Raw preview (Dec. 30, 2024): It’s the end of an era in WWE

Raw airs tonight (Dec. 30) with a live show from Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. This is the fifth episode of Raw during the nine week build towards Royal Rumble 2025, which takes place on February 1.

It’s the end of an era in WWE

Tonight is the final episode of WWE Raw on the USA Network before the show moves off cable and over to Netflix for 2025 and beyond.

Raw plans to go out with a bang, with tonight’s big segment advertised as CM Punk and Seth Rollins being “under one roof” to close out 2024. This is the final angle ahead of their (main event?) match on next week’s Netflix debut, so something explosive is all but guaranteed to happen.

Two Men, One Roof doesn’t exactly sound like the kind of PG content I expect from WWE, but I guess all the rules can be thrown out the window as Raw says farewell to the USA Network tonight.

Can General Manager Adam Pearce keep things under control when CM and Seth are under one roof at the same time? Tune into the final episode of Raw on USA to find out.

The rest of the card

Both matches in the semifinal round of the women’s Intercontinental championship tournament are scheduled to take place tonight: Dakota Kai vs. Zoey Stark and IYO SKY vs. Lyra Valkyria. We could be headed to an all Damage CTRL final match next week if Dakota and IYO advance. Stark is really the only heel left, so perhaps her teammates in Pure Fusion Collective will do whatever they can to help her move on. Lyra Valkyria hasn’t competed in a one-on-one match on Raw since the end of September, so we’re still trying to get a sense for how hard WWE will be pushing her (or not) going forward.

Chad Gable vs. Otis is also booked on the card. Gable wants to kill off his old Alpha Academy group for good. He beat Akira Tozawa last week, but will probably need some help from The Creeds to take out his former number one student.

Life has been a BUTCH this month for Pete Dunne. R-Truth keeps calling him by the wrong name and even beat him in a match on Raw earlier this month. Dunne is looking for payback and to break Truth’s jaw in the rematch tonight.

Damian Priest & World Tag Team Champions Erik & Ivar are in six-man tag team competition tonight against Carlito, JD McDonagh, and Finn Balor of The Judgment Day. Carlito and JD should listen to Finn if they want to win, because it will be difficult to beat the babyfaces without taking some shortcuts along the way.

Other stuff to keep an eye on

– Rhea Ripley and Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan will fight over the belt next week on Raw’s Netflix debut. Will Rhea send a final message to the champ by injuring that little shithead Dominik Mysterio tonight?

– Sami Uso couldn’t get the job done against Drew McIntyre last week. Is it Jey Uso’s turn to try his luck tonight? Will Solo Sikoa’s Bloodline show up on Raw again to continue targeting the OG Bloodline before next week’s Tribal Combat between Sikoa and Roman Reigns?

– John Cena is returning to Raw next week for the Netflix debut. Will WWE tease the potential return of Becky Lynch as well?

– Is it time for the New Day to respond with violence to Rey Mysterio for rejecting them from the WWE locker room?

– The feud between The Final Testament and Wyatt Sicks is far from over. Will their next big match be announced sometime during tonight’s broadcast? What kind of gimmick or stipulation will it have?

– WWE Intercontinental Champion Bron Breakker and World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER need some new challengers heading into the new year. What about fighting each other?

– Which SmackDown and/or NXT stars will transfer window their asses over to Raw in time for next week’s Netflix debut?

– When are folks going to start declaring for (or wrestling for spots in) the Royal Rumble match?

– Where the f*** is Omos? Last I saw he was busy shopping at the Nintendo store in Tokyo ahead of his tag team championship match there this week. Perhaps he’s spent the last six months sinking hundreds of hours into catching up on The Legend of Zelda series.

What will you be looking for on Raw?