RAW kicked off once again with Royal Rumble winner Jey Uso. Only just when you thought this would be a repeat of last week's YEET-fest Gunther appeared and wrecked the party. He pulled Jey's legs out from under him as he stood on the announcer’s desk, eliciting boos from a raucous crowd. Gunther then beat down and power-bombed Jey, and just when you thought the segment was over, a winded and wounded Jey suddenly had a microphone.

"I shouldn't say this..." Jey exhaled. "Me and you at WrestleMania".

His choice solidified, the words felt appropriately epic, Jey's “Cool Hand Luke” like swagger adding to the strength of the phrase "Me and you...". Jey then dove over the top rope onto Gunther and a pile of security officers before the potential brawl was broken up and both men separated.

Good.

Now we know one of WWE's main title matches, which brings the rest into focus. It was wise to have Jey make his decision with weeks left until the Elimination Chamber because it raises the stakes for that match, limiting the choices of the contestants to Cody Rhodes and his WWE Undisputed Championship. CM Punk, John Cena, Logan Paul, and Drew McIntyre are all in the Chamber with two more opponents to be named in the weeks ahead. Now that the Mania main events are taking shape, it's up to WWE to keep things interesting between now and April. I recommend using the full breadth of narrative devices at the company's disposal.

For example, it would be nice to see Michael Cole have a multi-part sit down interview with Charlotte. She wasn't able to articulate her struggle to get back to good health in front of a live crowd. A change in format would allow that story to be told.

With Jey and Gunther, a blend of promos and pulse-pounding vignettes should do the trick.

Same goes for Cody and whoever he faces.

All that's needed is variety, visually and conceptually, with the type of segment dictated by the combatants' personalities and the intensity of the feud.

After Jey and Gunther were separated it was time for the show to properly begin.

Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai of Damage Control faced Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez of Judgement Day. What began as a so-so contest was elevated by the athleticism and personality of Iyo Sky. Her missile drop kick off the top rope is a sight to behold, beautifully executed. Her comeback sequence catapulted the match into "This is awesome!" territory, culminating in an Over The Moonsault for the win. Also (not to be a ghoul), Liv Morgan "got color" (bled), which added even more drama to the contest.

Iyo Sky leaps into Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez

Following the match, commentary explained that Sami Zayn would be absent due to Kevin Owen's vicious package piledriver attack at the end of last week's show.

Michael Cole emphasized Sami suffered "spinal compression" and "extreme nerve damage", grounding the narrative in violent reality. Next came a vignette where Kevin Owens' voice played over various scenes from his and Sami's past. He blamed Sami for his loss at The Royal Rumble, questioning why Sami was so quick to help Roman, but not help him. He said Sami was a terrible human being and that he would pay. It's fascinating to watch the Kevin Owens character go to such lengths to excuse his vile behavior. Particularly with regard to Sami, he's able to flip a switch from earnest friend to delusional foe. Anytime these two are in the ring together magic happens so all that's left is to sit back and watch them work. Somehow, even after everything we've seen them go through in WWE (and in the indies as Steen and Generico), this feels fresh, like we're peeling pack yet another layer of this saga.

Next came an excellent bout between Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria and Bayley to determine who would go to the women's Elimination Chamber match.

As I watched this match, I got wrapped up in their trading holds and slams and forearms, all leading to Bayley's victory.

It was a quality exchange between two pros who shook hands and hugged at the end. But after the match it occurred to me that Lyra is the Women’s Intercontinental Champion, a relatively new title. The identity of the title is still being formed. How is her stock affected by this loss?

This is where WWE does not always protect its talent. We're supposed to believe that Lyra merely being competitive in a match against veteran Bayley is enough of a "rub". It hardly lands that way, however. She's just a loser who holds an irrelevant title. This is made all the worse by showing her afterward in a backstage segment seeking solace in the advice of Otis and Akira Tozawa.

The silliness and irrelevance of that pair only adds to the negative air surrounding Valkyria following her loss. She looks like an idiot, the gold on her shoulder signifying "placeholder". This is nothing new, though. The WWE has been beating midcard champs in the interest of building main event matches and pay-per-views for decades. It should come as no surprise then that midcard titles amount to nothing and, in some cases, act as a hindrance to a superstar's growth. You can only beat your champions so many times before it becomes apparent their title isn't to be taken seriously, that they are not a viable contender even in their lower tier.

This is also what happens when a promotion doesn't have a robust midcard to draw from, a real problem in WWE. For all its talent and all its titles, there is still only one way to be conceptually successful in WWE and that's as a World Champion. To fix this, WWE would have to invest time and creative into building traditional rivalries around midcard belts and keep midcard champions out of the orbit of the main titles. Being Intercontinental Champion or United States Champion would be infused with emotion, the journeys of several superstars. As is, particularly with Valkyria, it's as if her holding the title is meant to convince us she's good. It's as though we're to accept she's a finished product when, in actuality, we're still in beta testing.

Even so, it was encouraging to see the majority of RAW's entire first hour devoted to the women's division. The next two hours suffered a bit from an overreliance on talking segments.

AJ Styles "returned" to cut a promo about his career-threatening injury. I find it interesting that the crowd gave him the grace to cut this promo, but did not extend that same latitude to Charlotte last week. I believe there are a variety of reasons for this. It's not just that wrestling fans are sexist, though that is one reason. It's primarily that we're trained to accept the struggle and hardships of men more than those of women. A man's fight to get back is honorable where a woman's fight to get back sounds like complaining. I find all promos about injury recoveries laborious at this point. I've simply heard too many, and they're all basically the same, but if men can do it then women should be afforded the same space.

Next came an interview between Jackie Redmond and Seth Rollins located in the rafters of the arena. I can't emphasize enough how much I appreciate the change in locale. It was a minor nitpick of mine for years that WWE didn't use the entirety of the arena-space at their disposal. Being amongst the fans changes the energy of a promo, it makes it feel more alive. CM Punk used this same environment a few weeks ago to promote his entry into the Royal Rumble and it was fantastic. This week's interview with Rollins, by comparison, demonstrates the difference between a fully realized character and one who's half-baked.

Everything about Seth Rollins represents a character in conflict with itself. What about Seth Rollins is "visionary" or "revolutionary"? How has he brought those concepts to life in his character? Perhaps they're holdovers from his Jesus-phase but why would he use them to describe himself now?

Furthermore, what about Seth Rollins is "freakin'"?

"Seth freakin' Rollins" is an allusion to when a character refers to themself as *insert first name* "Fucking" *insert last name*. It's a declaration of strength, as if the name itself, paired with the expletive, sums up a character's essence (think Ron Fucking Swanson from Parks and Recreation). Pair these poorly fleshed out terms with his proclivity for "strange outfits" and you're left with a patchwork, several ill-fitting parts that fail to add up to a decent whole. Complicating matters further, consider his behavior. His dancerly movements in time with his music, his over the top villainous laugh, and his Joker-like facial expressions betray his other, simultaneous identity as "very good, serious wrestler".

None of it works, despite the fact that the crowd sings along to his song.

Seth Rollins interviewed by Jackie Redmond

This promo, which transitioned into an exchange with Finn Bálor, his opponent next week in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match, exemplifies everything that's wrong about Seth Rollins. No one on the roster needs a retooling more. After this WrestleMania season, the company, and the performer, would be wise to take a lengthy break and zero in on those aspects of his personality and character that are true and easily grasped. He is a very good wrestler. That much is unmistakable. He can be good on the mic as evidenced by promos he cut in years past when he was just being a version of his true self. I recommend, after several months off, he come back with a renewed focus on in-ring competition and leave the fur coats at the dry cleaners.

The War Raiders, Ivar and Erik, took on American Made, Brutus and Julius, next, in what was a serviceable tag team match. The tag division feels incredibly thin and Ivar and Erik are less intimidating as a result. The match, which had one or two good three-count interruption sequences, ended in disqualification. No one came away looking particularly powerful. American Made without Chad Gable is like food without seasoning - unpleasant and unfulfilling.

American Made lose in a disqualification

We then cut to the back for the obligatory Judgement Day backstage segment.

The group is in terrible shape, both in-narrative and in reality. It has devolved entirely into "jokes" by Carlito and Dom Mysterio, a collection of dimwits describing the water in their sinking ship. It's unclear why they're even a group since they can't stand each other and consistently fail. Bálor's inevitable loss next week will hopefully solidify their end and creative will have to come up with a new group of idiots to film in nondescript backstage offices.

Nearing the end of the show, CM Punk arrived to cut a perfectly fine promo about losing at the Rumble and winning at Elimination Chamber. Nothing special. Then Logan Paul interrupted prior to his match with Rey Mysterio. What was interesting about the scene was its structure, though.

It was used as a seamless transition to the main event match between Paul and Mysterio.

I point this out because I've been asking for such transitions since week one of my RAW Netflix reviews, and I'm pleased to finally see it realized. Keep it up, whoever you are. Also, bring back the commentary team introducing the show while standing at ringside. These little touches help make two and a half hours move smoothly.

The match between Paul and Mysterio was stilted, with two glaring errors right at the start (they bumped heads while moving in the same direction). There were times it was difficult to tell who actually received the damage from a move. Nevertheless, Paul was victorious and he'll go on to compete in the Elimination Chamber.

Then, something interesting happened. The New Day appeared and sieged Rey Mysterio as the episode faded to black. I sat forward in my bed, thinking, "Wait, what happened?!" It was a great feeling.

I smiled and thought, "Clever, WWE. Clever".

The next day, wanting to see what happened after the cameras cleared, I went to YouTube and found the rest of the beatdown. It was a good scene, cementing The New Day as heels. It's wise to have them target Rey who is one of the more sympathetic characters in modern WWE. This is the sort of midcard-building I mentioned earlier - a story easily transitioned into the tag division.

The New Day attacks Rey Mysterio

IN CONCLUSION

This was arguably the best episode of RAW since the switch to Netflix. The women received ample time to shine and the men's main event scene came into focus. In the weeks ahead I'll be looking to see how WWE builds its various narratives, what gets the backstage treatment and what gets built through promos, vignettes, and matches. While last week I called for Sami Zayn to challenge for The World Championship at Elimination Chamber, after this week's episode I'm perfectly happy to enjoy Jey taking on Gunther. It has the potential to be a feel-good story and those don't come around often, especially when you need them most.

If you enjoyed this review please share it with all your pro-wrestling friends on the social media gimmicks. And subscribe to my podcast The Work Of Wrestling. New episodes every Monday.

Tim Kail's Raw Review, 2/10/25