Netflix presents Raw on Netflix brought to you by our wonderful friends at Netflix
WWE Raw officially debuted around the world on Netflix this January 6th, 2025. If you did not know that Raw was now on Netflix, don’t worry, they made sure to remind you every 30 seconds that Raw was now on Netflix and what a big deal it is. Don’t get me wrong, this was a very fun episode of Raw with some great matches and moments, but the focus was on highlighting the spectacle and celebrity of this monumental moment in wrestling history.
Because that is what this night was: historic. WWE is now reaching more eyeballs than ever before, and combined with how hot the company has been for the last few years, we may be on the verge of a new wrestling boom. Lapsed fans may feel compelled to tune back in now that it’s easier to watch. Those who are curious now have a great entry point to this new era of wrestling to get familiar with.
The Production
And let’s be clear, this is a new era. That was apparent off-rip with all the production upgrades made with that Netflix money. The graphics, set design, announcer’s table, camera quality and angles, it all helped to make an already big night feel that much bigger and more distinct. The only change I wasn’t super psyched about was the ring mat, complete with 9 decals for 6 sponsors including a massive “Fortnite” logo dead center of the ring. While I would rather my ring not look like the stickers found on a 7th grader’s Chromebook, this is ultimately a superfluous change that will fade into the background as we acclimate to it.
Triple H, Rock, and John Cena
As this was a 3-hour show with only 4 matches on it, there was a lot of time dedicated to promos and segments. Triple H opened the show (because of course he did, how else would you know it was a new era) after a genuinely moving video package opened the show, giving a quick rundown of WWE history. He thanked Netflix and welcomed the fans to a new era of WWE.
After, The Rock came out to a MEGA pop before thanking Netflix and welcoming fans to a new era of WWE. I should clarify that this was definitely Dwayne Johnson talking and not The Rock. No storylines were set up, no matches teased, and if anything, Dwayne turned face, joking with Cody about Mama Rhodes and acknowledging Roman as the true Tribal Chief. Later in the show he also announced via Instagram Live, which also showed him drinking tequila straight from the bottle before hopping behind the wheel of his truck (don’t try this at home), that he will be on NXT’s New Year’s Evil show Tuesday…. alright then.
The last big name to cut a promo was John Cena, who thanked Netflix and welcomed fans to a new er- you see what I mean about them not letting you forget? However, this promo did turn around in a hurry, as the point of this was to tease Cena’s elusive 17th World Title. He reminded us that it’s been 2,446 days (and counting) since his last singles win, and he doesn’t know if a World Title is in the cards. But in typical “Never Give Up” fashion, Cena got riled up and said he is going to give everything he’s got to winning that title, whether it’s through the Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, or whatever else it takes.
I am genuinely thrilled for Cena’s Retirement Tour, mostly because there’s so much to do surrounding this 17th Title story. You only get to see the GOAT retire once, and after this promo I feel that there’s a lot of potential for this Retirement Tour to not only give us those “One More Round” dream matches, but to also tell a great year-long story.
Roman vs Solo
Somewhat surprisingly, this was the opening match of the night. I would have bet anything that this would have main evented with some big twist to end the show, but it turns out this was much more straightforward than anticipated and was better for it. This was a very fun match that followed the typical Bloodline Rules format; Solo got on top early, worked over Roman, threw some stairs at him, Roman came back, put Solo through a table, and then we start the finish spamming/near-fall section of the match.
Fatu and Tama Tonga ran interference, followed Jimmy and Sami running down to even the odds for the OTC. Those 4 brawled to the back, and just when you think the interference section is done, KEVIN OWENS barrels in from out of nowhere to hit a stunner on Roman for another near-fall. This was a genuine shock and a beautiful way of keeping the Kevin/Cody (who brawled out the building with KO) plate spinning and continuing to show just how much KO hates Roman.
After all that, Roman hit one last Spear to pin Solo and finally regain the Ula Fala and his undisputed claim to the Head of the Table. The Rock came down after the match, but instead of paying off the Bad Blood moment or setting up any threads for future stories, he takes the Ula Fala from Paul Heyman to place it upon Roman himself. This combined with the Mama Rhodes joke from earlier apparently means The Rock is no longer the Final Boss character that set the world on fire in the lead-up to Wrestlemania 40, and any match with Roman or Cody seems increasingly unlikely.
There was a brief tease later of Heyman and Roman talking about having a platform to speak on January 27th before a closing door revealed the WWE 2k25 logo. So it looks like Roman is your cover star for the next WWE game to release in a few months. Cool.
Rhea Ripley vs Liv Morgan
The months-long rivalry between Rhea and Liv (nearly a year if you start counting at Liv’s Rumble return last year) finally came to an end as Ripley dethroned Morgan in another fun match. Ripley is an undeniable mega-star, getting the loudest pop of the night and looking like a million bucks. But don’t get it twisted, Liv more than carried her weight despite many feeling underwhelmed by her title reign.
Both women are incredible sellers, as Liv has some of the best facial expressions on the roster and Rhea may sell a tornado DDT better than anyone in history. While this wasn’t some masterclass in work rate or psychology, it was a very fun match and a nice end to this story, capped off with Rhea FINALLY hitting the Riptide on Dom.
Oh yea, also Undertaker came out to ride around on his motorcycle before posing with Rhea on the ramp…. ok then.
Jey Uso vs Drew McIntyre
Another match that has been built for a while, Drew and Jey had another fun match where Drew continued his great character. After Jey danced his way through the crowd with an actively vaping Travis Scott, Drew started whopping Jey’s ass. Don’t get me wrong, Jey is still a top guy and got his licks in, but this match was dominated by Drew. McIntyre threw Jey around the ring, chopped his chest raw, and had him beat with a Claymore.
But that wasn’t enough for Drew, as he lined up for a second Claymore until Jey collapsed from exhaustion. Again, Drew could have pinned him here, but his arrogance and bloodlust wouldn’t let him, and still went for one more Claymore. Jey brilliantly dropped down again and rolled Drew up with a Crucifix pin for the win.
Very excited to see where both these men go, as Jey is still crazy over and Drew is still the best character in WWE, but there’s no clear path to ‘Mania for either as of now, so we’ll see where they go from here.
Hogan Gets Booed Out of the Building
By far the funniest and most cathartic moment of the night was when Hulk Hogan came out to promote some beer and *checks notes* thank Netflix and welcome fans to a new era. Now, Hulk Hogan’s transgressions against decency and mankind are well documented (just Google, I don’t want to go over them here) but still got cheered when he popped up in the past because he is a genuine legend. However, there were few cheers today as the second Hogan started talking the sold-out crowd booed this man relentlessly. It just felt nice to see a not-good person get the reaction he deserved. It gets even better once you realise (a) you can see Hulk get flustered towards the end of the promo and (b) WWE is unable to acknowledge the boos because Hogan was there as a sponsor, not a wrestler, and will pretend it was successful brand integration.
Seth Rollins vs CM Punk
Match of the Night. Easily. This was the hottest match not just of the night, but one of the most start-studded, anticipated matches in WWE in a while. Seth is a top-tier worker with a great instinct for ring psychology and Punk is a great worker and one of the best in-ring psychologist of all time. Put them together in a story filled with hatred, jealousy, and self-righteousness, and you get magic. This match was full of great high-spots. Rollins hit multiple GTS’s, Punk hit a Stomp, Rollins hit a stomp, went for the Falcon’s Arrow off the top rope, but Punk countered halfway through to hit back-to-back GTS’s to win the great match.
I hope we get more matches between these two because this lived up to every expectation going into it. There is still a lot you can do with these two in the Rumble and potentially all the way to Wrestlemania. It will also be interesting to see how this impacts the Rollins/McIntyre story that was set up a few weeks ago and if they tie in with Kevin Owens as a trio of stars protecting WWE from those they see as a threat to the integrity of the company.
Final Thoughts
Overall I enjoyed this episode of Raw. Yes, there was a lot of pandering to the suits of Netflix and TKO. Yes, there was a lot of focus on “look at all the celebrities here.” Yes, there weren’t a lot of stories set up for upcoming shows. And yes, there are plenty of other awkward or weird moments that may have made the show feel underwhelming compared to what expectations were.
However, these are all things that I feel will be irrelevant in a few weeks. The main takeaways, to me, should be
- Rhea Ripley is your new Women’s Champion.
- Seth vs Punk delivered and still has legs
- Cena is in the Rumble and should be the favorite to win
- WWE is now on Netflix, and that is a big deal
For all the jokes I made, this is a new era with exciting opportunities for new fans and grand stories to be told. Even if the big debut show wasn’t the all-time episode we may have thought, it’s still a great start to what will be a wonderful year of wrestling.
Have a nice day,
Tim