It’s our first RAW In A Nutshell of 2024, and a simple question is in front of us…will Day 1 deliver big surprises?
Word broke over the weekend that there would be, or could be, a former WWE champion on RAW, and that got folks buzzing.
On top of that, we have two big title matches, with Ivy Nile taking a shot at Rhea Ripley and Seth Rollins defending against Drew McIntyre.
Top Superstar Earning High Praise
Will we start the new year off with a new champ or two?
And who might that surprise be, if there is indeed one to come by? Lots of speculation, could be someone to join the roster, could be our first Hall of Fame inductee, or could be no one.
All will be revealed in the next three hours and thousand or so words, right? At least, that’s the hope.
So, let’s find out…it is time for…
RAW In A Nutshell: Will Day 1 Deliver Big Surprises?
Let’s crack this one open and find out!
Best Match of the night:
Have to give Ivy and Rhea some love. Ivy is green compared to many, but she looked great tonight.
The main event was really good too, Seth and Drew did well, and it was a nice almost cash-in, especially with it being Drew who prevented things.
Like, we know he’s a full on heel now, but he’s still doing things that kind of make him a ‘tweener.
Worst match of the night:
Not a bad match, but the placement of Natalya and Tegan Nox versus Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark was just unfortunate.
Following The Rock isn’t easy.
Crowd Chants of the Night:
Rocky
USA
This is awesome
Day 1 d….you get the idea.
Star of the Night
Big tip of the cap to Ivy Nile and Rhea Ripley.
Rollins and McIntyre too.
But the star of all stars tonight? Had to be The Rock.
Spot of the Night:
Jobber of the Night:
Jinder Mahal…
Upset of the Night:
Match wise…surprised we got a clean pinfall win for Nia Jax over Becky Lynch.
Fans were upset that the “returning WWE champion” was Jinder Mahal.
Though, based on the rumors, it was pretty clear this isn’t who was implied, as the rumor said “returning, not currently on the roster”.
Which leads us to…
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
Finally…THE ROCK…has come back to RAW!
Much as it was sort of ruined on College Game Day when he was on SmackDown a few months ago…we saw him on the college football show this morning.
And, with him was Nick Khan.
Did not take a genius to think we’d get him. The blue brand can’t have all the fun, right?
And wow…USA gave the sensors the night off eh?
But the biggest of big mic drops? The Rock with a MASSIVE Roman Reigns teaser.
Botch of the night:
Jinder struggles on the mic, he always has. Little stuff, but tonight he was a WE Superstar.
Not sure if we blame Becky or Nia, but Jax kind of missed catching Lynch on a cross body. Recovered fine, so that’s the important bit.
Commentary of the night:
She isn’t commentary, but she’s adjacent to the position, and this reaction was just too awesome to not share.
LOL Moment of the night:
“If you were one of The Rock’s movies…you’d probably be Baywatch”
Honestly, I saw it. It wasn’t that bad…I mean…I’ve seen worse…
Truth thinking he was still in Judgement Day…that whole thing was gold.
And if The Great One wasn’t also here, well, it would be the funniest of the night.
But Rock was cooking in San Diego.
Noteworthy Moment:
Not a good thing when a match gets stopped, but that happened tonight.
Overall lowlights:
The question coming in was simple: will Day 1 deliver big surprises?
And, if it answered that with a big yes, then we all win. It did deliver, and we did, right?
Day 1 was really good start to finish, like a PLE but on a Monday. That seemed to be what WWE was after, and it was delivered.
Only complaints…
Felt bad for the women’s tag match, just because…it has to suck going on after The Rock.
Also, for all the talk that Andrade could show up back in WWE tonight, he did not.
Granted, him working Friday makes more sense, as he could be someone his old manager calls in for help…but we shall see.
Overall highlights:
Nia Jax and Becky Lynch started us strong.
Seth and Drew finished strong.
In between? Oh, you know…The Rock brought it.
Really good show to start the new year. Day 1 delivered big surprises.
And you can’t help but think…there are more coming this week. Maybe.
After the final bell:
That was a heck of a way to get 2024 started, and if the rest of the week is going to keep up, then NXT and SmackDown should be can’t miss shows.
Sure, we got a major swerve with Jinder coming out…and it sucked the life out of fans briefly…but you could tell the way he was talking we were getting someone…and it was sweet.
Lots to love about how the show went.
