The highly-anticipated post-Royal Rumble edition of WWE Raw came live from Tulsa, Oklahoma on January 30th.
Ahead of the show it was announced that both Royal Rumble winners would be appearing while there would also be a series of qualifying matches for the upcoming men’s Elimination Chamber match. The match will see Austin Theory defend his United States Title against five rivals.
WWE Raw Ratings Stay Strong
The previous edition of the red brand, the Raw 30 episode, pulled in 2,344,000 viewers and scored a 0.70 rating in the 18-49-year-old demographic. This was the highest viewership since February 2020.
WWE Raw continued this momentum on January 30th with 2.114M viewers turning in, with a 0.64 rating in the key demographic. While this is a decrease from the previous week, it was the highest audience for the show outside of Raw 30 since August 1st.
The rating is perhaps even more impressive as neither Roman Reigns nor the rest of The Bloodline featured on the show.
On WWE Raw Cody Rhodes opened the show and reflected on his journey from the beginning of his career to claiming victory in the Royal Rumble. The American Nightmare also took the opportunity to send a warning to his WrestleMania 39 opponent, Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
The winner of the women’s Royal Rumble match Rhea Ripley also had a big announcement. The Judgment Day star revealed that she has chosen to face SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair at the ‘Showcase of the Immortals.’
Elsewhere, there were surprise returns for Rick Boogs and Carmella while Chelsea Green also made a brief appearance.
In the ring, Seth Rollins, Johnny Gargano, and Bronson Reed all qualified for the men’s Elimination Chamber match on February 18th at the event of the same name. The three stars saw off Chad Gable, Baron Corbin, and Dolph Ziggler respectively.