WWE Raw: Results, Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for January 29

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Finn Balor vs. John Cena

Result: John Cena defeated Finn Balor via pinfall

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

This is the final Elimination Chamber qualifying match of the night, which means when it was announced that there would be six qualifiers they didn’t mean six tonight, which makes sense. Mea culpa, my bad, this one’s on me.

Here’s something that I don’t think a lot of other reviewers will bring up – John Cena’s improvisational ability is top notch. When some yahoo brought out a beach ball in the crowd, Cena saw it and decided to call an audible. (Not quite as loudly as he yelled at Nakamura during the Rumble, though.)

I mean, a test of strength in 2018? There’s no way in hell that was planned ahead of time. Since the match was basically set up around Cena’s strength advantage and Balor’s speed advantage, the test of strength couldn’t have been something Balor wanted.

But beyond that, Cena’s behavior – as has been a running theme of late – was odd. He awkwardly played to the crowd more than you would think. He’s not really a heel or face – he just is – but leaned more towards the dark side. He stopped mid match to talk to commentary. It was just weird.

The big question is what’s next for Balor. I don’t believe he’s being buried, so take that talk right out of here. If he was being buried, he wouldn’t have been put in a position to be the MVP of the Men’s Royal Rumble Match. In fact, if he was being buried, he would have had the Sheamus spot, or the Ziggler spot. So he’s okay in that respect.

But who is up next for Finn? If he’s not in the Universal Title conversation, does he go towards The Miz and the Intercontinental Championship? Does he team with Gallows and Anderson in a series of amazing six-man tag matches?

As far as Cena, ho hum, here we go. I don’t for a second believe Cena is getting his record setting world championship victory at WrestleMania. So he’s not winning the Elimination Chamber. Maybe something happens so he loses his spot? Not sure why he’d be in the match otherwise when there’s plenty of other, younger superstars who could benefit from the spot even more than Cena.

Next: 25 Greatest Entrance Themes in WWE History

What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw?