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With less than two weeks to go until the Royal Rumble in Florida, it’s time for some of the top talent on WWE Raw to get their current programs finished and turn their attention to securing a spot at WrestleMania.
Cody Rhodes might have the first half of that plan finally checked off after he defeated Shinsuke Nakamura again last week, so he can finally put all his effort on winning the Royal Rumble match. Or we think that’ll be the case anyway, since WWE says he’s kicking off the show tonight.
What if we’re wrong, though? Is it possible Rhodes has one more in a seemingly ceaseless string of hurdles placed in his way? TBD.
Seth Rollins knows he can’t worry about Royal Rumble just yet, as he has a World Heavyweight Championship defense to attend to this evening. Plus it’s against the man of the hour, Jinder Mahal, not something we expected to be typing as recently as two weeks ago.
There would seem to be little chance WWE would put this title on Mahal, especially given the time of year we’re in. Things need to be cemented, not chaotic. Right?
Normally, we’d say yes. But there’s that little matter of Elimination Chamber in Australia, where WWE will need to put on a big show next month. Roman Reigns probably won’t be there, and while the Chamber matches are attractions in their own right, a world title match doesn’t seem like too much to ask for.
So we’re just putting this out there: Maybe Mahal wins tonight and Rollins has to win it back from him at Elimination Chamber. Or a certain Straight Edge Superstar could snag it there and go into WrestleMania making Seth chase him.
Or, you know, Rollins could just win tonight and speed on down the Road to WrestleMania. That’s why we watch, which we’ll be doing starting right now.
WWE Raw results from Little Rock:
(please scroll down for more details on any match or segment in bold)
- A tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. starts the show
- Are Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre more alike or different?
- Damian Priest takes R-Truth to task for selling Judgment Day merchandise in the parking lot, but Truth is making a killing off the gear, and Priest relents while also telling him not to tag in during their tag team match tonight
- #DIY def. The Judgment Day (Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh) by pinfall
- Chelsea Green and Piper Niven interrupt a conversation between Adam Pearce and Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell, which Pearce turns into a match between those two teams tonight
- Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell def. Chelsea Green and Piper Niven by pinfall
- Rhea Ripley sees a Nia Jax hype video and leaves to “address her division,” while the rest of The Judgment Day takes Priest to task about the R-Truth situation; Damian shows the money he’s been bringing in and suggests to McDonagh that he may not get a cut because “your name’s not on the shirt”
- Gunther is back and offering rare praise for Ludwig Kaiser, who gets a challenge from a vengeful Xavier Woods
- Ludwig Kaiser def. Xavier Woods by DQ after Woods uses a steel chair, though he ends up getting it kicked into his (already bloody) face afterward
- Bronson Reed says there is a champ right now who is unaware his championship will soon belong to Reed … though he doesn’t name which champ he’s talking about
- Byron Saxton tries to get a word with Woods, but Kaiser attacks him until Jey Uso puts a stop to it
- A video package shows us how we got to a Seth Rollins-Jinder Mahal world title match
- Akira Tozawa def. Ivar by pinfall, though after the bell, Valhalla assaults Maxxine Dupri after the bell and Ivar hits a moonsault on Tozawa
- CM Punk and Rhodes will be face to face next week on Raw
- Ivy Nile says she will look for Pearce to deal with Valhalla; Chad Gable says he will teach Ivar a lesson next week too
- Rhea Ripley addresses her division and ends up in a showdown with Becky Lynch
- Seth Rollins says the only way to head to WrestleMania is to continue to be a fighting champion, a workhorse champion, and he knows this is the best version of Jinder Mahal and he wouldn’t have it any other way
- Damian Priest and Finn Balor def. The Miz and R-Truth by pinfall
- Jinder Mahal says everyone is divided but his focus is singular, and everyone will be unified when he defeats Rollins to become World Heavyweight Champion
- Apparently Shinsuke Nakamura isn’t done with Cody Rhodes, which is interesting
- Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark def. Natalya and Tegan Nox by submission, with Baszler making Natalya tap out
- Seth Rollins def. Jinder Mahal by pinfall to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre bicker over who will finish their story first
Rhodes asks Little Rock what they want to talk about, giving some options. He’s about to launch into his “I’m on my way to Royal Rumble” routine when he’s interrupted by the arrival of Drew McIntyre.
The Scottish Warrior turns Cody’s question around on him before reminiscing about how they came up the first time in WWE together. McIntyre says he’s proud of Rhodes as both a man and performer and also reminds him they were tag team champs together as The Dashing Ones.
Drew mentions that both of them had to leave WWE to find themselves and “become verbs.” He believes in Rhodes now too, saying he will finish the story … but not before Drew finishes his.
Rhodes says Drew could win the Rumble, but so could Jey Uso. So could CM Punk. You can’t count anybody out.
McIntyre tells Rhodes he should just be himself and doesn’t need to smile all the time and try so hard. Cody seems irritated by that, insisting that he smiles when he comes out because he is grateful for his second chance while Drew stands and complains about his.
Undeterred, McIntyre claims Rhodes is standing in his way, and at WrestleMania, the story belongs to him. But the American Nightmare says McIntyre is still blaming everyone but himself, and if he wants to keep bringing up the last time they wrestled, he has one question: Who won?
#DIY closes in on a tag team title shot with a victory over the champs’ teammates
The framing here is that #DIY is stringing together wins to get closer to a tag team title shot, and this is a victory that would surely help considering it’s the other two Judgment Day men who hold the gold.
Tommaso Ciampa takes flight with a corkscrew plancha, and Johnny Gargano does the same to send McDonagh over the announce table. They do their sitting on the apron and clapping thing as commercials arrive.
With some timely rulebending and double teaming, Mysterio and McDonagh take charge after the break. Wade Barrett calls out Dom’s fuzzy boots, which are, in fact, incredible.
Gargano is isolated and taking a beating far from his own corner. He finally hits Dom with his slingshot spear, and he nearly dives for the tag before Ciampa gets hauled off the apron by McDonagh.
Ciampa is the legal man after a second commercial break so must have gotten himself back in position while we were away. Gargano prevents a double team and Ciampa nearly rolls up Mysterio for three.
McDonagh saves his partner from another close call seconds later. Big shots start flowing in every direction, eventually leaving all four men down. The fans approve, starting a “this is awesome” chant.
Also awesome: McDonagh’s standing Spanish fly and top rope moonsault, leaving Ciampa in need of a save from his partner. Mysterio’s attempted 619 is foiled and he gets sent to the floor by a hard knee shot.
McDonagh looks like he’s in trouble now, and he eats Meet in the Middle, leaving him helpless as Gargano covers for three.
Gunther is … happy with Ludwig Kaiser? Xavier Woods definitely is not
Ludwig Kaiser does his usual ring intro for Gunther, who is back from IRL paternity leave. Giovanni Vinci is hurt, so this is all the Imperium we get.
The Ring General says he can smell the desperation this close to Royal Rumble, which he reminds us he was close to winning last year after a record-setting time in the ring. This year, he plans on winning and main eventing WrestleMania. As one does.
But for now, he wants to focus on Kaiser, reviewing what’s been happening while Gunther was gone. The champs likes the grit, confidence and courage Kaiser showed in his attack on Kofi Kingston and gives him a hug as a sign of his happiness.
Not as happy? Xavier Woods, who is here and hot for some payback. He challenges Kaiser to a match, taunting him for needing to ask his “daddy” for permission.
Kaiser accepts and says what he did to Kingston is nothing compared to what he’ll do to Woods, who comes right after Ludwig, leaping off the apron and hammering him on the floor until a ref finally calms him down.
Mami vs. The Man? Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch tease Mania showdown
Mami makes it simple: This is her division, which is why she is the champion. As such, she says the Royal Rumble winner will be wasting a WrestleMania opportunity if they choose her. It’s just going to go the way it did last year, because Mami is always on top.
Some familiar music hits as an answer, and Bekcy Lynch joins Ripley in the ring. The Man says they are two very different people but with two very similar journeys.
Lynch says they’re the two very best to do it, but the voice in her head keeps her awake asking if perhaps Ripley is better than she is. Becky says she needs to prove that Rhea is not, and to do that means taking the title, and to do that means winning the Royal Rumble match.
Ripley says she really does want Lynch to win the Rumble and will see her at WrestleMania.
R-Truth gets some harsh truth from Damian Priest and Finn Balor
Truth is not only in The Judgment Day’s entrance video, he also walks out behind them despite being on the opposing team. He then proceeds to spill cash all over the ring before the bell. Miz is basically pleading with his partner to convince him they’re on the same team. Funny stuff.
Truth ignores Priest’s suggestion earlier in the show that he not tag in, earning him a beating from Balor as commercials arrive. Nothing has changed after the break, really. Priest tags in but is immediately outmaneuvered by Truth, who get Miz in for his first extended action.
Miz fights Balor to the floor and sends Priest over the announce table. The A-Lister is rolling, but only until Balor counters away from a Skull Crushing Finale, and Truth tags himself in for a scissor kick to Balor. Priest blasts Miz with a kick but manages to stop Truth, who ends up kicking Balor and then taking South of Heaven from Priest.
Balor crawls over and pins Truth for a chaotic win as boos rain down from the fans.
Seth Rollins overcomes chaos, retains against Jinder Mahal
Indus Sher accompanies Mahal to the ring, giving Rollins potentially one more thing to worry about. Seth has got plenty to worry about from Jinder himself in the opening minutes, though he connects on a flying knee off the apron to get a foothold in things. Damian Priest wanders out casually with his MITB case, and Rollins has a grim look on his face heading into commercials.
After we return, Mahal is treating Rollins to some pain inside the ring. Seth finally battles free of an abdominal stretch for the obligatory exchange of strikes, which the champ wins thanks to a healthy clothesline.
Rollins is tossed over the buckles, then comes flying back in with a cross body for a near fall. A second rope moonsault gives Rollins another near fall, though the announcers wonder if he tweaked a knee or ankle.
Both men want suplexes, but Rollins wins the day by pivoting to a Falcon Arrow. Seth is thinking Stomp but runs into some head kicks, though he perseveres for a Pedigree … sort of, as his knee gives out, and his cover is thwarted by Indus Sher’s timely assistance.
Rollins dives onto one of Mahal’s wingmen on the floor but misses a splash back into the ring. Priest is up on his feet as both combatants are down, but Drew McIntyre is there to throw hands with him.
While the ref is distracted by their brawl, Mahal follows a cheap shot by Indus Sher and comes darn close to stealing the world title. A chair is slid into Mahal, and dealing with that allows Indus Sher to get in a briefcase shot. Mahal hits the Khallas … but Rollins kicks out.
As Mahal tries for a second Khallas, Rollins evades it and hits a Stomp, closing the show by retaining his world title.