WWE Raw live results: CM Punk & Cody Rhodes face-to-face
Date: January 22, 2024
Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA
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Show Recap —
Tonight is episode number 1600 of Monday Night Raw.
CM Punk (wearing a Patrick Roy t-shirt) was shown arriving at the arena at 4:22 pm local time and Cody Rhodes (wearing a grey suit) was shown arriving 9 minutes later.
Seth Rollins segment
Seth Rollins (wearing a bright lime green suit and black dress shirt) limped down the aisle wearing a knee brace over his left leg. He received a big ovation. Rollins began tearing up as the crowd chanted, “Thank you, Seth.” Rollins said it’s been a long week, so he appreciated the reaction.
Rollins spoke about beating Jinder Mahal last week, but he felt his knee go in a direction it wasn’t supposed to after hitting a springboard moonsault. He realized upon going to the back that he might be out for a long time. He mentioned in the past that he only gets stronger after every successful title defence, but after sitting there not able to bend his knee, he felt like a liar.
Last week, Rollins felt like he might have to miss WrestleMania. The crowd chanted, “No.” Rollins said he had a grade 2 tear of his MCL and a partially torn meniscus and the doctors told him he’d be out 3 to 4 months with surgery.
If it were up to him, he’d still come out next week and stomp people’s heads in. But it wasn’t just up to him. We didn’t know what the future held and he was going to take it day by day, week by week.
Gunther and Imperium interrupted. Rollins figured they were there to take him out so he told them to not waste his time and to get it over with.
Gunther told him not to worry about Imperium and instead concentrate on him. Gunther said he and Rollins have been avoiding each other for a while now but Gunther wanted to tell Rollins what he thought of him.
Gunther told him not to be on edge. He said Rollins was placed in a tough spot being labelled a fighting champion from the get-go. Rollins had to bring honour and dignity to the championship. Rollins was a champion everyone could be proud of — “just like me.” Gunther admitted it pulled on his heartstrings to see Rollins like this and he was sad to find out he may not make it to Mania.
Rollins said Gunther should have let him finish speaking. Rollins fired up and said he didn’t give a damn what the doctors told him or how hard he’d have to rehab, he will take the title into WrestleMania and walk out as World Heavyweight Champion. The crowd cheered.
Gunther was happy to hear it. He admired and respected Rollins because he would do the same thing. Gunther said he would win the Royal Rumble and face Rollins at Mania. He would target Rollins’ knee, his back and any part of him that wasn’t 100% to become champion.
Rollins warned Gunther to remember who he was coming after. Gunther told him to remember who was coming after him. They shook hands.
New Day jumped Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser at ringside (as Rollins carefully left the ring) to set up their match up next.
(Gunther said the Rumble was on Sunday so they instantly flashed a graphic letting you know it’s actually on Saturday. When they finished speaking, Michael Cole repeatedly said that the Rumble was this Saturday.)
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Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods vs. Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci ended in a double count-out (8:49+)
This started during a break and the match itself went through another break before it ended in a double count-out.
Kingston made a hot tag and wiped out each opponent with suicide dives. Imperium teamed up on him moments later until Woods made the save. They kept brawling outside until both teams were counted out.
— The brawl continued and they fought in the crowd. There were multiple times when Imperium was about to take out a member of New Day before the other member made the save. This led to Woods and Kingston spearing Kaiser and Vinci off some equipment boxes through tables.
(The crowd was into Kingston’s hot tag and very into the post-match brawl. Tables were involved so they were forgiving of the count-out.)
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They aired the WWE 2K24 commercial.
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There was a video package hyping tonight’s match between Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre.
Judgment Day backstage segment
Rhea Ripley accused Priest of trying to pick fights with everyone. She informed him that he and Finn Bálor would have to defend the tag titles next week against DIY. Priest was just hearing of this now and said he had no intention of picking fights with everyone. Priest said he would handle McIntyre tonight.
Priest accused her of having a big head because she’s on the cover of the video game. He also suggested she stop going into Adam Pearce’s office and getting matches made for Judgment Day. Priest left.
Ripley told JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio that they should’ve taken care of DIY a long time ago. Bálor seemed amused by all of this but Ripley didn’t appreciate that. Ripley said Priest would take on McIntyre alone, while Bálor would accompany Dom for his match. She said it’s been too long since she’s seen his vicious side. Bálor said if she wanted viscous, she’d get it.
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Ivy Nile (with Maxxine Dupri) did a quick interview with Jackie Redmond ahead of her match. The Creed Brothers showed up for support but she said she had it covered and went to the ring with Dupri.
Nita Strauss was shown watching in the front row.
Ivy Nile (w/Maxxine Dupri) vs. Valhalla (2:47)
Valhalla hit a pop-up headbutt and put her feet on the rope for the cover. She did it too quickly so the referee saw it immediately — before the planned spot of Dupri catching her first.
Nile bounced Valhalla’s head off the post and hit a top rope bulldog (called “The Pitbull”) for the pinfall win.
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Jey Uso embraced New Day backstage. Redmond approached them for an interview. Woods said they were the best tag team going and have been for a decade. Kingston said people knew about New Day’s fun and games but what you saw tonight was what happened when you pushed them too far. Kington said Jey Uso wasn’t the only one going for championships. He challenged Gunther to an Intercontinental title match next week.
As they left, Jey looked into the camera and said “Yeet” to the delight of the crowd.
[SECOND HOUR]
Nia Jax/Becky Lynch/Bayley segment
Nia Jax entered. She said she squashed both Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch the first time she encountered them. She mocked their promo encounter last week. She wasn’t surprised they wanted to face each other because they didn’t want to face her. She planned on ruining their dreams by winning the Rumble herself.
Lynch interrupted. She congratulated Jax on beating her and giving her something else to talk about for the next five years.
Lynch knew she had a target on her back in the Rumble but Jax had the largest target on her back. It wasn’t because Jax was bigger, it was because nobody liked her. Jax threw her weight around and probably injured half the locker room. Lynch said she wasn’t sure what she would enjoy more: winning the Rumble for the second time or watching Jax lose.
Bayley interrupted. She said she would win the Rumble and attacked Lynch. Jax went after Bayley, then Lynch went after Jax. Bayley tried getting involved so Lynch dropped her with a Man-handle Slam. Jax chucked Lynch over the top rope and gave Bayley a leg drop.
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There was a Royal Rumble numbers video.
Lynch bumped into Ripley backstage. I had to rewind it to hear what Ripely said as she spoke quietly and was drowned out by the crowd. It seemed like she advised Lynch to make alternate plans for WrestleMania.
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Dominik Mysterio (w/Finn Bálor & JD McDonagh) defeated The Miz (9:27)
Bálor gave Miz a cheap shot and Dom took control after hitting a suicide dive and slingshot senton. Miz fought back after a break and dropkicked Bálor into the announce table. He also wiped out McDonagh before hitting Dom with a springboard crossbody for two.
(An excited Cole wondered when was the last time we saw Miz do a springboard move as if it’s been years, but he’s used it several times over the past few months.)
Miz avoided a 619 but a ref distraction by McDonagh allowed Bálor to kick Miz in the head. Dom followed with a 619 and frog splash for the pinfall win.
— Bálor attacked Miz post-match but he was saved by DIY. Dom saved McDonagh from eating a Skull Crushing Finale.
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Redmond interviewed Priest. Priest congratulated Dom on his win which he was fully expecting. R-Truth showed up with more cash from their counterfeit t-shirt sales. Priest was amused but told Truth now was not the time. Truth kindly agreed to leave and take care of this later.
Priest moved on to McIntyre. He said McIntyre was the man when everyone was struggling. But when everyone got back to 100, he couldn’t beat Roman Reigns, Gunther or Seth Rollins. Now out of jealousy, he was trying to prevent Priest from cashing in. Priest would give McIntyre his punishment tonight.
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Bronson Reed warned Jey Uso that nothing would stand in his way of becoming a champion. Reed challenged Jey to a match next week.
Ivar defeated Chad Gable (11:01)
This was really great until the finish.
Ivar suplexed Gable out of the ring and hit a splash off the apron. Immediately after a break, Gable hit an exploder suplex off the top rope, which was insane. Ivar responded later with a sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall.
Gable applied an ankle lock but Ivar rolled over and kicked him off. Ivar followed with a diving leg drop off the middle rope. Ivar tried a spin kick but Gable countered into an ankle lock but Ivar got a rope break. Ivar came right back with a sit-out spinebuster for two.
Ivar went for the moonsault but Gable rolled out of the way and hit a bridging German suplex into a cover for a nearfall. (The crowd thought that was it.)
There was another insane spot where Ivar set up Gable for a superplex but Gable slipped behind and hit a German suplex off the middle rope.
Gable went up for a moonsault but Valhalla suddenly appeared and screamed in his face. This was distraction enough for Ivar to slam Gable and hit a moonsault.
This would have been a great moment for Gable if he got the win.
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Cody Rhodes and CM Punk face-to-face
(This started before the top of the hour, perhaps because they knew it would go long.)
Rhodes entered and received his customary reaction, but before he could speak, CM Punk’s music hit. Punk received a very big reaction.
Rhodes and Punk shook hands.
[THIRD HOUR]
Chants for Punk were followed by chants for Cody. Punk thought they should take time to enjoy this moment. They’ve both taken very different paths to get here and still hoped they were friends on Sunday morning.
Rhodes asked Punk what he wanted to talk about. Punk wanted to talk about Cody’s dad.
In 2007, Dusty called Punk and told him he was sending his youngest son Cody to OVW to start his journey as a professional wrestler and Dusty wanted Punk to keep an eye on him. Punk didn’t know if he was the right guy for the job but when the American Dream asked you for a favour, you said yes.
Punk said it wasn’t a hard job. Rhodes stayed out of his own way and didn’t fall into the same vices many others had. Rhodes went from being an opening match wrestler to a main event caliber one. It may sound condescending coming from him, but he was proud of Cody.
However, at the Rumble, it might feel like Punk is breaking that promise. He wouldn’t be looking out for Rhodes, he would be looking for Rhodes. He would throw Rhodes out of the ring and go on to main event WrestleMania.
Rhodes said Punk wasn’t alone in this feeling. This feeling that when people saw him, they saw Dusty Rhodes. Cody said it was a very large shadow but he wanted to be the light in that shadow. He wanted to subvert expectations and be his own man.
Rhodes showed up to OVW as a complete nepotism hire with no experience. Punk wrestled on the Indies for ten years and could’ve treated him poorly but he didn’t. Punk treated him like a peer and they became friends. That’s what made this bittersweet because there were no friends in the Rumble.
Punk responded, “What about Sunday morning, Cody?” Punk knew there were no friends in the Rumble. He’s been in more of them than Cody. “I can separate business from personal. Can you?” Punk said Rhodes grew up in his business. Personal to him was this business.
Punk’s dad wasn’t famous, while Cody started his career standing on third base. But Punk knew that would be a burden for Cody to overcome — and he has done that with flying colours.
Punk’s dad was just a regular, blue-collar guy. An electrician. Which was ironic. Punk said: “I’m more of an American Dream than you are.”
Rhodes wanted to talk about the pipe bomb. Rhodes said Punk rattled off the formula of a revolution. Many entered the business because of that promo. Rhodes himself was inspired by it. But then Punk left. Punk didn’t pass the torch, he dropped it on the way out.
Rhodes said he picked up that torch. “Everything you spoke about, I literally did. Where you talked, I walked.” Rhodes continued, “That makes me more CM Punk than you.” Punk smirked and removed his hoodie.
Punk said Rhodes has carried his company on his back for a soul-crushing two years. He was so close to the finish line again but there in his way was a superstar who hasn’t been around in a long time to take it away. Punk made it clear he was talking about himself. (Not the Rock, for example.)
Rhodes said he only had one direction to go through and that was forward. And that was through CM Punk at the Rumble.
As Rhodes left, he bumped shoulders with Punk so Punk grabbed him and they went face-to-face.
(They eventually backed off and left. Punk told Wade Barrett he would win the Rumble.)
This was really good.
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There was a video with Hulk Hogan discussing the success of WrestleMania and Hulkamania. There was another Hogan video after a break plugging some new merch.
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Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark defeated Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell (6:38)
This went through an early break. Stark knocked Hartwell out of the ring and made a blind tag. LeRae reversed Baszler’s Kirifuda Clutch into a cradle but didn’t realize a tag had been made, so Stark hit her with Z-360 for the pinfall win.
— Stark and Baszler faced off with the champs Kayden Carter and Katana Chance after the match. Stark and Baszler could see what was coming so they started backing off as Kairi Sane, Asuka and Dakota Kai attacked Carter and Chance from behind.
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Redmond interviewed McIntyre. She asked about Punk and Cody. He didn’t really care about what they said. He moved on to Priest. He reminded Priest that he beat Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, and AJ Styles when he was champion. That was the most proud he’s been in his career because they were the one constant in people’s lives.
McIntyre was tired of everyone saying they had a destiny or a story. Everyone was saying the same thing, but there could only be one chosen one.
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Natalya (and Tegan Nox) confronted Bayley and friends in the back. They screamed at each other until Adam Pearce broke it up and told them to save it for the Rumble.
Pearce admonished Bayley for going into business for herself. Kai told him to talk to Nick Aldis if he had a problem. Pearce said he would if he could pry Aldis away from staring at himself in the mirror. Bayley said Asuka and Sane would win the tag titles and she would win the Rumble, so Pearce would be seeing a lot more of them soon.
After they left, Pearce was approached by Jinder Mahal and Indus Sher. Mahal called himself the most talked-about superstar in 2024 and was responsible for injuring Rollins. Mahal wanted a word with Pearce.
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There was a second Royal Rumble numbers video that was different from the one that aired earlier. I didn’t pay enough attention to the first one to tell you why there needed to be a second one.
The announcers ran down the Rumble card.
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Next week on Raw:
- Finn Bálor & Damian Priest vs. Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa – Tag Team title match
- Gunther vs. Kofi Kingston – Intercontinental title match
- Jey Uso vs. Bronson Reed
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Drew McIntyre defeated Damian Priest (13:04)
Priest was the aggressor early on but he tried leaping off the steel steps and McIntyre caught him with a suplex. McIntyre tried another suplex outside the ring but Priest shoved him into the ring post and hit a falcon arrow onto the announce desk. Priest remained on offence after a break until they dropped each other with boots.
McIntyre fired back with clotheslines, an overhead suplex, and a neckbreaker. Priest avoided a Claymore Kick but McIntyre followed with a spinebuster for two. Priest hit a flatliner for two. They traded counters until Priest hit a falcon arrow for two. McIntyre went outside while selling his ribs and Priest dropped him with a flip dive.
Truth showed up and wanted to give Priest his cut of the money. Priest shoved him down and the crowd booed. The distraction allowed McIntyre to hit a Future Shock DDT.
Truth tried putting the cash in the MITB briefcase but he didn’t know the lock combination so he leaped on the apron to ask Priest for the “password.”
McIntyre was setting up for Claymore at this moment so he decked Truth and the cash went flying. As the ref tried handling Truth, Priest hit McIntyre with a South of Heaven chokeslam. Priest had it won but the ref was nowhere to be found.
Priest chucked Truth from the ring but that distraction allowed McIntyre to hit a Claymore Kick for the pinfall win.
(The Truth stuff is beyond silly and I certainly didn’t want or expect it to lead to the finish of the main event.)