Here are my Raw Thoughts:
This weekend, I was busy doing my Weekly Records, which you can see here
darrenswinloss.wordpress.com/2k24wk/, so I didn't work on my WrestleMania Records, so there won't be any Mania Facts tonight.
Look at that crowd. They can't use their normal Raw Set because of it. This will be an awesome night. Incredible Cody Rhodes' promo. I love his shout-outs & everything that he's doing for fans. And The Rock coming out gave me goosebumps. As much as he's a heel right now, he's still one of my favorites of all-time. At first, I was mad at Rock taking time away from matches, but it's WrestleMania season and Rock being here is special. I can deal with having less matches or shorter matches for a few weeks. What did Rock say to Cody?
I didn't get a chance to watch WWE on A&E last night, but last night & next week's episodes of WWE Rivals will be showcasing AEW Contracted wrestlers. Interesting.
Damn, The Rock didn't say what he told Cody Rhodes.
OK segment with The Judgment Day. For the record, Ricochet VS JD McDonagh will not count as a re-match in my records, as their match during the Gauntlet Match was part of a much larger match. So this wil count as the 1st ever 1-on-1 match between them.
Ricochet VS JD McDonagh was amazing. And 2 wins is not a streak. He didn't win the Gauntlet. FACTS: This was Ricochet's 3rd week in a row on Raw, 1st Raw opener of 2024, & the 1st time he wrestled 2 1-on-1 Matches in consecutive weeks on Raw since he wrestled Shinsuke Nakamura to a No Contest (June 5, 2023) & lost to Bronson Reed by DQ (June 12, 2023). This was the 1st time he wrestled an Irish wrestler since he lost to Sheamus on Smackdown on February 11, 2022. This was JD McDonagh's 1st Raw since March 11, 1st Raw opener since January 15, & 1st 1-on-1 Match since he defeated R-Truth on Raw on February 12. This was the 1st time Ricochet won 2 matches back-to-back since he defeated Riddick Moss (August 24, 2023 Main Event) & Shinsuke Nakamura by DQ (September 18, 2023 Raw) & 1st time he did it on Raw in back-to-back weeks since he defeated Karl Anderson (February 17, 2020) & Luke Gallows (February 24, 2020).
I hope I will have time to watch the Bray Wyatt Documentary next Monday. I might have to wait for another time because of work, then dinner, & then Raw.
I loved CM Punk's promo. I love all of his ideas for WrestleMania (Host, Commentator, & Referee). What a segment with the addition of Drew McIntyre & Seth Rollins. I loved every single second of it. I don't care that we have only had 1 match so far. I love Raw so far tonight. It's WrestleMania Season. We don't need matches. And Punk will be doing commentary. That will be fun.
OK Shinsuke Nakamura promo.
I have no idea who Meek Mill is, so I don't care about him at WrestleMania.
Such BS.
Ivy Nile & Candice LeRae don't get entrances & they wrestle for 30 seconds. That's not fair to them. FACTS: This was Ivy Nile's 1st Raw since March 11, 1st 1-on-1 Match overall since she defeated Xia Li on Main Event on February 29, & 1st on Raw since she defeated Valhalla on January 22. This was Candice LeRae's 3rd week in a row on Raw & her 1st 1-on-1 Match on Raw since she lost to Xia Li on October 30, 2023. This was LeRae's 1st 1-on-1 win on Raw since she defeated Piper Niven on February 27, 2023 & 1st 1-on-1 win overall since she defeated Xia Li on Main Event on 6/8/23. It was the 1st time she won 3 matches in a row since she & Indi Hartwell defeated Kayden Carter & Kacy Catanzaro (November 18, 2020 NXT), defeated Ember Moon (November 25, 2020 NXT), & she won War Games at Takeover War Games (December 6, 2020), & 1st time ever on Raw.
Hilarious segment with The New Day, #DIY, & The Awesome Truth.
Awesome WrestleMania Moment with Jey Uso.
Damn it, The New Day VS #DIY was heading toward being an incredible match, but it had to end in a stupid No Contest because of The Judgment Day destroying everyone. The Awesome Truth were fun on commentary. They could have done the attack by Judgment Day after the match. It wouldn't have mattered if one team beat the other. FACTS: This was Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano's 2nd week in a row on Raw. This was Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods' 2nd week in a row on Raw. This was the 2nd week in a row that 2 former NXT Tag Team Champions wrestled each other. This was the 8th No Contest of 2024, the 1st since Smackdown on March 1, & 1st on Raw since January 22.
Wow, CodyRhodes can't repeat what The Rock said to him.
WWE: Next Gen looks good, but I don't have Roku, so I have to download the Roku App.
Good promo by GUNTHER.
I voted for The Slammys yesterday. Here are my Votes:
Female Superstar: Rhea Ripley
Male Superstar: Gunther
Entrance: Cody Rhodes
Return: CM Punk
OMG Moment: CM Punk returns
Breakout Superstar: Tiffany Stratton
Social Star: Drew McIntyre
Faction: The Judgment Day
Rivalry: Rollins VS McIntyre
NXT Superstar: Ilja Dragunov
Match: Gunther VS Gable (9/4/23 Raw)
I was looking forward to Andrade VS Ivar, but Andrade VS Giovanni Vinci was a great match. I guess we'll have to wait for a battle of 1-named wrestlers for another time. Get well soon Ivar. FACTS: This was Andrade's 1st Raw since March 4 & the 1st time he wrestled an Italian since he defeated Vinci on NXT on December 13, 2017. This was Giovanni Vinci's 1st Raw since March 4, 1st 1-on-1 Match on Raw since he lost to Johnny Gargano on October 23, 2023, & the 1st time he wrestled a Mexican since he lost to Andrade on NXT on December 13, 2017. This was the 2nd 1-on-1 Match between them after NXT on December 13, 2017, which was also Andrade. This was the 1st match between a Mexican & an Italian in Raw History.
Great promo exchange with Rhea Ripley & Becky Lynch. I love Becky getting emotional when Rhea brought up her daughter. Damn, Becky knocked out Dominik Mysterio. I love their brawl to add more heat to their match at WrestleMania.
Sami Zayn VS Bronson Reed was a great match. I love the story being told. FACTS: This was Sami Zayn's 1st Raw since March 11 & the 1st time he wrestled an Australian in his Career. This was Bronson Reed's 1st Raw since March 11, 1st 1-on-1 Match on Raw since he lost to Bobby Lashley on February 12, & 1st match against a Canadian in his Career. This was the 1st 1-on-1 Men's Match between a Canadian & Australian in Raw History. This was Reed's 1st win on Raw since he defeated Ivar on December 11, 2023.
Good promo by Jey Usos. Interesting appearance by Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa.
Good motivation by Chad Gable to Sami Zayn. He should become a motivational speaker.
Next week's Raw in Barclays Center will be a banger.
Nice last words of encouragement to Jey Uso from Seth Rollins.
Yes it gives me a lot of work, but there are a lot of wrestlers that deserve to be part of WrestleMania so they should put the Andre The Giant Battle Royal on Mania instead of on Smackdown.
Jey Uso VS Shinsuke Nakamura was a good match. Love what happened outside the ring. Let's do Jey, Rhodes, & Rollins VS Jimmy, Sikoa, & McIntyre in the main event of Raw next week. FACTS: This was Jey Uso's 1st Raw since March 4 & the 1st time he wrestled a Japanese wrestler since his last match against Nakamura on Smackdown on January 15, 2021, but 1st time on Raw. This was his 6th 1-on-1 Match in a row against a foreign wrestler (lost to Drew McIntyre (December 11, 2013), defeated Ludwig Kaiser (December 18, 2023), defeated Bronson Reed (January 29, 2024), lost to GUNTHER (February 19, 2024), & lost to McIntyre (March 4, 2024). This was Shinsuke Nakamura's 1st Raw since 3/11 & 1st 1-on-1 Match on Raw since he lost to Sami Zayn on 2/26. This was the 1st time he wrestled someone other than Cody Rhodes or Sami Zayn on Raw since he defeated Chad Gable on November 20, 2023. This was the 1st time he wrestled an Uso since he defeated Jimmy Uso on Smackdown on March 25, 2022, but 1st time on Raw. This was the 2nd 1-on-1 Match between them after Smackdown on January 15, 2021, which was won by Nakamura, so they each won 1 match. This was Uso's 1st 1-on-1 win since he defeated Bronson Reed on Raw on January 29 & 1st win overall since he & The New Day defeated Imperium on February 12.
I was not expecting The Rock to attack Cody Rhodes like that. He got busted open. I love the rain, as it made it different. It reminded me of The Rock's brawls with Steve Austin back in the day.
Here are my Raw Match Rankings:
1) Ricochet VS JD McDonagh
2) Sami Zayn VS Bronson Reed
3) Andrade VS Giovanni Vinci
4) Jey Uso VS Shinsuke Nakamura
5) The New Day VS #DIY
6) Ivy Nile VS Candice LeRae
EXIT 18 on the Road to WrestleMania: Raw in Chicago, IL was unbelievable. I loved everything besides what they did to the Women's Division (not named Becky & Rhea) & the Tag Team Division. I can't wait for Mania.
NEXT STOP (3 STOPS TO GO): EXIT 19: Smackdown in Uncasville, CT
Ends Raw Thoughts, Facts, & Stats, and for your WrestleMania W/L Records, Facts, & Stats, visit
darrenswinloss.wordpress.com/wm