Monday Night Raw Review - January 22, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Intercontinental Champion Gunther Interrupted World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins

It came out a few days ago that Rollins suffered an injury in last week's World Heavyweight Championship match against Jinder Mahal and that it was potentially serious enough to sideline him for WrestleMania. That was the fear coming into this segment, but Rollins vowing to work the event makes me a little more hopeful. Gunther being the one to interrupt him was interesting considering they haven't crossed paths at all since Gunther joined the main roster. This was obviously designed to be a red herring (Rollins vs. CM Punk is the way to go), but it was a strong start to the show, nonetheless.​

The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs. Imperium (Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci) Ended in a Double Count-Out

I liked how the previous segment led immediately into this match. I'm glad Vinci is doing okay after he was concussed in that tag team match a few weeks ago. This was the third straight non-finish we've gotten to a match involving these tandems, but I can't complain because the feud has been a great use of all involved and their intensity has been refreshing. This was a well-wrestled affair. Gunther vs. Kingston for the Intercontinental Championship was announced for next week's show.

Ivy Nile def. Valhalla

The best thing I can say about this is that it was wisely kept short and sweet. Valhalla has actually regressed in the ring compared to when she first signed with WWE years ago, which is why she works better as a manager for The Viking Raiders at this point. However, Nile is an impressive prospect and allowing her to rack up wins is key. Hopefully she has a chance to show what she can do in the women's Royal Rumble match.

Nia Jax, Becky Lynch and Bayley Vowed to Win the Women's Royal Rumble Match

Normally I'd take issue with a SmackDown Superstar appearing on Raw, but it's happened so many times that I've grown numb to it. This was pretty standard stuff with all of the women's Rumble favorites taking turns talking about why they'll win on Saturday and it was effective. Bayley remains my pick, but Lynch has a pretty strong chance as well. I still think we'll get a rematch between Lynch and Jax eventually.

Dominik Mysterio def. The Miz

This was an extension of Miz and R-Truth's feud with The Judgment Day (even though Truth still thinks he's a member of the group, but you get my point). Dominik has been deemphasized quite a bit on WWE  TV since losing the NXT North American Championship at Deadline, so this was a necessary win for him and I thought the two of them had a quality contest. Miz has won more lately than he has in years, so this loss won't do much damage.

Ivar def. Chad Gable

Ivar lost to Akira Tozawa last week in what was an upset, yet he beat Gable clean here. It's cool to see Ivar get pushed in the absence of his tag team partner, but man, what the hell happened to Gable? He was on the cusp of becoming Intercontinental Champion a few months ago and now he's an afterthought. These losses aren't doing him any favors. On the bright side, they had a great match here and made the most of the time they had.

Cody Rhodes and CM Punk Went Face-to-Face

I've loved the verbal exchanges Drew McIntyre has had with Punk and Rhodes in the last two weeks, but this may have been the best of the bunch. Both spoke with conviction and had some terrific lines about why they need to finish their respective stories by winning the men's Rumble. How can you watch this and not be more excited for the event afterward? Rhodes vs. Punk will be an awesome program when it inevitably happens down the road.

Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler def. Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell

Unfortunately, a majority of the audience is conditioned to not give a crap about these women's tag team matches, which is a shame because all four of these ladies are talented and they had a decent match. I thought LeRae and Hartwell might win ahead of an opportunity in Hartwell's native Australia at Elimination Chamber, but apparently not. Post-match, The Kabuki Warriors attacked Katana Chance and Kayden Carter ahead of their championship clash on Friday's SmackDown.

Drew McIntyre def. Damian Priest

Nothing against McIntyre and Priest as they had a solid match, but I have no idea why this closed out the show. I suppose it's better than the usual brawl we get ahead of the Royal Rumble every year, but Truth costing Priest a match against a fellow heel in McIntyre wasn't very exciting. The storyline with Truth and Judgment Day has at least been fun to follow, and McIntyre should last until the very end of the men's Rumble.

Overall Show

This go-home edition of Raw was carried by the promos with Rollins, Gunther, Punk and Rhodes. All four of those guys will be important players on the road to WrestleMania, so I can't say I'm surprised. The rest of the show was adequate on the whole but nothing thrilling. Raw has some engaging storylines at the moment, but the focus of this episode was on the Rumble and it successfully left me looking forward to it more than I was before.

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