WWE Baltimore & Richmond live results: Brock Lesnar vs. Kane
On the night before the Royal Rumble, the Raw roster was in Baltimore, Maryland and SmackDown was in Richmond, Virginia for house shows.
Brock Lesnar defending his Universal Championship against Kane was the biggest match on the Raw side. And Kevin Owens challenged AJ Styles for the WWE Championship in a steel cage match in Richmond.
In advance of the women’s Royal Rumble, there wasn’t a women’s match on either house show card.
Image and report submitted by reader Liam Renner from Raw’s house show in Baltimore
– Matt Hardy defeated Bray Wyatt
They did some spots where they tried to outspook each other, and Hardy sang the “Obsolete” song and chanted “Delete.” The crowd liked Hardy, but they weren’t really into the match. He won with the Twist of Fate.
– Cesaro & Sheamus defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno and Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
This had fine action but was nothing spectacular. Sheamus pinned Rhyno after hitting the Brogue Kick.
– Cedric Alexander defeated Drew Gulak
They had a very long match that was preceded by Gulak doing a PowerPoint presentation. Alexander hit the Lumbar Check to win. The crowd liked him and got into his comeback and the near falls.
– Universal Champion Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) defeated Kane to retain his title
Heyman did Lesnar’s ring introduction. They went about five minutes, with Kane deadweighting Lesnar on every suplex.
Braun Strowman came out and hit a powerslam on Lesnar before trying (and failing once) to lift up Kane for the same move. After Strowman laid them out, both men sat up and Lesnar hit one more suplex and the F5 to retain.
– Goldust defeated Curt Hawkins
Goldust won via roll-up.
– Elias defeated Finn Balor
Elias sang two songs. One was about the Royal Rumble and the other was about how Baltimore and its people suck. The crowd responded well to the songs, but they hardly reacted to the finish. Elias won with the Drift Away.
– Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan defeated The Miz, Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas
Jordan, who has been injured, did very little. This was a good six-man tag with a lot of comedy to start. Rollins worked most of it, and Miz talked for a long time before the match while getting a lot of heat from the crowd.
Reigns got the pin on Miz following a spear.
Report submitted by reader Michael Yoen from SmackDown’s show in Richmond
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated The New Day to retain their titles
Both teams were cheered. Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston worked the match for New Day. There was some comedy early, but The Usos worked as heels once it got serious.
The Usos won with a top rope splash. This didn’t have a string of false finishes like it would on pay-per-view, but it was still a good match.
– Sami Zayn defeated Sin Cara
Another good match. Zayn generated a lot of heat and did a good job working the fans at ringside. He hit the Blue Thunder Bomb to pick up the win.
– Breezango defeated Rusev & Aiden English
Rusev was cheered, but his team worked as heels throughout. Surprisingly, Fandango pinned English for the finish.
– United States Champion Bobby Roode defeated Jinder Mahal to retain his title
Both got strong reactions for their entrances. There was nothing wrong with this, though it was a pretty basic match. Roode retained with the Glorious DDT.
– Zack Ryder defeated Mojo Rawley
– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Baron Corbin
Nakamura got a great reaction. This was also pretty basic, with Nakamura hitting the Kinshasa to end it.
– WWE Champion AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens in a steel cage match to retain his title
Styles received the biggest pop of the night. Owens worked a regular match and didn’t seem to be protecting himself after he’s been dealing with an injury lately.
They had a good match. The finish was Styles climbing out of the cage at the same time as Owens was going out the door. Styles kicked the door in Owens’ face and jumped out to retain.