Tag: RAW

Pat McAfee Officially Re-Joins WWE, Will Serve On Raw Announce Team With Michael Cole

Fresh off his appearance on commentary for WWE Royal Rumble, as well as briefly appearing in the men’s Royal Rumble match itself, former “WWE SmackDown” commentator Pat McAfee is back and will be on the desk with Michael Cole on Monday nights for “WWE Raw” moving forward.

Just like Royal Rumble, McAfee’s music once again kicked off the show on Monday, and he headed down to join Cole, who made the announcement. Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett was previously on the call with Cole. McAfee, who hosts “The Pat McAfee Show” throughout the week on ESPN, had previously teased a return to commentary following Kevin Patrick’s release.

The former punter for the Indianapolis Colts began his career with WWE in 2018 as a pre-show analyst for “WWE NXT” TakeOver events. In 2021, McAfee moved to “SmackDown” as a color commentator alongside Cole. He’s also previously mixed it up in the ring, feuding with Adam Cole when the now-AEW star competed in “NXT.” McAfee even wrestled at WrestleMania 38, defeating Austin Theory before losing to Vince McMahon (in what’s likely his final WrestleMania appearance in light of his recent resignation following allegations of abuse and sex trafficking) and taking a stunner from “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. McAfee took a hiatus from his commentary gig when he joined ESPN’s “College GameDay” in 2022.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Raw Preview 1/29/2024

WWE Raw airs live tonight on the USA Network from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.

  • Fallout from the Royal Rumble
  • WWE Intercontinental Championship: Gunther (c) vs. Kofi Kingston
  • WWE Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Judgment Day (Finn Balor & Damain Priest) (c) vs. DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa
  • Bronson Reed vs. Jey Uso

WWE Announces Netflix As The New Broadcast Home For RAW Beginning In 2025

WWE has announced this morning that “WWE Raw” — the promotion’s weekly flagship show — will move to Netflix in January 2025. The new long-term partnership will see the red brand show initially broadcast on the streaming platform in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Latin America. More countries will be added in the future. Additionally, Netflix will become the home of all weekly WWE shows, as well as premium live events such as WrestleMania, for international fans.

The WWE-Netflix deal is reportedly worth $5 billion over ten years. It means that WWE, owned by TKO Group Holdings, will earn $500 million a year from the new media rights agreement. “Raw’s” current deal with USA Network, which will expire in October, is said to be worth up to $260 million per year. Meanwhile, the new partnership with Netflix will see “Raw” leave linear television for the first time since the show began airing in 1993.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

It is still undecided where RAW will air between the end of the current USA deal and the start of the Netflix deal.

WWE RAW Preview 1/22/2024

WWE RAW airs live tonight on the USA Network from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA.

  • Seth Rollins will kick off the show to address his future as WWE Champion
  • Drew McIntyre vs. Damian Priest
  • Cody Rhodes and CM Punk face-to-face.
  • Chad Gable vs. Ivar
  • Ivy Nile vs. Valhalla
  • The Miz vs. Dominik Mysterio

Update On Seth Rollins Injury Sustained On WWE RAW

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins reportedly did not suffer an ACL tear when he was injured during his title defense against Jinder Mahal on Monday’s episode of “WWE Raw,” but he did sustain a torn MCL and partially torn meniscus, according to Fightful Select, which cited sources near Rollins. It’s not currently known if the injuries will require surgery or how WWE will alter creative plans going forward.

The champion was reportedly pulled from the lineup for this weekend’s WWE live events in Alabama and Mississippi and replaced by Randy Orton.

WrestleVotes posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Friday that Rollins will address his health and future as champion on the January 22 episode of “Raw,” the last Monday before the Royal Rumble.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Seth Rollins Reportedly Injured In WWE Raw Main Event – UPDATE

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins reportedly suffered an injury in his main event match against Jinder Mahal on this week’s “WWE Raw.”

According to Wade Keller of “PWTorch,” Rollins was limping backstage following the match after seemingly suffering an injury to his left leg and was guided to the back by WWE officials. The report stated that the WWE star would be assessed to ascertain the extent of the injury. Rollins, who won the match and retained the World Heavyweight Championship, finished the match despite showing some signs of injury during the bout with Mahal.

“The Visionary” got the win despite Indus Sher, Mahal’s lackeys, interfering in the match, while Rollins also had to deal with the prospect of men’s Money in the Bank winner Damian Priest potentially cashing in his contract as The Judgment Day member was ringside for the match. Drew McIntyre, who lost to Rollins earlier this month, attacked Priest and the two took their feud backstage, and Rollins later hit the Stomp to get the win over the former WWE Champion. 

The WWE star has been a workhorse champion, wrestling constantly on “Raw,” as well as premium live events and house shows since winning the World Heavyweight Champion at last year’s Night of Champions in May. Rollins currently does not have a match scheduled for the upcoming Royal Rumble premium live event, which is slated to occur in under two weeks on January 27, 2024. This situation may allow him to recover and prepare for his rumored WrestleMania feud with CM Punk.

UPDATE

According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Rollins will be undergoing tests to determine the severity of the injury to his left leg. Rollins reportedly was helped to the back by WWE officials after being seen limping during a promo following the broadcast. Social media videos posted to X show the champion addressing the crowd after the match, with Rollins noticeably putting weight on his right leg and limping.

“I just know he’s getting an MRI and then we’ll find out … Basically, I was told that it could be something minor, could be something worse. We won’t know until the MRI result comes back,” Meltzer said. In the promo, Rollins addressed the Arkansas weather. He thanked the crowd for coming and told them to get home safely. As the video ends, Rollins can be seen handing off the microphone and limping away. According to Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, the latest word from WWE officials is they will likely know more about the injury on Wednesday or Thursday. As of this writing, Rollins has yet to address the injury himself.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 1/15/2024

Tonight’s WWE RAW Live on USA Network from the Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, AR.

  • World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Jinder Mahal
  • The Miz & R-Truth vs. Judgment Day (Fin Balor & Damian Priest)
  • Judgment Day (Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh) vs. #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa)
  • WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunther returns

WWE RAW Preview 1/8/2024

WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.

  • We will hear from CM Punk
  • Cody Rhodes vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Katana Chance and Kayden Carter (c) vs. Chelsea Green and Piper Niven
  • Sit-down interview with R-Truth
  • Cody Rhodes vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
  • JD McDonagh vs. The Miz

Kofi Kingston vs. Ludwig Kaiser

AEW Boss Tony Khan Addresses WWE/WBD Rumors

Rumors have circulated about the possibility of WWE moving “WWE Raw” from The USA Network to a Warner Bros Discovery channel, possibly TBS or TNT, which would put them in conflict with WBD’s current wrestling product, All Elite Wrestling. As a major year for media rights negotiations, in wrestling and beyond, AEW President Tony Khan is seemingly unfazed by the rumors.

“It’s part of sports. Everybody discusses contracts and free agency and things of that nature,” Khan told “Going Ringside” on News4JAX. “I think everybody’s aware that everybody’s gonna be talking to everybody in the media this coming year. So they’ll certainly be a lot of opportunities. We have a great history with Warner Bros. Discovery and continue to produce great ratings so we should be in a very good position next year.”

WBD’s negotiations with both WWE and AEW are likely hamstrung by the media conglomerate’s current negotiations with the National Basketball Association, as NBA programming has been the central pillar of the Turner Networks programming and the amount of money offered to either promotion would likely be affected by whether or not WBD retains the Basketball league. AEW has been with WBD since the beginning of the wrestling promotion, which premiered “AEW Dynamite” on WBD networks in 2019, soon adding “AEW Collision,” “AEW Rampage,” and quarterly “Battle of the Belts” specials.

WWE has already signed a deal with The CW to bring “WWE NXT” there in 2025 when its current deal with USA is up, and USA has already landed the rights to “WWE SmackDown,” which is set to move from Fox.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

The Rock Returns To WWE Raw On New Year’s Day, Teases Challenge Against Roman Reigns

After tons of speculation this week about “a former WWE champion” returning to WWE on tonight’s episode of “Raw,” the thousands of fans in the San Diego, California crowd, and the millions at home let out an audible sigh when Jinder Mahal hit the ring. But as “The Modern Day Maharaja” chastised the United States, expectations boomed for something more, and none other than The Rock made his way down the ramp, sending the place into a frenzy. From there, things only got more intriguing.

As Rock sang a custom rendition of the United States National Anthem to Mahal, things ended with more physicality than we’ve seen from “The People’s Champion” in several years, hammering Mahal with his trademark right hands, dropping him with a Spinebuster, and putting an end the altercation, of course, with The People’s Elbow.

From there, Rock thanked San Diego, told the crowd he loved them, and said he was hungry. He noted plans to go out and get something to eat but asked the crowd if he should sit in a booth, or maybe at the bar (which drew a pop from the audience, gleefully ending the holiday season themselves), or maybe, just maybe, he should take a seat at the head of the table.

Could that finally mean what the collective would think it to mean? Common sense would say that he wouldn’t utter those specific words without a specific payoff in mind. With WrestleMania season right around the corner, as well as a massive Elimination Chamber event in Perth, Australia, the conversation is only just getting started.

Source: Wrestling Inc.