Raw took place in Green Bay, Wisconsin tonight. The packed go-home show to Fastlane featured the likes of Kevin Owens, Goldberg, Samoa Joe and Seth Rollins. What did Goldberg have to say to Kevin Owens? Will Seth Rollins make Wrestlemania? Let’s get straight to the results and find out.
Goldberg kicks off RAW
RAW kicks off with Goldberg. The crowd greeted Goldberg with a huge pop as he headed to the ring in trademark fashion. Goldberg came out and said he was tired of Owens always running his mouth. He then went on to say he was in a good mood because he would win the WWE Universal Championship on Sunday before heading to ‘Mania and wrestling Brock Lesnar at which point the fans booed.
Goldberg added that he had made a promise to his wife and son that he would bring home the title before saying he’d see Owens on Sunday. As Goldberg motioned to leave, Kevin Owens’ music hit. Owens said that he made a promise to take WWE by the scruff of the neck and went on to say that he did that by beating Cena, Styles and Reigns, among others. He mentioned Jericho's name too but then said that he didn't even matter. Owens then called the crowd sheep and amidst boos, he told Goldberg 'He's next' in the evolution of Kevin Owens.
Owens finished off by telling Goldberg that this Sunday, the Goldberg chants would die.
New Day address the WWE Universe
The New Day came out and said that they had a lot on their plates as the hosts of Wrestlemania. They told the fans that they shouldn’t be concerned with whats on their plates but they should be concerned with whats in their bowls. Kofi added that the fans wanted more and that they wanted ice-cream which let to an “ice-cream” chant. Kofi then added that they were thinking of adding New Day pops before challenging the Shining Stars. At this point, the Shining Stars’ music hit.
When the Shining Stars came out, New Day announced that they had made a mistake and the Shining Stars would actually face the Big Show later in the night while they would be facing Jinder Mahal and Rusev. This moment made fun of the botch that took place at the Oscars.
New Day vs Jinder Mahal and Rusev
Xavier Woods and Jinder Mahal started the match. Woods started with the momentum and hit Jinder with a hurracanrana. As Jinder crawled to the apron, Big E hit him with a splash on the apron.
When we came back from commercial, Rusev and Woods were the legal men. Rusev was all over Woods and hit him with knees to the guts and then hit a Fallaway Slam. Rusev tagged Jinder back in and he delivered a jumping knee to a downed Woods. Rusev and Jinder kept rotating tags as the “Bulgarian Brute” came back in and worked on Woods.
Woods tried to fight back but Rusev drove him spine-first into the turnbuckle. Woods finally made the tag after an enzeguiri as Big E came in hot. He hit Belly -To-Belly Suplexes till Rusev came in and hit him with a sidekick. Woods hit Jinder with a lateral press and the ensuing cover was broken up by Rusev. At this point, Kofi and Lana argued on the outside which led to Woods to pin Jinder with a roll-up and bridging pin.
New Day def. Jinder Mahal and Rusev
Samoa Joe confronts Cesaro and Sheamus
Sheamus and Cesaro are backstage when Samoa Joe showed up. Joe said it was good to see Cesaro but he was still the same and still chasing that ‘brass ring’. Cesaro laughed it off and asked Joe what it was like carrying Triple H’s jock strap. An enraged Joe threatened Cesaro before walking away to which Sheamus grunted that he wanted to kick Joe’s head off. Cesaro’s reply was that he would handle the situation.
We then switched to another backstage segment, this time with Stephanie McMahon telling Mick Foley that he’s been getting weaker ever since her husband ended his career. She goes on to say that the man who could stand up to anything or anyone, can't stand anymore at all.
Akira Tozawa vs Noam Dar
Akira Tozawa started off hot. He was all over Noam Dar, hitting him with a senton followed by repeated knife-edged chops. Tozawa then feinted a left jab and hit a right hook to Dar. Alicia Fox had to come in and distract Tozawa at this point and Dar took advantage as he went to work on Tozawa’s arm.
Dar hit back with a hurracanrana and it looked like he landed awkwardly. He then knocked Dat off the apron before hitting a suicide dive.
Tozawa headed to the top rope after rolling Dar back into the ring. He hit Dar with a side kick before hitting him with his patented snap German Suplex and pinned him off the bridging pin.
Akira Tozawa def. Noam Dar
Brian Kendrick attacked Tozawa after the match and laid him out. Kendrick then took to the mic and called this his third lesson – one should always have eyes at the back of their head.
Samoa Joe confronted Mick Foley in the next segment and asked him if he was having a nice day. Mick replied that he wasn’t before adding that time had an effect on all men and 13 years ago he liked Joe but this wasn’t the Joe he knew. Joe was now just doing Triple H’s bidding, something that Joe denied. Foley then added that he was still the GM and set up a match between Joe and Cesaro later in the evening.
Charlotte calls out Bayley
Charlotte came out first and cut a promo on Bayley, calling her a one-hit wonder. She called Bayley normal like that fans out there in the crowd unlike her, who was genetically superior. Charlotte went on to name a list of one-hit wonders before Bayley interrupted her.
Charlotte called Bayley a cheater when she came out but Bayley just replied that she was a champion. She then added that whether Stephanie or Charlotte liked it, she was still champion.
Bayley added that her dream was to compete at Wrestlemania to which Charlotte replied that she would crush Bayley’s dreams in front of her father. At this point, Sasha came out and said that Bayley deserved to be champion, unlike Charlotte. Charlotte’s reply was Sasha was busy taking Bayley’s spotlight. Sasha added that she was tired of looking at Charlotte’s stupid face, which led to “stupid face chants”.
Charlotte then finished off by saying that Dana Brooke wasn’t her tag-team partner. It was Nia Jax.
Charlotte and Nia Jax vs Sasha Banks and Bayley
Sasha and Nia start us off. Sasha goes for a body scissors but Nia was having none of it. Sasha tagged Bayley in who got hit by a spinning bodyslam. Nia then stepped on Bayley’s foot but Bayley got back up and tried to hit back. Nia Jax attempted to hit a vertical suplex but Bayley broke out and hit the 10-count punches in the corner. Sasha tagged herself at this point but Nia wiped out both Sasha and Bayley.
Nia finally tagged Charlotte in and ‘The Queen’ went right to work on Bayley. Bayley managed to isolate Charlotte in the corner and tagged in Sasha. They hit Charlotte with a double-armdrag followed by the double knees. Sasha followed it up with a hurracanrana for a 2-count before locking in a bow and arrow lock.
Sasha tagged Bayley back in at this point. Dana tried to grab Bayley’s foot from outside and Bayley dumped Charlotte out of the ring before turning her attention to Dana. She hit Dana with a Bayley-To-Belly on the floor as we headed to commercial.
We came back from commercial to see Sasha attempting an armdrag on Sasha. Nia blocked it and hit a massive shoulder breaker and followed it with an elbow drop before tagging in Charlotte. Charlotte drove her knees into Sasha’s back before choking Sasha by locking her knees around Sasha’s neck.
Sasha finally hit back with a boot before tagging Bayley in. Bayley came in on the hot-tag and took out both Nia Jax and Charlotte. Bayley hit Charlotte with a mid-rope stunner but unbeknownst to Bayley, Charlotte tagged in Nia Jax. Jax came in and mowed Bayley down before knocking Sasha Banks off the apron. Sasha attempted a spash but Nia Jax caught her in mid-air and slammed her onto Bayley before hitting Bayley with a running leg drop and pinning her. Impressive performance from Nia Jax tonight. She was excellent.
Charlotte and Nia Jax def. Sasha Banks and Bayley
We get a backstage segment with Braun Strowman and Mick Foley after the match. Strowman demands a contract signing segment with Roman Reigns, saying that it would give Roman no place to hide. Foley agreed to the segment but warned Strowman that Reigns wasn’t a broken man yet.
Luke Gallows vs Big Cass
Both Enzo and Karl Anderson were at ringside for this match. Enzo and Cass cut a promo before the match saying they would become tag-team champions at Fastlane before calling Gallows and Anderson SAWFT.
Anderson distracted Cass as soon as the bell rang and Gallows hit him with multiple boots to the head and hit him with a running elbow in the corner, followed by a clothesline. Cass went for a chokeslam on Gallows, who broke out after hitting a high-kick, Cass dodged the following knee and hit Gallows with a shoulder tackle followed by a Fallaway Slam. Cass then hit the Empire Elbow before Anderson tried to distract Cass by attacking Enzo.
Enzo turned the tables and sent Anderson crashing into the steel steps. Cass took advantage and hit Gallows with a Big Boot and pinned him.
Big Cass def. Luke Gallows
Titus O’ Neil vs Sheamus
We got a backstage vignette before the match. Titus told Sheamus that he would need a new tag partner after Joe was done with Cesaro. Sheamus didn’t take to this kindly and sent Titus crashing headfirst into a table laden with food, which led to this match.
Titus hit Sheamus with a boot as Sheamus was climbing into the ring. Titus then slammed Sheamus against the barricade before the action went back inside the ring. Titus hit Sheamus with knees in the corner before the bell finally rang. The referee pulled Titus away when he wouldn’t stop attacking Sheamus even though he was near the ropes. When a disgruntled Titus turned back around, Sheamus hit him with the Brogue Kick and pinned him immediately.
Sheamus def. Titus O’ Neil
Seth Rollins addresses the WWE Universe
Seth Rollins comes out in crutches and in a knee brace as he hobbles to the ring. Graves starts off asking Seth how his knee feels and Rollins replied it wasn’t as bad as originally thought but it was what it was. Rollins continued to say that he was on top of the world after Wrestlemania 31 when he stood on the ramp holding the WWE Championship. He continued to say that maybe he bought in too much and let his focus slip.
Rollins then added that he didn’t know if the doctors would clear him in time for Wrestlemania when Triple H’s music hit. Triple H made his way down to the ring as we also saw Samoa Joe at ringside. Triple H told Rollins that he knew what he was getting into from the get-go and he should have known that this place was coming. ‘The Game’ added that he made Rollins the WWE Champion as Joe got onto the apron.
Triple H added that he delivered on his promises but Rollins bit the hand that fed him. He then told Rollins to get over the fact that he was used up and spit out because Seth himself had profited on the way. Triple H then called Rollins the past and another worthless and beat up Superstar.
Triple H then warned Seth Rollins to not come to Wrestlemania and call him out but Rollins didn’t heed the warning. He promised to take Triple H out at ‘Mania, after which the segment ended.
Big Show vs Shining Stars
Big Show started off on top as expected. He took on both Primo and Epico at the same time and went for a double chokeslam but the Shining Stars fought back. Primo jumped off the top rope top rope and Big Show met him with a fist. Show then took out Epico before hitting Primo with a chokeslam and pinning him.
Big Show def. Shining Stars
After the match we got a video celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a part of Black History Month.
Neville and Tony Nese vs TJ Perkins and Jack Gallagher
Neville booted Gallagher even before the match began. He then worked on Perkins before tagging Nese in. TJ Perkins then came in and hit the Detonation Kick on Tony Nese as Gallagher hit Neville with a running dropkick. Gallagher then hit Nese with a Russian Leg Sweep which he transitioned into a modified Code of Silence.
Neville thought of coming in and breaking it up but backed off and walked away as Nese tapped out.
TJ Perkins and Jack Gallagher def. Neville and Tony Nese
Samoa Joe vs Cesaro
The match started off at a frantic pace as the two men went back and forth. Cesaro his a nice deadlift suplex before tweaking his knee on the apron. Joe immediately took advantage and went to work on Cesaro’s leg.
We came back from commercial to see Joe slowly picking away at Cesaro’s leg. With an injured leg, Cesaro somehow reversed a vertical suplex into one of his own but that wasn’t enough to keep Joe down. He hit Cesaro with rapid kicks to his knee before locking in a knee bar. Cesaro somehow reversed it but couldn’t maintain the lock on the Sharpshooter.
Cesaro managed to follow it up by planting Joe back-first into the mat before hitting Joe with a double stomp for a nearfall. The Swiss Superman then looked for the Neutralizer but didn’t manage it with his knee injury. Cesaro went to attempt a spingboard corkscrew elbow instead but Joe knocked Cesaro off balance before hitting the spinning Uranage Slam before pinning Cesaro.
Samoa Joe def. Cesaro
Sami Zayn interrupted Samoa Joe as he cut a promo on the entrance ramp. He blindsided Joe as the two of them traded punches next to the entrance ramp. before security came and pulled Zayn away. Samoa Joe hit Zayn with a cheapshot before tossing him away. Zayn then hit a tope codheiro off the ramp onto Joe.
Contract signing for Braun Strowman vs Roman Reigns
Mick Foley started off the segment but Braun Strowman soon intervened. He came out and told Foley that since the contract had been drafted, he had served his purpose and could leave. Foley replied that he was still GM and deserved respect, to which Strowman called him a broken down suburban dad before calling him pathetic.
Foley had enough of being talked down to at this point and told Strowman that GM’s came and went but legends lived on forever before telling Strowman to respect him or else. Strowman knocked the mic out of Foley’s hand when Roman Reigns’ music hit.
The two behemoths brawled at ringside before Roman hit Strowman with a Superman Punch. Reigns looked to follow it up with a second Superman Punch but Strowman caught him in midair and sent him crashing spine first into the ring post before the action spilt into the crowd. Braun pounded Roman against the production equipment before Reigns fought back and hit a second Superman Punch. Reigns then hit a spear through the barricade, taking out one security official down with Strowman.
Roman then entered the ring as Strowman got back on his feet. As Strowman entered the ring again, Roman hit a third Superman Punch. Roman then attempted another Spear but Roman smashed Roman against the turnbuckle so hard that the top rope came apart. Braun Strowman then walked away as Roman lay in the ring with a part of the ring broken.
Roman then signed the contract as Strowman walked away and Raw faded off air.
