Here are my Raw Match Thoughts & Rankings:
But first, sorry I didn't finish my Weekly Column due to Survivor Series on Saturday & doing family things on Sunday.
Excellent return promo by Randy Orton. Good interaction with Rhea Ripley & attempted attack by JD McDonagh & Dominik Mysterio. Orton VS Dom will be great later.
Fun segment with the Tag Teams, Jelly Roll, & the greatest return from Survivor Series, R-Truth.
The Tag Team Turmoil Match was fun. Thankfully, Indus Sher wasn't in it a long time & the other awesome teams carried the match. Excellent showing by The Creed Brothers. They are beasts. Creeds VS Judgment Day will be amazing. FACTS: This was the 2nd Men's Tag Turmoil Match of 2023 & 1st since 1/9 Raw. This was the 1st time that Otis teamed with someone other than Chad Gable since he & Daniel Bryan defeated Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura on Smackdown on 1/1/21, Tozawa's 1st 2-on-2 Match since he & Apollo Crews lost to Indus Sher on Main Event on 8/10/23 & 1st on Raw since he & Drew Gulak lost to Lucha House Party on 10/26/20, & was their 1st Tag Team Turmoil Match in their Career. This was The New Day's 2nd Tag Team Turmoil Match in their Career & their 1st since Raw on 9/6/21, giving them a Tag Team Turmoil Record of 0-2-1. This was #DIY, The Creed Brothers, Imperium, & Indus Sher's 1st Tag Team Turmoil Match in their Career & Indus Sher's 1st Raw since they defeated Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin on Raw on 6/19.
Solid segment with The Judgment Day.
I think Cody Rhodes might be one of the earliest someone has ever announced their entry in the Royal Rumble. I loved him getting emotional talking about his Dad & War Games. There's nothing wrong with a man crying like that. Wow, I wasn't expecting Cody to be who Shinsuke Nakamura was talking about. It could be a good feud.
Bronson Reed VS Ivar was a fun big meaty match. I had a feeling that it would end in a Double Count Out. I don't mind the finish as we're going to get more from them after that brawl. Poor security guards. FACT: This was the 550th Men's Singles Match on TV & PPV in WWE & NXT in 2023. This was Bronson Reed's 1st 1-on-1 Match since he defeated Akira Tozawa on 10/23. This was Ivar's 10th Singles Match in his WWE/NXT Career, 6th of 2023, & 1st time he wrestled an Australian.
Horrible segment to set up Zoey Stark VS Nia Jax with Shayna Baszler.
Cool video showing everyone's reaction to CM Punk's return. They should have showed Seth Rollins' reaction.
R-Truth was hilarious with The Judgment Day. I missed him so much. He doesn't have to wrestle.
Zoey Stark VS Nia Jax was awful. Triple H needs to release Jax. She is horrendous in the ring and she needs to lose weight. She's always winded after her matches. FACT: This was the 300th Raw Match of 2023. This was Zoey Stark's 1st 1-on-1 Match on Raw since she lost to Nia Jax on 9/25. This was the 1st time since she defeated Charlotte Flair & then lost to Charlotte on 8/30 & 9/6/21 that Jax wrestled 2 weeks in a row on Raw. This was the 2nd 1-on-1 Match between them after Raw on 9/25, which was also won by Jax.
More issues with Imperium. OK segment to set-up another round of Miz VS GUNTHER. I don't mind another match between them since I already have the facts for it.
Looking forward to tomorrow's NXT. The 4-Way should be excellent, Eddy Thorpe VS Bron Breakker should be great. Kelani Jordan VS Kiana James has potential. Great matches chosen by Jerry Lawler.
Great promo by Seth Rollins & Drew McIntyre. I don't think we will ever know if what happened after Survivor Series was real or not. Damn, McIntyre busted himself open with the headbutt. I love the idea of Rollins VS Jey Uso.
Great segment with Drew McIntyre & Sami Zayn. They should have a classic match next week.
Natalya & Tegan Nox VS Chelsea Green & Piper Niven was OK. There were a couple of hiccups here & there. FACTS: This was the 1st Women's Tag Team Championship Match on Raw since 7/17. If Natalya & Tegan Nox would have won, Natalya would have been the 12th 2-time Women's Tag Team Champion & 1st since Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez but 7th to do it with a different partner (after Nikki ASH/Cross, Asuka, Sasha Banks, Shayna Baszler, Alexa Bliss, & Raquel Rodriguez) & Tegan Nox would have been the 2nd 1st time Champion in a row & 2nd in a row to win the Women's Tag Team Championship as her 1st Championship in WWE. This was Chelsea Green & Piper Niven's 2nd Women's Tag Team Championship Defense, so if they would have lost they would have been the 1st since Shayna Baszler & Ronda Rousey who lost to Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez at Money In The Bank on 7/1 to lose in their 2nd Defense. As of Raw, Chelsea Green & Piper Niven's Women's Tag Team Championship Reign has lasted 133 Days, which is the 2nd Longest Reign of All-Time below The Kabuki Warriors (10/6/19-4/4/20, 181 Days).
Great segment with Jey Uso & Randy Orton burying the hatchet & showing respect to each other.
I missed Becky Lynch's promo so I can't comment on it.
Randy Orton VS Dominik Mysterio was great. Orton looked awesome. I'm so happy that he's OK & didn't have to retire. But shouldn't Orton be Disqualified for Jelly Roll's interference. He put his hands on Mysterio. FACTS: This was Randy Orton's 1st Raw since he & Matt Riddle defeated The Street Profits on 5/9/22 & his 1st 1-on-1 Match since he lost to Seth Rollins on 2/14/22. It was the 1st time that Orton's wrestling a Mysterio since he lost to Rey Mysterio in a Chair Match at TLC on 12/16/18 & the 1st time on Raw since he & Mysterio wrestled to a NC on 3/21/11. Orton was the 14th wrestler to wrestle both Dominik & Rey Mysterio in 1-on-1 Matches in WWE (Others: Shelton Benjamin, Baron Corbin, Edge, Santos Escobar, Chad Gable, Bobby Lashley, The Miz, Buddy Murphy, Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Austin Theory, Sami Zayn, & Dolph Ziggler.) This was Dominik Mysterio's 1st Raw since he defeated Ricochet on 10/30.
CM Punk was incredible. Forget what I said in the past about him being a baby. Whatever happened is over. Whatever he did is done. I am so happy to see him in WWE. He looks happy. And I really hope we get to see AJ in the Rumble & an appearance from Larry. FACT: This was the 1st time that CM Punk was in a WWE Ring since the 2014 Royal Rumble on 1/26/14 & the 1st time he was on Raw since he defeated Billy Gunn on 1/20/14.
Here are my Raw Match Rankings:
1) Tag Team Turmoil
2) Randy Orton VS Dominik Mysterio
3) Bronson Reed VS Ivar
4) Natalya & Tegan Nox VS Chelsea Green & Piper Niven
5) Zoey Stark VS Nia Jax
Overall, another excellent Raw. The matches were good except for 1. The promos were great especially Orton & Punk. Right now, Raw is supposed to be at its slowest season until next year when they start the build for the Rumble, but I'm excited to see what's next.
Ends Raw Thoughts, Facts, & Stats, for W/L Records, Facts, & Stats, visit
darrenswinloss.wordpress.com/ which is updated up to Survivor Series.
Brush up on your Royal Rumble History with 9 weeks to go at
darrenswinloss.wordpress.com/wwerr/[/a]
Enjoy Barmageddon with the Greatest WCW World Champion of All-Time, David Arquette. I will watch it tomorrow on DVR.