Simple theme for this RAW In A Nutshell, as the road to WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia is now officially underway!
Of course, as you might know, things will not get going at all for CM Punk. The man who we thought might never return to WWE…has had his dream dashed.
Punk sustained a torn tricep in the Rumble, and he will miss some time.
But it isn’t all down news. Cody Rhodes did win the match, going back to back for the first time in quite some time.
He will challenge Roman Reigns once again, hoping to finish his story and move to SmackDown.
Main Event Jey Uso started the Rumble, and he has a match against Bronson Reed this evening.
Gunther did not win it either-coming close but not close enough-but he also has a match tonight. He defends against Kofi Kingston.
And, oh yes, a unified tag title match.
There will be plenty more, of course, as we have Elimination Chamber to book. So it is time for…
RAW In A Nutshell: Road To WrestleMania Underway
It’s time to crack open this Nutshell and see what happens!
Best Match of the night:
I have to give some love to the tag title match, even if I wished for a better and different outcome.
Worst match of the night:
I have no complaints.
Crowd Chants of the Night:
No chants, but just a hot crowd.
Star of the Night
Tip of the hat to CM Punk, getting more heat on Drew before going off to have surgery. Man could have easily just said no dice, I’m out.
All while knowing his dream of 72 hours ago evaporated 48 hours ago.
Spot of the Night:
I think I would go with Drew going after Punk’s arm.
Jobber of the Night:
Honestly…I could go CM Punk. Because he did a job on his way out.
But I am going with R-Truth and The Miz.
Riddle me this…will we see Awesome Truth be the ones to dethrone the unified champs? Crazier things have happened…
Upset of the Night:
Punk was visibly upset looking at the WrestleMania logo before saying his piece.
I feel for the guy. For a million reasons, he spent ten years away from his dream of a WrestleMania main event.
It seemed so possible in 2024, and for the second time in just a couple years, he winds up tearing a tricep and losing time to rehab.
At least this time around it’s purely rehab and not a suspension for a backstage brawl, right?
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
They did with Punk and Drew what we last saw with Cody and Seth.
Cody got hurt, came out for his farewell, and Rollins came out seemingly empathetic. Then he laid Rhodes out.
This one wasn’t quite as bad, and Sami Zayn made the save, but it was still shades of that.
Botch of the night:
First night back on RAW, and it was Pat McAfee.
Wanted to say wrestling gods (no not Bradshaw) but said football gods first. It happens.
Commentary of the night:
This will suffice…
LOL Moment of the night:
In spite of the eventual beat-down…
Truth was funny AND on point.
Noteworthy Moment:
R-Truth has been kicked out of the Judgement Day. Not that he was ever in.
And only The Miz came to the rescue. Given what we’d heard about Bron Breakker, I expected perhaps the NXT call-up to even some odds.
Though now it seems that Breakker might be destined for SmackDown.
Overall lowlights:
It sucks seeing Punk out for ‘Mania.
Honestly, depending on what you believe and all that…Rollins isn’t 100%, Punk is out, Charlotte is down, maybe we aren’t seeing The Rock.
And don’t get me started on Brock.
What could have been an all-time great card is going to have a few changes and challenges.
Overall highlights:
With Punk-Rollins not in the cards, could WWE pivot to Rollins-Rhodes, even though we saw Cody pointing specifically at Roman on Saturday?
I would get it, but not love it. But, at a bare minimum, good on WWE dragging the decision out a bit.
Drew went even more full heel. Can’t help but think he might be the alpha heel on RAW moving forward.
Lots of title matches, lots of good action.
And…Andrade is back, officially signing with RAW.
After the final bell:
Felt like a big show, and was a good one. The Road to WrestleMania is 1000 percent underway, and in spite of a few hiccups…it’s going to be a fun ride.
