Raw kicked off with Stephanie McMahon backstage giving Mick Foley a performance review. They started addressing the “rumours” of The Undertaker appearing later in the night. Seth Rollins came in and said that he would be entering the Royal Rumble. Braun Strowman then came in and demanded a match with either Goldberg or Roman Reigns.
Foley told Strowman that Goldberg wasn’t in the building or the city, and Roman had a match coming up. Rollins looked at Strowman and said that he could give Strowman what he wanted. He then began to attack Strowman which led to a backstage brawl, and lot of referees to stop them.
Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho – 2-on-1 Handicap for the United States Championship
After the competitors were getting introduced, Braun Strowman came out. Reigns attempted to attack him but Strowman got the better of him, making it a 3-on-1 assault. Owens and Jericho started picking on Reigns as well. Rollins came out for the save with a steel chair and cleared the ring.
Stephanie McMcMahon came out and announced that the US title handicap match would be happening later. She then announced that Seth Rollins would be facing Braun Strowman next.
Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman
Seth started with a set of flashy kicks, working on Strowman’s lower legs. However, it did not take long for Strowman to become dominant. Strowman looked very impressive in the match. Rollins got some momentum on his side after tugging on Strowman’s beard.
After the commercial break, Rollins hit the enzuiguri outside, followed by a suicide dive. He kicked him once he entered the ring again, but when attempting a pin, Strowman kicked out at 1. Strowman was still on his feet despite a flying knee.
When attempting another, Strowman caught him. Strowman attempted a move from the top rope, but Seth went down, then came back up and kicked him down. He hit Strowman with a frog splash. However, Strowman kicked out at two.
Strowman went outside towards the barricade. Rollins attempted a dive from the top corner post. However, Strowman moved out of the way. Strowman then put him over the barricade, and when he tried to get him back in the ring, both competitors were counted out.
Result: The match ended in a double count-out
After the match, Strowman tried to get a steel chair to assault Rollins, but Rollins dropkicked him as he was entering the ring, obtaining the steel chair. He then cleared the ring with the steel chair, so Strowman didn’t enter.
Backstage, Bayley and Sasha Banks talk about the previous week, where Bayley became Number One contender. Sasha said that she has Bayley’s back if Charlotte tries to bring Dana Brooke into their match.
Charlotte entered the scene and called out Sasha for pretending like she cared about Bayley, and added that Banks couldn’t even give her advice on how to win. After some back and forth jabs, Nia Jax came in and kicked Sasha Banks from under her knee. Charlotte then began to assault Bayley. Nia Jax teased attacking Charlotte but walked away instead.
Jack Gallagher vs. Drew Gulak
The match was already underway after the commercial break. Gallagher was in control of Gulak for a while. However, it didn’t take long for Gulak to start his offence. There was a lot of back and forth between the two Cruiserweights.
The crowd was more into this than usual Cruiserweight matches. After a vicious headbutt, Gallagher hit a running dropkick and picked up the win.
Result: Jack Gallagher defeated Drew Gulak
After the match, Charly Caruso asked Gallagher about his heated rivalry with Ariya Daivari. Gallagher said that he invited Daivari to a “Parley” in 205 Live. He explained that a parley is a sit-down where they make an agreement to negotiate peace. He threatened to give Daivari a beating if he didn’t agree.
The camera cut backstage, where T.J Perkins was teaching Shawn Michaels how to dab. Michaels addressing the WWE Universe was announced to be next.
Backstage, Mick Foley was walking around looking for The Undertaker. Stephanie McMahon told him that his performance review depended on his ability to produce, and said that she needed The Undertaker in the ring within one hour.
Shawn Michaels is confronted by an international annoyance
Shawn Michaels started a cutting a promo about the Royal Rumble and started teasing that he would enter the Rumble. He spoke about how 20 years ago he won the WWE Championship at the Alamodome. He said that he was more comfortable watching it from outside.
He started promoting his upcoming movie The Ressurection Of Gavin Stone, after which Rusev interrupted.
Rusev told HBK that in order to make the movie a big hit, it needed his wife Lana. He demanded Lana be in the movie. He told Shawn to use CGI to get her in. He told Rusev that CGI doesn’t work that way. Rusev continued to demand that Lana is put in the movie. Enzo & Cass then came out.
Enzo, Cass, and HBK started naming the heel trio after movies. Big Cass challenged Rusev to a match, but Rusev told him that he would be facing Jinder Mahal. HBK said that he would be ringside for the match.
Big Cass vs. Jinder Mahal
Jinder Mahal had a decent showing early on. He was dominant from early on. Outside the ring, Shawn Michaels gave Rusev a Sweet Chin Music, which distracted Jinder. Big Cass botched a slam but hit the Empire Elbow to finish things.
Result: Big Cass defeated Jinder Mahal
Neville vs. Lince Dorado
Dorado got the offence from the get-go. However, that did not last long as Neville took control. Neville dominated the entire match and submitted Dorado with the Rings of Saturn.
Result: Neville defeated Lince Dorado by submission.
After the match. Neville assaulted Lince Dorado and put him in the rings of Saturn once again. Rich Swann came out for the save. Neville barely managed to escape.
A preview of Edge’s 2010 Royal Rumble win was shown.
The camera cut backstage to Stephanie’s office, where Sasha and Bayley storm in, demanding a match with Nia Jax and Charlotte. Stephanie belittled both Sasha and Bayley and told them that their match wouldn’t be next week, it would be later in the night.
Luke Gallows vs. Sheamus
Karl Anderson and Cesaro were on commentary. The bout saw a lot of hard-hitting back and forth. Sheamus even showed off a couple of new moves. Humorous commentary in the match, with Karl Anderson bragging about his achievements in Japan, and Cesaro saying he is the most global Superstar WWE has.
After a while, Karl Anderson began assaulting Cesaro on the entrance ramp. Cesaro almost hit the Cesaro swing but Anderson escaped. The distraction caused Sheamus to hit the Brogue kick on Gallows to get the win.
Result: Sheamus defeated Luke Gallows
Backstage, Roman Reigns told Charly Caruso that he has an obligation to defend the US title, and he would beat Jericho and Kevin Owens.
Mick Foley calls out The Undertaker
Mick Foley spoke about his time with The Undertaker and called him out to come to Raw. The lights went out, only for Stephanie McMahon to come out. She began to belittle Foley, and give his performance review publicly. She said that for every step forward, he took two steps back.
She asked what Foley had to say, and when the latter began to apologise, the bells rang. The Undertaker made his way to the ring.
After his music stopped, the crowd erupted into chants of “Undertaker”. Undertaker announced his entry to the Royal Rumble. He said that he answers to no one, directly looking at Stephanie. He mentioned that New Orleans was where he suffered his most devastating loss, the end of the streak.
He said that he will return to the main event of Wrestlemania when he wins the Royal Rumble.
Backstage, Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens insulted both Undertaker and Goldberg and said that they will become the new United States Champion.
Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte & Nia Jax
The match started off with Charlotte trying to get Sasha’s knee weaker, but Banks evaded the attack and started one of her own. Sasha tried driving her knee into Charlotte’s stomach from the turnbuckle. Charlotte evaded it, causing Sasha to struggle. Sasha limped and tagged Bayley in.
Bayley got the better of Charlotte, leading to the Champion tagging Nia in. Nia came in and dominated Bayley and weakened her. She then tagged Charlotte back in to take care of the weakened Bayley.
The two tagged back and forth, and Nia knocked Sasha off the apron. She then hit Bayley with the leg drop to get the win.
Result: Charlotte & Nia Jax defeated Bayley & Sasha Banks
Charlotte rubbed in the victory to Bayley.
Backstage, Alicia Fox was behind Noam Dar, and he expected she was going to slap him. Instead, she ended up kissing him instead. She said that Cedric was right, and he couldn’t handle a real woman.
The New Day offer positivity to Titus O’ Neil
Titus made another attempt to join The New Day. The New Day rolled an embarrassing clip of Titus O’ Neil from 7 years ago where he dropped a keg and fell, to everyone’s amusement. The New Day gave Titus another chance with the same challenge.
He had to beat his record time of 12 seconds from 7 years ago to carry it around the ring. He ended up beating the record with 0.6 seconds to spare, but he dropped the keg before the finish line, which meant that he lost the challenge.
Kofi then challenged Titus to a match.
Kofi Kingston vs. Titus O’ Neil
Titus started off dominant against Kofi. Kofi tried fighting back but got manhandled by Titus. Kofi managed to pick up the win after a Trouble In Paradise out of the blue.
Result: Kofi Kingston defeated Titus O’ Neil
Roman Reigns(c) vs Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho – 2-on-1 Handicap match for the United States Championship
Roman Reigns began attacking the duo even before the bell rang. Roman tried locking Jericho in the shark cage but Owens saved him in the last minute. The duo assaulted him, then put him back in the ring.
The referee checked on Reigns and then made the match official. Jericho started dominating against a hurt Reigns, but Reigns managed to counter constantly.
Jericho got a near fall after hitting Reigns with the lionsault. JeriKO tried a pop-up code breaker but hit Jericho with a Superman punch. He attempted a spear once but failed. He hit another one on Jericho but Owens pulled Reigns away from him.
Jericho hit a code breaker through the ropes. Owens pulled Reigns out and hit him with a powerbomb against the apron. After assaulting Reigns more, Jericho hit Reigns with the code breaker and pinned him, making Y2J the new United States Champion.
Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens defeated Roman Reigns. Chris Jericho is the new United States Champion
Send us news tips at [email protected]