Cody Rhodes to kick off Raw, Ripley to make decision, Chamber match confirmed

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Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2023/01/30/cody-rhodes-to-kick-off-raw-ripley-to-make-decision-chamber-match-confirmed/

WWE has made several announcements for tonight’s edition of Raw following the Royal Rumble.

Cody Rhodes, the winner of the men’s Royal Rumble, is scheduled to open the show at 8 p.m. ET with his first appearance on Raw since tearing his pectoral muscle last year.

It was announced that the women’s Royal Rumble winner Rhea Ripley will make her decision regarding which champion she will challenge for at WrestleMania 39 in April.

BREAKING NEWS: @ByronSaxton just announced HUGE plans for tonight’s #WWERaw including @CodyRhodes kicking off the show!

The Road to #WrestleMania has begun! pic.twitter.com/UigrFWvtF4

— WWE (@WWE) January 30, 2023

Finally, Byron Saxton added that the United States Championship will be defended by Austin Theory inside of the Elimination Chamber on Saturday, February 18th in Montreal.

There will be a series of qualifying matches beginning tonight with Seth Rollins taking on Chad Gable, and Johnny Gargano facing Baron Corbin to determine who will join Theory in the match.

Raw is coming off its most-watched episode in nearly three years with the Raw is XXX special last week.

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Im glad they are doing the US title inside the chamber, Ive always hated it when they allow the champion to defend the title in the chamber a month after the Royal Rumble is supposed to be the only path to get in the title match at Mania. Im fine with the champ defending their title 1 on 1 (even that I dont love) but for 5 other people to get another shot just devalues the Royal Rumble.

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Actually you’ve brought to mind Reigns has nearly managed to avoid defending it in multi-mans. WM37 being the only exception I can think of offhand.

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I can’t think of any outside of that Edge/Bryan match. I like that though, it does make his matches feel a bit more special when its not every month, and its always a 1 on 1.

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There’s Edge/Bryan at Mania and a random Raw against Lashley/Big E in 2021.

I personally like it that way, as it gives the opportunity to turn every title match into a big fight with personal animosity. But it does go against WWE’s own logic that they’ve created over the years.

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