Top SmackDown Stars Advertised For WWE Raw 30th Anniversary Show

Two huge blue brand names announced for Raw XXX later this month.

by Andrew Pollard
Roman Reigns
WWE

With WWE looking to make a splash with the Raw 30th anniversary episode later this month, the market leader is now advertising two huge SmackDown names for this celebratory show.

As listed on WWE.com, Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and recently-dethroned SmackDown Women's Champion Ronda Rousey are now advertised to be appearing at this special Raw offering from Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center on 23 January.

Despite supposedly being a travelling champion between both the Raw and SmackDown brands, the Tribal Chief's appearances on WWE's Monday night flagship have been few and far between since he defeated Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38 to unify the WWE Title and the WWE Universal Championship.

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For Ronda Rousey, the Rowdy One has been positioned as a SmackDown talent since she returned to the company at Royal Rumble 2022. During that time, Rousey has embarked on two runs as the SmackDown Women's Champion, to add to her one reign as Raw Women's Champion during her prior stint with WWE.

In addition to Roman Reigns and Ronda Rousey, the other names currently advertised for Raw's 30th anniversary are Bianca Belair, Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch and Bobby Lashley. Elsewhere, legends Ric Flair and Kurt Angle have both discussed how they've had talks about appearing on this 23 January offering.

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Interestingly, the 30th anniversary Raw just so happens to be the go-home Raw for this year's Royal Rumble PLE, so anticipation will be doubly high for something memorable from the show.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.