6 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (Results & Review - January 29)

1. A Wrench In The Works

Fans anxiously waiting these last nine-plus weeks for Cody Rhodes to finish the damn story had to be understandably panicked Monday night when Seth Rollins walked out and threw a huge curveball at the 2024 Royal Rumble winner.

The hobbled World Heavyweight Champion urged Rhodes to choose him over Roman Reigns as his WrestleMania opponent, making the case that he’s usurped the Tribal Chief as “The Guy” in WWE. Reigns is never there, never defends the title, and is not the god everyone makes him out to be.

Rollins pointed out that he’s made all the towns with the much newer title, a championship he described as the Dusty Rhodes title, a blue collar, workhorse championship, while derisively referring to the Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight Championship as “the Hollywood title,” the Hulk Hogan title that people politick to hold.

It was a truly solid promo from Rollins, and one that did more earnest work to make the World Heavyweight Championship feel like it was something worthwhile than any of Seth’s stupid outfits or goofy shouting promos. This was the money segment for that title.

However, Rhodes’ entire “finish the story” mantra has been about winning the title his dad never won, a title that has been elusive to him all year. Rollins’ WHC has been right there on Raw since May 2023, with Seth as a fighting champion. If Rhodes wanted to win that title, all he would have had to do on a random Raw was challenge Rollins and it would have been on.

Maybe CM Punk’s injury and The Rock’s hinted return have changed the calculus, or maybe this was just a clever bit of misdirection. No decisions were made, so this gets a pass and is judged on the strength of the promo itself, not the potential fallout. But judgment could be swift and harsh depending on where things go.