PREDICTIONS: What’s in store for the Netflix premiere of Monday Night Raw

Veteran NFL writer and Pat McAfee Show correspondent Mark Kaboly offers his Raw predictions for the start of a new era of WWE programming with the first-ever show on Netflix tonight (8/7C) at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.

John Cena’s farewell tour begins

It’s been six months since John Cena announced that 2025 would be his last year of in-ring action during his illustrious and guaranteed WWE Hall of Fame career, and what better way to kick off a new era of WWE programming on Netflix than with The Cenation Leader starting the show? It is not a prediction; it’s just a hope on my part. With Cena’s stated goal of working between 30-40 dates with him already committing to the next three PLEs at Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania 41 over the next 15 weeks, the possibilities are endless for The Greatest of All Time. Cena has worked with the majority of the roster throughout his career, but time flies. Just four weeks away from the Royal Rumble, there’s no time to waste in getting this farewell tour rolling. With Cena doing this year-long swan song (if anyone deserves it, it’s Cena), the logical initial response, like the WWE debut on Netflix, would be a veteran who never made it part-time. Randy Orton would be the logical route, but it’s too early for that. The Miz is another. Call it a clue, but WWE’s new face Cody Rhodes has to be part of the Netflix debut, right?

Prediction: Cena and Rhodes set up a match after the Royal Rumble

Roman Reigns vs. Solo Sikoa – Tribal Combat

If this match doesn’t scream for The Rock to show up after the result, I’m not sure what does. The People’s Champ’s last WWE appearance came three months ago at WWE Bad Blood, and he didn’t seem pleased with Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes and Jimmy Uso working together to defeat Solo Sikoa’s Bloodline. And then The OTC and Jimmy returned to the ring to help The American Nightmare, who was jumped by The Bloodline. With Reigns reclaiming Ula Fala in a match that claims no outside interference and no disqualification, it should be brutal yet have a clear winner. With Reigns now in possession of the Ula Fala, The Rock could either want it for himself or even juicer, he could be the one pulling the strings from afar with Sikoa’s Bloodline.

Prediction: Reigns pins Sikoa, The Rock returns in the aftermath

WWE World Women’s Champion Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley

2024 was the year of “The Liv Morgan Revenge Tour.” That’s as undeniable as the fact that it’s not 2024 anymore. Both Morgan and Ripley made that crystal clear last week when both repeatedly said “this has to end.” The only way this ends on Monday is if Ripley wins convincingly, but there’s definitely a door open for arguments that allow the two to go their separate ways. Morgan and Ripley have been in a rivalry for about 20 months now. We will most likely see interference. You can count on that, but from whom?

Prediction: Ripley defeats Morgan to regain the World Women’s Championship

CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins

CM Punk and Seth Rollins are involved in the most heated rivalry in WWE. Of course, their resumes come first. But the reason why Punk vs. Rollins has so much intrigue despite only having one career singles match from a dozen years ago is because of their work on the mic. Punk and Rollins dropped one of the best promos of the year on last week’s Raw, setting the stage for what should be the main event and best match of the night. The two removed each other last week. They brought it all together in what has been a year in the making since Punk’s return, blurring the lines of the two’s outside relationship. The campaign made it clear why one despises the other. The slow burn is over. If there’s one match on the card that seems unlikely to have outside interference, it’s this one. There are also indications that this won’t be their only fight, and everyone would be fine with that.

Prediction: Punk pins Rollins

Jey Uso vs. Drew McIntyre

With McIntyre methodically making his way through the entire OG Bloodline en route to Roman Reigns, Jey Uso happens to be the latest obstacle in The Scottish Psychopath’s path. McIntyre took Uso backstage last month and casually took credit for it. The Uso and McIntyre are arguably the two hottest stars in the company right now and will provide an interesting contrast of styles in this matchup. With McIntyre solely focused on ridding the WWE of Reigns and his associates, who’s going to stop him? I don’t expect a clear result. Other than that, pretty much anything and everything is on the board.

Prediction: McIntyre pins Uso with help due to a distraction