Triple H Starts the New Era, Roman Reigns VS Solo Sikoa: Tribal Combat
After a great video package highlighting the history of Professional Wrestling, Triple H started the show to welcome everyone into the brand-new era of Monday Night Raw on Netflix! Triple H said his usual stick and then left before The Rock made an appearance to talk to the crowd about how special it is to be in LA tonight! The Rock then gave a shout-out to Netflix as well as Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns before we finally got the first match of the night as Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa went to war in Tribal Combat! This was a good match, it was well done, it wasn’t super long which helped, and it was pretty simple stuff. As always with a Roman Reigns match, the action started to pick up after interference! This time, The New Bloodline arrived to take out Roman, only for Reigns to still kick out before Solo Sikoa just Spiked a referee which made me laugh! Jimmy Uso and Sami Zayn then ran down to make the save as they brawled to the back with Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu before Kevin Owens made a surprise appearance to drop Reigns with a Stunner! However, The OTC was able to kick out before Cody Rhodes ran down to take out KO, allowing Roman to nail Solo with a Spear to get the win! After the match, The Rock returned and handed Roman Reigns the Ulafala, and that was a very cool visual!
Grade: B
John Cena Begins His Farwell Tour, Liv Morgan VS Rhea Ripley: Women’s World Championship, Drew McIntyre VS Jey Uso
The New Day trash-talked both the crowd and Kendrick Lemar before John Cena arrived to kick off his Farewell Tour! John talked about how much it means to him to start his Tour in LA, a place he has a lot of fond memories of, and then he talked about some of the gossip he’d seen online as to who he might face in his final year. Cena also talked about the idea of him winning a record-breaking 17th World Title, but that that’s nearly impossible given his recent record! However, WWE is a place to believe which is why Cena’s going to enter the Royal Rumble and win it! I tell you, if that happens, stay tuned!
Grade: B-
Logan Paul got a video package hyping him up for big things in the future before it was time for Liv Morgan to put her Women’s World Championship on the line against Rhea Ripley! This was a fine match, there wasn’t necessarily anything bad with it, but the feud has grown so stale that even the crowd weren’t that interested! There also wasn’t that much shenanigans either as minus Dominik Mysterio throwing a chair in the ring, neither he nor Raquel Rodriguez really did much! In the end, two back-to-back Riptide’s were enough for Rhea to get the win and regain her Women’s World Championship before Ripley celebrated her win with none other than The Undertaker! Cool, I guess!
Grade: C+
Adam Pearce was speaking to Bayley before American Made came up to them as Chad Gable wanted to prove himself by beating a Luchador next week! Pearce then said he was going to make a phone call before Karrion Kross tricked The Miz into helping him against The Wyatt Sick6! The Rock was then backstage shaking hands with everyone as he announced he will also be at NXT tonight before it was time for Drew McIntyre to go one-on-one with Jey Uso! This was another fine match, but the crowd seemed exhausted after Yeeting for ages! Drew McIntyre was also super comfortable throughout, coming close to winning following a Claymore! But in the end, it was Jey who got the win with a sneak roll-up! Another match where the Babyface won, I’m not convinced this was the right way to go!
Grade: C+
Gunther got a video package which was important before Fluffy was on to hype up his new Netflix Show! The New Day weren’t impressed by this before Alpha Academy came over to back Fluffy up before we got a tease for WWE 2K25! Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest then cut a promo hyping each other up before Hulk Hogan came out to cut a promo about how great the WWE Universe are and also how amazing this new partnership with Netflix is going to be! The only notes I have for this is the crowd booed Hogan which was actually pretty funny given what he was saying!
CM Punk VS Seth “Freakin” Rollins
And in the Main Event of the debut episode of Monday Night Raw on Netflix, CM Punk and Seth “Freakin” Rollins collided in one of the most anticipated matches in WWE TV history! I liked how big of a deal this match was put over, and I also really liked how Seth Rollins outwrestled CM Punk! Seth got in a lot more offense, hit multiple Pedigree’s and GTS’ (Punk hit a Stomp later on) and Rollins would’ve won with a Stomp had it not been for Punk putting his foot on the bottom rope! However, after a GTS from The Second City Saint, Rollins bounced off the ropes and fell back into the clutches of CM Punk who delivered a second Go To Sleep to get the win and beat his arch-rival! Once again, this result surprised me a little, especially with how clean it was, but I feel like this is only Part 1 when it comes to these two!
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