Raw recap and reactions (January 20, 2025): Sami Zayn’s big mistake

I’ll talk about this a little more later in the recap, but let’s talk about Sami Zayn. Seth Rollins talked to him last week about putting Sami first. Sami cut a passionate promo mid-show about this thing and how he took those words seriously. He then thanked Seth, who in turn welcomed this version of his boy, but told him it was always every man for himself in the Royal Rumble. Sami’s new attitude of going after number one made her barely bat an eyelid at Seth’s comment, which gave more depth to what happened in the main event.

After a 25-minute back-and-forth match with Drew McIntyre, Seth earned the victory via a rolling pin. Drew, once again, got too big for his britches and didn’t put Seth away when he had the chance. Seth barely raised his hand before Drew got angry and took all that frustration out on the guy who just defeated him…again.

Rather than let Seth handle whatever happens to Drew, even if it meant suffering a serious injury, Sami made the save.

Normally that’s cool. RIGHT? Sami and Seth are friends, they both hate Drew, and friends don’t let friends get beat up by people they both hate. Things get fuzzy when one friend just told the other friend that minding their own business is the best thing to do. It gets doubly complicated when one friend ends up kicking the other friend in the face. Even if it was accidental, and it was. Sami came out because it looked like Drew was ready to kick Seth in the head, so it’s ironic that he did exactly that just to try to help.

Then there’s the whole Royal Rumble aspect. Seth’s words to Sami made clear the need to take advantage of openings when they present themselves. The implication being that if Sami or any opponent is weakened before February 1, 2025, it’s a gift Seth will happily unwrap without apologizing. Sami can’t even let the credits roll without looking a gift horse in the mouth. This calls into question whether he really meant what he said about looking out for himself and his interests. Basically, Sami is a good guy and a best friend. Do these qualities conflict with his championship ambitions? Moments like this say it all while making it harder for those around him.

I hope they don’t play it like Seth thinks Sami kicked him on purpose. Really not. I think it’s more interesting if Seth is angry at Sami for trying to help him, which means he didn’t listen to him. And if he didn’t listen to it, how is he even close to being ready to win the Rumble, let alone become champion?

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B-sides

Baby bed, damn

It won’t be so much about the match between Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio as it will be about the presentation. Ra’s Al Ghul understands that theatricality makes or breaks a thing, so we should all do it.

The new day started hot. They welcomed JBL backstage and even bribed the man who would accompany them to the commentators’ table. They bribed him with $2, but they still made the effort. This backfired for them as JBL gave incredibly backhanded compliments that didn’t betray his heel nature. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods continue to be the most entertaining duo on the show for me, even in these small moments. This translated into the match when their music hit and Xavier loudly told them to turn the music off. Gone are the colorful outfits, and now they get booed in the ring, they just talk trash to the crowd all the time. Kofi wrestled in black jeans, Nike sneakers and knee pads. That’s it.

And it was perfect.

Kofi lost a dope match thanks to Rey basically catching Kofi off guard with a quick counter and a rolling pin. So the L doesn’t hurt Kofi or this new New Day, and neither do the physical beatings X and Kofi inflict after the match on Rey and his LWO team. This will greatly contribute to the development of the next phase of this shift. I fully expect them to dominate LWO. This also means that I will most likely eat my words since WWE loves to prove me wrong. Assholes.

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Rarities

• Sami Zayn knows how to give a passionate promo, right? He’s officially entering the Royal Rumble, and no, I don’t mean he’s putting on a suit when entering the Rumble. But the most interesting thing came when Kevin Owens arrived. Rather than turning his anger on Sami for teaming up with Roman Reigns, Kevin showed empathy for his best friend. He understood why Sami helped Roman because they have been in similar situations. And he firmly believes that Sami can and will win the Rumble. At this point, Kevin not-so-subtly told his former tag team partner that if he secures Kevin’s victory over Cody Rhodes, then Sami will get his championship match at FightMania. Fantastic angle because it gives intrigue to this Royal Rumble match and gives all three men something to do. Will Sami betray Cody for his best friend? Will he honor his friendship with Cody? Or, as he said this week, will Sami choose himself? Helping KO does just that because it gets him to his ultimate goal. Decisions, decisions.
• Nia Jax attacked Rhea Ripley before the show even started. Rhea got revenge after Nia defeated Bayley during the latter’s return. Raw match. Roxanne Perez was sitting at ringside and sure enough, she found herself facing Bayley. So yeah, the loss is no big deal since it all leads to something bigger later. But back to Rhea. Revenge came quickly in a fun brawl that showed just how physical these two women are. Now it’s Rhea versus Nia at Saturday night’s main event.
• I had a whole thing about WWE broadcasting its traditional devotion to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while employing Hulk Hogan, but I’m just going to say something simple: don’t pretend to honor a man who fought for racial equality and fairness while supporting a man who said something racist, admitted to being racist, and only apologized for being caught showing his racist tendencies. We are all human, which means we all face contradictions and hypocrisies. But it’s worse when a person or company is so brazen and seemingly lacking in self-awareness.
• As soon as they announced Pete Dunne vs. Penta, I knew another L was in store for poor Butch. Penta did his thing in front of a very hot crowd in Dallas. But what’s wrong with Pete? Is this his only story now? Angry at Butch and telling everyone not to do it? I thought we were getting somewhere with this but apparently not.
• I missed Lyra Valkyria on the show this week, but we at least got a video package on her. I find it strange not to have the first women’s intercontinental champion on the first Raw after his victory, or even not letting anyone call him out. But here we are.
• More of the same from Jey Uso and GUNTHER this week. GUNTHER says Jey isn’t ready and he’s just a mascot. Jey said he East a mascot of the people and he has a lot to prove to earn GUNTHER’s respect. They fought a bit and Jey stood tall with the championship in hand. I know it won’t happen, but I really wish they would let this man win the big belt.
• CM Punk cut an emphatic promo that made me think he was winning the Rumble. And you know what? It’s a fantastic choice. Him against Roman with Paul Heyman in the middle? The story writes itself.

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I really dig these two and a half hours Raw episodes. It was another solid show with plenty of appeal for the main event stage and the Royal Rumble. More notes.

What do you say about the cages? Should Jey win this championship one day? I say someday because I doubt it will happen this week.