00:00A WWE star hospitalised after Raw, the first trailer for WWE 2K25 released, and my review
00:07of Monday Night Raw.
00:08I'm Oli Davis, and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:19The opening match of the 27th January episode of Raw saw the War Raiders retain their World
00:24Tag Team Championships against Judgment Day's Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonough.
00:29The two teams went for 12 minutes, culminating with Carlito interference, an amazing near
00:34fall and a This Is Awesome chant.
00:37Which is made even more impressive because, in about minute one, JD McDonough died.
00:41Early on, JD hit a second rope moonsault to the outside on Ivar.
00:45He landed slightly over Ivar, who was ready to catch him, sending him crashing backwards
00:50into the commentary desk with the top of his back going into the sharp corner and whiplashing
00:55his head.
00:56Even though JD is a heel, you could hear a sharp intake of breath from the audience,
01:00and it took a few spots for everyone to get back into the action.
01:04But it wasn't just us spectators who were concerned.
01:06According to Fightful Select, Triple H asked a number of times over the production headset
01:11if JD was ok, and he was checked on by doctors during the commercial break, but he waved
01:15them off and somehow continued to wrestle for 10 more minutes.
01:19It was so impressive, Pat McAfee and Michael Cole started to put McDonough over even though
01:23he's a bad guy.
01:26The adrenaline soon wore off, though, as one fan live in attendance posted a photo of JD
01:31falling to the floor as he got backstage, where you can just make out what appears to
01:35be McDonough on the floor by the LED screen.
01:38The Wrestling Observer reported that JD was taken to the hospital, a local medical facility
01:42for the uninitiated, after the match.
01:44But it wasn't a concussion that was their main concern, it was the blow he took to his
01:49ribs.
01:50Which McDonough then confirmed on his Twitter, revealing that he could miss WrestleMania.
01:56First off, thanks to everyone for the messages and the concern.
01:58I'm good.
01:59I've got a couple of broken ribs and a punctured lung, so I'm going to be out for a couple
02:03months.
02:04All things considered, it could've been a lot worse, so I'm grateful for that.
02:08See ya in a bit.
02:09Rock on, Emoji!
02:11Also on the Royal Rumble go-home roar, the release date for the WWE 2K25 video game has
02:16been officially announced as the 14th March, with pre-orders going live from the 28th January.
02:22Paul Heyman unveiled Roman Reigns as this year's cover star, complete with his red
02:26booties just like Sonic the Hedgehog.
02:28The special editions are a Deadman version, which features Undertaker on the cover, and
02:32a really cool looking Bloodline edition, with a family tree of all Roman's feuding family
02:37and friends.
02:38So you too can play as Solo Sakoa as he loses all his major matches while Jacob Fatu surpasses
02:44him.
02:45Here's a message from this video's sponsor...
02:46Well, well, well.
02:47Enough of this.
02:48I'm going to end this stupid cowboy Luke.
02:54You can't keep following me like this.
02:56But Pete, you haven't paid your hallway tax.
02:59Not even once.
03:00Yeah, that's right, I'm Pete.
03:01Anyway, there's no such thing as a hallway tax, and I refuse to pay it, but luckily I've
03:09used the Dave Banking app so I have the tools to finally stop you.
03:13Stop me?
03:14Nah, ain't no one able to stop Cowboy Luke.
03:17And why are you Cowboy Luke?
03:19Why can't you be regular Luke, like regular Luke?
03:22I know that.
03:23Um, I don't know.
03:25I was born this way.
03:27Born this way, or made this way?
03:30What do you mean?
03:33I think you dress as a cowboy because you're missing something.
03:37Missing a friend.
03:38What is this you call friend?
03:41So I decided to spend $500 on every single Ghostbusters and Godzilla film, so we could
03:47watch them together.
03:51On defunct formats?
03:52This is the cardest thing anyone's ever done for me.
03:56Where'd you get $500 from?
03:59I use the Dave Banking app.
04:00Dave is the banking app that's levelling the financial playing field.
04:03And when you download Dave, you can get up to $500 in five minutes or less.
04:07No credit check, no late fees.
04:09It's part of Dave's extra cash account.
04:11Get the money you need with no interest and then settle up later.
04:13Download Dave today at dave.com slash wrestle.
04:15That's dave.com slash wrestle.
04:17Dave is not a bank.
04:18Banking services provided by Evolve Bank and Trust.
04:20Member FDIC.
04:21For terms and conditions, go to dave.com slash legal.
04:23Eligibility criteria apply subject to bank approval.
04:26Service and or instant transfer fees may apply.
04:29Advance is typically approved in five minutes.
04:31Wow, that is amazing.
04:34How can I ever thank you, Pete?
04:36How about you pay your own hallway tax?
04:40Now it's time for my review of the Royal Rumble go-home-you're-drunk episode of Monday
04:47Night Raw… in about 5 minutes.
04:49The show opened with Seth Rollins coming down to the ring, this week dressed like a feature
04:53wall at a yuppie hotel.
04:54He said he's going to win the Royal Rumble by tossing a load of guys, one after the other.
04:59Drew McIntyre, he's going to toss him.
05:01Sami Zayn, tossing him.
05:03Roman Reigns, oh you better believe he's going to toss his former Shield brother.
05:07Same with CM Punk.
05:08Maybe both at the same time.
05:10And once he's tossed all those dudes, maybe it's his turn to come.
05:16For Gunther's World Heavyweight title.
05:17On cue, Gunther interrupted and got loads of heat by saying he beat Jey Uso, a man who
05:21somehow gets more over the more he loses.
05:24Gunther wants Seth to win at the Rumble so he can beat him at WrestleMania.
05:27But then out came Logan Paul, who was booed so heavily you could barely hear him.
05:31He's a heel, and he doesn't get paid by the toss, so he's going to enter the Rumble
05:35last, seemingly confirming he's the number 30 spot.
05:39Gunther then said now he wants Paul to win so he can slap that stupid smile off his face.
05:44Over the rest of the night, Penta, Chad Gable, Brom Breaker and Carmelo Hayes all declared
05:48for the Rumble too.
05:50And so shall I.
05:51This exact time last week, I threw a ball of paper into a bin 20 feet away without looking,
05:57and Luke saw it, but he's spreading fake news that it never happened.
06:00It wasn't filmed, I have no proof.
06:02But then I tried to recreate it, and I lost a paperball shootout on the Raw podcast for
06:07Luke's Jam That Jampionship.
06:08But then on Friday's WrestleTalk News, I did this.
06:19I can control paper.
06:21I am Oli the Paper Davis, and I'm coming for your Jampionship Luke on our Royal Rumble
06:28review this Sunday.
06:30The opening Raw match saw the Viking Raiders' Judgment Day match, where JD McDonough injured
06:34himself.
06:35Carlito interfered at the end for a great mere fall.
06:37The thought of Judgment Day getting the tag belts back scared me so much.
06:40But Eric and Ivar hit the War Machine on Dom to retain.
06:43With the show taking place in Atlanta, the next match had Atlanta's favourite son,
06:48Xavier Woods.
06:49Although they hated him for what the New Day did to Big E.
06:51WWE are doing a lot right with their act, having them come out just to a promo and not
06:56music, even having fellow heels like Pete Dunne and Ludwig Kaiser giving them the cold
07:01shoulder backstage.
07:02But it won't really matter if they keep losing.
07:05Just like Kofi Kingston lost to Rey Mysterio last week, Woods was distracted by his own
07:10family wearing New Day sucks t-shirts at ringside to lose here.
07:14Also in all of this, Grayson Waller and Austin Theory announced they'll be moving to Raw,
07:18and commentary revealed Zelina Vega would be leaving the LWO to go back to SmackDown
07:23by herself.
07:24Ultimately, these are undercard trades that don't massively affect the makeup of either
07:29brand.
07:30But with rumours that Vega's real-life husband Malakai Black could be returning to WWE in
07:34the next couple of months, perhaps this has been done for them to be a partnership.
07:37Jey Uso came out with the rapper Quavo, where he did so much yeeting, he was too out of
07:42breath for his actual promo.
07:43He said yes, he lost at Saturday night's main event, but he's going to win the Rumble.
07:51Main event mania, and win Gunther's World Heavyweight Championship.
08:02Lyra Valkyria declared herself for the Women's Rumble because WWE don't really have any
08:06plans for a new IC belt.
08:08Chad Gable said Ivy Nail is going to win it for him, I mean American Made.
08:12Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez then took on the Women's Tag Team Champions Bianca
08:15Belair and Naomi in an on-title match, which predictably ended with Liv and Raquel winning
08:20to set up a future Championship one.
08:22While Carlito's interference in the men's tag match earlier didn't work, Dom's distraction
08:26here directly led to Morgan getting the win, where she is still being booked like an absolutely
08:31terrible wrestler who can't beat anyone even remotely by herself.
08:35One of the loudest screaming pops of the night was for Rhea Ripley just appearing on the
08:40Trom for a backstage interview, a testament to how over she is.
08:44Io Sky had a brief interaction with Bayley, and Bayley teased that she could win the Rumble.
08:48Joke's though, it's going to be Charlotte Flair.
08:51Penta got a cool video package, and then walked into a Brom Breaker interview to stare at
08:55the IC title, which is a feud I can't wait for.
08:58And then, the final 45 minutes of the show was a very impressive, intricately woven,
09:03cross-brand, multi-main eventer, single story arc.
09:07First was Paul Heyman revealing Reigns as the WWE 2K25 cover star in the ring.
09:12Rather confusingly though, he kept using his I am the one behind the 29 and one kind of
09:18phrase, which just makes me think of Brock Lesnar ending the Undertaker's streak, when
09:21he was actually talking about Roman winning the Rumble.
09:24Just as he was about to leave, Drew's Sha-Wing hit, and claimed he's responsible for all
09:29of Heyman's success right now.
09:31Drew won the 2020 Rumble, and slayed Paul's client The Beast at WrestleMania.
09:36That's what led to Heyman going to Roman to create the bloodline.
09:41Drew said he's going to target his client.
09:43Heyman said he'll pass that on to Reigns.
09:45But Drew said he wasn't talking about Roman.
09:47He was talking about his boy CM Punk, with a terrific, menacing delivery that keeps that
09:52favour plot point between Paul, Punk and Roman spinning.
09:56This went into a really good TV match between McIntyre and Sami Zayn.
10:00Sami got busted open early, and the blood only helped make this feel more intense.
10:03Drew ultimately dodged a Halluva Kick, and rolled up Sami with his feet on the ropes
10:08to win dirty.
10:09Drew started to beat up Sami in the post-match, but Cody Rhodes made the save.
10:13But Kevin Owens appeared to beat up Cody Rhodes.
10:16In the kerfuffle, Sami went to Halluva Kick Drew in the corner, but McIntyre moved and
10:21Sami kicked Cody in the face, just like he did to Seth the previous week.
10:26Which, earlier in the night, Seth told Sami he was willing to overlook as it's just
10:30an accident.
10:31But if he did it again, he'll start to have doubts.
10:34It set up a foreboding visual tease of KO and Sami standing side by side as Cody was
10:41knocked out in the corner.
10:42All this time, Drew walked off laughing, and Karrion Kross posted online that he was cheering
10:46that moment from the stands.
10:48The main event was supposed to be Cody cutting an in-ring promo to hype up his WWE title
10:53ladder match against KO, but had just been kicked in the face by yet another one of his
10:57so-called friends.
10:59Which brought out CM Punk.
11:03Punk had been there too.
11:04He had a long title reign, where, by the end, he started losing friends as well.
11:08The crown is heavy, and over time, it breaks you down.
11:12He's come to check on Cody because he promised Dusty to look after him and because they're
11:16friends.
11:17And for anyone who's been there done that, this is what Cody's got in store.
11:21He's going to have to keep working every day, doing media appearances, sacrificing
11:26time with his family, running himself into the ground.
11:29All while someone else who's hungrier is using that time to train, to get better, to
11:34ascend the ranks and beat Cody as he's on his way down.
11:38And that's the good news.
11:40Because the bad news is that person is CM Punk.
11:45There's now like 8 different guys who could really win the Rumble.
11:48You know what, let's just have them all win, and let's make the Mania main event
11:51a battle royal.
11:52I felt this show missed a super hot angle, but the low-key, intense promo work between
11:56Punk and Cody was absolutely captivating.
11:59This week's Raw is 78%.
12:01Now go over to our movie channel Cutscene where you can watch Luke's brand new video
12:05essay, How Disney Screwed Pixar.
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