5 biggest moments on RAW this week (January 29th)

The 2018 Royal Rumble was deemed a success for WWE with both signature matches getting great reviews from the WWE Universe and associated press. As always, the Sunday PPV was followed by Monday Night Raw which emanated from the same building as the night before.

With a loud Philly crowd waiting to see if Ronda would show up or if Brock would go after Braun again, the scene was set for the start of 'The Road to WrestleMania'. The show, as a whole, had some top spots and the best of those are listed below.

#5 The Coach is back

As reported earlier in the day, the WWE were pleased to welcome back Jonathan Coachman to the roster. Coach came in to replace Booker T on commentary after the latter has had some negative comments around his commentary style and ability to keep up with Corey Graves and Michael Cole.

Coach's first night was a success as he didn't seem out of place, largely due to his previous experience as both Raw and SmackDown announcer. The former ESPN presenter seemed to play a somewhat heelish role, although not as far as Corey Graves generally does.

#4 Asuka vs Sasha Banks

After Asuka's not-so-shocking win in the first ever Women's Royal Rumble match, she was pitted against Sasha Banks on Raw who has seemingly become fed up with constantly being overlooked in title situations. After goading the 'Empress of Tomorrow', a wonderful hard-hitting match took place with both women showing why they are the very best in WWE today.

An awful looking 'suicide dive' by Banks where she landed on her head/neck marred the quality of the match, and it took multiple stiff elbows and kicks to Banks before an 'Asuka Lock' finally put away 'The Boss'.

#3 Cena pins Finn Balor

Cena with an important win against Finn Balor

John Cena has been given the nickname of 'Big Match John' for years, and has seemingly been a part of the biggest moments in WWE for the last 15 years. However, John hasn't actually been in the main event of WrestleMania since 'Mania 29 against The Rock and with the company set on Roman Reigns and the new breed of WWE Superstars for the future, it is highly unlikely the 16 time World Champion will be challenging Brock in New Orleans.

So, it was strange that after a really successful Rumble showing for Balor, and the much anticipated reunion of 'The Club', that Cena would again win a match to potentially get to WrestleMania when it would make more sense for Balor to take that spot.

Balor was made to look strong and resilient in the match and it took an avalanche AA to finally beat Finn, but fans of the Irish superstar must wonder if he will ever get back to the Universal Title picture anytime soon.

#2 The Miz pins Roman Reigns

The Miz before defending his Intercontinental Title against Roman Reigns

Criticism in the past about the Intercontinental Title has been the somewhat see-saw nature of the belt, with it changing hands often and sometimes after only days. The Miz beat Reigns at Raw 25 last week to start his 8th reign as champ, and after Roman eliminated Miz from the Rumble, fans of The Miz feared the worst when a rematch for the title was announced for Raw last night.

The Miztourage made sure that the title did not go back to Roman this time however, and after multiple interjections and shenanigans, Miz was able to roll up Roman and score the pin. What made this more of a top moment was Roman being pinned. Regardless of the interference by Axel and Dallas, Roman usually loses via DQ or count out, if at all. So, for Miz to get the pin was a big deal.

#1 Braun destroys Kane

The entire announce team table was destroyed — The entire announce team stage was destroyed

In what is an obvious choice for the number one spot from this week's Raw, a qualifying match for Elimination Chamber was announced for Braun vs Kane. Given the previous altercations between the two, it was only fair that a 'Last Man Standing' match was stipulated.

After some hard-hitting shots with Kendo sticks and steel chairs, the fight spilled over to the Raw announce table, with the announce team getting away quickly. Past bouts have seen Braun put multiple superstars through the table, but in a change of speeds, Braun showed his superhuman strength by tipping over not only the table, but the entire platform the table sat on, on top of the stricken Kane.

Braun was immediately called the winner and the Philly crowd were audibly all on the Strowman bandwagon. Kane was stretchered out and taken to a local medical facility, where Kane apparently "sat up and crawled out by himself" and was nowhere to be found, as told to us by Cole.