The road to WWE Royal Rumble 2025 winds down tonight for the red brand in “The Peach State.”
WWE returns live tonight at 8/7c on Netflix from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia with the WWE Royal Rumble 2025 “go-home show” for the red brand.
On tap for tonight’s two-to-three hour episode of the weekly prime time Monday night WWE on Netflix program is Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn, Bianca Belair & Naomi vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez in women’s tag-team action, as well as The War Raiders vs. JD McDonagh & Dominik Mysterio for the WWE Tag-Team Championships.
The show will also feature the red brand debut of Logan Paul, as well as a live appearance by Undisputed WWE Champion “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes.
Featured below are complete WWE Raw results from Monday, January 20, 2025. The following report was written by PWMania.com reporter Matt Boone (@MattBoone0709) as the show aired on Netflix from 8-11pm EST.
WWE RAW RESULTS – JANUARY 27, 2025
“WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together.” starts things off as always. We then hear Michael Cole welcome us to the show as we see a shot of State Farm Arena.
Inside the building, we see arrival shots of Cody Rhodes with his wife, Brandi Rhodes, as well as Naomi & Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez, Sami Zayn and Drew McIntyre. Inside the arena, the camera pans the crowd and settles on Cole and Pat McAfee at ringside recapping WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event and hyping tonight’s show.
Seth “Freakin'” Rollins, GUNTHER & Logan Paul Kick Off The Show
“BURN IT DOWN!” is the first thing we hear after that, and with that said, the guitar riff for Seth “Freakin'” Rollins’ theme hits and the crowd begins their echoing “Whoa-oh-oh!” chants as “The Visionary” and “The Revolutionary” of Monday Night Rollins makes his way to the ring in snazzy gear, like only he can.
Rollins greets the Atlanta crowd, talks about Royal Rumble kicking off WrestleMania season, and mentions how he was down and out the last time he was on “The Grandest Stage of Them All.” He doesn’t plan on that being the case this year. He talks about how he’s going to toss out everyone in the Rumble, naming everyone who has declared so far, some which fans boo and some which they cheer, as he makes his way back to the main event of WrestleMania.
“I’m especially tossing Roman Reigns out,” he said with a serious, calm voice. He envisions CM Punk being the last dude in the ring with him so he can crush his WrestleMania dreams to dust. He says he’s a man on a mission. The only question is, which championship is he going to go after? He puts over GUNTHER and says he’s just holding the title until he decides to go after it again. He says, then there is the WWE Championship and Cody Rhodes.
Rollins says it would be poetic to take the same title off of Rhodes this year that he helped him win last year. He asks the crowd who they would like him to challenge. Before he can say GUNTHER, after first saying Cody and fans mildly cheering, he is cut off by the theme music for “The Ring General,” and out comes the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. He talks about beating Damian Priest and Jey Uso. He taunts the crowd for chanting “YEET!” GUNTHER tells Rollins he’s one of the best WWE has ever seen. But not in 2025.
In 2025, GUNTHER is. He tells him to win the Rumble so he can show him first-hand. As they stare each other down, the theme for Logan Paul hits and out comes the newest addition to the red brand for the first time since being traded from SmackDown as part of the transfer window. The crowd gives him the Dominik Mysterio treatment. He’s barely audible on the broadcast due to boos. Literally.
Paul talks about making a WWE career faster than Rollins and GUNTHER. Paul declares himself for the Royal Rumble. He says when he wins, he can challenge Cody, or he can challenge “you” GUNTHER. GUNTHER then cuts him off and says, “Nevermind Seth, I no longer want you to win. I want YOU to win the Royal Rumble, Logan Paul.” Why? So he can kick his ass instead. Rollins reminds GUNTHER he’ll be the one to win and drops the mic and walks off.
Sami Zayn Punks Out CM Punk
Backstage, Cathy Kelley is talking to CM Punk, who assures her he’d throw her out of the ring if she entered the Royal Rumble. He’s throwing out everyone and winning and then heading to WrestleMania. Before he can finish, Sami Zayn walks up and brings up Punk saying Zayn isn’t on his level last week.
Zayn agrees because only one of them has been in the main event of WrestleMania. And it ain’t Punk. He smiles and walks off, only to be stopped and annoyed by Karrion Kross. Kross tries talking to him about a world of opportunity. He walks off. Zayn is lost in focus on him as Cody pops up and taps him on the shoulder. “Whoa!” Zayn responds. He tells Cody it’s good to see him and quickly walks off.
WWE Tag-Team Championships
The War Raiders (c) vs. Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh
The War Raiders are shown backstage warming up for our first match of the evening, which will feature them putting their WWE Tag-Team Championships on-the-line against The Judgment Day duo of JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio. On that note, we shift gears and head into a quick commercial break.
When the show returns, a bunch of hip-hop stars, such as Travis Scott, Quavo and others, are shown, along with other celebrities in the crowd. Also shown in the audience are A-Town Down Under duo Austin Theory and Grayson Waller, the newest addition to the Raw tag-team division from SmackDown. The Creed Brothers are also in the house.
The Judgment Day duo of Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh make their way down to the ring for our opening contest. The reigning, defending WWE Tag-Team Champions The War Raiders are out next. After Erik and Ivar settle in the ring, the ring announcer handles the formal pre-match ring introductions and then the bell sounds. Dom and JD double-team the champs to kick things off with a bang.
JD hits a springboard moonsault onto Ivar on the floor, but bashes the back of his head on the way down. Replays shown it. It was brutal. Michael Cole freaks out being that close to see it. It was real, real bad. McDonagh is selling it well, but back on the apron now as Dom works over Erik.
McDonagh tags in a few seconds later, and he immediately picks up where Dom-Dom left off. Moments later, Erik and Ivar start to shift the offensive momentum in their favor. As they do, after a couple of high spots and slow-motion replays, we head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, McDonagh is taking over and tagging in Dom. Dom hits a big spot and a cover for a two-count.
After some more back-and-forth action, The War Raiders begin to take back over. As they build offensive momentum and near the finish, Carlito runs out to try and interfere on behalf of his fellow Judgment Day members. It doesn’t work out as they had hoped, however, as Erik and Ivar endure, and hit their double-team finisher for the win to retain.
Winners and STILL WWE Tag-Team Champions: The War RaidersRey Mysterio vs. Xavier Woods
Backstage, Ludwig Kaiser approaches Pete Dunne and begins busting his chops, when up walks The New Day duo of Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. They try and buddy up with the two, but in keeping with recent tradition, even the heels in WWE want nothing to do with The New Day after their actions with Big E. during their New Day 10th Anniversary special. Cathy Kelley interviews them, and they boast Xavier Woods being from Atlanta.
Inside the arena, Rey Mysterio’s theme hits and out comes the WWE Hall of Fame legend. We head to another commercial break. When we return, The New Day are at ringside looking at a bunch of empty chairs with “Reserved Seating” papers on them. The commentators inform us that it was Woods’ family, who didn’t show.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with singles action. Rey Mysterio takes the early lead over Woods, the partner of Kofi Kingston, the man the WWE Hall of Fame legend beat on last week’s show. The commentators inform us that tonight is Zelina Vega’s final night with Raw and the LWO, as she moves to SmackDown after this evening.
As Woods begins taking over, Kingston is shown cheering him on at ringside. Mysterio takes a scary looking bump where he falls right on the top of his head. The referee quickly rushed over to check on him. It’s not a good night for little high-flyers hitting their noggins. Woods smirks in evil heel fashion as we head to a mid-match commercial break.
When the show returns, Woods is in a comfortable offensive lead until Lil Yatchy and his family, who finally showed up, unbutton their shirts to reveal they are all wearing “New Day Sucks” shirts. Mysterio takes over and picks up the win. He then takes one of the “New Day Sucks” shirts and puts it on.
Winner: Rey Mysterio
Sami Zayn Assures Seth Rollins Kick Was Accident, CM Punk Talks “Favor”
Backstage, Sami Zayn confronts Seth “Freakin'” Rollins and assures him that his kick last week was a mistake and an accident. Rollins is hesitant but says he’s right. They go way back and it was a mistake. He tells Zayn he has to understand why he might think it wasn’t, and why others are saying it wasn’t. He says it’s okay though. Zayn asks if they’re good. He says they are. They shake hands and hug.
Cole and McAfee then officially announce the Royal Rumble Kickoff media event on Friday and the Countdown to Royal Rumble pre-show. A sneak peek of Jackie Redmond’s “very interesting” interview with CM Punk is shown. They talk about the infamous “favor” that Paul Heyman owes CM Punk.
Quavo Helps “Main Event” Jey Uso Do Some YEET’ing
Inside the arena, “Main Event” Jey Uso’s theme hits. Out with him comes hip-hop star Quavo. They head through the crowd, which is an enormous sea of Atlanta citizens “YEET’ing” their brains out on international television. Or international Netflix viewing. However you refer to it in that tense. McAfee and Cole, of course, have some “YEET” fun as well.
He stands on the commentary desk with Quavo. He tells ATL he rocks with them. He appreciates them YEET’ing with him. He talks about coming up short against GUNTHER at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. He assures us he can beat him, though. He vows he will win the Royal Rumble, go on to WrestleMania, face him again and beat him for the title. We head to another commercial.
Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Bianca Belair & Naomi
When the show returns, Lyra Valkyria is backstage. She talks about the first defense of her WWE Women’s U.S. title, but nothing is announced. She declares herself for the Women’s Royal Rumble. After that, Alpha Academy are shown dancing on a phone camera when Chad Gable and American Made walk up and call them pathetic.
Inside the arena, the women’s duo of Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez head to the ring for the next match of the evening. Out next are their opponents, the WWE Women’s Tag-Team Champions Naomi and Bianca Belair. Their title defense on tomorrow night’s NXT on CW is plugged.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this non-title tilt. Kicking things off for their respective teams are Belair and Morgan. Belair immediately goes for the K.O.D. on Morgan, but Morgan avoids it. Belair goes to work on Morgan in the corner until Morgan yanks at Belair’s ponytail to fight back.
After some more back-and-forth action, we head to a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see Morgan and Rodriguez struggling. This brings out Dominik Mysterio, who provides a big distraction. This ends up getting him splashed by Belair, but sets the wheels in motion for Rodriguez to attack and Morgan follow-up for the win.
Winners: Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez
Penta Is Coming To The 2025 Men’s Royal Rumble Match
Backstage, we see Rhea Ripley being interviewed about her match and victory over Nia Jax at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event over the weekend. She also talks about Royal Rumble, when up walks Bayley. “Ding-dong!” she begins. She then tells Ripley she plans to win the Rumble and challenge for her title. Up walks IYO SKY who tells Bayley she’ll see her this weekend.
Kai Cenat, some streamer dude, is another one of the celebrities shown in a cameo appearance in the crowd. We also see footage of Michael Cole missing his high-figh hand-slap with Quavo earlier in the night. Got to love it. A Penta vignette then airs to declare him for the Royal Rumble.
Roman Reigns Revealed As Cover Art For WWE 2K25
Inside State Farm Arena again, McAfee has some more fun at Cole’s expense, telling him to just shake peoples hands the regular old white man way, and no longer try and dap them up. After that, Paul Heyman struts down to the ring like only “The Wise Man” can.
As he settles in the ring, he unveils a giant poster from the rafters that shows Roman Reigns on the cover of the new WWE 2K25 video game. Heyman talks about a great responsibility of being the cover art of a video game of this magnitude. He says our “Tribal Chief” can live up to that responsibility.
Because he’s the 1, behind the 1 who is back to the mindset of 29 versus 1. He says that’s because that is what this Royal Rumble is all about. He says Reigns told us he was going to take back the Tribal Chief status. He did. He says he’s now telling us, Roman Reigns is coming back for his championship and it all starts this Saturday at the Royal Rumble. Because all 29 of them are coming at Roman Reigns.
Drew McIntyre comes out as Heyman is about to leave and Heyman stops in his tracks in the ring. McIntyre tells Heyman he looks nervous and that he should relax. He says Sami Zayn should be nervous but he wants to talk to Heyman. He says Heyman doesn’t like him when he should love him and says he’s responsible for Heyman’s success.
He says he’s the Daddy of The Bloodline. He wants Heyman to thank him and Heyman obliges and tells McIntyre he’s crowding him right now. McIntyre says he’ll give Heyman his space but he needs a favour. He passes along a message for Reigns that McIntyre will demolish Reigns on Saturday. Heyman says he’ll pass the message to Reigns… McIntyre stops Heyman and says he’s talking about CM Punk and not Reigns and then tells Heyman to run.
Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn
From there, we head to a commercial break with McIntyre still in the ring as Heyman leaves and heads to the back. When we return, Sami Zayn is in the middle of making his way down to the ring. He settles inside and the bell sounds to get this one-on-one showdown officially off-and-running.
As they get after it coming out of the gate, Cole points out on commentary that Zayn has never beaten McIntyre. He is 0-10 against him in singles competition. McIntyre takes the early offensive lead, but Zayn fights back and hits a springboard splash to him on the floor. Back in the ring, however, McIntyre takes back over.
Moments later, Zayn takes a big shot that busts his nose open. It might be broken. This just fires Zayn up, who Hulks up with his arms while playing to the crowd with blood all over his nose and face. McIntyre, however, easily takes back over and starts to wear an evil smile as he stalks Zayn on the floor. He goes for a Claymore Kick but Zayn moves and McIntyre bounces off the commentary desk.
On that note, the show heads into a mid-match commercial break. When the show returns, the two are still going at it, with Drew still in the lead. Sami starts to fight back into competitive form, as blood continues to smear on his face. McIntyre ends up getting the cover with his feet on the ropes for the win. Zayn pleads his case to the referee afterwards, but gets attacked from behind for his efforts.
Cody Rhodes runs out to help. Kevin Owens also comes out. Zayn accidentally kicks Cody. The commentators sell the fact that it’s the second week in a row something like this has happened. Owens standing behind Sami smiling after talking about Sami having his back on SmackDown doesn’t help his case. We head to another commercial break.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Cody Rhodes & CM Punk Close The Show
When we return, Cody Rhodes is in the ring recovering by himself. He talks about a champion not being about the belt, but the mindset. He says he works harder than anyone. He’s had more matches. He shows up first. He leaves last.
As he continues to talk, he is cut off by the familiar sounds of “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour. CM Punk makes his way out to confront Cody in his hometown. Fans still chant “CM Punk! CM Punk!”
Punk begins. “Hey man, are you alright?” He says he’s his friend and he worries about him. He says it looks like things are starting to get to him. He says he held the title for 400+ days and around the 300 day mark it got to him. He lost friends over that title.
He says he’s seeing Cody dealing with the same issues. Cody asks Punk if he’s really his friend. Punk insists he is. He says unlike anybody else, he promises he’ll always be his friend. Partly because of the promise he made to his father and partly because “Cody, damnit, I love you.”
Punk tells Cody when your champion, there are no friends. Cody cuts him off. “Punk, please.” He tells him last year they stood in the ring before the Rumble just like they’re doing now. He says he had a prediction and spoiler. He asks Punk, “Tell me, what’s next for me?”
He responds. “Okay, I’ll tell you what’s next for you. In the short-term. You’re in your hometown. You get to sleep in your own bed tonight.” He talks about that being rare. “But I bet, you’re not sleeping at all.” He says chances are he’s got an early call sheet and promotion.
He says maybe he does get to enjoy time with his wife and daughter, but chances are, he still won’t sleep because he’ll be thinking about the biggest match of his career. He says if he makes it past Kevin Owens, one of the toughest SOBs in the locker room, a little deranged, who used to be your friend, he’s still the poster boy now things are bigger than ever on Netflix.
Less time with your wife. Less time with your daughter. He says it’s all because the title he holds means something to guys like me and you. He says somebody is getting in the best shape of their life. Somebody is gonna win the Rumble. And someone is gonna take that belt from him. “And that’s the good news.”
Cody chuckles and asks how that’s the good news. He asks what the bad news is. Punk responds. “The bad news is, that somebody is me.” He says the difference is he’s his one true friend and because of that, he’ll tell him to his face right now — I’m not gonna stab you in the back. I’m gonna stab you right in the front.
Rhodes says he used to chase Punk for years. He says now the dynamic is difference. He gets in Punk’s face. “I’m not chasing you. You’re chasing me. And friend, I want you to know, I want you to win the Royal Rumble. I really do. Because I want you to catch up.” Punk says a lot of men have said the same, right up until he did. There’s a graveyard full of them. He goes to walk off, but Cody stops him.
He says he wasn’t done either. Cody says he wants Punk to catch up and win the Rumble, because he wants to see the look on his face when he sees “The Best in the World” isn’t “The Best in the World” anymore. He drops the mic. The two share an intense staredown as Cody’s music plays again to end the heated main event promo battle. Cole wraps it up on commentary as the red brand “go-home show” for WWE Royal Rumble 2025 goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!
