The road to WWE Elimination Chamber: Perth and WrestleMania XL kicks off tonight.
WWE Monday Night Raw returns at 8/7c on the USA Network live this evening from Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, with the fallout from the first annual premium live event of the year, WWE Royal Rumble 2024.
On tap for tonight's show is GUNTHER vs. Kofi Kingston for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, Damian Priest & Finn Balor vs. DIY for the Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Championships, "Main Event" Jey Uso vs. "Big" Bronson Reed, as well as appearances by CM Punk, Seth "Freakin'" Rollins, Rhea Ripley, Becky Lynch, Bayley and Cody Rhodes.
Featured below are complete WWE Monday Night Raw results from Monday, January 29, 2024. The following report was written by Rajah.com reporter Matt Boone (@MattBoone0709) as the show aired live on the USA Network from 8-11pm EST.
WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW RESULTS (1/29/2024)
The "WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together" signature airs and then we shoot inside Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL. where Michael Cole welcomes us to the show. He runs down the lineup for tonight's show and then we head into a lengthy video package looking at Saturday's Royal Rumble 2024 premium live event.
Pat McAfee Named New Weekly Color-Commentator For Raw
From there, the sounds of Pat McAfee's theme hits and out he comes for the second night in a row. He takes a seat alongside Michael Cole and the two reveal they are the new weekly commentary team for WWE Raw going forward.
CM Punk Kicks Off This Week's Show
He then gets ready to call the show and out comes CM Punk to get us started in our commercial-free first hour of the show. "The Best in the World" settles inside the ring with a sling on his arm. He talks about coming close but not winning at the Royal Rumble on Saturday. He says Cody Rhodes did and he'd like to congratulate him on it.
Punk goes on to talk about how he unfortunately suffered a torn triceps during the Rumble bout. He says his dream of main eventing WrestleMania isn't going to happen. He says maybe it will never happen. Maybe it's not supposed to happen. He says he doesn't want anyone to feel sorry for him, as he holds back tears.
He talks about seeing a cancer kid get treatment regularly and always do so in good spirits. He says what he's dealing with is a bump in the road. He talks about how he loses more than he wins. "Did anyone see my UFC career?" he jokes, for a big pop from the Tampa crowd. He says he's always been a Cubs fan and knows, "There's always next year."
Drew McIntyre Confronts CM Punk
Before he can continue, the theme for Drew McIntyre hits. "Not what I was expecting," says Punk with a serious look on his face. "The Scottish Warrior" slowly makes his way down to the ring as Cole reminds the viewing audience how vocal McIntyre has been about Punk since his return to WWE back in November.
McIntyre says with a serious look on his face that he understands what Punk is going through. He says he's been dealt with many setbacks at crucial times in his life as well. He says he can relate to his friend with cancer as well. He then makes the heel turn and says, "I want you to know ... I prayed for this." He mentioned coming to the Rumble with intentions of gunning for Punk.
He talks about how Punk was the one who eliminated him and he couldn't sleep that night. He says then he woke up and learned of Punk's injury and he slept like a baby that night. He says Punk won the battle, but he won the war. He says he's gonna find a way into the world title match at WrestleMania, and he's gonna go to the main event and live CM Punk's dream -- again.
Punk goes to respond but before he can, McIntyre cuts him off and tells him he better look in his eyes when he responds to him. Punk walks up in McIntyre's face and says very seriously that his triceps isn't hurt as much as his heart is. He's gonna go heal his triceps and he's gonna come back and main event WrestleMania, but first he's coming straight for him.
McIntyre goes to hit Punk with a cheap shot, but Punk ducks it and starts kicking away at McIntyre. McIntyre fights back and starts beating down and pummeling Punk until the theme for Sami Zayn hits. The crowd explodes as the returning Zayn runs down to chase off McIntyre as officials tend to the injured Punk.
Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Championships
Damian Priest & Finn Balor (C) vs. #DIY
We shoot backstage to The Judgment Day club house where Rhea Ripley asks if they're done with distractions and if they're gonna show everyone just who the hell they are tonight when they defend the Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Championships against #DIY. Damian Priest assures her he is done with distractions and will make an example tonight.
They walk off and then we cut to #DIY walking the hall ways backstage as they talk directly into the camera about how they're gonna beat Priest and Finn Balor to capture the tag titles tonight.
Inside Amalie Arena again, we hear the familiar sounds of #DIY's theme music and out comes the duo of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. They settle in the ring for our first match of the evening. Out next comes The Judgment Day and after the champs settle in the ring, the bell sounds and off we go.
Gargano and Ciampa start off strong but Priest and Balor start to take over after the action spills out to the ringside area on the floor. Back in the ring, #DIY come within a half a second of scoring the pin for the win, but in the end, they get the rug snatched out from underneath them as Balor hits his Coup de Grace off the top-rope for the win. With the win, The Judgment Day retain their gold.
Winners and STILL Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Champions: Damian Priest & Finn Balor
Damian Priest & The Judgment Day Call Out R-Truth
After the match, The Judgment Day, minus Rhea Ripley, come into the ring. Damian Priest gets on the mic and says there's someone he and the rest of the group need to apologize to after Saturday's WWE Royal Rumble 2024 premium live event. He tells R-Truth to come out to the ring. R-Truth's theme hits and out he comes to a huge pop from the Tampa crowd.
R-Truth is hesitant, but Priest assures him everything will be fine if he comes into the ring. Balor tells Truth that Priest is a man of his word. Truth gets in the ring and talks about how The Judgment Day are a family and always have been. He continues to talk but then Priest tells him he's got to understand that The Judgment Day is a family, but he's not part of it.
Priest says he likes Truth, so that's why he's not gonna do this. He then tells the rest of the group to attack him and they do. They beat him down until The Miz's theme hits. Out comes the other half of the part-time Awesome Truth duo to attempt to make the save, but he too quickly falls victim to the numbers game disadvantage. The crowd boos loudly as The Judgment Day beat down Truth and Miz.
Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark vs. Chelsea Green & Piper Niven
We see some highlights from the Royal Rumble PLE over the weekend and then return inside Amalie Arena as the theme for Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark hits. As they make their way out, we see the pre-Raw digital exclusive featuring the two from earlier this evening on social media.
Their opponents theme hits and out comes former Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Champions Chelsea Green and Piper Niven. WWE Raw ring announcer Samantha Irvin returned to saying Chelsea Green's name in over-the-top dramatic fashion the way she used to, which McAfee acknowledged on the broadcast on commentary.
From there, the bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Baszler and Stark dominate the action straight out of the gate, taking it to Green for the most part and utilizing their submission skills and taking the fight to the former champs on the floor at ringside. Back in the ring, they ultimately finish them off for the quick victory.
Winners: Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark
Cody Rhodes, Seth "Freakin'" Rollins Talk WrestleMania XL
We shoot backstage and see Cody Rhodes walking the hall way area as Michael Cole and Pat McAfee inform us that we will hear from "The American Nightmare" -- next. On that note, at 53 minutes past the hour, we finally head into our first commercial time out of the evening.
As we settle back in from the break, we see a "68 days away" graphic for WrestleMania XL and then return inside Amalie Arena, where we hear the familiar sounds of Cody Rhodes' entrance music. Out comes Cody Rhodes in a suit as the fans in Tampa sing along with his theme song as he makes his way to the ring with pyro exploding in the background.
He settles in the ring after being introduced by Samantha Irvin as the winner of the 2023 and 2024 Royal Rumble. He asks her to please say it again. She does. He talks about the honor of winning the Royal Rumble for the second year in a row. He talks about how he's now got the chance to "finish the story" at WrestleMania XL.
Seth "Freakin'" Rollins' theme hits and out comes the WWE World Heavyweight Champion to join Cody in the ring. He gets on the mic and talks about how he has come to respect Cody after the two spent so long not seeing eye to eye or getting along.
He says he knows Cody has thought about nothing else for the last year but Roman Reigns, but he suggests his title be the one he challenge for at WrestleMania. He talks about making towns with Cody and how it was he in the main event, not Roman Reigns. He talks about Reigns not being the guy anymore, he's the guy.
He goes on for a while longer trying to convince Cody. Cody eventually responds and simply says he respects Seth and that he will think about it. Cody turns and exits the ring and walks to the back and Seth likes that he thinks he has Cody thinking. That's how an entertaining segment wraps up.
"Main Event" Jey Uso vs. "Big" Bronson Reed
We cut to The New Day backstage and Kofi Kingston cuts a direct-to-camera promo about his opportunity against GUNTHER tonight for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Back inside the arena, the theme for "Main Event" Jey Uso hits and out he comes for our next match of the evening.
The "Yeet!" master settles in the ring to a big pop and we head into a pre-match commercial break. We return to footage of former NXT Champion Bron Breakker's exceptional showing in the Men's Royal Rumble match from this past Saturday night. Back live, "Big" Bronson Reed's theme hits and out he comes, where he settles in the ring.
The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Uso starts off strong as the fans rally behind him, but the bigger, stronger Reed starts to take over. The fans boo as Reed pummels "Main Event" Jey down into the mat. Uso knocks Reed out to the floor and dives through the ropes to splash on him.
Reed goes to splash Uso on the ring post on the floor, but Uso moves and Reed splashes into the steel directly. As he crashes and burns on the floor, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as this one-on-one showdown continues on the post-Royal Rumble episode of Monday Night Raw.
As we return from the break, we see Reed is back in control of the action. He works over Uso in the ring as the fans try and rally behind "Main Event" Jey. He hits a big Death Valley Driver for a close near fall attempt, but Uso kicks out and takes over from there, finishing off an offensive run with a top-rope Uso splash for the pin fall victory.
Winner: "Main Event" Jey Uso
Andrade Signs With Raw, Bron Breakker Signing With SmackDown?
Now we head backstage where a beaming Adam Pearce is with Andrade, who signs a new contract to join the Monday Night Raw roster when in walks SmackDown General Manager. He is bummed that Andrade joined Raw and mentioned how he had a very handsome offer for him.
Andrade tells Aldis to say hello to someone for him and walks off. Aldis and Pearce talk and Pearce is passively-aggressively rubbing it in that he just signed Andrade. Aldis says they need to talk about the Elimination Chamber but then gets a phone call from Bron Breakker. He says he's got to take this and walks off.
WWE Intercontinental Championship
GUNTHER (C) vs. Kofi Kingston
In a different area backstage, we see the longest-reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion of all-time, GUNTHER. "The Ring General" and Imperium leader talks about his showdown tonight against former WWE Champion and The New Day member Kofi Kingston.
He tells Kofi to leave it all in the ring because after he beats him tonight, he'll move on and never think about him ever again. After this wraps up, we shift gears and head into a pre-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, Becky Lynch is featured in a quick backstage interview. She talks about coming up short in the Women's Royal Rumble match this past Saturday. She says since plan A is out, she's on to plan B, which ends with her taking the title back to the main event where it deserves.
Back inside the arena, The New Day theme hits and out comes Kofi Kingston by himself for our next match of the evening. Kingston heads to the ring and settles inside for his Intercontinental title opportunity. His music dies down and he awaits the arrival of his opposition.
Now the theme for GUNTHER hits and out comes the longest-reigning I-C champ of all-time. He settles in the ring and his music dies down. WWE ring announcer Samantha Irvin handles the final formal pre-match ring introductions for the champion and the challenger and then the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running.
Straight out of the gate we see the champ take it to Kingston, focusing his offensive attack on the leg of the former WWE Champion. He cuts him down to size and keeps him on the mat, where he slaps on a single-leg Boston crab as Kingston yells in pain. On that note, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as the action continues.
We're back from the break and we see GUNTHER still dominating the action with ease in the ring. Kingston starts to fire up for a comeback, and gets in some moves that gets the crowd on their feet, but ultimately "The Ring General" lives up to the moniker and shows his ring generalship, taking back over on offense as we head into another mid-match break.
As we settle back in from our second mid-match advertising time out, we see Kingston finally fight back for real and hit several trademark spots, including his S.o.S. and a Trouble in Paradise attempt.
Seconds later, GUNTHER takes back over and hit a power bomb to finish him off for the pin fall victory. With the win, GUNTHER retains his WWE Intercontinental Championship. After the match wraps up, we see Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci hit the ring to beat down Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston.
Winner and STILL WWE Intercontinental Champion: GUNTHER
Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Championship
The Kabuki Warriors (C) vs. Natalya & Tegan Nox
Back inside Amalie Arena, the theme for the reigning and defending Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Champions hits and out comes the Damage CTRL duo known as The Kabuki Warriors -- Asuka and Kairi Sane. They settle in the ring and their theme music continues as we head into a pre-match commercial break.
When we return from the advertising time out, we see Tegan Nox and Natalya make their way down to the ring as we are reminded of Tegan Nox eliminating Nattie from the Women's Royal Rumble over the weekend after Nattie tried first to eliminate Nox. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one.
We see The Kabuki Warriors jump into an early offensive lead and work over Natalya in the middle of the ring. Pat McAfee points out how they are "feeding boots to her face right now," as she continues to try and make it to her corner to make the much-needed tag to the fresher Nox. We head into a mid-match commercial break as the match continues.
As we settle back in from the break, we see Nattie and Nox doing well, but when Nattie needs the tag, Nox isn't there and ultimately the champs take back over and finish this one off with the win to retain. After the match, Kayden Carter and Katana Chance reveal to Jackie Redmond backstage that they have been granted their title rematch next week on Raw.
Winners and STILL Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Champions: The Kabuki Warriors
Bayley Gloats, Nia Jax Attacks Rhea Ripley
The winner of the 2024 Women's Royal Rumble, Bayley is introduced. The Damage CTRL member makes her way out and heads to the ring for a rare Raw appearance. As she settles inside the squared circle, we shift gears and head into another quick commercial break.
When we return from the break, we see footage from Saturday's PLE of Bayley winning the Women's Royal Rumble match. Back live, we see Bayley in the ring with the rest of Damage CTRL. She touts IYO SKY being the WWE Women's Champion, The Kabuki Warriors being the Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Champions and herself being the 2024 Women's Royal Rumble winner.
Bayley goes on to gloat about beating Rhea Ripley's record from last year for the longest time in a Women's Royal Rumble match. She goes to continue talking, but the theme music for Rhea Ripley hits. Ripley comes out and says Bayley only broke her record because she wasn't in the match.
As Ripley talks about how Bayley would be making a mistake to call her out for a WWE Women's World Championship opportunity at WrestleMania XL, she is ambushed and attacked from behind by Nia Jax. Jax beats Ripley down and brings her into the ring where she drops the big leg on her three times as Damage CTRL simply stands back and watches.
Nia Jax then walks over towards Damage CTRL. The entire group, outside of Bayley, exit the ring. Nia then intimidates Bayley, backing her into the corner and telling her she can call out IYO SKY or whoever else she wants, but Rhea Ripley isn't making it to WrestleMania. Bayley says she's gonna make her decision on Friday's SmackDown.
Sami Zayn vs. Drew McIntyre
It's main event time!
The theme music for Sami Zayn hits and out he comes for his first Raw appearance in months. He gets a big pop as he settles in the ring. Michael Cole reminds us that he has been on the sidelines for a few months due to a savage attack from Drew McIntyre. He reminds us what went down in tonight's opening segment between the two and then we head into a pre-match commercial break.
When we return, we see Drew McIntyre backstage with Jackie Redmond for a quick pre-match interview. He says he hasn't done anything he hasn't said he was gonna do. He also gloats about how Sami Zayn has never beaten him before. He says, "Hit my music" and walks off in his ring gear ready for battle.
The entrance tune hits inside Amalie Arena and out comes "The Scottish Warrior" for our final match of the evening. He settles inside the squared circle and the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running. Early on, McIntyre dominates the action. As the fight spills out to the floor, Drew launches Sami across the commentary desk like a rag doll.
Sami starts to fight back as we head into a mid-match commercial break as our main event of the evening continues here on the post-Royal Rumble episode of Monday Night Raw.
As we settle back in from our final commercial break of the evening, we see McIntyre beating Zayn down some more when the fan-favorite finally starts to show signs of life. He fights back into competitive form and even starts to take over. He hits a Blue Thunder Bomb and some other trademark spots. Zayn takes McIntyre to the top-rope and connects with a big super-plex.
He can't capitalize with a quick cover, however, he stalks McIntyre in the corner and waits for him to get up. He looks for the Helluva Kick, but McIntyre explodes out of the corner upon getting up and blasts him. He sets up Sami for the Claymore Kick, but Zayn sees it coming and counters with another Blue Thunder Bomb.
"The Scottish Warrior" fights back with a belly-to-belly suplex and then a kip-up. He has an evil look on his face and he connects with White Noise on Zayn for a super close near fall attempt. Now McIntyre is starting to look discouraged in the face. He yells at Zayn and says he has balls, but tells him some people are too good, and he's one of them.
Just as he says this, Zayn blasts him with a punch in the mouth and then he starts taking over again. Once more he looks for the Helluva Kick but as he covers up, he blasts Zayn with a low blow. He looks like it was an accident but he quickly capitalizes with a Claymore Kick for the win. He stops the ref from checking on Zayn and demands he raise his hand in victory first. That's how this week's show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!
Winner: Drew McIntyre