WWE is sparing no expense for their upcoming January 6th premiere of RAW on Netflix. On Wednesday WWE held a “RAW on Netflix Kickoff” at the WWE Global Headquarters. The event gave those in attendance and watching on streaming a taste of what could be an arguably WrestleMania-caliber card live on Netflix from the new Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
WWE NETFLIX DEAL BACKGROUND
To recap, in late January, WWE and Netflix announced the landmark agreement to move Raw to the streaming service in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Latin America, and other territories. Outside of the states, Netflix will also be the new home for SmackDown and NXT. The deal was worth $5 billion for 10 years.
ALSO SEE: WWE AND NETFLIX GET US READY FOR THEIR RAW DEBUT IN JANUARY
The event started with Michael Cole and Paul “Triple H” Levesque hyping up the crowd about the new era that will start on January 6th on Netflix. They were then joined by Adam Pierce who made the first announcement of the night. A new superstar will be joining the RAW brand, Logan Paul.
RHEA RIPLEY VS. LIV MORGAN FOR THE WWE WOMEN’S WORLD TITLE
The first match to be previewed and announced at the Kickoff was Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan for the Women’s World Title. On stage was Ripley and Morgan along with Raquel Rodriguez and Dominique Mysterio. “Morgan is nothing but a coward,” said Ripley. “And on Netflix, I’ll remind her why I’m the most dominant champion in WWE.”
Even Cole had to admit that Morgan has had quite the 2024, even saying she could be the 2024 superstar of the year. This is something that Morgan also echoed and used to boost her confidence. “2024 is the year of Monday Night Morgan. Rhea Ripley doesn’t scare me, and I’ll prove that when I retain my title.”
A KEVIN OWENS SURPRISE
Before the show could continue, it was interrupted by a delusional Kevin Owens. By the end of Saturday Night’s Main Event, Owens had lost the match, injured Cody Rhodes, and stolen the Winged Eagle title. Now at the “RAW on Netflix Kickoff”, Owens proclaimed himself WWE Champion. His microphone was cut off and he was escorted out.
TRIBAL COMBAT: SOLO SIKOA VS. ROMAN REIGNS
One of the most anticipated matches of that Monday Night RAW is Solo Sikoa vs. Roman Reigns. They will fight in a no-rules Tribal Combat match for the Ula Fala and the right to be called, Tribal Chief. On hand was the new Bloodline. Sikoa demanded that WWE Headquarters acknowledge him. He was interrupted by Paul Heyman, who eloquently described the importance of the match.
“It’s about who is the real tribal chief, and at tribal combat we find out that one man is the reigning defending undisputed tribal chief, and the other man is just part of a long list of men who tried and ended up a wanna-be tribal chief”, proclaimed Hayman.
THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION GUNTHER
Strangely enough, RAW’s champion (for the moment) does not have a match on the January 6th Netflix premiere. But he did take the time to address the idea of Logan Paul’s earlier comments of wanting to challenge for the title.
If Logan Paul thinks he can walk in here and take this away from me, if he ever makes it to the top of the line to challenge me for the World Heavyweight Championship, it will be my duty and my pleasure to slap that stupid smirk out of his face”, said Gunther.
CM PUNK VS. SETH ROLLINS
The Kickoff event wrapped up with one of the most highly anticipated matches on the card, CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins. This has been a match in the making since CM Punk’s 2023 Survivor Series: War Games return. That night while the crowd roared and cheered for the returning superstar, a furious Rollins practically had to be held back. This was meant to be a WrestleMania match, but an injury to Punk forced a change in plans.
Now on January 6th, on Monday Night Raw on Netflix, it will all be settled between the two. “This is one of the most anticipated matches in the history of our business,” said Michael Cole.
Let us know what matches you are looking forward to on his huge, Monday Night RAW on Netflix. Or how do you feel about the move to a streaming service after so many years on cable television?
