Monday Afternoon Raw (at least for those in the States) returned today (Jan. 12) from Düsseldorf, Germany’s PSD Bank Dome. A full run down of all that happened can be find at the live blog here. Let’s
hit it.
Tapping on the Sly
The main event of this episode was Gunther vs. AJ Styles in the Ring General’s first match since making John Cena tap like a little bitch. His words. Not mine.
It was a great bout. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Gunther is fantastic and AJ Styles is one of the greatest of all time. The match was based around Styles’s threat earlier in the night – that he was going to turn the tables and make Gunther tap. To work towards that, the Phenomenal One focused the attack on his opponent’s leg to set up the Calf Crusher.
When it came down to it, after multiple attempts that the Ring General was able to escape by either reaching the ropes or brute force, Styles finally had Gunther where he wanted him: In the middle of the ring with the Calf Crusher locked in. And Gunther did tap out. Only he purposely did it in a way that the referee wouldn’t see it, causing Styles to drop the hold thinking he had won.
On first pass, we only saw the angle the referee and announcers saw. The angle where Styles seemingly just gave up the hold and then told the referee he felt Gunther tap. When the referee was giving the instructions to the ring announcer that the match was continuing, Gunther delivered a low blow to set up his powerbomb and the win. It was after the match they showed the replay where Ring General tapped on the sly, convincing Styles to release the hold.
It’s possible having that angle available right away would have made that finish less confusing at first, but the more I think about it, the more the confusion works for me. Gunther outsmarted everyone – AJ Styles, the referee, the announcers, and us. After bragging about tapping John Cena, he tapped himself to save his ass and steal the match. It’s fantastic heel work through and through. His actions are nothing to be proud of, but he’s going to crow about it anyway.
The jury is still out if Gunther is going to see the real big benefit from tapping John Cena that they’re hoping. That night in DC, he had nuclear heat. But every week the returns seemed diminished. This crowd, who was hot all night, was hot for the match but it’s a home field match for Gunther so they were mixed. And there were some boos so that’s a good sign. But I still don’t know if Gunther is going to get anything out of tapping Cena outside the right to brag about it.
New Year, New Finn?
It looks like Finn Bálor is finally going to get a little spotlight. It was rumored prior to 2025 that he would see a push in 2025. It did not happen. But maybe 2026 may actually be different.
Liv Morgan gave him a sharp talking to in the Judgment Day club house when Finn was playing video games as the rest of the crew staked their claim to gold. The Prince took her words to heart when he later interrupted CM Punk, who was just finishing cutting a promo stating the Vision was in his rear view so he’s looking forward to seeing who is next.
The proceeding promo segment showed where CM Punk still stands out. He can cut a promo the really cuts to the heart of an issue in a way that isn’t just recap. He used words like “complacent” to describe Bálor’s current state. He challenged if a match with Finn was really a match against the Judgment Day. It was a succinct summation of Bálor’s present issues and why he’s not doing better than he should be. He laid Finn’s own issues at his feet to think about ahead of their likely very short feud.
The title match is set for next week in Finn’s home country of Ireland, which is likely the main reason they’re even doing this. I don’t expect any surprises like with Drew McIntyre last week. But I do hope this it the start for a bigger story for Finn, one that isn’t just him in the background. And I hope that story means the end of the Judgment Day as we know it because that faction’s time has really elapsed.
First Contenders
The show opened with new women’s tag team champions Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky, who is going by RhIYO now. (I don’t love it – it feels lazy and there is a wrestler who exists actually named Riho, which is kind of confusing even though she doesn’t wrestle often.) The champs cut a promo in front of an adoring crowd. Then they hit the trope where all the possible contenders (Judgment Day – in this case Liv Morgan & Roxanne Perez, Bayley/Lyra, Kabukki Warriors) came out to lay claim to the belts. It’s not original but it’s a simple way to try to remind folks of the depth of the division. And this one ended with a small brawl that left the champs standing tall.
This led to a triple threat number one contenders match, but I’d like to take a moment to discuss Rhea & Iyo as tag champs before hitting that. It’s seemed like WWE isn’t ready for Ripley to be champion again, even though at the same time, it feels like she can be champion at any time. So most of the year they found ways to keep her busy and away from the gold. Putting the tag champs on her and a close to but not quite as popular Iyo Sky is probably the best way to do it. They’ll elevate the titles as long as they have them. I do hope that they get back to an Asuka/Iyo singles match, which is what it seemed like they were originally building to before they used to the story to strengthen the bond between Rhea & Iyo. But you can do worse with Rhea if you’re looking for a way to delay another title program.
The triple threat tag #1 contenders match was a fun one. Outside an odd moment where the ref wouldn’t count because someone wasn’t legal (and he may have been right – just slowed down the momentum of match that was flowing), it was good. That’s to be expected given all six women in there are good at what they do.
Liv Morgan won the match for her team with an Oblivion on Kairi Sane. This sets up Judgment Day vs. RhIYO (nope, still don’t like it) at Saturday Night’s Main Event. So Liv held up her end of the JD bargain. We’ll see how each member does in the next couple weeks in their respective title matches.
Breakker: Unhinged
A tag match between Austin Theory & Bronson Reed vs. Penta & Dragon Lee (they’ll team Penta with anyone who isn’t his brother), ended in DQ when a very unhinged Bron Breakker ran out and speared Lee.
Adam Pearce had enough of the Vision’s BS and stormed down to the ring to get in the face of Breakker, who eventually grabbed Pearce in the corner. This led to one of my favorite Paul Heyman bits – when he realizes his client has gone too far and tries to intervene before they feel the consequences. To sell how wild Bron was actin, the rest of the Vision was holding this mad dog back.
Backstage, Pearce indefinitely suspended Bron. But Heyman soon pointed out that the GM put his hands on his client first so that’ll be a way to get Breakker back by the Rumble.
This all succeeded in doing one major thing: Painting Bron Breakker as absolutely crazy, and more importantly, dangerous. When they had to pull the trigger on the Vision separating from Rollins earlier than planned, I didn’t think it was time for Bron as a world champ. His feud with CM Punk and now this segment has done a good job of changing my mind.
I’m not sure I really want to see an immediate rematch with CM Punk at WrestleMania. There could be a more creative way to get to a world title win for Bron. But it won’t feel too soon when they get there.
Be Smarter About Things
Raquel Rodriguez cut a promo on the stage with Michael Cole that was interrupted by Stephanie Vaquer still sporting the waking boot pissed off after the beating Big Mami Cool gave her last week. Unfortunately for the champ, the story was the same this week and she ended up being laid out due to the bad leg once again. Vaquer is falling into the “not the brightest babyface” category here.
I don’t expect Raquel to win the world title, but I appreciate that they’re giving this story a bit of juice before getting there. Make me believe there conceivably could be a change and it’ll be more rewarding.
Quick Hits
- Becky cut a video promo still working the Trumpish gimmick setting up her Intercontinental title rematch with Maxxxine Dupri in Lynch’s home country of Ireland next week. Hopefully this one is a bit smoother as their last one was shaky. I figure the eventual plan is for Lynch to defend the belt against AJ Lee – probably at WrestleMania – so I have a good guess about the outcome of next week.
- Je’Von Evans picked up his first official win as a member of the Raw roster over Bravo Americano now that WWE creative remembered the Americanos. After the match, it looked like all three Americanos had the newcomer cornered on the barricade behind the announce desk but he just jumped over all of them. That guy is gonna do something wild in the Rumble this year.
- Otis & Akira Tozawa met up with Jey Uso backstage and put down a challenge for the tag titles. Jey initially was reluctant, not wanting to give his pals the business. But when he learned they were serious, he said he’d talk it over with Big Jim.
This is the time of the year where they start to heat things up for WrestleMania. Traditionally things are a bit slow after Survivor Series through the holidays until January. But sometimes January starts hot and sometimes it is a simmer. And Raw currently is at a simmer. They’re putting things in motion but haven’t lit anything up just yet. Two weeks in a row, two strong main events helped prop up a show that was average.
Normally, that’s not a big deal. But after a down year last year, and now especially when SmackDown has already kicked things off with big title changes, impactful call ups, and a surprising return, Raw is still leaving me a bit a wanting.
There was nothing on that show that was bad. But there were only three matches – two tags, one of which was really worth your time, and a strong main event. I’m intrigued with the direction of Finn Bálor, and I generally like CM Punk as champion. But they need a bigger spark than they’ve given us.
Marcus doesn’t usually do a grade, but I’ll throw one in for the week I’m here. I’d say the very entertaining main event and the fact that nothing was actively bad just saved this from a C range show, but I could have gone either way.
Grade: B-
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