WWE Raw Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from January 30
Welcome to Bleacher Report's coverage and recap of WWE Raw on January 30.
Saturday's Royal Rumble was one of the most predictable pay-per-views in recent memory, but that doesn't mean people were upset with the results. In fact, both Rumble winners were fan-favorite picks leading into the show.
Rhea Ripley won the women's Rumble and Cody Rhodes claimed victory in the men's match. Both Superstars will now have a title shot waiting for them at WrestleMania 39.
We also saw The Bloodline begin to crack as Sami Zayn was seemingly ousted from the group following his attack on Roman Reigns. Jey Uso's status remains uncertain after he walked away from his family.
We also saw Bianca Belair retain the Raw women's title, and Bray Wyatt defeated LA Knight in the Mountain Dew Pitch Black match.
Let's take a look at how Raw addressed all of this and kept us going on the Road to WrestleMania.
- Rhodes didn't really need to get involved in that fight, so it was kind of funny when he just decided to jump on out of nowhere.
- The crowd loves Rollins everywhere WWE goes. He needs to be back in the hunt for a title soon. He's too hot to let him cool off in non-title feuds for too long.
- Gable's senton from the apron was great.
- Countering the enziguiri with an ankle lock was a fantastic counter spot.
The post-Rumble Raw opened with a video recapping the events of the PPV before Rhodes came out to a big pop and fans chanting his name and "You deserve it."
The American Nightmare talked about the journey he has taken through his entire career, including leaving WWE. He said all of the ups and downs have been worth it.
After he finished up, Judgment Day's music hit. Damian Priest, Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio came out to taunt him.
The promo from Rhodes was great, but the stuff with Judgment Day that came after it kind of killed the momentum until Edge came out and attacked everyone on the stage. Rhodes joined the fight and took down Balor as the show went to a break.
Grade: B
The first match of the night was an Elimination Chamber qualifying bout between Seth Rollins and Chad Gable. As usual, Otis was at ringside to support his Alpha Academy teammate.
Both of these men have an excess of technical ability, so we all knew this would be a fun encounter as soon as they hit the ring.
They did a little bit of everything in this bout. We saw grounded submissions, high-flying moves, lots of strikes, and a few slams and suplexes. This was like a sampler pack of a wrestling match.
Gable got in more offense than expected and had counters for all of Rollins' biggest moves until he found himself being spiked with a Pedigree to give Rollins the win.
This was an outstanding match that left a lot of room to grow if they ever face each other again.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Grade: A-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Why do so many people have lime green as part of their gear recently?
- LeRae made good contact with her baseball slide dropkick, but Sky made more contact with her suicide dive a moment later.
- There was one near-fall that looked a little questionable. Sky may not have kicked out in time.
Mia Yim accompanied Candice LeRae to the ring for her match against Damage CTRL's Iyo Sky to help even the odds against Bayley and Dakota Kai at ringside.
These two know each other very well after having had several matches over the past few years, so they wasted no time trying to feel each other out.
They had some slow moments, but for the most part, this was an energetic match that showed off the skills of both competitors.
There was some shenanigans outside the ring with Bayley that led to Sky scoring the win. The finish was a bit contrived, but it's nice to see Sky get the win because it feels like Damage CTRL loses too often.
Winner: Iyo Sky
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Corbin's character might be annoying but his entrance music is kind of catchy.
- The change WWE made to Gargano's music is a crime.
- Corbin's chokeslam backbreaker is a great move.
Rhea Ripley delivered a promo that saw her choose Charlotte as her opponent for the WrestleMania title shot she earned by winning the women's Rumble.
The next match was another qualifier for the Elimination Chamber with Johnny Gargano taking on Baron Corbin. JBL and Dexter Lumis were both at ringside for this one.
Both men played to their strengths, so Corbin focused on power moves while Johnny Wrestling tried to use his speed and agility to stay out of his reach.
Once the former King of the Ring had the upper hand, he kept it for several minutes by keeping Gargano grounded as much as possible. It took a slingshot spear out of nowhere for the former NXT champion to begin his comeback.
Gargano was able to pull off the victory by countering The End of Days into an inside cradle. He had a little help from Lumis taking care of JBL at ringside, but this was mostly a clean match.
Winner: Johnny Gargano
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- The way Theory avoided the Spear while pulling MPV in front of him looked good.
- The Miz is one of those guys who is going to be appreciated a lot more after he retires.
- The air drums looks so much dumber than the air guitar.
MVP was in the ring for the first edition of The VIP Lounge of 2023. He gave his usual intro before bringing out Austin Theory as his guest. The crowd booed him quite loudly as he tried to speak.
This was kind of an awkward exchange, but both men were able to get a few good lines in there. Bobby Lashley eventually showed up, but Theory was able to avoid the Spear while pulling MVP into its path. The champ was still running his mouth as he walked away.
This segment accomplished the goal of keeping Theory and Lashley's feud going, but that's about it.
Grade: C
The next match saw The Miz take on a man who is returning from a months-long hiatus due to an injury, Rick Boogs. The Miz complained about being in a suit and not being prepared to wrestle, but Adam Pearce made him work anyway.
Boogs was doing a lot of air guitar and air drums during his entrance and the match, but he was still able to easily overpower The A-Lister.
He powered Miz up for a military press into a big slam for the win. This was barely a match, but it wasn't supposed to be anything more than a quick re-introduction for Boogs, so on that level, it worked fine.
Winner: Rick Boogs
Grade: C-
Notable Moments and Observations
- So was Kai just laid out in the backstage area just behind the entrance the whole time? It seems like she could have gotten up and left at some point. The promos were good, but this part of the segment didn't make a lot of sense. Somebody from the Gorilla position would have helped.
- We need WWE to make this tag team with Ziggler and Mustafa Ali a reality.
Bayley was out for a promo to talk about how she and Damage CTRL took out Becky Lynch last week and during the women's Rumble match. The Man came out to confront her about being a coward.
Lynch wanted to have the cage match next week and when Bayley said no, The Man brought out Dakota Kai with a chair wrapped around her ankle. She threatened to hit her with the chair until Bayley agreed to the match. Lynch told her to go check on Sky to end the segment.
The next match was the third Elimination Chamber qualifier. This time it was Dolph Ziggler and Bronson Reed fighting for a spot.
Ziggler was the veteran in this match, so he was able to combat Reed's size at times, but he could only avoid the big man for so long. After a short exchange, Reed hit a splash from the turnbuckle to get the win.
This was much quicker than expected, but it definitely made Reed look good by beating a former world champion so quickly.
Winner: Bronson Reed
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
