WWE RAW 1/29/2024: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," the show that dares to ask the question: What the hell are we going to do now? It's been a tumultuous week in WWE; in fact, between losing the newly-returned CM Punk to injury at the Royal Rumble, losing the would-reportedly-have-returned Brock Lesnar to the unflinching eye of public scrutiny before the Royal Rumble, and the monstrous allegations that have already resulted in both Lesnar's vanishing act and Vince McMahon's resignation, this is probably a top five week in the company's tumultuous rankings, possibly top two or three. And for those looking to "Raw" to right the ship ... well, it was a mixed bag.

As you might expect, there's a lot to talk about with WWE these days, and we're going to try to hit as much as we can, but as always, we don't have the space and being comprehensive isn't what this column is for, anyway. It's what our live coverage/results page is for. This column is for our opinions, and we were deep in our feels this week, as you're about to find out. Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 1/29/24 episode of "WWE Raw."

Full disclosure here: I am from the beautiful city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, also home to one former Indianapolis Colts punter, Pat McAfee. I absolutely adore that man, a fellow "Yinzer" whose terribly obnoxious accent mimics my own. I popped so hard when McAfee's "LETS GOOOOO!" and music hit to kick off the Royal Rumble on Saturday — I knew McAfee would more than likely be a surprise spot in the Rumble match itself, but the fact he was on commentary alongside Michael Cole and Corey Graves for the entire premium live event was just amazing. While I do think he should have actually competed in the match rather than eliminate himself and take up a spot that could have been meant for someone else (and we all know McAfee can go pretty darn well), the commentary was just the icing on the Rumble cake for me. When his music hit AGAIN to start off "WWE Raw" tonight, I was, once again, very happy. As he made his way down to join Cole, I figured he was probably just still in the Tampa area (even though I watched "The Pat McAfee Show" and he was in studio today, my brain just blocked that out when I heard his entrance, apparently) and was stopping by for another commentary appearance. When it was announced he'd be joining Cole moving forward on Monday nights, I was ecstatic.

I can see why some haters don't like McAfee, but we're not talking about a certain New York Jets quarterback getting a platform on McAfee's ESPN show here. He's not likely to be on "Raw" for an extended time; I'm sure he'll be back off commentary when ESPN's "College GameDay" starts back up in the fall. The brotherly love between Cole and McAfee was always enjoyable when they were together on "WWE SmackDown," and I think their relationship and chemistry on commentary is perfect for a three-hour show. It's a simple thing to love on this night's post-Rumble show, but I love this decision to put McAfee back on the desk all the same.

Written by Daisy Ruth

During the Men's Royal Rumble match, Andrade made his return after leaving WWE in 2021. He entered at number four and was eventually eliminated by Bronson Reed. If the WWE Universe was expecting more from the former "NXT" Champion Monday night, however, they were probably disappointed.

Instead of taking to the ring to address the fans or even having a match, Andrade was put in a short backstage segment, where he was seen signing a contract to join "Raw." As he was shutting the folder, "SmackDown" General Manager Nick Aldis approached, only to find out he was too late. Adam Pearce informed him that the former United States Champion would be keeping his services on the red brand.

Aldis confessed he had a "handsome offer" for Andrade — if he wanted to make a play for him, shouldn't Aldis have tried harder? He seemed only slightly disappointed that Andrade had already made a decision. Aldis took a call and said it was Bron Breakker; he seemed more interested in potentially making a deal for the current "NXT" star than the previous one. Considering Andrade felt underutilized before leaving WWE, one would think a bigger deal would've been made about his return.

Written by Samantha Schipman

Considering this was the first WWE weekly show following the Royal Rumble PLE to deal with any sort of fallout, I can understand wanting to keep Bayley's momentum from her win in the Women's Royal Rumble going on Monday's show. In theory, it was a good idea to have her (and the rest of Damage CTRL) make an appearance on "Raw", cut a simple "I told you I would win" promo, be confronted by Rhea Ripley, and possibly choose whether she wanted to face Ripley or IYO SKY (given that they were both there). This was not the case when it came to execution.

The first half of the promo wasn't really special, but there was nothing inherently wrong with it. Bayley talked about winning the Rumb;e and how Damage CTRL was taking over WWE thanks to her before Ripley came out to confront her. However, once Nia Jax attacked Ripley from behind on the ramp and warned Bayley not to choose to face her at WrestleMania — to which Bayley responded by saying she would make her choice on Friday — that's where things went downhill. It wasn't through the fault of any of the performers, but suddenly the story became about Ripley and Jax rather than Bayley and her big win.

Not only was nothing accomplished by this segment and there was no reason to even have Bayley on the show to begin with, it seems to be more glaringly obvious than ever that Bayley will ultimately end up choosing to face SKY, with her inevitable Damage CTRL exit looming.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

After CM Punk confirmed his torn tricep injury, the Punk vs. Seth Rollins match that many have anticipated for WrestleMania 40 was thrown out of the window. So as Rollins walked down that ramp in a bright blue, cropped suit that would have made Phoenix Wright jealous, many knew that this was WWE changing their plans on a whim, now that one of their biggest attractions for Philadelphia was out of commission. I was — perhaps, like many of you watching at home — initially confused, and not particularly receptive to any pitch he might have had. By the end of the segment, I might still prefer Cody Rhodes to be across from Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40, but I can absolutely acknowledge that Rollins is one of the best mouthpieces in the company.

Rollins just has a way with words that command respect, while also easing the listener in with natural pauses and stammers. Rollins is like a peacock; both are beautiful and extravagant on the outside, but they are dangerous if one mistakes their bright colors for a lack of danger (and if you don't take anything from this opinion, at least you know that peacocks are considered dangerous to humans). His method of capturing one's attention with this larger-than-life character — complete with the dance moves and the colorful outfits — before pulling them into serious grit and genuineness with his words works extremely well. He has enough flamboyance to feel grandiose in a way that captivates the attention, but when his voice gets low and he peeks up from beneath the sunglasses, there is not a doubt that he has 100% conviction in whatever he's talking about.

How you feel about this segment depends on what you value in a feud. Some people would have preferred if Rollins did not come out at all to complicate Rhodes' decision, or if he had added in a sentimental comment about how he has not yet beat Rhodes. Those concerns are understandable. I would like to acknowledge Rollins' effort in legitimizing an alternative challenge for Rhodes, and how he is such a magnetic speaker when the situation is less than ideal. While this confrontation may go nowhere, and will probably be forgotten once Rhodes finishes his story, Rollins gave this small segment his all anyway, and that should be celebrated.

Written by Angeline Phu

I fully expected and hoped for Cody Rhodes to come out Monday night on "Raw" and take his victory lap. After all, he's only the fourth man in history to win back-to-back Royal Rumble matches, and the only one in recent memory. Rhodes is also my current favorite wrestler and I actually did not expect him to win on Saturday over CM Punk, so when he did, I immediately became excited to see what he had to say on Monday's episode. It's been a year in the making — I just HAD to know how Rhodes was feeling and hear all the emotions that had to be running through his mind, and he is SUCH a good promo when he's legitimately emotional. Rhodes came out to an epically loud "WHOA!" (which I even participated in from my couch, I was so excited for him), got Samantha Irving to announce him all over again, and said the last 24 hours had been challenging for him. And that's about all he got out before he was interrupted by World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins.

While I love Rollins, this segment was just long, drawn out, and downright confusing. Everyone knows Rhodes has to "finish the story" against Roman Reigns. There's no other reason to have him win back-to-back Rumbles. Rollins came out to challenge Rhodes, saying even though they've had a longstanding rivalry and often have not liked each other, he believes they respect each other now, and doesn't Rhodes want to challenge HIM for the "Dusty title?" The blue-collar championship? Rollins really undermined Roman Reigns' historic title reign here, which was also confusing to me. It undermined the entire "finish the story" narrative that is now ingrained in wrestling vernacular for the rest of time.

The whole challenge reminded me that the World Heavyweight Championship was, in my eyes, set up to be a conciliation prize, just so there's a title on "Raw" and a champion that actually shows up for work. Rollins just kept talking during this segment, and that really bothered me. Rhodes just did something historic, he has the fans behind him like no other, and you're not going to let him get a full-blown, emotional promo out in front of some of the same fans that saw him win at the Rumble? I thought it was so lame, and I usually don't think that about Rollins, so it was rather jarring.

Rhodes really undersold the entire thing as well, just telling Rollins he'd "think about it" before dropping the mic and headed out of the ring. If I was Rhodes, I'd be extremely annoyed at how this was booked. But as just a fan and a wrestling writer from her couch, I was annoyed at the fact Rhodes didn't get a full victory lap. I'm even more annoyed at how much time this segment took on the show when it's 100%, no doubt inevitable that Rhodes is challenging Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 40. He is going to finish the damn story, and while their feud was incredible, Rhodes has already finished up with Rollins, having beaten him three times, even battered and bruised in a Hell In A Cell match. That chapter is closed, Seth, it's time to get over it and start building up your competitors who are going to be in the Elimination Chamber.

Written by Daisy Ruth

CM Punk tore his tricep at Royal Rumble and is out for WrestleMania. Brock Lesnar, who was reportedly supposed to return at Royal Rumble, did not do that — almost certainly as a result of being named by the Wall Street Journal as the wrestler to whom, according to Grant's lawsuit, McMahon attempted to traffick her as part of their contract negotiations. With that lawsuit looking unlikely to simply blow over any time soon, Lesnar is presumably also out for Mania as Ari Emanuel and TKO attempt to do damage control. And while World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, who had clearly been planned as Punk's opponent, is still insisting he's going to wrestle at WrestleMania despite tearing his left MCL and meniscus, it's unclear if that will actually happen, or how well Rollins will be able to perform if it does.

Dominos this big don't fall very often this close to "The Grandaddy of Them All" — let alone three of them — and they generally provide opportunities when they do. Hell, the last time Punk was suddenly off WWE TV immediately following the Rumble, they f***ed around and made Bryan Danielson world champion. Who's to say what could happen this time?

Judging by Monday's show, I don't think WWE has a clear idea yet of how they're going to pivot. "Raw" this week felt like a juggling act right after the juggler has stumbled, and suddenly being graceful or elegant doesn't matter anymore — all that matters is keeping the balls in the air, just keeping them up there no matter what, until the juggler's feet are under them again. Between Punk's injury on the one hand and the horrific Janel Grant allegations forcing Vince McMahon's resignation on the other, it's safe to say WWE has stumbled this week, but they at least managed to keep all the balls in the air Monday night, a necessarily step as they frantically try to regain their footing.

First off, we had Finn Balor and Damian Priest defend their tag team titles against DIY, a truly excellent match that went unbroken during "Raw's" first commercial-free hour. Priest is WWE's wild card — if somebody decides Rollins is out for Mania, Priest can always cash in his Money in the Bank contract and ensure that the World Heavyweight Champion will wrestle on the biggest show of the year. Until then, he's racking up tag wins with Balor and advancing Judgment Day's strangely compelling storyline with R-Truth while still showing hints of a sympathetic side that will come out in full when the group inevitably turns on him.

Rollins interrupting Cody Rhodes' promo was likely a stall tactic as well. Even if they do have good ol' Dwayne waiting in the wings, it would be a huge mistake at this point to pivot Cody toward Rollins and away from Roman Reigns, and I don't expect that to happen. But if Rollins does make it to Mania, you'd assume he's also dropping the title there. In that case, perhaps the man to be discussing is GUNTHER, who a recent Sports Illustrated story reported would squash Rollins at Mania and thus win world title gold just in time for the upcoming PLE in Germany. Of course, that story's author has since walked it back, and GUNTHER was still involved with The New Day this week, delivering a phenomenal Intercontinental title match with Kofi Kingston. He was a rumored opponent for Lesnar, making his WrestleMania match another fascinating pivot point.

Finally, we have Drew McIntyre and Sami Zayn, who seem to be on a WrestleMania collision course. McIntyre beat Zayn this week in a fantastic main event match that recycled the finish from Zayn vs. Tyler Breeze at the very first "NXT" Takeover — both Sami's loss (he is now a staggering 0-9 against McIntyre in broadcast singles action) and the manner of it suggest their feud isn't over. But if McIntyre — who was the man who took out Punk, both on TV and (accidentally) in real life — were to get his hands on Rollins' title before Mania, he would have a built-in Mania title defense in the form of Zayn. Alternately, if WWE wants to wrap that feud up early, they could send Zayn and McIntyre in different directions to help bolster the card in two different areas.

Injuries like Punk's and Rollins' are terrible, and Lesnar's situation is far worse, but if there's a silver lining here, it's that the "Raw" side of the Mania card has been thrown into total chaos, leaving me, at least, completely uncertain about what it will look like. It's an exciting prospect, and while I thought WWE did a decent job while clearly playing for time, it's going to be even more exciting when we start finding out how things will change.

Written by Miles Schneiderman