Raw came to us tonight from the capital of Flair country, Charlotte, North Carolina and we had a huge episode of Raw in store for us. Apart from two title matches – including hometown favourite Charlotte defending her Raw Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks and the New Day defending their Raw Tag-Team Championships against The Club – we also had the fallout from last week’s main event between Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens.
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The episode also had some great cruiserweight action and also interview from Paul Heyman and a whole lot more. Read on for the full results.
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Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel
The night kicks off with Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel. We see Jericho in the ring following a video package chronicling last week’s events before Jericho introduced Owens’ as the ‘longest reigning WWE Universal Champion of all time’.
Owens came down and said it was a pleasure to be on the Highlight Reel two days in a row. Owens then proceeded to take shots at thanksgiving and the fans at Charlotte, NC. Jericho and Owens then proceeded to call themselves ‘superior breed of humans’ for being Canadians as the crowd broke out into USA chants.
Owens then proceeded to say that the thing he was thankful for included being WWE Universal Champion and Chris Jericho being his best friend. Jericho then reiterates to the crowd that it wasn’t him who interrupted the main event last week but it was Sin Cara who interfered, wearing a Chris Jericho mask.
The duo were then interrupted by Roman Reigns who took shots at both Jericho and Owens and then goaded Owens into saying that he didn’t need Jericho which led to tension between the two. Owens went on to say that he’d have beaten Seth Rollins on his own if Jericho hadn’t interfered.
Roman Reigns then proceeded to repeat what Owens said about not needing Jericho, to which Jericho responded by interjecting and asking Roman whether he knew what happened to people who insulted his best friend Kevin Owens. Jericho then proceeded to tease putting Roman’s name on his list when Kevin Owens screamed at him to "Shut up" and added that he would handle this.
Owens then threatened to beat Roman Reigns up, as he had done with Roman’s “buddy” Seth Rollins the week before. Roman then asked for a match and a title shot at Roadblock if he won said match. A clearly annoyed Owens accepted Roman’s challenge, informing him that he’d be on the Kevin Owens Show later.
Owens and Jericho are seen arguing backstage with Owens telling Jericho that the latter was no longer needed. Jericho talked about being there for Owens whenever he had needed him but as Owens added that Jericho might have thought he was helping but he wasn’t.
Foley then interrupted but Jericho told Foley that there was no need to ban him because there was no way that he would get involved in the match and that he was ‘out’ of there’.
R-Truth vs Braun Strowman
R-Truth started off against Braun Strowman and looked to get in some offence early but Strowman hit the running Powerslam almost immediately for the easy win.
Braun Strowman def. R-Truth
Strowman then got attacked by Goldust who was tending to R-Truth. Strowman locked Goldust in a bear hug but got attacked from behind by Sami Zayn who tried to lock in a sleeper. Strowman broke out of it after a few seconds and laid Sami to waste again as Mick Foley and referees had to come out and interfere.
Sami Zayn and Mick Foley are in the ring as we came back from commercial. Zayn says that Foley’s clearly taking his orders from above and Foley is clearly angered by the comment. Foley replied that Stephanie wanted to fire Zayn after he failed to win the Intercontinental Championship at Survivor Series which is why he made the match last week against Braun Strowman – but it wasn’t punishment, it was destruction.
Sami replied that Mick Foley had been his hero but not Foley was taking away chances from people like him, chances that he himself had gotten in his career, before leaving the ring and walking away.
Tony Nese vs Cedric Alexander
The Charlotte, NC crowd popped big for the hometown hero Cedric Alexander as he made his way to the ring to face Tony Nese who was accompanied by Drew Gulak. Cedric had the upper hand in the opening stages as he hit Nese with a sweet hurracanrana before a distraction by Gulak led to Nese getting and opening and chop blocking Alexander’s knee from behind.
Nese then locked in a headlock but Cedric fought out of it and hit a series of strikes followed by his trademark springboard headstand enzeguiri which he followed with another enzeguiri. As Cedric went to the top rope, Gulak got on the apron. Cedric took Gulak out but got hit by Nese’s finisher – a modified pumphandle slam.
Nese then covered the hometown hero for the win.
Tony Nese def. Cedric Alexander
We see Jericho leaving the arena with his suitcase backstage as he gets interrupted by Charli Carruso. Charli asked him whether their argument this week was a joke similar to their falling out last week.
Jericho then derided Carruso for levelling the accusation and walked away towards his limo.
Jericho reaches his limousine but the driver knocked the ‘list’ down as he went to open the door for Jericho. Jericho called him a ‘stupid idiot’ and asked him to get in the car as he bent down to pick up the list. As he got up, Jericho saw the person he really didn’t want to meet – Seth Rollins.
Jericho tried to make a run for it but Rollins caught up with him and sent him face first into the hood of a car and went on to lay a thorough beatdown on Jericho that ended with a Pedigree on top of a car.
Charlotte (C) vs Sasha Banks (for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship)
Both women were super over with the crowd as they made their way to the ring. Sasha and Charlotte circled each other as the bell rang.
Charlotte then charged in for a clothesline but Sasha bit the Backstabber early and locked in the Banks Statement but Charlotte managed to reach the ropes and rolled out. Sasha then sent Dana Brooke crashing into the steel steps before she went back to work on Charlotte back inside the ring.
With Charlotte down on the ground, Sasha mocked the Flair strut and followed it up with a slap. Sasha and Charlotte then took their fight outside the ring as the match entered the crowd. Charlotte continued to beat Sasha down as the referee’s count reached 10 and both women got counted out.
Match ends as a count out
However, Mick Foley interrupted and said that he wouldn’t let this rivalry end like this. He asked Sasha and Charlotte to go backstage and get some rest because this match would be restarted later in the night as a No DQ, No count out, Falls Count Anywhere match.
Rusev vs Enzo
Enzo and Cass received one of the biggest pops of the night as they came out. Enzo and Cass’ promo went down like wildfire with the Charlotte, NC crowd as Enzo said that Rusev had only beat him last week because it was the luckiest day of Rusev’s live.
Enzo then went on to jokingly insinuate that Lana had enjoyed seeing Enzo naked last week as Rusev boiled inside the ring.
When Enzo finally entered the ring, Rusev immediately wiped him out with a clothesline before viciously kicking him in the groin before leaving.
Enzo def. Rusev by DQ
Rich Swann vs Noam Dar
Swann and Dar lock up to begin the match as Brian Kendrick cut an incredible promo on commentary. Inside the ring, Dar took out Swann’s leg with a penalty kick following which he covered Swann for the 2-count.
Dar followed it up with repeated knees and kicks followed by a modified submission hold. Swann broke out of it and hit Dar with a vicious kick to the head. He then tried to follow it up with a Rolling Thunder but got met by Dar’s knee. Then out of nowhere, Swann hit the Rich Kick on Dar and it looked vicious and beautiful at the same time. Swann then covered Dar for the pinfall. Will the Rich Kick out of nowhere become a thing? I hope so.
Rich Swann def. Noam Dar
Sheamus and Cesaro were seen sitting and drinking at a local watering hole. Sheamus told Cesaro that even though they were good together, they just didn’t get along. Sheamus admitted that the two would be a force to be reckoned with if they teamed together and Cesaro was his best chance at winning gold again when they were confronted by a few locals.
The guys made derisive remarks at Sheamus and Cesaro which was a terrible decision on their part. One of the guys even burped in Cesaro's face before calling him a "village person".
The duo then proceeded to annihilate the guys in the bar, even sending one of them right through the false wall. After taking out the guys and making “improvements”, Sheamus declared that the bar was open and the two raised a toast.
Kevin Owens vs Roman Reigns
Owens didn’t wait for the bell to ring for this one and attacked Roman before the bell had rung. Owens punched and kicked Roman, forcing him to roll outside before Roman turned the tide and slammed Owens into the barricade.
Owens replied by sending Roman crashing shoulder-first into the steel stairs. He then followed it up with his trademark Senton back inside the ring as Raw headed to commercial.
We came back from commercial to see Roman on top but Owens soon took control again, hitting a devastating DDT on Reigns. With Roman down in the corner, Owens hit a cannonball for the 2-count.
Owens then put Roman in a headlock as he spoke trash to Reigns while Reigns tried to break free. When Roman was almost free, Owens got up and hit a Senton before locking in the headlock again and wearing down the ‘Big Dog’ further. Owens then went for another Senton but was met by Roman’s knees this time.
Roman then took advantage and pounded Owens in the corner before hitting him with a running big boot. Owens and Reigns then hit each other with a series of strikes which was broken up after a Samoan Drop by Roman Reigns. Roman then gestured for the Superman Punch but Owens rolled out of the ring only to get hit by a Drive By.
Roman sent Owens back into the ring but was hot by a Superkick as re-entered the ring but Owens only managed a nearfall. He then headed to the top rope but Roman met him there and looked to hit a superplex. Owens managed to throw Reigns off but Reigns responded with a running Superman Punch and Owens rolled out again.
Reigns met him there and hit him with a Superman Punch and hit him with a Spear inside the ring for the win.
Roman Reigns def. Kevin Owens
Paul Heyman interview
Paul Heyman is at a loss for words as Michael Cole interviewed him backstage. Heyman couldn’t believe that a “relic” like Goldberg could beat Brock Lesnar. Heyman went on to say that Brock Lesnar was recuperating from a rib injury but Brock would recover from that but he wouldn’t recover from the humiliation of his 86-second loss.
Heyman went on to say that Brock had recovered from losses before but this was embarrassing and this had put Brock in the mindset of having something to prove and that scared Heyman. He said that fans hadn’t seen this side of Brock Lesnar before so if Goldberg would be in the Royal Rumble match, so would Brock Lesnar.
The New Day (C) vs The Club (for the Raw Tag-Team Championships)
Gallows and Anderson started off strong, taking out Kofi (who wasn’t in the match) and Big E. Anderson then hit a sweet running powerbomb on Xavier Woods for the nearfall. Xavier Woods then staged a mini-comeback by sending Anderson crashing out of the ring but a boot from Gallows took him down again as we headed to commercial.
We came back to see Big E and Karl Anderson getting tagged in as Big E hit Anderson with a triple Belly-To-Belly Suplex. Anderson then hit back with a running boot for the nearfall. Big E followed it up with a Spear through the ropes before dragging Anderson back into the ring.
Big E then went for the Big Ending but got hit by a boot from Gallows which Anderson followed up with a spinebuster on Xavier Woods for a nearfall. Gallows and Anderson then went for the Magic Killer on Woods but Big E interfered and got hit with a Baldo Bomb by Gallows.
Woods and Anderson were then left in the ring as Woods hit Anderson with a double forearm before Anderson rolled him up. Xavier countered with a roll-up of his own and held onto the tights for the win.
The New Day def. The Club
Charlotte (C) vs Sasha Banks (Falls Count Anywhere match for the Raw Women’s Championship)
Sasha and Charlotte main event Raw once again as they faced each other in a Falls Count Anywhere match, a rematch from their match earlier in the night that ended in a count out.
They went at it as soon as the bell rang as Sasha sent Charlotte reeling to the outside before hitting her with a mid-rope Plancha followed by a snap suplex to the mat outside. Sasha then climbed onto the apron and looked for the running double knees but Charlotte dodged it and both women hit each other with simultaneous clotheslines as they both went down and we headed to another commercial break.
We came back from commercial to see Charlotte slowly taking control as she had Sasha locked in a cross-arm headlock. She continued to knee Sasha while she was still in the hold but Sasha broke out and countered a Figure-8 attempt with the double knees. She followed it up with the running knees to Charlotte who was in the corner.
Charlotte then kicked Sasha in the midsection before attempting a vertical Suplex from the apron and both ladies hit each other with everything they had on the apron. Then Charlotte hit Sasha with a huge boot to which sent Sasha crashing into the apron and then the mat. Charlotte went for a cover but only got a 2-count.
Charlotte followed it up with an incredible Natural Selection on the mat at ringside but Sasha somehow kicked out from the following cover. As Charlotte grabbed Sasha by the hair, Sasha picked up a Kendo Stick and hit Charlotte with it repeatedly. The Boss then went for a snap suplex at ringside but Charlotte countered it with a neckbreaker.
Charlotte then had the Figure-8 locked in at ringside but Sasha managed to reach the kendo stick and smashed it into Charlotte’s midsection, breaking up the submission hold.
The two women fought all the way up the ramp and into the stage as Charlotte removed the monitors from the announce table. Sasha attacked Charlotte from behind but Sasha was sent crashing off the stage. Charlotte then climbed onto the announce table and hit a breathtaking Moonsault on Sasha but somehow only managed a nearfall.
Charlotte then dragged Sasha back down to ramp to ringside. Charlotte looked to send Sasha face first into the barricade but Sasha sent her crashing into the ring apron after which she climbed onto the barricade and hit the double knees for another nearfall.
The Boss then proceeded to pick up the kendo stick again as she unleashed hell on Charlotte’s back. The two proceeded to brawl into the WWE fans as Sasha trapped Charlotte in the railings of the stairs and locked in the Banks Statement as Charlotte tapped out. An absolutely incredible match. These women could main event Wrestlemania someday.
Sasha Banks def. Charlotte
Ric Flair came out after the match to congratulate Sasha as he lifted her arm as a sign of respect as a devastated Charlotte looked on.
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