WWE Raw came to us from Cleveland, Ohio tonight. The go-home show to the Royal Rumble was stacked and full of surprises. It included Goldberg returning to address the WWE Universe one last time before the Rumble and a huge title match, amongst other things. Without further delay, let’s head to the results.
Roman Reigns kicks off RAW
Raw kicked off with the Roman Empire. Roman was greeted with a slightly more positive reaction than what he’s been getting over recent weeks.
The ‘shark cage’ was in the middle of the ring as Roman made his way into the ring. The crowd started to boo as soon as Roman started cutting his promo. Thankfully for Reigns, Kevin Owens’ music hit almost immediately which was met by a huge pop from the fans. Owens came out and cut a fantastic promo about how Roman Reigns had been powerbombing WWE legends through tables for his career only for Owens to have sent him through a table last week.
Jericho added that Roman had been making lots of predictions but he was just a ‘stupid idiot’. He added that Roman probably found it funny that he would have to hang from a ‘shark cage’ at the Royal Rumble but what really was funny was when he pinned Roman Reigns for the WWE US Championship.
Jericho then offered to teach Reigns a lesson which Reigns took as Y2J offering him a rematch. Owens accepted the challenge on Jericho’s behalf saying that he had a feeling that Roman would he in the shark cage by the end of the night. Chris Jericho looks distraught but Owens hypes him up. Reigns closed the segment by saying that he would take care of Jericho tonight and that Owens was next.
Cesaro vs Luke Gallows
Luke Gallows started the match all fired up, hitting Cesaro with strikes to the mid-section. Cesaro then hit back with a corkscrew uppercut. Gallows then tried to regain his initial momentum with a massive back body drop only for Cesaro to fire back with uppercuts. Gallows then took advantage of a distraction by Karl Anderson to boot Cesaro in the face as we headed to commercial.
We came back from commercial to see footage of Sheamus chasing Karl Anderson out of the arena. However, Gallows was still in complete control. Gallows then looked to hit a vertical suplex but Cesaro seamlessly reversed it into a vertical suplex of his own before he hit a Tornado DDT and drove Gallows face-first into the mat.
Cesaro then gestured for the Cesaro Swing but Gallows managed to roll out of the ring. He then looked to intentionally provoke Cesaro but it didn’t work. Cesaro then booted Gallows in the face and with the referee distracted, Sheamus clotheslined Gallows for good measure.
As Cesaro had Gallows in a Cloverleaf, Karl Anderson came back out and took out Sheamus. He then distracted the referee as Gallows started to tap. As Cesaro tried to get rid of Anderson, Gallows sneaked up on him from behind and planted him face-first into the mat for the 3-count.
Luke Gallows def. Cesaro
Mick Foley was backstage on the phone with Stephanie McMahon. Stephanie reprimanded Mick Foley for giving Roman Reigns his rematch tonight. Sami Zayn then appeared and asked Foley for his spot in the Rumble only for Stephanie to interfere. She said that Zayn had to earn his spot and could only do it by beating Seth Rollins.
Bayley is being interviewed by Corey Graves. Bayley says that she’s come straight from the Bay Area to arenas full of fans every night. She says that some of her best WWE memories come from her time as a fan and on Sunday, her brother and father get to watch her challenge for the RAW Women’s Championship.
Bayley adds that when she goes out and interacts with fans it’s one of her favourite parts of the job since she knew what it was like to be on the other side of the barricade.
Bayley then says that Charlotte looked like she was born in the ring but she would walk out of the Royal Rumble with the RAW Women’s Championship.
Mick Foley is backstage with Seth Rollins. He informs Rollins of his match with Sami Zayn later in the night. If Zayn beats Rollins, Zayn will get Sami’s spot in the Royal Rumble match.
Seth Rollins vs Sami Zayn (Zayn gets Rollins’ Royal Rumble spot if he wins)
Seth Rollins came out next to take on Sami Zayn as per Stephanie McMahon’s orders. The odds were stacked against Sami as usual.
Rollins and Sami started off going back and forth. Rollins tried a couple of early roll-ups but Sami kicked out. They two then traded arm-locks before Rollins smashed Zayn in the face with a forearm as this match got heated. Zayn looked for an over-the-top rope dive but Rollins hit him with a clothesline before throwing him through the ropes and out of the ring. Rollins then hit a tope suicida as we headed to commercial.
We came back from commercial to see Zayn dodge a flying knee and hit Rollins with a Blue Thunder Bomb for the nearfall. Chants of “Let’s go Sami, let’s go Rollins” broke out as Zayn hit a flying crossbody only for Rollins to reverse it into a roll-up for a nearfall. Zayn hit back with a Michinoku Driver for another nearfall.
Rollins then hit Zayn with a devastating Blockbuster from the top rope. ‘The Architect’ followed it up with knees to Zayn’s gut and followed it up with a Superkick for the nearest of falls. Undeterred, Rollins hit a Falcon Arrow for another nearfall.
Rollins looked to follow it up with forearms, only for Zayn to strike back every time. Seth replied with a jumping knee strike followed by a slingblade. Rollins then looked for a Pedigree but Sami slipped out of it and hit a tornado DDT. Sami looked to hit the Helluva Kick with Rollins in the corner but Rollins dodged at the last moment. He then looked to take advantage and hit the Pedigree but Zayn back body dropped him out of the ring.
With Rollins down at ringside, Zayn headed to the top rope only for Rollins to slide back in and hit an enzeguiri, stunning Zayn. Rollins looked to hit a Pedigree from the top rope but Zayn reversed with a sunset flip Powerbomb from the top rope. Another near fall.
Zayn then looked for the Exploder Suplex but Rollins hit him with an enzeguiri. Zayn then hit an oncoming Rollins with an Exploder Suplex but Rollins rolled out to the apron to avoid the Helluva Kick. Zayn tried to attempt the Helluva Kick on the apron itself but Rollins hit him with the Pedigree on the apron.
Triple H’s music hit as this point as the fans came unglued. With Rollins distracted and looking at the apron, Zayn rolled Rollins up and got the pinfall.
Sami Zayn def. Seth Rollins
Sami Zayn will now be a part of the Royal Rumble match in place of Seth Rollins who will not be. What will Rollins do at the Rumble now? We’ll have to wait and see.
Drew Gulak, Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari vs Mustafa Ali, TJ Perkins and Jack Gallagher
Gallagher and Daivari looked to start things off only for Daivari to immediately tag Gulak in. Gulak looked to whip Gallagher into the turnbuckle only for Gallagher to do his trademark headstand in the turnbuckle before hitting a snapmare takedown.
TJ Perkins then tagged himself in and looked to lock in an Octopus Hold on Gulak only for Gulak to tag Nese in. TJP was all over Gulak after the tag before a momentary distraction by Daivari gave Nese the upper hand. He took out Perkins with a sweet abdomen drop before taking Perkins out at the knees. Nese then looked to hit a springboard moonsault only for TJP to dodge it as both men made the tag.
Mustafa Ali came in and hit Drew Gulak with a flurry of high-risk offence. The other four men then entered the ring with Gallagher and TJP taking Daivari and Nese out as Mustafa Ali hit the inverted 450 Splash for the win. What a weird finish that was.
Mustafa Ali, TJ Perkins and Jack Gallagher def. Drew Gulak, Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari
The New Day address the WWE fans
The New Day came out and headed to the ring. Xavier Woods looked to address the fans when Enzo and Cass’ music hit. Big Cass came out and officially announced his entry into the Royal Rumble match as Rusev’s music hit.
Rusev came out with Jinder Mahal and called Big E and Big Cass “big goofs”. He then added that he didn’t know why they needed to put “big” in front of their names as he didn’t go around calling himself “handsome Rusev”.
Titus O’ Neil came out next and announced that there was about to be a 8-man tag match – Enzo, Cass and The New Day vs themselves. At this point, Woods pointed out that one of them was Lana to which the crowd exploded in cheers. Titus then revealed the 4th member of their team as Braun Strowman.
New Day, Enzo and Cass vs Rusev, Jinder Mahal, Titus O’ Neil and Braun Strowman
Rusev and Kofi Kingston started us off as Kofi hit an early springboard crossbody before Rusev threw him face-first into the turnbuckle before tagging in Jinder Mahal. Jinder pounder Kingston with fists before tagging in Titus. Titus O’ Neil locked in a bear hug before Kofi hit back with a Jawbreaker.
Jinder Mahal and Cass got tagged back in as Cass threw Jinder around like a ragdoll before hitting a corner splash and booting him in the face. Enzo then hit the Air Enzo only for Titus to break it up. We saw an all-out melee in the ring after this with everyone ending up laid out at ringside except Strowman who got tagged in and Enzo.
Strowman knocked Enzo down with a massive shoulder tackle before lifting him up for the running powerslam. Enzo briefly broke free but then made the mistake of trying a tornado DDT. Strowman caught him in midair and hit him with the running powerslam for the pinfall.
Rusev, Jinder Mahal, Titus O’ Neil and Braun Strowman def. New Day, Enzo and Cass
The Big Show’s music hit after the match as the former 4-time world champion returned to WWE programming. The two behemoths met in the middle of the ring. Strowman refused to get drawn in by Show and left the ring and walked away. Big Show looked ripped.
Chris Jericho (C) vs Roman Reigns (for the WWE United States Championship)
Roman Reigns was greeted by another volley of boos as he came out to face Y2J. He seemed undeterred by it and was all over Jericho in the opening exchanges, driving Jericho out of the ring and punishing him. He slammed Jericho’s face into the ring before sending him crashing into the barricade as we headed for a break.
We came back from commercial to see Jericho on top. He had Reigns in a headlock before hitting a massive dropkick. Jericho then made the mistake of slapping Roman Reigns in the face. Reigns hit back with right hands of his own, slapping the taste out of Jericho’s mouth.
Roman then took Jericho down with multiple clotheslines. Jericho then toppled Roman over and looked to gain control with a couple of right hands only for Roman to plant him face-first into the mat. Roman then signalled for the Superman Punch but Jericho scouted the move and hit Reigns with a dropkick.
Jericho then attempted a dropkick but Roman caught him and hit a Powerbomb for the 2-count. Jericho then leapfrogged Roman Reigns and avoided the spear only for Reigns to hit him with a Superman Punch.
Owens interfered at this point.
Roman Reigns def. Chris Jericho by DQ
After the match, Owens gestured for the shark cage to be lowered as he and Jericho continued punishing Reigns. As Owens tried to lock Reigns inside the shark cage, Reigns slammed him face-first into the cage. Reigns then took out Jericho before locking Kevin Owens inside the cage.
As the cage got lifted, Reigns hit Jericho with a Superman Punch as he hung off the cage. Reigns then hit Jericho with a Spear as Owens helplessly looked on.
After the break, it was announced that the WWE Universal Match at the Royal Rumble will be a No DQ match.
Nia Jax vs Miss Lynn
Nia Jax drove Miss Lynn into the turnbuckle as soon as the match started. She then hit her with a massive Bonzai Drop for the pinfall.
Nia Jax def. Miss Lynn
After the match, Nia Jax called out Sasha Banks, dedicating her win to what was Banks’ deceased career. Sasha came out in crutches to meet Nia Jax. To Jax’s surprise, Sasha just unloaded on her with the crutch before hitting her with the double knees on the outside and sending a statement.
Rich Swann vs Noam Dar w/ Alicia Fox
Rich Swann started this match off by showing us some amazing athleticism. Dar just had no answer for Rich Swann’s offence. As Swann went for a tope codheiro, Dar hid behind Alicia Fox. Swann aborted the dive and kicked Dar in the face instead.
Swann then got distracted by Alicia Fox and Dar pounced on him as he re-entered the ring as we headed to a commercial.
We came back from commercial to see Swann all over Dar. He hit a double stomp to the back and head before hitting a hurracanrana before following it up with Rich Kick for the win.
Rich Swann def. Noam Dar
Rich Swann called out Neville after the match. Neville came out but refused to engage Swann and looked to walk away. At this point, Swann hit a suicide dive and start hitting Neville with a flurry of punches.
Goldberg addresses the WWE Universe
Goldberg was busted open as he makes his way out to the ring. Goldberg is bleeding from the head after headbutting the door on his way out.
Goldberg said that there would be 29 other men in the ring with him at the Rumble. He added that he would stop at nothing to win the WWE Royal Rumble match, even if it meant Jackhammering and Spearing 29 other men.
Paul Heyman came out at this point and announced his presence. Heyman tooted his own horn about how he was marketing genius before announcing that Brock Lesnar was in the building as Brock’s music hit.
Goldberg told Lesnar to come down to the ring if he had the guts and the man obliged. Lesnar and Goldberg faced off inside the squared circle as the Undertaker’s gong hit.
The three men stared off in the middle of the ring as the show went off the air. What an end to RAW!
