WWE RAW Notes: Pat McAfee RAW Commentary Return, Logan Paul & Penta Declares for Men’s Royal Rumble, Zelina Vega Splits from LWO & Moved Over to SmackDown, Lyra Valkyria, Ivy Nile, & IYO SKY Declare for Women’s Royal Rumble

WWE
Jan 27, 2025

Pat McAfee Makes RAW Commentary Return on Monday’s WWE RAW Show

Monday’s WWE RAW show at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia featured Pat McAfee making his return to the RAW brand commentary team following a one week absence.

McAfee missed last week’s show due to his commitments with ESPN for the College Football Playoffs Championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame. SmackDown commentator Wade Barrett had filled in for McAfee as Michael Cole’s partner on commentary for the show.

Logan Paul Declares for Men’s Royal Rumble Match

Monday’s WWE RAW show also featured Logan Paul officially declaring himself for the Men’s Royal Rumble match.

During the show, Seth Rollins came out to the ring and talked about his loss to CM Punk on the RAW premiere show on Netflix and how he pulled himself right back and claimed he will win this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble match. Rollins then talked about which champion he would chose to face at WrestleMania 41 and after some words, Gunther’s music played to interrupt and he came out to the ring. This led to back-and-forth banter between Rollins and Gunther over Gunther telling Rollins to win and challenge him “because he will have Seth down and Seth will realize the only name synonymous with the title is his name, Gunther.”

This led to Paul’s music playing and him making his official debut appearance on WWE’s RAW brand. Paul proceeded to boast about himself being great at everything in wrestling as the crowd tried to drown him out in boos. Paul then official declared himself for this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble and stated that he won’t need to worry about throwing 29 other guys since that’s grunt work. Paul stated that he has to work smarter and not harder and he just has to be the last one in the Rumble. Paul stated that when he wins it, he is going to main event WrestleMania and he can choose Cody Rhodes or Gunther and pointed at Gunther.

Zelina Vega Splits from LWO & Moved Over to SmackDown

Monday’s WWE RAW show also featured the official announcement of Zelina Vega splitting from the LWO and being moved over to WWE’s SmackDown brand.

Prior to the start of Rey Mysterio’s match against Xavier Woods, the LWO’s Vega, Joaquim Wilde, & Cruz Del Toro came out with Mysterio. Michael Cole stated that he has an important announcement regarding Vega that he revealed after the commercial break that tonight was Vega’s last night on the RAW brand. Cole stated that SmackDown GM Nick Aldis had signed Vega to his SmackDown brand and as a result she will be splitting from the LWO.

Vega’s move to the SmackDown brand is part of WWE’s on-going transfer portal period for their RAW, SmackDown, and NXT brands.

Lyra Valkyria, Ivy Nile, & IYO SKY Declare for Women’s Rumble Match

Monday’s WWE RAW show also featured Lyra Valkyria, Ivy Nile, & IYO SKY officially declaring themselves for this year’s Women’s Royal Rumble match.

Valkyria and Nile announced themselves for the Women’s Rumble match following a backstage segment involving the two and American Made.

Later in the show, SKY declared herself for the Women’s Rumble match following a backstage segment with Rhea Ripley and Bayley that ended with SKY walking up to Bayley and after brief staredown, SKY told Bayley “see you Saturday.”

Current field for Women’s Royal Rumble match at 2025 WWE Royal Rumble:

  • Nia Jax
  • Bayley
  • Charlotte Flair
  • Naomi
  • Bianca Belair
  • Liv Morgan
  • Lyra Valkyria
  • Ivy Nile
  • IYO SKY

Penta Declares for Men’s Royal Rumble Match

Monday’s WWE RAW show also featured Penta officially declaring himself for the Men’s Royal Rumble match at this weekend’s Royal Rumble 2025 event, which takes place on February 1st at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

During the show, a video aired featuring Penta talking about him being in WWE and getting to face the top wrestlers in the company. Penta then officially declared himself in the Men’s Royal Rumble.

Current field for Men’s Royal Rumble match at 2025 WWE Royal Rumble:

  • LA Knight
  • John Cena
  • CM Punk
  • Jey Uso
  • Roman Reigns
  • Seth Rollins
  • Drew McIntyre
  • Rey Mysterio
  • Sami Zayn
  • Shinsuke Nakamura
  • Logan Paul
  • Penta
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