Monday Night Raw Review - January 13, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

CM Punk, Seth "Freakin" Rollins and Drew McIntyre Declared for the Men's Royal Rumble Match

Punk and Rollins' latest interaction should confirm that their feud isn't yet over, which is an encouraging sign. I don't know if that means we'll get the rematch at WrestleMania 41, but they'll remain at odds for now. That makes sense if they're both going to be in the men's Rumble match. The two of them along with McIntyre announcing their entry adds to what will be a star-studded Rumble that will also feature John Cena and Roman Reigns. This was a solid segment to establish their Rumble involvement and set up Rollins vs. McIntyre for next week's show.

Penta def. Chad Gable

As Michael Cole said on commentary, Penta joining WWE was the worst kept secret (WWE outright revealed it in a vignette that aired last week, not to mention the reports that have been out there for weeks), but that didn't make this any less of a perfect debut for him. The theme music left a bit to be desired, but the presentation was phenomenal, the crowd was hot for him, the match was great and the post-match promo was wonderful. He came off like a total star here and is already off to a strong start.

Sheamus def. Ludwig Kaiser

If you've seen any of the matches Sheamus and Kaiser have had against each other, you've practically seen them all, but that's not necessarily a bad thing in their case. They have excellent chemistry, bring the best out of each other and never fail to deliver hard-hitting matches. Although this wasn't technically a number one contender's match, this win was enough to earn Sheamus another shot at the Intercontinental Championship at Saturday Night's Main Event. I don't think that will be where Sheamus finally takes the title, but it's not completely out of the realm of possibility, either.

World Heavyweight Champion Gunther Accepted Jey Uso's Challenge for Saturday Night's Main Event

After Punk declared for the Rumble earlier in the evening, I was wondering who would be next up to challenge Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship. Well, now we have our answer, and I don't hate the move. Uso just beat McIntyre last week and they're telling the story that he can't win the big one, especially after losing to Gunther twice before last year. I enjoyed their exchange and their title match is a nice addition to Saturday Night's Main Event next weekend.

Lyra Valkyria def. Dakota Kai in the Finals of the Women's Intercontinental Championship Tournament to Become the Inaugural Women's Intercontinental Champion

Reportedly, the tourney finals were bumped from last week's Netflix premiere to ensure it didn't get lost in the shuffle and to give it more time. It definitely would've gotten lost in the shuffle last week, but it's not like they received an ample amount of time here. In fact, it was only around eight or nine minutes long. They had a very good match, but they deserved more time. Regardless, I would've been happy with either outcome, but Valkyrie feels like a better fit as the inaugural champ.

Sami Zayn def. The Miz

Zayn had a backstage confrontation with Miz and Karrion Kross, so that's how this bout came about. Miz and The Final Testament are apparently done with The Wyatt Sicks now that The Wyatt Sicks have been transferred to SmackDown while Zayn doesn't really have anything going on at the moment, so this felt like filler. Despite that, they had a quality contest in the time they were allotted, and it was refreshing to see Zayn win with the Blue Thunder Bomb for a change.

Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley and Bayley Attacked Nia Jax

Truthfully, I have no idea what this segment was supposed to accomplish other than to get Bayley on the show in her hometown of San Jose. We didn't find out who's next for Ripley, but that's probably because the Rumble is coming up in a few weeks. Jax or Bayley could come over to Raw in the transfer window, but I don't need to see Ripley vs. Jax or Bayley vs. Jax again anytime soon. This was a waste of time, but at least it had some star power.

Damian Priest def. Finn Balor in a Street Fight

This feud has gone on for way too long (there was also no reason for them to rekindle their rivalry at Survivor Series), but I appreciate that it got a proper payoff and that they got the main event spot. I liked this a lot more than their match from Bad Blood. They worked with a sense of urgency, there were some sweet spots and the crowd was into the action. Priest's victory puts a definitive end to their storyline and allows them both to move on.

Overall Show

I didn't find Raw's Netflix premiere as underwhelming as most, but it did lack in substance and I thought this week's show was a significant improvement. Penta's debut alone was awesome, but the main event, Valkyria vs. Kai and the opening segment were highlights as well. The pacing was much better, and above all else, the episode was over within two-and-a-half hours. Rejoice! This is the type of excitement Raw needs to have on a weekly basis heading into WrestleMania season.

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