper Niven and the returning Carmella. I really hope Niven or LeRae wins that match. Chelsea Green then walked in and she was complaining about her accommodation. We then had our third and final Elimination Chamber qualifying match of the night between Bronson Reed and Dolph Ziggler. Before the match started, we got a picture in a picture video where Mustafa Ali sarcastically asked Dolph Ziggler why he keeps getting given opportunity after opportunity. Ali not being in the Elimination Chamber qualifiers is really disappointing, but at least it continues to build their story. Really would’ve made more sense if Dolph had been in the Rumble though. The match itself was pretty short and even though Dolph Ziggler got a bit of offense in (including hitting the Zig Zag), Bronson Reed picked up the dominant victory with the Tsunami. I think they are doing a really good job at making Bronson Reed look like a dominant force and Dolph Ziggler certainly sold well for him.
Grade: C+
Cathy Kelley interviewed the returning Carmella and the Princess of Staten Island talked about how she is back before she did a bunch of her catchphrases. Asuka came up to her and after Mella said that she isn’t scared of Asuka, she quickly walked off after the Empress started bleeding blue stuff out of her mouth. We then cut to the men’s locker room to see Rick Boogs, Elias and the Street Profits all hanging out. It was then announced that Angelo Dawkins would face Damian Priest and Ford would face Elias for the final two spots in the Elimination Chamber next week. The Profits and Elias then all said that they are going to become the new United States Champion. Priest and Ford need to win these matches next week.
Cody Rhodes VS Finn Balor
The main event of Monday Night Raw saw Cody Rhodes take on the Judgment Day’s Finn Balor. This was actually a pretty even match and Finn Balor looked to be in a good spot before Edge came running through the crowd. The Rated-R Superstar took out both Damian Priest and Dominik Mysterio before Rhea Ripley wrecked him. Beth Phoenix then arrived and she speared the 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble winner. However, Finn Balor was still on top and it caused another distraction from Edge for Cody Rhodes to get into the position to hit the Cross Rhodes to get the win. He actually hit it 3 times which was pretty cool. Overall, I thought the main event was pretty solid and originally I was going to say that it’s definitely going to be Edge and Beth VS Dom and Rhea at the Elimination Chamber, but I could actually see WWE adding both Cody Rhodes and Finn Balor to the match.
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