WWE Raw live results: Becky Lynch vs. Bayley steel cage match
Date: February 6, 2023
Location: Amway Center in Orlando, FL
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Show Recap —
Edge and Beth Phoenix kicked off Raw. A video package aired recapping their issues with Judgment Day going back to October. Edge was happy to be back and added, “I am the king of comebacks at this point — it’s getting silly.”
Edge admitted that Judgment Day was his fault but his idea worked. Everyone in Judgment Day was in a better place today than they were a year ago. Finn Bálor was on a new level, Damian Priest was a workhorse, Rhea Ripley (who got some cheers) outlasted everyone to win the Royal Rumble, “and Dom’s there, too.”
Edge felt helpless when Ripley held that chair to Beth Phoenix in October. He never felt helpless so he gave Judgment Day a golf clap for that. Edge said he would stop at nothing to get his pound of flesh. Phoenix wanted to cut to the chase so she called out Judgment Day.
Bálor, Priest and Dominik Mysterio entered. Bálor told Edge it might be time to say, “I quit” for good. The crowd loudly booed Dom who bragged about serving hard time and he made a remark about Rey not making it to the Rumble.
Priest acknowledged that Edge and Phoenix kept coming back no matter what they did to them. Priest threatened them with worse before saying he would beat Angelo Dawkins and become US Champion at Elimination Chamber. (Priest flubbed his line and almost said Money in the Bank.)
Edge thought it was ironic that Priest didn’t want to be by his side but he followed Bálor around like a labradoodle. Edge threatened to drop them faster than Dom dropped his pants in prison. Edge couldn’t wait to see Rey come back and kick Dom’s teeth down his throat.
(Edge also made a reference to the band Jamiroquai and their song “Virtual Insanity” which came out in 1996, roughly two years before Edge even debuted on WWF television.)
Phoenix said she came here for Ripley but Dom said Ripley was off doing promotional work for WrestleMania. Phoenix thought that was convenient considering she speared Ripley into oblivion last week.
Since Ripley wasn’t there, Phoenix challenged them to a tag match at Elimination Chamber: herself and Edge against Ripley and Bálor. Bálor was amused by the challenge and accepted.
Judgment Day went to attack but Angelo Dawkins ran out to even the odds and Edge speared Bálor. Dom tried backing away unharmed but Montez Ford snuck up behind him and chucked him in the ring where Phoenix gave him a Glam Slam.
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During a break, Adam Pearce tossed everyone from ringside for the upcoming match.
Elimination Chamber qualifier: Damian Priest defeated Angelo Dawkins (12:00)
After a break, Dawkins ran into a superkick and Priest followed with a flatliner for two. Dawkins countered a chokeslam into a Silencer for two followed by a senton bomb (perhaps the first he’s done on TV) for a nearfall. Priest followed with a spinning kick and South of Heaven chokeslam for the pinfall win. Priest qualifies for the Chamber.
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Austin Theory arrived at the building earlier today in a black Lamborghini convertible.
Corey Graves congratulated Bad Bunny on winning a Grammy.
Adam Pearce officially welcomed Maxxine Dupri and Maximum Male Models to Raw with new contracts.
They left after Chelsea Green arrived to complain about getting Belgian chocolate last week instead of Swiss chocolate and also about not being in the Chamber. She wanted a match tonight or else maybe she would call Pearce’s manager and that would be bad news for him. She said, “K, thanks, bye,” and left.
There was a video recap of the Sami Zayn/Roman Reigns angle and a plug for The Usos’ title defence on Friday against Braun Strowman and Ricochet.
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Dexter Lumis (w/Johnny Gargano) defeated Baron Corbin (w/JBL) (3:10)
Corbin attacked Lumis before the match — during picture-in-picture as they showed a reply — and we were in a long chin lock less than a minute into the match.
Lumis fought out of a second rest hold and hit his finisher for the relatively easy win.
(They seemed to tease that maybe JBL wasn’t happy with Corbin after losing again.)
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Byron Saxton interviewed Becky Lynch. She ran down her history with Bayley, which started right here in Orlando, and warned her not to talk about her family. Lynch said Bayley could bring her friends but it wouldn’t matter. Lynch had one hand to play that she hasn’t played yet and maybe tonight would be the night.
[SECOND HOUR]
Brock Lesnar/Bobby Lashley segment
Brock Lesnar entered to a big reaction. Lesnar appreciated it.
Lesnar asked if the crowd enjoyed the Rumble. They cheered but he thought it sucked — at least for him it did. Lesnar got eliminated quickly and worse, it was by “Bobby who.” Lesnar took time off last week but during that time, all he could think about was Bobby Lashley. He would go fishing or sit down to eat a steak but all he could think about was Bobby Lashley.
He would get into bed with his wife — and about 4 or 5 hours later, all he could think about was Bobby Lashley. (That was a funny line.)
Lesnar had an idea. Inside his $5 denim jacket was a multi-million dollar contract. He pulled out a contract proposing a match between the two men at the Chamber. Lesnar called out Lashley and he entered.
Lashley recalled pinning Lesnar in their first match together. Lesnar won their second match but Lashley left him unconscious. Their next meeting was in the Rumble and Lashley threw him out with no problem.
Lesnar handed him the contract but Lashley said things would be done on his terms. Lashley said he would have his agent, manager and lawyer look it over before he took it under consideration. Lashley asked Lesnar if he was surprised that “Bobby who” had one up on him.
Lashley put his finger in Lesnar’s face so Lesnar gave him an F5.
The crowd loudly chanted “one more time.” It’s possible Lesnar wanted to ignore it but it was too loud so he, in fact, gave Lashley another F5. The crowd cheered and Lesnar tipped his cap.
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Gargano and Lumis approached Candice LeRae as she psyched herself up for tonight’s match. Lumis presented her with a drawing of LeRae and Gargano with their dogs. LeRae was pleased until she noticed a strange woman drawn to the side and she asked who it was. They realized it was Nikki Cross who was stalking them in the background at that very moment. Cross cackled and scampered off. Gargano and LeRae were perplexed as Lumis just stood there silently.
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Elimination Chamber fatal four-way qualifying match: Carmella defeated Candice LeRae, Michin Mia Yim and Piper Niven (9:52)
Niven pancaked her three opponents at once with a crossbody. After a break, Yim gave Carmella an Eat Defeat but Niven broke up the cover. LeRae gave Niven a lionsault but Yim broke up the cover. Niven gave Yim a spinning side slam but LeRae broke up that cover. LeRae avoided a Niven senton and hit one of her own. Carmella tried a surprise schoolboy on LeRae but she kicked out.
Carmella gave LeRae a bronco buster and Niven gave LeRae a cannonball. Carmella superkicked Niven out of the ring and stacked up LeRae for the pinfall win. Carmella qualifies. Graves was happy.
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Corbin asked JBL if he wanted to go out for drinks. JBL basically told Corbin that he had channel-changing heat and he was ruining his Hall of Fame reputation. JBL called Corbin a clown who didn’t belong with him. Corbin said he could do better but JBL told him you can’t polish a turd. JBL left.
(MVP could be seen speaking to Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander in the background.)
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Niven shoved LeRae into a wall backstage and was pissed that LeRae cost her a chance at the title. Yim separated them and told Niven to back off. Niven warned them to never get in her way again.
Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander (w/MVP) defeated Alpha Academy (4:56)
There was an impressive spot early where Alexander went for a Neuralyzer but Chad Gable caught him and in one motion hit a German suplex. Otis tagged in and gave Benjamin the world’s strongest slam. Otis worked over Benjamin for a bit before Alexander tagged in and ran wild on Gable but when he went for a dive, Gable caught him and suplexed him on the outside.
Gable followed with a diving headbutt but Benjamin broke up the cover. Benjamin hit Otis with knee strikes before hitting an impressive Samoan drop. Alexander dodged Gable’s moonsault attempt and hit a Lumbar Check for the pinfall win.
This was fun for the time they got. (The announcers put over the reunion of MVP with Benjamin and Alexander.)
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Cathy Kelley interviewed The Miz, who acted like he was not impressed by Rick Boogs. Boogs showed up and said he was just happy to be back with the Boogs Crew. Miz thought that was dumb and told Boogs he would have won last week if he didn’t have to wrestle in a suit. Miz called Pearce an incompetent official for making the match. Pearce happened to be behind Miz so he made a rematch for next week. Boogs was pumped.
Green showed up in her gear and told Pearce that she was headed to the ring, so he better have an opponent ready for her or else she’d call his manager. She said “K, thanks, bye,” again.
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Asuka defeated Chelsea Green (2:29)
Asuka has a new remixed theme.
Right as the match started, Asuka had her back turned to Green as she removed her jacket and was maybe distracted by Raquel Rodriguez who stood ringside so Green decked her. Liv Morgan and Natalya were at ringside as well and were soon joined by Cross (who crawled out from under the ring) and Carmella. (Green warned Cross that she would give her crazy if she wanted crazy.)
Green was too distracted by everyone at ringside so Asuka killed her with rapid strikes, a German suplex, a kick to the head, and a submission (that wound up looking like a Rings of Saturn) for the submission win.
— After the match, Bianca Belair reminded them all why she was champion and wished them luck at Elimination Chamber.
[THIRD HOUR]
Cody Rhodes segment
This was outstanding.
Rhodes entered to a big reaction. Rhodes mentioned Roman Reigns which led to chants of “Sami.” Rhodes said the crowd read his mind because while his path to WrestleMania was a straight line, Reigns was defending his title against a guy who has kicked up dirt and fought his way to a championship match in his hometown: Sami Zayn.
Rhodes respected anyone who fought against an injustice put upon them and he considered Zayn a friend. Rhodes wished Zayn well and said, “let the best man win.”
Paul Heyman interrupted and the crowd loudly sang along with his spiel. Heyman informed Rhodes that the only week as busy as the week leading up to a big event like the Rumble or WrestleMania was the week following. So, a week after he did it, Heyman congratulated Rhodes on his Rumble win. They shook hands.
Cody said his father and his brother had a nickname for Heyman but all Cody wanted to call him was “Mr. Heyman.” Rhodes respected Heyman and Heyman knew why. Rhodes decided to pull the curtain back for everyone.
In 2000, the Rhodes family came across hard times. They went broke. Dusty did local car commercials — not for the money but just so he could keep the car. The crowd chanted for Dusty.
Dusty got a call from Heyman. ECW was in town and Steve Corino would call him out. (Heyman was getting emotional.) Cody said Heyman offered to pay Dusty and pay him well. Heyman was a man of his word.
Thanks to Heyman, Dusty got his confidence back and Cody could never thank him enough. Before Cody returned to WWE, he was somewhere else disrupting the business and Heyman helped show him the way. Cody thanked him again. The crowd chanted, “thank you, Paul.”
Heyman took a step back, chuckled, and told Cody, “you’re good.” Heyman tried finding the words as the crowd cheered. Heyman said they could pull the curtain back some more. This wasn’t about him or about Dusty. This was about Cody. This was about everything that Cody fought for — leaving through the door and walking back in.
This was about main eventing — and winning — WrestleMania. Winning at WrestleMania would be the storybook ending but it was up to Cody to make sure he didn’t come up short because Cody was going against the biggest box office draw at WrestleMania in Roman Reigns. Nobody else knew what it was like being under that spotlight and nobody prepped Cody for it.
Down the road at the Performance Center, Dusty Rhodes trained and prepped the biggest stars of this generation — Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Bayley, Kevin Owens, and the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns. The person Dusty didn’t train or prep was Cody. Heyman said maybe Dusty simply wanted Cody to do it on his own.
Heyman couldn’t stress how much he loved Dusty or how much Dusty loved Cody. In their last conversation together, Dusty told Heyman that Cody was his favourite son — but Roman Reigns was the son he always wanted. Heyman dropped the mic as the crowd booed.
Cody got in Heyman’s face and Heyman stepped back. Cody forced a handshake to keep Heyman close. Cody got real serious and said he was just trying to win a wrestling championship but everyone was trying to make it personal. Cody said Heyman wouldn’t be the one to pay for it. Reigns would pay for it when Cody took the titles — personally.
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There was a Kofi Kingston video package to celebrate Black History Month.
Elimination Chamber qualifier: Montez Ford defeated Elias (10:26)
The highlight of this match by far was Ford doing his wild flip dive over the ring post to the outside. He followed with a frog splash for the pinfall win.
— Austin Theory was on commentary for the match and posed with his belt on top of the table after the match. Seth Rollins ran in, tripped Theory and curb-stomped him. Rollins pranced around as Ford watched.
(If the Rhodes/Heyman segment was the most interesting promo on Raw in ages, then Theory on commentary was the opposite of that.)
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Next week on Raw:
- Brock Lesnar/Bobby Lashley contract signing (if Lashley agrees to the match)
- Raw vs. Smackdown six-woman tag match: Asuka, Nikki Cross & Carmella vs. Raquel Rodriguez, Liv Morgan & Natalya
- Miz TV with Seth Rollins
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Steel Cage Match: Becky Lynch defeated Bayley (w/Tag Team Champions Dakota Kai & IYO SKY) (15:09)
Lynch was aggressive and in control for the first portion of the match until Bayley bonked her off the side of the cage. Bayley followed with a flying elbow drop for two. Bayley hit a sunset flip powerbomb into the bottom turnbuckle during a break but Lynch fought back following the break.
With Bayley draped over the top rope, Lynch hit a diving leg drop for two. Bayley countered a Man-handle slam into a back suplex for two. Bayley tried to escape so Lynch drove her into the side of the cage. Lynch tried a leg drop but Bayley caught her and applied a leg lock (Graves had to point out that Bayley didn’t have the ankle grasped properly).
Lynch crawled toward the open door and flung Bayley around into the turnbuckle. Bayley tried the leg lock again so Lynch drove her into the cage. They battled for position on the top rope until Bayley brought down Lynch with a Bayley-to-belly. This only got a two count so Bayley climbed to the top of the cage.
Lynch went after her and applied a Disarmer on top of the cage until Bayley fell back into the ring. Lynch seemed to have it won but SKY climbed up and knocked her back into the ring. Kai slipped a crutch into the ring when Lita’s music it. (She got a good reaction.)
Lita yanked SKY down from the side of the cage and took Kai’s other crutch. She attacked SKY with it and gave her a Twist of Fate.
Lita slammed the door on Bayley and Lynch followed with a Man-handle Slam for the pinfall win. Lita celebrated with Lynch. (The match itself was pretty good.)