Welcome to the Wresltepurits’ live coverage of Monday Night Raw for the January 15th, 2024 episode.
CODY RHODES IN-RING PROMO
We start the show off hyping up tonight’s World Championships main event. Kicking us off in the ring is none other than the American Nightmare Cody Rhodes, who will look to settle the nerves of all the Cody fans out there after the Rock’s return to WWE. Cody says he is here to talk about the reason he came back to WWE for. Before he can get into to talking about the Royal Rumble he is interrupted by Drew McIntyre. Drew says that Cody and him go way back, both of them grew up in WWE together. He says he wants to finally tell Cody that he is proud of him. Drew brings up their short sting as tag team champions but points out they both needed to leave WWE to redefine themselves. Drew’s last match before he returned to WWE was with Cody. Drew says Cody told him he was going to be a future World Champion, and Drew has done it twice. Drew says it doesn’t matter who has come back, Cody is going to finish the story. “But not before I finish mine.” There’s the turn. Cody says of course Drew could win the Royal Rumble. Jey Uso could win. CM Punk could win. Cody says both of them have won the Royal Rumble and they know they can’t count anyone out. Drew tells Cody he isn’t running for office, he should be himself and not smile all the time. Drew is trying to “embrace the hate” Cody lol Cody tells Drew that this isn’t an act. He smiles because this is what he loves. Drew and Cody are indeed alike, but the difference is Cody relishes his second chance and Drew just complains. Now we get to the real issue. Drew asks why he brought Jey Uso to Raw? Why did Cody endorse CM Punk? “At Wrestlemania the story belongs to Drew McIntyre.” Cody says Drew keeps bringing up the last match they had, the question is “who won?” A solid start, would have preferred more from Cody by himself before being interrupted but I’m glad we got the Drew and Cody face to face.
BACKSTAGE WITH DAMIAN PRIEST & R-TRUTH
Damian Priest asks what is wrong with R-Truth as Truth is selling bootleg Judgment Day merch in the parking lot. He tells Truth that he is a funny guy, but Truth selling bootleg merch is going too far. Truth hands a wad of cash to Priest as his cut. Priest is now okay with Truth selling the shirts lol Truth seems to believe there are two Mysterios “Tom and Nick.” Priest tells him to not tag in tonight in the tag team match.
DIY DEFEAT JD MCDONAGH & DOMINK MYSTERIO
JD McDonagh and Domink Mysterio have been given the marching orders to stop DIY’s climb to a Tag Team championship shot in it’s tracks. Johnny Gargano gets the upperhand early over JD. Tommaso Ciampa and JD are both down as we come back from break. Gargano makes the tag and the double team results in a nasty clothesline from Ciampa! The referee is distracted and doesn’t see the hot tag back to Ciampa. Gargano hits a slingshot spear to create separation and has the tag but for JD pulling Ciampa off the apron. Simple tag team work but the crowd is eating it up. Back from our second break, Ciampa is taking out both men by himself. Ciampa hits a Scorpion Death Drop on JD but only gets a two. Ciampa goes for the Fairy Tale Ending but JD gets out of it and makes a tag to Dominik. The two teams exchange breaking up nearfalls. All four men are down and a “this is awesome” chant breaks out. Ciampa and JD are legal and JD plants Ciampa with a standing Spanish Fly. JD hits a moonsault that would have had it but for a superkick from Gargano before the three. Dominik sets up Gargano for the 619 but Gargano catches him. JD has the tights on Ciampa but Ciampa kicks out. Ciampa spikes JD with a DDT and tags in Gargano. Meet in the middle! This one is over, DIY win a really fun tag match and get one step closer to a championship match.
BACKSTAGE WITH ADAM PEARCE, CANDICE LERAE, INDI HARTWELL, CHELSEA GREEN & PIPER NIVEN
Earlier today, Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell are talking with Adam Pearce. They are quickly interrupted by the former Tag Team champions Chelsea Green and Piper Niven. Green says she had the match won last week but the referee obviously blew it. Pearce tells her off and makes a match between Niven & Green and Candice & Indi.
VIDEO PACKAGE FOR CANDICE LERAE & INDI HARTWELL
We get a video package for Candice and Indi. It shows highlights of their run as a tag team. Candice says they were tag team champions in NXT but it hasn’t gone their way on Raw so far. “In 2024 we are doing it our way.”
CANDICE LERAE & INDI HARTWELL DEFEAT CHELSEA GREEN & PIPER NIVEN
Niven effortlessly picks up Indi and hits a shoulder breaker. She is so impressive. This match has been all Niven to start. Indi moves out of the way of the Vader Bomb and it allows Indi to tag in Candice. A flurry of strikes from Candice downs Niven and she hits a Codebreaker on Green onto Niven. Green with the blind tag as Niven misses the crossbody. On the other side Candice gets the blind tag and hits an assisted Lionsault on Chelsea Green for the win. A rough looking ending and not sure why on a three hour show we could only give these women a few minutes. The DIY tag match went through two commercial breaks, this one didn’t even sniff one break.
VIDEO PACKAGE FOR NIA JAX
We get a video package for Nia Jax. She really has been great since her return, and smart to put together a video to show her dominance. She says that at the Royal Rumble no one is beating her.
BACKSTAGE WITH THE JUDGMENT DAY
The Judgment Day is backstage sans Damian Priest. Rhea Ripley says she has to take care of something after seeing the Nia video. Priest comes in and says he talked to Pearce about Drew McIntyre. JD asks why they aren’t beating up R-Truth right now and he shows them the cash that he got from Truth.
GUNTHER IN-RING PROMO
FINALLY our champion is back! GUNTHER has returned to Raw. Ludwig Kaiser introduces GUNTHER to a huge ovation. GUNTHER says we are two weeks away from the Royal Rumble and he can feel and smell the desperation around here. He says while he was away, all he saw was his fellow superstars argue desperately about who is going to win the Royal Rumble. GUNTHER says last year he entered at number one and was only one elimination away from winning. This gets a big Cody chant. He says he lasted longer in the Rumble match than any man before. This year the Ring General is going to win the Royal Rumble and main-event Wrestlemania. Hell yeah! He then turns his focus to Kaiser. They play the video from last Monday of Kaiser injuring Kofi Kingston as a receipt for Giovanni Vinci’s injury. GUNTHER says Kaiser showed a side of himself that he had always wanted to see. GUNTHER gives a hug to Kaiser! Oh wait a minute, Xavier Woods is here. Woods says he and Kaiser have a problem. Kaiser is the reason Kofi is not here tonight, but unfortunately for Kaiser- Woods is here tonight. Woods challenges him to a match and asks if Kaiser has to ask his “Daddy” for permission. Kaiser says what he did to Kofi last week will be nothing compared to what he does to Woods tonight. Kaiser tries to get the jump on Woods but Woods gets the upper-hand and is wailing away with right hands as we head to break.
LUDWIG KAISER DEFEATS XAVIER WOODS BY DQ
This match is already underway as we come back from break. These two are going back and forth trading momentum. Kaiser and Woods are wrestling this match with purpose and intent. Big kudos for them following up their heated story with an actually heated fight. Woods tries to springboard off the ropes but Kaiser catches him first with a right hand and then with a lariat. Michael Cole describes this as a “physical match” and he is absolutely right. Kaiser dominated throughout the break, but Woods is back in it now that we are live once again. Woods gets the upper-hand in a strike battle and is feeling himself. He clotheslines Kaiser over the ropes and Woods hits his patented diving dropkick to the outside. Kaiser throws an office chair at Woods but Woods ducks it. Caught up in revenge for last week, Woods grabs the chair and nails Kaiser with it. The referee throws the match out. Woods goes over and gets a steel chair, but when he turns around he eats a Sick Kick from Kaiser. Woods is out and Kaiser lays him on the stairs. Kaiser gets a running start to do to Woods what he did to Kofi but Woods is up! He counters and hits a stomp off the stairs. Woods grabs the stairs and throws them right for the head of Kaiser. Kaiser moves out of the way and runs through the crowd, shocked at the fury of Woods. This was AWESOME, a great fight and totally fine with the DQ finish.
BACKSTAGE WITH BRONSON REED
Bronson Reed is backstage, he says there is a man who holds a championship in WWE who doesn’t realize it will soon belong to Big Bronson Reed. Look man I really like Reed, but he wasn’t able to beat GUNTHER or get another shot. Is he talking about Rollins?
XAVIER WOODS INTERVIEW
Byron Saxton asks Xavier Woods where his emotions are at. Woods yells that Saxton saw what Kaiser did to Kofi. Kaiser jumps Woods to continue the fight but Jey Uso comes in for the save and stares down Kaiser.
AKIRA TOZAWA DEFEATS IVAR
These two had a really fun match a few weeks ago. I like that Tozawa has no interest in fighting anyone other than the biggest and baddest. Tozawa hits some impressive strikes early and counters a pop up from Ivar into a DDT. Oh man beautiful spinning slam from Ivar onto Tozawa followed by Piper Niven’s finish. Ivar goes up for the moonsault and Maxxine tries to distract him. It works for a second and Tozawa hits a sunset flip powerbomb and OH MY GOD HE GOT HIM! Awesome! Maxxine is celebrating with Tozawa and Valhalla jumps Maxxine. She throws her into the ring and hits a pop-up headbutt. Tozawa tries to make the save but eats the Spin kick from Ivar. The big man goes up for the moonsault, but the record books will always have it as a Tozawa victory tonight.
HYPE FOR NEXT WEEK’S RAW
We see an Instagram post from CM Punk saying it’s time to go face to face with Cody Rhodes and have a conversation next week on Raw. Oh man that’s going to be excellent. Give ’em twenty.
BACKSTAGE WITH THE ALPHA ACADEMY & THE CREEDS
The Creeds and the Alpha Academy are checking on Tozawa. Ivy Nile comes in and says enough. She is going to talk to Pearce about Valhalla. Chad Gable tells Tozawa he is proud of him, and next week Gable will teach Ivar a lesson or two.
RHEA RIPLEY IN-RING PROMO
Rhea is out to a huge “Mami” chant. She says she is sick and tired of people like Nia Jax running their mouth and claiming it is their division. Rhea says it’s her division and that’s why she is the champion. Rhea says that whoever wins the Royal Rumble match should chose the other champion if they don’t want to waste their shot. Here we go, Becky Lynch is here! Becky says they are two very different people with very similar stories. The one difference is that Becky went on to win the main-event of Wrestlemania. Becky says the other difference is that Rhea is an unbelievable natural athlete. But Becky is the most relentless competitor there is. Becky says she has a nagging thought in her head that “I think you might be better than me. But I need to prove that you’re not.” To do that she needs to take that title from Rhea. And to do that she needs to win the Royal Rumble. Rhea says the only person who wants Becky to win the Rumble more than herself, is Rhea. “Becky, I’ll see you at Wrestlemania.” This was awesome, it absolutely should be the match at Mania even if it gets there via the Elimination Chamber. I also love the direction of Becky worried that Rhea might just be better than her. That’s a juicy story to tell and it’s great that Becky isn’t backing down from that challenge.
SETH ROLLINS INTERVIEW
Jackie Redmond welcomes in Seth “Freakin” Rollins. Jackie asks why take the risk against Jinder if Seth wants to enter Wrestlemania as champion. Seth says he has been champion for over two hundred days. Every title defense just makes Seth better, so the way to make it to Wrestlemania as champion is to continue doing what he is doing as the workhorse champion. Seth says this is the best version of Jinder Mahal (ehhhh) and he puts over Jinder as a former WWE Champion.
DAMIAN PRIEST & FINN BALOR DEFEAT THE AWESOME TRUTH
The Miz is out for his match with the Judgment Day but no sign yet of R-Truth. And well there is he, tagging along in the background of the Judgment Day entrance. Incredible. A bunch of cash spills out of Truth’s pants, and it is apparently Finn’s cut of the merch. Finn isn’t complaining and stuffs it in his jacket. Dominik gets his cut too. JD asks for his cut and Truth tells him “you have to be a member.” Despite being told not to tag into the match, Truth is starting the match with Finn. The former Universal champion goes right for Truth and Truth returns the favor. He apologizes to Finn for hitting him and the Miz is very confused. Truth finally makes the tag to the Miz and he takes out both Priest and Finn by himself. Truth does tag back in and looks like he is going to strike Priest. He goes to but Priest stops him. Balor tries to roll up Truth but Truth gets out of it and goes right back to Priest. This time Priest hits the South of Heaven chokeslam on Truth. Finn pins Truth to pick up the win. I’m sure Truth will find a way to spin this lol
JINDER MAHAL INTERVIEW
Jinder Mahal is mediating prior to his match. Jackie Redmond interrupts him and asks for his thoughts. Mahal talks about a seven year drought. Everyone is talking about Mahal, but his focus is singular. Everyone will be unified when he beats Seth Rollins and becomes World Heavyweight Champion. Good promo from Mahal here.
SHINSUKE NAKAMURA VIDEO PACKAGE
Shinsuke Nakamura is back in his weird red room and says he is angry because he could not cause the damage he wanted last week. He tells Cody to keep his eyes open because their story isn’t over. But now Nakamura turns his attention to the Royal Rumble where he will feast on everyone else’s dreams. Okay dawg.
SHAYNA BASZLER & ZOEY STARK DEFEAT TEGAN NOX & NATALYA
We see a social media exclusive of Katana Chance and Kayden Carter saying they will happily take on Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark after they retain their titles on Friday. Tegan Nox and Natalya come into frame and they insult each other to make this match. Baszler and Stark go right to work on Nox. They isolate Nox with quick tags but she keeps swinging to fight out. Baszler goes for a superplex but Nox throws her off. She follows up with a crossbody and then gets the tag to Natalya. She goes for her discus lariat but Stark counters. Stark goes for the Z360 but Natalya is able to counter that. Natalya sets up Baszler for the Hart Attack but Stark pulls Nox from the ring. Baszler gets the Clutch in on Natalya and she has no choice but to tap out. Nox & Natalya cannot get a win to save their lives, eventually they’ll do something…right?
SETH ROLLINS DEFEATS JINDER MAHAL (WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)
Jinder Mahal is out with his awesome theme song but more importantly Indus Sher is out with him. That definitely puts more pressure on Seth. Indus Sher immediately distract Seth and it allows Mahal to get the first upper-hand. Mahal quickly goes for the Khallas but Seth fights out. Seth in turn goes for the Stomp but Mahal is able to avoid it. The fight goes to the outside and Seth isn’t backing down from Veer or Sanga. But here comes Damian Priest with his briefcase. We head to break with Seth’s surrounded. Seth is favoring his knee but is able to power through and plant Mahal with a falcon arrow. Seth follows up with a Pedigree but doesn’t get all of it because of the knee. He goes for the cover and Indus Sher put Mahal’s leg onto the rope to break up the count. Seth goes up top and jumps to the outside instead to take out Sanga. Back in the ring Seth goes for a splash on Mahal but the challenger moves. This brings Priest to his feet and the crowd is urging him on. Drew McIntyre comes from the crowd and the two start to brawl. The referee doesn’t see a cheap shot from Indus Sher and Mahal hits a gut buster for a close two count. The crowd bit but they should have had him hit the Khallas there. The referee is distracted and a chair is slide in. While the referee is throwing it out Veer nails Seth with the briefcase and there is the Khallus!! Big two count but Seth kicks out. The referee throws out Indus Sher as Mahal goes for the Khallas again. Seth rolls out and hits the Stomp to retain! The shenanigans added to this one, the crowd bit a few times which made it a fun, short main event.
