When WWE Raw rolls into the Wells Fargo Center tonight, it’s going to help turn the page from whatever we just came out of to what Cody Rhodes has dubbed the Renaissance Era. That’s a fine name for it since professional wrestling is back and sports entertainment seems to be fading away like a bad dream once you’ve been awake for 15 minutes.
Also, now that Rhodes is the new champion, he can call it any damn thing he wants.
Last year’s Raw After WrestleMania was famously a big letdown, feeling like any other Raw in mid-June rather than a show that would chart the course for exciting new things ahead. The blame was laid squarely at the feet of Vince McMahon, who apparently did the opposite of saying “perfect, no notes” and concocted a whole new show on the fly. And not a great one.
In contrast, even with Triple H already very much putting his stamp on WWE with WrestleMania 40, you can imagine he’ll want to keep the excitement going with a compelling show tonight in Philly. We already know the first hour is commercial-free, which WWE can no doubt afford to do after the massive WrestleMania gate and the extra sponsorships it showed off compared to years past.
There have been some more hints put out about surprises and such for tonight, but we can’t tell you what they are because Adam Pearce has us blocked on X. We’re not even sure what we did, but we’re all of a sudden big Nick Aldis fans now.
(Just kidding, Scrap Daddy, we still love you even if you don’t feel the same.)
In any case, we’re looking forward to this new era kicking off, so let’s do exactly that.
WWE Raw After Mania results from Philadelphia:
(please scroll down for more details on any match or segment in bold)
- Triple H and Cody Rhodes kick off the new era, but The Rock says he’ll come for Cody eventually
- Newly crowned champs Damian Priest and Sami Zayn are shown entering the arena
- Ilja Dragunov def Shinsuke Nakamura by pinfall
- A video package shows how Drew McIntyre won, then quickly lost the World Heavyweight Championship, and McIntyre is shown heading into the arena earlier today
- The Judgment Day has more singles gold but no tag team titles … and still has an R-Truth problem
- The Awesome Truth and John Cena def. The Judgment Day by pinfall
- Bronson Reed cuts a promo before he’s part of a four-way No. 1 contenders match, and there’s an unusual test pattern in the background on a monitor …
- Rhea Ripley tells Dominik Mysterio he needs to handle Andrade betraying him but gets attacked out of nowhere by Liv Morgan
- Roxanne Perez def. Indi Hartwell by pinfall
- Sami Zayn and Jey Uso still remember their special handshake, apparently
- Natalya and Perez bump into each other backstage and say they’ll see each other on NXT
- Sami Zayn is now a champion but Imperium isn’t quite done with him
- A promo video airs for the impending return of Sheamus
- Sami Zayn and Chad Gable def. Imperium as Gable pins Vinci
- Jey Uso cuts his own promo before the main event
- The three general managers discuss putting their differences aside for the sake of the product, but they get a visit from Chelsea Green, upset about being left out of WrestleMania; she’s happy when she learns she has a match, but the laughs by the GMs suggest she may not be thrilled about her opponent
- Jade Cargill def. Chelsea Green by pinfall in a matter of seconds
- Zayn finds Gable and says he knows what Chad wants as a favor: a shot at the Intercontinental Championship; next week in Montreal, it’s on, and Gable says he can’t wait
- Drew McIntyre says “what happened last night was complete and utter BS,” noting his moment lasted only five minutes and 46 seconds; he thanks Seth Rollins but “that bondage Undertaker” screwed it all up and also says it’s on sight with CM Punk
- Jey Uso wins a Fatal Four-Way No. 1 Contenders Match, earning a World Heavyweight Championship shot after CM Punk prevents McIntyre from winning
Cody Rhodes finished one story, but The Rock makes it clear another one is just starting
Both “Triple H” and “thank you Hunter” chants greet the CCO as he takes the ring. “Here’s the thing, I came out here to thank you,” he says, noting that by every metric it was the biggest WrestleMania ever.
He had the privilege of welcoming everyone to Mania and now has the privilege of welcoming everyone to Raw. It’s time to welcome the man who will lead us into a new era, which of course is Cody Rhodes. The new Undisputed WWE Champion shakes hands with Triple H before holding his title aloft to multiple sides of the ring.
A big “you deserve it” chant greets Rhodes, after which Triple H congratulates him while also giving Roman Reigns some props for his title reign.
The CCO mentions it’s a gate record for an arena show tonight, and he also shows off a video tribute to Cody set to “Rise Up” (albeit on smaller monitors since the large Tron isn’t in the Wells Fargo Center to squeeze more people in). It brings Rhodes to tears, and he hugs Triple H, who departs afterward.
Cody kneels down and kisses his title belt before getting to his “What do you want to talk about?” catchphrase. Rhodes turns to Samantha Irvin, asking her to announce him again as the new Undisputed WWE Champion, and she happily obliges.
He tells the fans that together, they are standing on top of the mountain, and he acknowledges the 1,316-day run for Reigns, wondering if he’s the most important superstar of our generation. The fans start a “thank you Roman” chant in response.
Rhodes discusses the “why” and shows a clip of his daughter imploring him to finish the story. He says he wants her to know that when he goes to work, he does so in the main event and as champion. Cody ponders the new experience of having the line be for him, but as he gets to the undisputed bit, he’s interrupted by The Rock.
There are some boos for the Final Boss but a “Rocky” chant as well. Ah, but then the trolling arrives in the form of an “Undertaker” chant, and it’s hard for The Rock to start talking as he gets booed when he tries.
The Rock finally says he came out to give flowers but also to insult Philadelphia for breaking the record for the largest gathering of trailer park trash. Both men then take turns holding up their titles for the crowd. Oh yeah, The Rock as The People’s Championship, remember?
Ignoring the fans, The Rock congratulates Rhodes for beating Reigns and says his mom and late dad were proud of him. He talks about the two belts and then asks if there’s any way The Rock can hold “that title.”
Rhodes says yes, if they can swap. Rock says it feels right and thanks Cody for allowing him to do it. The fans start a “this is awkward” chant while they hold each other’s championships.
The Rock confirms that “he has to go away for a little while now,” which he doesn’t want to do since he and Cody made it cool again. When he comes back, though, The Rock is coming for Rhodes whether he’s champion or not.
“I’m looking forward to it,” replies Cody. The Rock reminds Rhodes that while Cody beat Roman, but the previous night, Rock beat Cody. Rhodes’ story with Reigns might be over, but their story has just begun.
Rhodes says that while The Rock is the Final Boss, he’s the champion, the champion of the fans, and that means he’s The Rock’s champion. The Rock says he has something to give Cody before he rides off into the sunset, and he insists Rhodes doesn’t even have to open his hand to know what it is.
“Don’t you ever break my heart again,” The Rock says before departing. And Rhodes suddenly looks shook.
New gold in The Judgment Day hasn’t solved their R-Truth problem
Finn Balor taunts the doubters, and Rhea Ripley says they have some business to attend to. First, though, they bring out the new World Heavyweight Champion, Damian Priest.
The celebration doesn’t last long before it’s crashed by R-Truth, who says he’s brought the tag team titles back to The Judgment Day. It sounds like he’s about to advocate for The Miz joining, but The A-Lister instead joins them in the ring to try to explain to his partner that neither of them are in the group.
Balor is unamused, vowing that the Awesome Truth is going to have the shortest title reign ever. Finn challenges them to put the titles on the line right here, right now, but R-Truth says they can’t because there are only three of us.
He’s not talking about Little Jimmy, but rather “the guy you can’t see.” JD McDonagh happily accepts, then The Judgment Day starts beating Truth down before he can reveal their partner.
“The man you can’t see” helps Awesome Truth defeat The Judgment Day
Well this is a handicap match to start, but we’ll see if it stays that way. Does R-Truth have a real live person to partner with them? They might not need one the way they’re performing early on.
The momentum for the new Rag Tag Team Champions seems to be fading during a picture-in-picture segment, but reinforcements arrive in the form of John Cena. He quickly tags in and hits some offense, and all three men pull off the “15 Knuckle Shuffle” and simultaneous Attitude Adjustments to get the win.
Sami Zayn hasn’t quite freed himself from Imperium
Yet another new champ and another “you deserve it” chant. Zayn says he really wanted to do something historic this year at WrestleMania, and he did it by defeating the best Intercontinental Champion of all time.
With the fans singing again, Sami says they all helped him with their belief. Same with his wife and kid, and his friend Kevin Owens. One other person helped him too, but before he can get to that, he’s interrupted by Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci.
Kaiser says Gunther spent two years putting all his hard work into elevating the IC title, and it breaks his heart to see “somebody like you” holding that championship right now. Imperium heads toward the ring but thinks better of it when Chad Gable joins Sami in the ring.
CM Punk screws Drew McIntyre, Jey Uso wins a title shot
A strong case could be made for any of these four gentlemen, though you’d assume either Jey to keep the face-heel dynamic intact or Drew to seek revenge for the MITB cash-in.
Oh yeah, no DQs in a match like this, so sure, table in the corner, why not? It’s unfortunate for Jey as Reed powerslams him through it.
One thing the fans enjoy is Reed and McIntyre exchanging chops in the finest big meaty men tradition. Reed ends up eating a bunch of superkicks until he’s speared by Uso, and McIntyre hustles to break up the pin.
Reed recovers quickly and nearly pins Ricochet, then McIntyre prevents him from launching into a Tsunami. Reed clears off the Spanish announce table (even though they aren’t there), but he’s the one who ends up on it, and Ricochet hits him with a springboard 450 splash to put him through it.
With McIntyre looking for a win, he’s suddenly grabbed by CM Punk, and Uso takes advantage with a spear and an Uso Splash to win it.
(@kirawontmiss) 
