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

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Follow along with our live WWE Raw review. We’re finally on the Road to WrestleMania!

Previously on WWE Raw, everyone forgot there was a pay per view coming up. But because it was Raw 25, literally everyone with a pulse who hasn’t burned all their bridges showed up. Vince ate a Stunner, D-X stood tall over The Revival, and The Undertaker said some stuff. Basically, it was a lousy episode, but a great special – unless you were in the Manhattan Center.

Tonight, the fallout from the Royal Rumble is upon us as we officially begin the drive on the Road to WrestleMania. The Rumble was overall a smashing success, especially the two 30-superstar Royal Rumble matches themselves. On the men’s side, Shinsuke Nakamura outlasted the field, punching his ticket for WrestleMania against the opponent of his choice – AJ Styles. Well, that’s a SmackDown story, isn’t it?

The Women’s Royal Rumble Match – the first in history – was won by a Raw superstar, though. Asuka continued her dominance over the entire WWE to win the momentous match. But her celebration was short-lived, as she was interrupted by “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey. The MMA standout has signed a full-time contract with WWE, but beyond that, no one knows what her plan is. Will Rousey explain herself tonight on Raw?

Brock Lesnar survived his triple threat match at the Rumble, so he’s still Universal Champion. But with Elimination Chamber rapidly approaching, it’s time for Raw to get its major WrestleMania attraction in order. Will Lesnar have any input? What about Braun Strowman, who wasn’t a part of the decision?

After the Royal Rumble, there’s new Raw Tag Team Champions. Cesaro and Sheamus defeated Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan – well, they defeated Seth Rollins. Jordan was less than a non-factor following a possible head injury early in the match. The Gold Blooded superstar valiantly tried to continue and tagged himself in, but immediately tagged out when he realized he was in no shape to compete. With Rollins left to fend for himself, he didn’t stand a chance against such a dominant tag team. What’s next for the tag team division on Raw?

Related Story: Bold Predictions for Jan. 29: Royal Rumble Fallout

Follow along with our live WWE Raw review right here, starting at 8 p.m. ET.

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What’s Old is New Again

New logo. New theme. New broadcaster.

Well, the new logo is basically the previous logo with a slightly altered color scheme. The new theme is nu-metal – Papa Roach, to be exact. And the new broadcaster is The Coach, who had a lengthy WWE run nearly two decades ago. So did anything really change?

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Don’t You Forget About Me…

Speaking of did anything really change…

After a quick recap of the Royal Rumble, here comes Stephanie McMahon to make things all about her once again. It’s comforting that no matter what happens, there’s always something constant. Death, taxes, a McMahon front and center in WWE.

Stephanie brings out the Women’s Royal Rumble Match winner, Asuka. Before letting Asuka have her moment, Stephanie just had to do a bit more talking. The big reveal – at Elimination Chamber, Alexa Bliss will defend the Raw Women’s Championship in the first ever Women’s Elimination Chamber. Look, I’m glad that the women superstars are getting their due, but I’m kind of looking forward to the day when there’s no more “firsts” for them. Besides that meaning true equality, it means less Stephanie patting herself on the back.

After Asuka proclaims she’s going to WrestleMania and becoming champion – still not making a choice as to opponent – Sasha Banks interrupts. The Boss is sliding more towards the dark side, which is honestly where she belongs. She gets right up in Asuka’s face to dispute the notion that no one is ready for Asuka – claiming she herself is ready. And that sets up a big match for tonight between Banks and The Empress of Tomorrow.

I’m a little surprised that there wasn’t more Rousey involved in this opening segment. I guess she’s being saved for later to keep the masses watching.

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Braun Strowman vs. Kane, Last Man Standing Match

Result: Braun Strowman defeated Kane (?)

Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars

This is the first of six (!) qualifying matches for the Elimination Chamber match in a few weeks. And while officially, the match is Strowman vs. Kane, it’s really just the next stage of Braun’s blood feud with announce tables.

The match began during the commercial break, but once the cameras were rolling again the fight quickly moved throughout the arena. It wasn’t a good match, but it was a great segment. Strowman had the advantage for literally the entire time, and once they fought to the announce table, Braun did what he does best.

He tried to murder Kane by flipping the elevated table on top of him.

Don’t forget, last night Strowman ended up underneath one of the commentary tables thanks to Brock Lesnar. That, in turn, was in retaliation for Strowman doing the same to Lesnar at SummerSlam. So Braun gets back on top of things by doing his best Real Housewives of New Jersey impression.

While the paramedics – including Drew Gulak’s brother, Rory, which is Amazing – tended to Kane, it looked like Strowman wanted more. But Corey Graves stopped him for an explanation, and it was the best one possible – “The rules said last man standing. Well?” I wish my students gave succinct, perfect answers like that!

This was exactly how you keep Strowman rolling after the Universal Title match. Put him in the Chamber, let him destroy everyone, and give him a WrestleMania moment. He’s ready, the WWE Universe is ready. DO IT.

Kurt Angle finds Braun to scold him backstage, which isn’t a smart move. Why on earth would you antagonize Strowman. Thankfully, Braun just yelled and didn’t throw Kurt 75 yards.

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Elias vs. Woken Matt Hardy

Result: Elias defeated Woken Matt Hardy via pinfall

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

If I’m being honest, the concert portion of this segment wasn’t anything special. Elias is usually money, and this one wasn’t bad, but after a while it becomes tricky to keep topping yourself.

I have friends who work in sales who have to do this a lot – they need to improve by a certain percentage over the previous month to be considered successful. Well, how do you top a record-setting month? Regression is common, and you shouldn’t be viewed as “bad” because things even out.

Anyway, this is the next of the Elimination Chamber qualifiers, taking place while the set crew does some redecorating. The commentary booth moved to ringside after Braun’s little adventure, which says to me something else is happening before the night is through.

The match is rolling right along, with Hardy looking like he’ll pick up the victory when Bray Wyatt makes SPOOKY SOUND EFFECTS – but doesn’t materialize. The distraction is enough for Elias to capitalize with a vicious big boot, and a Drift Away secures the victory.

Is it just me, or is WWE trying to “re-break” Matt Hardy? He lost in rather unspectacular fashion on Raw 25 to Bray Wyatt, and his Royal Rumble appearance was similarly uneventful. Now he’s losing qualifying matches due to interference from sound effects. Great job, Matt.

So while it’s a bit disappointing to keep the relatively dull feud between Wyatt and Hardy going, at least we get Elias into the Elimination Chamber. Dude absolutely deserves the chance to shine, and even if he’s the first to be eliminated it’s the best thing for him.

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Intercontinental Championship Match

The Miz (c) (w/ Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas) vs. Roman Reigns

Result: The Miz defeated Roman Reigns via pinfall

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

I’ve been trying to figure out just how Roman gets to his presumed match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. If the Elimination Chamber match is going to determine Lesnar’s opponent, Reigns needs to be in one of the qualifiers, right? This ain’t one of those matches. Is he going to pull double duty later in the show? Possibly. Is he just going to say, “THIS IS MY YARD, SO I’M ENTERING THE MATCH”? Also possible.

The bigger question, though, became just how Reigns would leave this match without the Intercontinental Championship once he chased the Miztourage away. Yes, “Make Roman look strong” is a meme at this point, but there is some validity to it. A numbers advantage is an easy way to give him a loss without making him look weak – but that disappeared early via steel chair threat.

The chop block to the knee was probably the best way to make things more even. Would anyone fault Reigns if he couldn’t pull out a victory on one leg? Plus a one-legged loss would have raised some doubts for Reigns as he worked his way towards WrestleMania. Is my leg healthy? Can I do this?

The Miz deserves so much credit for this one – the leg work was beautiful. I always get a tear in my eye when a superstar uses the Figure Four Leg Lock and actually focuses it on the correct leg. Remember, kids – it’s the straight leg in a Figure Four that gets the damage, because the bent leg is causing the straight one to be hyperextended the wrong way (that’s why turning over “reverses the pressure”). The Miz nailed it, and I cheered like crazy from my couch.

Of course, the Miztourage returned, nullifying all the good stuff from earlier in the match. It all came down to a numbers game after all, bad leg notwithstanding, and the rollup with a handful of tights ended it. It was a pretty solid match – maybe not at the same level as last week – but the finish left a little to be desired.

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The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder) vs. Rhyno & Heath Slater

Result: The Revival defeated Rhyno & Heath Slater via pinfall

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

The biggest surprise of this match? It wasn’t The Revival vs. The Balor Club. A best of three series over the course of seven days is straight out of WWE’s typical playbook.

Instead, it was Heath Slater and Rhyno. Slater was coming off a terrifically entertaining appearance in the Royal Rumble. Rhyno is back home where his career got started in Philadelphia. But the story of the match is Dash and Dawson, and how great of a tag team they are compared to the majority of the wrestling world.

Some decent camera work early on actually caught a bit of strategizing amongst The Revival. That’s a nice touch – if you watch enough sports, you eventually catch a sign or signal, or some kind of conversation that gets picked up by the cameras. Why not the same thing in WWE?

Two matches in a row with a chop block to the knee is a little strange – don’t the road agents/producers talk about the show? But there had to be a way to neutralize the much larger Rhyno to get him in place for the Shatter Machine, which sealed the contest in favor of The Revival.

After the match, Charly Caruso admits to not being familiar with the Graham Brothers. Come on, Charles – step up your game. But Dash crapping on the crowd for “getting themselves over” is that meta, Deadpool-esque breaking of the fourth wall that smarks love. I don’t know where The Revival are going next, but it’s been entertaining to watch thus far.

Dudley Boyz to Hall of Fame

Announcing this in Philadelphia was an obvious choice. I just hope this means no more Dudley matches in WWE. It’s time.

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Finn Balor, Master Troll

Ol’ Finnski and the Good Brothers don’t need your production values, they’ll just film their own promos. Especially if all they’re doing is talking about going over, NERRRRRRRRRD.

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Sasha Banks vs. Asuka

Result: Asuka defeated Sasha Banks via submission

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Let’s be perfectly clear: This was not the time for Asuka’s undefeated streak to end. I’m fairly certain that everyone in the Wells Fargo Center, plus everyone around the world, knew this to be true.

But just because the outcome is a certainty doesn’t mean the match has to be boring, as evidenced by what we saw tonight. In this first time matchup, both Banks and Asuka were on their A game. The ferocity with which both superstars approached the match led to some scary looking moments, but the end result was still the best match of the night thus far – and one of the best overall.

The worst looking spot came on a Sasha Banks suicide dive attempt that was dangerously close to being too literal. She caught her feet on the ropes, but Asuka was launching a kick to block it. End result – Sasha bouncing head first off the apron and the arena floor. Yeesh. Looked awful, but Sasha continued.

Asuka took a nasty spill moments later – going for her patented hip attack, but missing and going through the ropes to the outside. Sasha’s meteora knee strikes were a little stiff, leading to Asuka being stiff in return. This was a hard-hitting, but quality encounter.

Asuka wins with the Asuka Lock, which is almost as well protected as the Red Arrow was for a while. No one escapes that hold. But the ease with which The Empress of Tomorrow locks in the move is crazy – did you see how quick she got over on the armbar? Unreal.

Both superstars look better after a match like this, even if they feel awful from the crazy falls they each took. After a couple of ice packs and a good night’s sleep, they’ll look back on this fondly.

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Raw Tag Team Championship Match

Cesaro & Sheamus (c) vs. Titus Worldwide (Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews, w/ Dana Brooke)

Result: Cesaro & Sheamus defeated Titus Worldwide via pinfall

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Now seems like a good time to mention how much better Raw was tonight than in recent weeks, at least from a commentary standpoint. Jonathan Coachman is light yearsNow, I don’t want to take credit for Booker T leaving the broadcast team ahead of Booker T on commentary. . I’m sure Coach being a part of Titus Worldwide helped. Whatever the reason, though, Coach is a breath of fresh air.

As far as what happened inside the ring, it was really good. It was scary looking, but it was good. Apollo Crews made a case for “underrated and underused superstar of the millennium” here. His natural ability is unbelievable – in fact, the only thing that’s really missing is a connection with the crowd. He got a bunch of good responses on his aerial moves, but in general he seems forgotten.

That one terrible spot made me grab my head. You know the one – Crews leapfrogged over Cesaro and went to hit Sheamus with a hurricanrana – but it was half powerbomb, half rana, and all ouch. I don’t know how Crews didn’t break something, or even how he retained consciousness. But somehow he kept going and didn’t miss a step.

I like that the finish was due to the superior chemistry between The Bar. Blind tags kept them with an advantage, and Titus and Crews kept fighting from behind. But it was definitely the best Titus O’Neil match in a long time.

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Get Rowdy

Okay, I’ll talk about Ronda Rousey now, since it appears she’s not going to physically be on WWE Raw tonight. When she showed up at the end of the Royal Rumble, I had two very distinct reactions, pretty much at the same time:

1. This is great for the WWE
2. This is terrible for the Women’s Revolution

You might be thinking, but how is that possible? If it’s such a good thing for the company, how could it be a negative for such a major part of the company? Well, it’s a big get for the amount of eyes it’s going to get on the product. Even the biggest cynics out there will admit that Rousey is a draw. She main evented UFC cards that drew incredibly well. Putting her in WWE with that media machine is a no brainer.

The fact that WWE is also negotiating for their next television rights package is important, too. If you were a TV network, wouldn’t you be more inclined to pay more if there was a larger number of viewers? Rousey – who signed a full-time deal – can bring those viewers in.

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But here’s the problem – a lot of those new viewers are not going to be looking for the same things on an episode of Raw or SmackDown than the current audience. When you’re doing things to bring in new viewers, you end up with “David Arquette, World Champion.” Of course, that’s worst case catastrophizing, but bad things happen when you try to pull in casual viewers.

With the Women’s Revolution, who do you think is going to be a bigger focus – Rousey, or Becky Lynch? Or Sasha Banks? Bayley? Ruby Riott? Point is, Rousey – while likely deserving – is going to suddenly swoop in and become the “savior” of the Women’s Revolution, despite all the work people before her put in. Again, maybe I’m too cynical, but that’s what I see happening.

I’d love nothing more than to be proven wrong. Ken Shamrock did the full-time switch years ago, and it worked out okay for everyone involved. But Rousey is a different situation, and I hope the real driving forces behind the Women’s Revolution don’t get lost in the shuffle.

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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?