Winners, News And Notes On January 24, 2022

WWE Raw advertised Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley coming face-to-face in a weigh-in ahead of their clash at the 2022 Royal Rumble. Miz also advertised a “Must-See Birthday Party” for Maryse and a battle of wits between RK-Bro and Alpha Academy.

Last week’s broadcast of Raw drew 1.613 million viewers.

• January 10, 2022—1.613 million
• January 3, 2022—1.716 million
• December 27, 2021—1.592 million
• December 20, 2021—1.553 million
• December 13, 2021—1.574 million

• WWE Raw Venue: Huntington Center (Toledo, Ia.)
• WWE Raw Tickets Distributed: 5,605
• WWE Raw Tickets Available: 323

WWE Raw Total YouTube Viewership Last Monday—9,687,891 (Down from 10,626,148)

• Most-Viewed: Bobby Lashley vs. Seth “Freakin’” Rollins (2,188,176 views)
• Least-Viewed: Veer Vignette (105,777 views)
• Median Viewership: 655,0014 views

WWE Raw Results | Monday, January 24, 2022

Bobby Lashely vs. Brock Lesnar Weigh-In

The weight scale WWE used for this segment looked like it came from a carnival. I was waiting for a test of strength challenge with a mallet.

Brock Lesnar has become a fashion plate in his latest run. This week, we got cowboy hat Brock.

Just days before a big match at Royal Rumble, Brock Lesnar was clapping hands and I’m sure Vince McMahon was holding his breath backstage with Omicron still prevalent.

Brock Lesnar continues to pretend not to know who Bobby Lashley is. I get that’s the storyline, but I don’t know if that’s the best way to book this Clash of the Titans.

Bianca Belair def. Zelina Vega

Bianca Belair feels like the favorite to win the women’s Royal Rumble, however I expect a host of surprises

Bianca Belair looked fantastic in what amounted to being a glorified squash match. Judging by this match, you would have never known that Zelina Vega won the Queen’s Crown tournament.

Kevin Owens def. Damian Priest by Disqualification—United States Championship

Damian and Priest are two different versions of Damian Priest, so do they each get to enter the Royal Rumble?

Damian Priest was admonished by Sonya Deville backstage following this match, but was she admonishing Damian or Priest?

Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan def. Carmella and Tamina

I don’t know if the noise was piped in, but during a series of backstage promos for the women’s Royal Rumble, Liv Morgan easily got the biggest pop. In fact, whether it was piped in or not, both would be good signs for Morgan.

Carmella broke up a pinfall at the very last second, and I mean the absolute last second.

Nikki A.S.H. needs to start wearing black if she’s truly going to become a supervillain.

RK-Bro def. Alpha Academy—Spelling Bee

In the most sports entertainment stipulation ever, this Spelling Bee—and a triad of events—will determine whether or not RK-Bro will get a rematch for the Raw Tag Team Championships.

Chad Gable used cheap heat to incite this Ohio crowd, but the heat ended up being very, very loud.

Kevin Patrick showed poor house training by stepping all over a loud RK-Bro chant.

The “Don’t Boo Education” t-shirts are set to come out any second now.

Judging by the reaction Riddle gets for all these weed references, WWE really needs to consider letting him open an online dispensary on WWEShop.com.

This spelling bee was wildly entertaining.

Randy Orton def. Chad Gable

For a minute it looked like Chad Gable—who not too long ago was saddled with a death sentence of a Shorty G gimmick—was going to beat Randy Orton. That alone tells you how far he’s come.

Riddle used a scooter as a weapon and even the worked shots on Otis didn’t look like they felt good.

Alexa Bliss Therapy Session

Today, I learned Lilly was a coping mechanism from Alexa Bliss’ childhood trauma.

If that therapist had any idea how many Lilly dolls WWE has sold, he’d give her a clean bill of health.

Austin Theory vs. AJ Styles

It’s starting to seem more and more like WWE dropped the storyline between AJ Styles and Omos. Styles is now exclusively playing the role of the veteran getting over young talent as he’s feuding with both Austin Theory and Grayson Waller.

AJ Styles has slowly become WWE’s resident player-coach.

While trying to cheat to win, Austin Theory made a rookie mistake by putting his feet on the top ropes, instead of the bottom.

Becky Lynch and Doudrop come Face to Face

Similar to the Universal Championship feud, this is an awkward heel vs. heel feud. Coming out of this segment, I didn’t know whose side I should be on and neither did the audience.

Doudrop pulled up on Becky Lynch by the end of this segment.

The Mysterios def. The Street Profits

Rey Mysterio on the cover of a WWE video game is well-deserved, but it’s also an indictment of WWE’s inability to create a new star.

Both the Mysterios and the Street Profits took turns eliminating one another to play up the “Every Man for themself” theme.

Maryse’s Birthday Celebration

I don’t know whether or not the portrait was made just for this segment, but Miz and Maryse should get to keep it.

Corey Graves referred to Miz and Maryse’s portrait as an “original Schamberger.”

At this point, a wrestler not appearing in the giant box (as a swerve) is almost as commonplace as a wrestler showing up in one.