It’s time for RAW In A Nutshell, with not one but two items on the agenda: Cody fallout and Elimination Chamber hype.
Cody fallout should be fairly explanatory. We Want Cody has only been trending worldwide since oh, about 10PM Friday night, eastern time in the US.
As for the Elimination Chamber hype? That massive international premium live event is just over two weeks away. Which means we have chamber matches to book.
What is interesting on the men’s side? Well…what would they use the chamber for?
Usually, it would get the winner a title match. Now that we have two titles again, there is a second title to be chased by those who didn’t win the Royal Rumble.
Except, well, The Rock took Cody’s shot there, as of last Friday. And you can get those SmackDown results here.
So is Cody pivoting to Seth Rollins? We don’t know, but maybe we will find out tonight.
But, what we do know about tonight is that Cody Rhodes gets Shinsuke Nakamura in a bull rope match, because his last week wasn’t eventful enough.
Buckle up fans, it is time for…
RAW In A Nutshell: Cody Fallout And Elimination Chamber Hype
Lets crack open this Nutshell and see how things turn out!
Best Match of the night:
I would be screwing them over if I didn’t say that the fatal fourway tag team match was fun. It was a blast, and DIY getting to take on Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate for a title shot is pretty cool.
Love to see two NXT teams doing so well.
Beyond that, the bull rope match did what it needed to do.
Worst match of the night:
Was it really bad? No, but it was about what you’d expect from a short mixed tag featuring Tozawa against Ivar.
Crowd Chants of the Night:
Rocky sucks
We want Cody.
Wasn’t the loudest in the beginning, but definitely could be heard, and Seth absolutely acknowledged them
Star of the Night
Cody was obvious.
Sami Zayn getting vignettes…could he chase a major title soon?
Jey Uso doesn’t need vignettes…he wants GUNTHER.
Spot of the Night:
I really dug the white noise from Ciampa off the top to the outside…
But then we had Creed suplexing everyone…and I have to just say…that tag match was crazy.
Jobber of the Night:
Man, I just don’t know if there was one.
Upset of the Night:
Nothing to get into, match-wise.
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
The show started with Seth Rollins, still without a title match challenger for Philadelphia.
Process of elimination says it has to be Cody, right? But in fairness…Seth isn’t even cleared yet (will he be?).
Cody came out, Seth asked for an answer…and none was given.
Drew McIntyre came out to break things up, encouraged Cody to finish his story, and drilled Rollins with a Glasgow Kiss.
Drew makes more sense against Seth, and Cody still has not decided his path.
Botch of the night:
Was there one?
Commentary of the night:
Cole did say the quiet part out loud…”though not official, Roman Reigns and The Rock appear to be on a collision course
Translation? Tune in Thursday for our UFC style pre-fight hype fest and watch what happens next.
OK, it wasn’t commentary, but this line was savage.
LOL Moment of the night:
I should just call this the weekly R-Truth award, because it once again goes to him.
Truth got beaten down last week…and he’s back thinking he’s in Judgement Day this week. Said that last week was just him getting jumped in.
Noteworthy Moment:
The arena had a lot of #We Want Cody signs. Some home made, some looked printed.
As we saw on social media, it seems someone (WWE…) was providing fans with those printed signs.
Interesting…almost like WWE actually did plan for this.
Becky Lynch is the first to qualify for the Elimination Chamber-her first.
Rhea and Nia Jax for the title in Perth too. Would WWE really have Ripley lose in front of her home country fans?
Just to set up Jax/Lynch?
Overall lowlights:
Not much to complain about really.
Overall highlights:
Show started hot, ended hot, and was pretty hot in the middle.
Rhea and Nia was good.
The opening promo was strong, and WWE is doing all it can to make us tune in on Thursday.
Cody looked strong, and he wants us to trust him…which means there is a plan, and he isn’t going after Seth. Right?
After all, Drew versus Seth makes more sense. McIntyre pins Rollins, celebrates, Priest cashes in…
After the final bell:
Looks like one chamber match will be for the RAW women, with the SmackDown men presumably using the other to determine Logan Paul’s challenger.
We have a couple short weeks to go, things are going to be fast and furious.
And…Thursday became perhaps the most must-see WWE pre-show press conference ever…WWE is milking that Cody fallout.
