WWE RAW returns to the Staples Center tonight from Los Angeles. As announced previously, Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masteron are the special guest hosts for tonight. They are expected to confront Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho for trashing their name on past week’s episode of RAW. Also, Sasha Banks goes one on one against Charlotte for the women’s title. WWE has been focusing on these points for RAW tonight:
- Will Seth continue to defy the general manager of RAW, Mick Foley?
- How well will Cesaro and Sheamus fare together?
- Will Brian Kendrick put himself in line for another cruiser weight championship match?
RAW opens with the United States Champion, Roman Reigns in the ring. He starts talking about how he represents his bloodline in the WWE. He is soon interrupted by Lana who says Rusev is officially challenging Roman Reigns for a rematch at the U.S. Championship. Reigns asks Lana to tell Rusev to tell the same thing to his face. Lana asks Reigns to go to hell and this brings out Rusev. They brawl at ringside. Reigns goes for the superman punch but is caught by Rusev who hits him with a spear in the corner. Rusev goes for a big boot, but Reigns counters with a right hand. Rusev rolls to the outside and Reigns hits the spring board onto Rusev trying to connect with the superman punch but Rusev kicks him and Reigns falls into the crowd. Rusev lands more kicks on Reigns and takes the title and starts walking up the ramp. Reigns comes from behind and lays out Rusev with a superman punch. Reigns takes back his title and says Rusev will get his rematch at Hell in a cell.
Brian Kendrick vs TJ Perkins: This is a non-title match. Perkins drops Kendrick with a dropkick immediately after the bell rings and is on the offense. Kendrick comes back with a big boot. Perkins comes back with the sliced bread for a two count. He gets Kendrick in the fireman’s carry position, but Kendrick rakes Perkins in the eyes and gets Perkins in the hook for a win via submission.
Seth Rollins is in a backstage sit down interview with Michael Cole. He says he deserves a rematch against Owens since Owens was literally handed the WWE Universal title by Triple H. He goes on to add that he will cancel the Owens show and also prove to the world that he is still the man.
Braun Strowman vs Chase Silver: A very short squash match. Braun Strowman picks up the win in no time. After the match, he says he is tired of beating lesser competition and asks Foley to start booking him in real competition from next week or else he is out.
Bayley wishes Sasha Banks luck for her women’s title match tonight.
Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho are out to the ring. Owens says that Cole was horrible in his sit down interview with Rollins and cuts a promo on Rollins. Owens also talks about how good of friends he is with Jericho. Owens says the reason he asked Jericho to join him tonight is because he wants Jericho to be the special guest referee for his next match against Rollins. Jericho says Owens needs to think about the big picture and that they are the best tag team on RAW currently and that they must challenge the New Day for the tag titles. Owens likes the idea but points out the Cesaro and Sheamus are already in line.
Jericho says that unlike him and Owens, Cesaro and Sheamus are not friends and that they should earn a title shot by winning a non-title match against the New Day. Owens thinks it over and says that Jericho is not asking for a shot at the Universal title, so that should be fine. The New Day are out. Kofi says the New Day have the best friendship in the WWE and not Jericho and Owens. Jericho adds Kofi onto his list and Big E makes fun of Jericho being the only one without a title. Jericho adds Xavier to the list for laughing! Hilarious stuff by Jericho! This guy is truly a gift to this generation!
Owens says that if New Day are not willing to give them a title shot, they should get out. Owens says they jumped the shark for 7 months and Xavier adds that Owens has never jumped over anything by the looks of it! Pure comic gold here!! Jericho adds Xavier on the list for the second time for insulting his friend! Comic timing at its best! The New Day accepts their challenge and their match is later on tonight.
Sheamus and Cesaro arrive together backstage and are shown to be arguing most of the time.
Sami Zayn vs Titus O’Neil: Titus is in control of the initial moments of the match. He connects with a massive back breaker. Sami clotheslines Titus and immediately hits the T-Bone suplex in the corner. Sami follows it up with a big boot for the win. This is another case of the WWE not knowing what to do with a genuine talent. Sami has been able to beat almost all of the mid carders and the under card, but has never really won the big one against big names. Hopefully this changes soon!
Cesaro and Sheamus are shown arguing again in the locker room. Foley walks in and asks them to bond and get on the same page. If they do that, they would be able to change the face of the tag team wrestling division.
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs the Golden Truth: Golden Truth gets the initial offense. Anderson hits a flying kick on Goldust and tags Gallows. Gallows works on Goldust, who comes back with a spinning power slam. Anderson and Truth get the respective tags. Anderson hits the axe kick on Truth for a two count. Gallows tags himself back in and knocks Goldust off the apron. Gallows and Anderson double team on Truth and hit him with the Magic Killer for the win. Another case of booking gone wrong. These guys were booked as a legitimate threat to the New Day and the tag team division as a whole. Now they are having short matches against jobbers. No denying of talent about the golden Truth. They have been booked wrong for ages! WWE, please take note!
- Updated card for the WWE Royal Rumble pay per view - January 28, 2017
- WWE SmackDown Results – 01/24/2017 - January 26, 2017
- WWE RAW Results – 01/23/2017 - January 24, 2017
