WWE RAW Live Coverage - February 5th, 2024
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Cody Rhodes to face Shinsuke Nakamura in a Bull Rope Match!
Cody Rhodes will channel his father, WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, when he takes on Shinsuke Nakamura in one of The American Dream's signature matches, a Bull Rope Match! With WrestleMania XL looming, the 2024 Royal Rumble winner is coming off an explosive Friday Night SmackDown that saw The Rock come face to face with Universal Champion Roman Reigns. The following day at a WWE Live Event, Nakamura attacked The American Nightmare which caused Raw General Manager Adam Pearce to make the match between the Superstars official. Will Rhodes continue his winning ways on the road to WrestleMania, or will Nakamura prove to be one of his greatest threats?
:raw:
– This week's show kicks off with a lengthy video package looking back at the WWE Royal Rumble 2024 premium live event from 9 days ago, as well as what happened on Friday's SmackDown with Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes and The Rock.
– We then shoot live inside the Enterprise Center in St. Louis where Seth "Freakin'" Rollins' theme hits and out comes the WWE World Heavyweight Champion to kick off this week's show. He gets in the ring and acknowledges the big pop he got. He does his opening catchphrases, which the fans say with him, and he again compliments himself on the level of pop he is getting.
Rollins mentions how he smelled what was cooking on Friday night and after the show, he's got more questions than answers. He says it sounds like the crowd wants Cody Rhodes. He says good news, he does too. He tells Cody to come on down. The theme for "The American Nightmare" hits and out he comes to a massive pop of his own to help get things started this week.
Michael Cole mentions Cody Rhodes trending worldwide on Twitter for three consecutive days. Pat McAfee then mentions the specific "#WeWantCody" hashtag. "Well, we got 'em!" He settles in the ring and his music dies down as Cole informs us about the Bullrope match he has tonight with Shinsuke Nakamura. The two look at each other and fans begin chanting "Rocky sucks!" after Cody asks what we want to talk about.
Rollins admits he wasn't expecting that. Cole asks on commentary if it's 1996 again. The fans chant "We Want Cody!" Rollins says he's been where Cody has been before and he gets it, but he needs answers. He says he meant what he said last week and stands by the words he spoke. He tells Cody they both need this match. He says he needs to know if he's better than the last time they squared off.
He needs to know if he's the best. He wants to test himself against the best, "And Cody Rhodes, you are the best!" He wants answers and asks Cody outright if he's gonna fight him at WrestleMania. The fans chant "No! No! No!" and before Cody can respond, the sword slice is heard and out comes "The Scottish Warrior." Drew McIntyre heads to the ring to a mixed reaction, mostly negative.
McIntyre talks about CM Punk and says he even had a t-shirt made for it. He takes his sweater off to reveal a shirt made out of his recent X post with a photo of him kneeling to CM Punk's WrestleMania grave. McIntyre tells Cody he needs to "Finish His Story." He tells him to think of the work in the ring and the media events he's done. He says he's earned his moment and tells him not to let everyone down. He says don't let your dad down.
Seth tells Drew, "Hey, look. You don't gotta be a prick, alright?" He asks Drew why he thinks if Cody doesn't accept his challenge, why he automatically assumes he'll get the title match at WrestleMania. Drew brings up outside reasons he lost to Rollins and says Rollins lost three times to Cody. McIntyre calls Seth the workhorse champ and mocks Roman Reigns saying everyone knows how his matches are gonna end, his family is gonna interfere.
Cody goes to talk but Drew tells him to let him finish. He says Seth did a good job bringing the title this far, but it's time for Drew to take it from here. He hits Rollins with a cheap shot. Cody fights Drew in defense of Rollins and he decks Drew, who rolls out of the ring. Cody's theme hits as he stares down Drew on the floor to end the opening segment of this week's show.
– We then see Becky Lynch arriving backstage as Cole points out she has an Elimination Chamber qualifier against Shayna Baszler tonight. We also see Katana Chance and Kayden Carter arriving to the building as Cole promotes their title shot against The Kabuki Warriors later this evening.
Fatal-4-Way Tag-Team Championship Qualifier: The New Day vs. Imperium vs. DIY vs. The Creed Brothers
We head to a commercial break as the entrances begin for the Raw Fatal-4-Way Tag-Team Title Qualifier match. When we return, Imperium, DIY and The Creed Brothers are in the ring. The New Day's theme hits and out they come as the fourth and final team in this high stakes bout. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with our first match of this week's show.
Tommaso Ciampa and Xavier Woods kick things off as the first two legal participants in the bout. Ciampa slaps on a side head lock, but Woods escapes and takes over. Cole points out the new aggressive style Woods has been showing as of late. He tags in Kofi Kingston, who hits a big springboard spot.
We shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see Ludwig Kaiser working over Kofi Kingston. As the action continues, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see Ludwig Kaiser working over Kofi Kingston. We build to a sequence where DIY hits a double dive, Julius Creed hits a big top-rope flip to the floor and Ciampa turns Woods upside down and leaps backwards with an Avalanche White Noise onto a pile of bodies on the floor. Wow.
From there, we shift gears and head into another mid-match commercial as the action in this high stakes opener continues. We return from the break to some more multi-person high spots, including an insane stacked spot in the corner involving everyone in the match. Julius Creed hits a big top-rope moonsault for a close near fall after that, which gets broken up.
Everyone ends up on the floor, and Giovanni Vinci is visibly limping pretty bad. Brutus Creed comes off the top-rope with a big Brutus Ball to a pile of bodies on the floor. Back in the ring, Brutus hits another Brutus Ball, but he's not the legal man. Ciampa, who is, takes advantage and he and Gargano hit their finisher for the victory. With the win, DIY will move on to challenge Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne to determine The Judgment Day's next title challengers.
Winners: DIY
– After the match, we head to the backstage area where we see Shayna Baszler in her gear talking directly into camera about how she's gonna destroy Becky Lynch tonight. We see Becky Lynch walking with a look of determination on her face as she talks into the camera about how she's gonna win tonight and move on to take the WWE Women's Championship after winning the Women's Elimination Chamber match.
Women's Elimination Chamber Qualifier: Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler
Becky Lynch's theme hits inside the arena and out comes "The Man" to a big pop. She settles in the ring for this Women's Chamber Qualifier bout as we head into a pre-match commercial break.
When we return, the theme for Shayna Baszler hits and out she comes. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. We see Lynch taking it to Baszler early on as Zoey Stark is shown watching backstage. It is mentioned that Stark will face Liv Morgan in a qualifier bout next week.
We see some more back-and-forth action, with Baszler coming closer and closer to finishing Lynch off. In the end, however, it is "Big Time Becks" who manages to fight her way to a hard-earned victory. With the win, she qualifies for the Women's Elimination Chamber match.
Winner: Becky Lynch
– We shoot backstage and we see Cathy Kelley standing by with Liv Morgan. She talks about losing a year of her career and mentions how she's coming back next week for a Women's Elimination Chamber Qualifier match against Zoey Stark. She vows revenge on Rhea Ripley. We head to another commercial break.
– When we return, we see Drew McIntyre busting Adam Pearce's balls about Rhea Ripley coming out unannounced to the ring and looking unhappy. Pearce heads off to deal with that. We settle inside the arena where "Mami" heads to the ring. She gets on the mic and brings up Becky Lynch qualifying for the Women's Chamber. She says she's not out here to talk about that.
Ripley loses her cool and says she's out here to call out Nia Jax for a one-on-one fight. She says she's gonna rip Nia's head off. As she continues ranting, Raw G.M. Adam Pearce comes out telling her this is not the time for this. Pearce says Ripley can have Jax, with her title on the line, at the WWE Elimination Chamber 2024 PLE.
Pearce asks Ripley to head to the back so they can continue the show, but before she can exit the ring, Nia Jax's theme hits. She power walks out and Ripley exits the ring to meet her half way. They brawl in the ring as Pearce freaks out and calls for security to come down and break things up.
They do, temporarily. Jax ends up breaking free and splashing Ripley before laying out security. She hits her finisher on a laid out Ripley and leaves her down and out as she heads to the back.
– The theme for Alpha Academy hits and out comes Akira Tozawa and Maxxine Dupri for scheduled mixed tag-team action. On that note, we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break.
Akira Tozawa & Maxxine Dupri vs. Ivar & Valhalla
When we return, Ivar and Valhalla make their way out. Valhalla isn't wearing the deer antlers, and for some reason that led to Cole babbling for about two or three minutes about the role those antlers play in her success in the ring.
From there, the bell sounds and we get this one officially off-and-running. Maxxine Dupri does well early on, but then hits back-to-back botches. For some reason she chose then to do the "THANK YOU!" self-congratulatory crowd-call, and they all boo her. Ouch. Seconds later, Valhalla and Ivar pick up the win.
Winners: Ivar & Valhalla
– Backstage, we see The Judgment Day in their clubhouse. They talk about Rhea Ripley being okay but pissed. They laugh at what Nia Jax has coming for her with someone like "Mami" so pissed off. They prep JD McDonagh for The Miz and then R-Truth comes in.
They all get annoyed with Truth and one-by-one leave, with Finn Balor last leaving and telling Damian Priest he can't deal with him. Priest exhales but ultimately tells Truth "screw it, make yourself at home," and walks off. Truth finds a box of shirts and gets an idea.
JD McDonagh vs. The Miz
We return inside the arena where JD McDonagh's theme hits. Out he comes accompanied by "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio. The two head to the ring, where McDonagh will be going one-on-one against The Miz. As he settles in the ring, we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break.
When we return, The Miz does a quick backstage interview with Jackie Redmond and then heads out to the ring. The bell sounds and off we go with this one. After some back-and-forth action, McDonagh settles into the offensive lead as we head into a mid-match commercial break.
As we settle back in from the break, we see R-Truth come out in a yellow vender vest to give out the Judgment Day t-shirts he found in the clubhouse earlier. He ends up at ringside, where he pulls a shirt over Dom-Dom, allowing Miz to super kick him. In the ring, McDonagh hits a big moonsault.
McDonagh goes for the pin after the big top-rope spot connects, but Miz kicks out. McDonagh gets distracted by Truth, who hops on the ring apron with a bunch of cash to give him as his cut of the t-shirt sales. McDonagh smiles and takes the cash, but then Miz hits a Skull Crushing Finale for the win. After the match, Truth poses with Miz and smirks like he did it on purpose.
Winner: The Miz
– A video package airs to promote the Undisputed Women's Tag-Team title bout later tonight and then we return in Adam Pearce's office. The Raw G.M. is dealing with Imperium, who want to make sure GUNTHER's 600-day Intercontinental Championship Celebration goes perfect. Bron Breakker ends up coming in. We head to another break.
– When we return, we see a video segment showing CM Punk getting triceps surgery and starting his road to recovery. He vows his return will be the greatest in history.
Ludwig Kaiser is in the ring with Giovanni Vinci, which is decked out with the Imperium columns and other decorations. Laiser does the overly dramtic ring introduction for "The Ring General" and out comes the longest-reigning I-C champ in WWE history.
The Imperium leader babbles and self-boasts for a while until finally "Main Event" Jey Uso's theme hits and he comes out. He leads a sea of fans in his wave, which Pat McAfee hops on his chair to do with him. He talks about GUNTHER's reign, and GUNTHER talks about Uso's tag-team success, but then mocks him for only doing half the work.
Things end up getting unpleasant between the two, especially when GUNTHER shoves Jey and insults him some more. Uso and GUNTHER end up duking it out and brawling to end things after Uso makes his ambitions on taking his I-C title from him clear.
:womenstag:
Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Championships: The Kabuki Warriors (C) vs. Kayden Carter & Katana Chance
From there, we shift gears to a Shinsuke Nakamura live video segment where he talks in Japanese about his Bullrope match against Cody Rhodes tonight. Once that wraps up, the match is promoted and then Cole and McAfee hype the Undisputed Women's Tag-Team title rematch coming up next.
We head to a pre-match commercial break as the challengers make their way out. When we return, we see a countdown update as the road to WrestleMania XL in Philadelphia, PA. continues. Back in the arena, The Kabuki Warriors come out in full garb as they head to the ring for their defense of their Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team titles against the former champs.
The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Katana Chance and Asuka kick things off for their respective teams coming out of the gate. The women's tag-team locker room is shown watching on as this championship contest gets going with Asuka settling into the early offensive lead.
Chance starts to fight back, focusing her attack on the taped up ribs from the attack by Bayley to Asuka. She hits a big high spot from the ring to the floor on "The Empress of Tomorrow" as we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as this tag-team title tilt continues.
When we return, we see some great back-and-forth action, but after the challengers miss their Keg Stand finisher in the corner, we see The Kabuki Warriors capitalize and pick up the victory to retain. This was actually a really good match from these four. Katana Chance in particular looked excellent in this one.
Winners and STILL Undisputed WWE Women's Tag-Team Champions: The Kabuki Warriors
– In an "earlier today" segment, we see Jackie Redmond sitting down with a very serious Sami Zayn in the empty Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO. from before the taping began this evening.
She asks him about his rise in WWE last year and how much it meant to him. He talks about it being like a Rocky story come to life. He says Rocky didn't win in the first movie, he went the distance with the champ and made a name for himself.
He says it's important for him to show the fans that they didn't believe in him for nothing. That they were right to believe in him. We head to another break with Cole and McAfee hyping our Bullrope main event coming up next.
– When we return from the break, Pat McAfee hypes "big news" coming at the WrestleMania Kickoff Press Event that he and Michael Cole will be co-hosting this coming Thursday in Las Vegas, NV. They also announce Jey Uso & New Day vs. Imperium and JD McDonagh vs. R-Truth for next week's Raw.
Bullrope Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Back inside the arena, we hear the familiar sounds of Cody Rhodes' theme for the second time this evening and out comes "The American Nightmare" for our final bout of the show. He settles in the ring as Cole hypes the "#WeWantCody" movement on X for the past three days.
Now the rock violins play and out comes Shinsuke Nakamura. "The King of Strong Style" heads to the ring as McAfee admits being torn about wanting to dance, noting his theme is the alarm and ring tone on his phone. Nakamura settles in the ring and Cody is hooked up to the Bullrope Match.
Nakamura attacks Cody before he's tied up as well. He gets the early jump on Cody as the bout gets underway and eventually he is tied to the bullrope as well. He continues to take it to Rhodes as we head into an early mid-match commercial break as our main event of the evening continues in St. Louis.
As we settle back in from the break, we see Cody sending Nakamura into the steel ring post on the floor, as he has shifted the offensive momentum in his favor during the commercials. Back in the ring, Cody continues to take it to Nakamura. He stops to rally the fans, and it costs him, as Nakamura recovers enough to take over again.
We head into another commercial break as the action continues with Cody starting to fight back into the lead again. When we return, we see "The King of Strong Style" dominating once again. He looks for the Kinshasa, but Cody avoids it and counters with a big Pedigree. He goes for the cover, but Nakamura kicks out.
Cody has Nakamura set up and ready to blast him with the cow bell. Before he can, however, he turns right into the red poison mist being sprayed into his eyes by Nakamura. Cody wipes his eyes clean and then hits a Cross Rhodes. He goes for the cover but somehow Nakamura kicks out again. Cody hits another one and gets the win.
Winner: Cody Rhodes
– Cody kisses the mat in the middle of the ring and celebrates, but just as it seemed the show was coming to a close, Drew McIntyre hits the ring and blasts Cody from behind with a cheap shot. He beats him down and then hits his Claymore Kick finisher to leave him laying. That's how this week's show goes off the air.
