WWE Raw live results: Goldberg returns on the first episode of 2017

The Big Takeaway —

Goldberg made his return in the first edition of “The Kevin Owens Show.” The segment featured Goldberg and Reigns having a staredown, but they later teamed to give Braun Strowman a double spear. Earlier, Strowman defeated Sami Zayn in a Last Man Standing match. Bayley pinned Nia Jax, who lost for the first time since being called up to the Raw roster. Bayley now faces Charlotte for the Raw Women’s Championship at the Royal Rumble. 

Show Recap —

Mick Foley started the show displaying a haircut. He joked that he will now write the name of the town he’s in on his hand so he won’t forget like he did two weeks ago. He started to say he was happy to be in Jacksonville, then looked at his hand and remembered he was in Tampa.

Owens and Jericho came out and walked past the shark cage that Jericho will be in above the ring at the Royal Rumble.Owens asked if Foley thought it was funny that he was going to put Jericho above the cage. Jericho reminded Owens he was going to be hanging like a sexy pinata. Jericho said Foley constantly abused power. He and Owens made fun of Foley’s new haircut and were upset about Reigns getting another match for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble.

Jericho presented Exhibit B, which was Rollins giving him a pedigree on top of a car and Foley didn’t punish him. In fact, Foley rewarded him. Yet Foley punished Jericho by putting him in the cage just for helping Owens retain the championship at Roadblock. 

Owens said it was obvious that Foley had a personal issue with them and they weren’t going to stand for it anymore. Foley admitted he made mistakes and said he kept hearing about the Kevin Owens Show, but he’s never seen it. So tonight, we were going to have the debut of the Kevin Owens Show and his guest would be Goldberg. 

Owens said that was fine because they had questions for Goldberg, like where has he been the last ten years? And who cares where he’s been the last ten years? Owens asked what made Foley think he could abuse his power.

Stephanie McMahon came out and said Foley wasn’t abusing his power because he has every right to put Jericho in the shark cage, though she wished that Foley would have consulted with her about that. Foley replied that he wished that she had consulted with him about putting Zayn against Strowman in a Last Man Standing match. Stephanie announced that Reigns would defend the U.S. Championship tonight against Jericho and if Reigns is disqualified or counted out, he would lose the championship. 

Jericho liked the idea, but Owens suggested Rollins be banned from ringside for tonight’s match. Foley said Owens should be barred from ringside. They all started arguing until Stephanie shouted them all down saying she was upset that SmackDown beat Raw in the ratings last night. She ordered Owens to face Rollins immediately, and the loser of the match would be barred from ringside in the Jericho-Reigns championship bout. Stephanie ordered Jericho to get ready for his match, Foley to get his act together and Owens to prepare immediately because he was facing Rollins next. 

Seth Rollins defeated Kevin Owens by DQ, so Owens is barred from ringside for tonight’s Reigns-Jericho championship match (11:43)

Rollins opened the match with two pescados on opposite sides of the ring. Owens backdropped Rollins over the top rope and attempted the cannonball on the floor, but missed and hit the guard boards. After scoring a kick to the inner thigh,

Owens went for the Pop-Up Power Bomb, but Rollins landed on his feet and caught an enzuigiri. Rollins got the downward spiral into the turnbuckle and the slingblade. He attempted the pedigree, but Owens backdropped him over. It ended with Owens taking a bump to the floor and Rollins hitting a tope. They fought into the timekeeper’s area, where Owens used the ring bell to jab Rollins into the midsection for the DQ. Owens protested but realized he screwed up in leaving his partner alone against Reigns later tonight. Rollins tried to pedigree Owens, who escaped. 

Karl Anderson defeated Cesaro (10:50) 

Sheamus was on commentary until Luke Gallows distracted Cesaro. Karl Anderson got the spinebuster for a two count as Sheamus went to ringside. Cesaro attempted a sharpshooter but Anderson made the ropes. Anderson came back with a running knee, but Cesaro hit him with a dropkick and a European uppercut for two. Cesaro tried to give Anderson a superplex, but Gallows got on the apron. Sheamus pulled Gallows off the apron, but Gallows pulled the ropes as he went to the floor and crotched Cesaro. Anderson hit a flying neckbreaker for the pin. 

Jameis Winston and Gerald McCoy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were at ringside. 

Braun Strowman defeated Sami Zayn in a Last Man Standing match (15:45) 

Zayn, who had a black left eye supposedly from the brawl with Strowman last week, started with a few jabs. Strowman chased him to the floor, but Zayn grabbed a kendo stick at the timekeeper’s table and batted with it three times.

Zayn went for a moonsault press of the dasherboards, but Strowman caught him and dropped him across the boards. Zayn got up at six. Strowman ran at Zayn but ran into the post, Zayn pushed Strowman into the post twice more, then attempted the flying between the ropes DDT, but Strowman leveled him with a forearm. Zayn was up at six again. Strowman bounced Zayn around with clotheslines and shoulder blocks, with Zayn answering the bell each time. 

After a commercial, Strowman threw Zayn off the entrance ramp onto the floor, then the front of the announcers’ table. Strowman rammed a moving case into Zayn’s midsection. Crowd booed when they brawled out of their line of sight. It wound up backstage where Zayn used a lead pipe across Strowman’s shoulder three times. Strowman recovered to throw Zayn high in the air on top of moving cases, followed by throwing a case on Zayn, which partially caught his legs. They brawled to the ramp with Zayn using chair shots across Strowman’s back, but Strowman grabbed Zayn across the neck and chucked him onto the ramp. 

Not much heat as Strowman tried to throw Zayn off the stage, but Zayn got out and used more chair shots. Strowman backed up towards the end of the stage where Strowman teetered on the edge. Then Zayn gave Strowman a crossbody block and they fell about two feet to the floor through a table. That got the crowd into it with the “This is awesome” chants. Strowman got up, but Zayn used more chair shots.

Strowman grabbed the chair and threw Zayn to the ramp. Then he gave Zayn the Oklahoma Stampede on the floor, which appeared to be the finish. But Zayn got up at eight. Strowman landed knees to the chest and chin. Strowman laid in some more stiff forearms and crossfaces. Zayn appeared motionless, but Strowman picked up Zayn anyway and gave him another Oklahoma Stampede even though Zayn didn’t appear to be getting up. This time, Zayn didn’t get up. 

Foley brought out an EMS crew and Zayn started to do a stretcher job. Then Strowman dumped him off the stretcher, picked Zayn up and tossed him like a frisbee into the boards again. Strowman screamed “Ashes to aces, dust to dust.” Michael Cole, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton talked like Zayn’s career had been shortened. 

James Gallagher was backstage teaching the New Day the finer points of using an umbrella as a weapon. This set up the New Day coming out to make their New Year’s Resolutions. 

New Day came out. Xavier Woods said 2016 was, all in all, a good year for them as they became the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions. Big E. announced they’ve all officially entered the Royal Rumble. Kofi Kingston was about to announce their resolutions, but Titus O’Neal came out to the sounds of silence. O’Neal said he should be a new member of the New Day. He tried to take the New Day’s catchphrases, saying if the New Day is wondering “Who” then look no further than the Titus Brand. O’Neal started dancing around saying “New Day Rocks” and started to reach for Franchesca the Trombone, but Woods said no one touches his girl but him.

O’Neal brought his own whistle and started blowing it to the tune of “New Day Rocks.” Crowd was supposed to boo O’Neal, but they actually cheered him. Big E. said Titus could stop because everyone knew that Titus blows. Titus said everyone wanted to see his face on a front of a box of Booty-Os. Woods said everyone would rather see O’Neal’s face on the side of a milk carton. O’Neal said Woods was the weakest link of the New Day. Woods challenged him to a match. O’Neal sucker punched Woods and accepted. 

Xavier Woods defeated Titus O’Neal (3:50) 

Woods won when O’Neal went for Clash of the Titus, but Woods turned it into a sunset flip. The biggest reaction was the fans chanting for Hulk Hogan because some fan was dressed up like him. Of all times to chant that…

Bayley approached Stephanie backstage and asked her why did she allow Dana Brooke to be the special referee in the match with Charlotte last week. Stephanie said Charlotte had some high powered attorneys. Then she ran Bayley down saying she was never in favor of bringing Bayley to the main roster. She said Charlotte had the look of a champion, the pedigree of the champion while Bayley was just ordinary, just like everyone else in the crowd tonight. Bayley said she was going to accomplish her dreams, and being Bayley was good enough for her. Stephanie then arranged Bayley to face Nia Jax in a number one contenders match tonight. 

Cedric Alexander and Alicia Fox walked backstage arm-in-arm when Noam Dar ran into them. Dar apologized to Alexander, who told him to apologize to Fox. Dar said “I apologize, sweet cheeks.” Dar ran before Fox could slap him. 

Drew Gulak defeated Cedric Alexander (2:27) 

Drew Gulak won with a schoolboy cradle when Tony Nese, who was at ringside, jumped up on the apron. Fox dragged him back to the floor, but Alexander was distracted for the pin. Austin Aries was on commentary. 

U.S. Champion Roman Reigns defeated Chris Jericho to retain the championship in a match where Reigns could lose the belt if he was disqualified or counted out and Kevin Owens was barred from ringside (12:57) 

About three minutes in, Reigns and Jericho fought on the floor when Reigns launched himself for a Drive By, but Jericho moved. Reigns crashed hard into the post. They teased a countout finish since Reigns could have lost the championship that way, but Reigns got in at nine. Jericho went for a lionsault but Reigns got out of the way and teased the Superman punch, but Jericho jumped up for a Codebreaker, which turned into a rare hurricanrana into a Walls of Jericho. Reigns escaped with a small package for a two count. Jericho went to the top rope but Reigns leveled him with a Superman punch for another near fall. Reigns went for another spear but Jericho rammed him into the post.

Jericho loosened a turnbuckle, which the referee saw. As the referee tied the turnbuckle back, Jericho grabbed the U.S. Championship belt from the timekeeper. In a Eddy Guerrero spot, while the referee was still occupied, Jericho threw the belt at Reigns, then took a bump like Reigns had hit him with the belt. The referee acted like he was going to disqualify Reigns, which would have cost him the championship, but chose not to. Jericho wound up running into the exposed turnbuckle and Reigns pinned him with the spear. 

T.J. Perkins defeated Brian Kendrick via submission (2:39)

Brian Kendrick attempted the Sliced Bread #2, but Perkins reversed it into a Detonation Kick and got the tapout with a kneebar. Neville watched from backstage. 

There was a package showing the contestants for the United Kingdom Championship. Michael Cole, HHH and William Regal spoke at a press conference. Plus there was the official introduction of Nigel McGuinness as a color commentator. 

The billed tag team match between Jinder Mahal & Rusev vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass was changed because Enzo suffered an injury before the match. So it became a handicap match with Cass vs. Rusev and Mahal. Enzo came out in a wheelchair for the second week in a row. 

Rusev & Jinder Mahal defeated Big Cass in a handicap match (1:46)

Rusev pinned Cass after a big boot. Mahal, who has gained quite a bit of muscle, teased going after Enzo in the wheelchair, then distracted Cass before the finish. 

Bayley defeated Nia Jax to become the Number 1 Contender for the Raw Women’s Championship (3:20) 

Crowd was dead because they had basically seen the same match earlier with a monster heel vs. a underdog babyface. After Jax tossed Bayley around the ring, Sasha Banks came out, which distracted Jax as she was standing on the second rope. Bayley rose up and gave her the Bayley-to-belly superplex for the pin. Charlotte was on commentary. It’s officially Charlotte vs. Bayley for the Raw Women’s Championship at Royal Rumble. 

Next week, the Undertaker returns to Raw. And Shawn Michaels will be back, as well. 

Owens and Jericho came out for the Kevin Owens Show. The set included a man standing in the ring with The Kevin Owens Show logo covering his head while Owens and Jericho sat at a desk. There was a lawn chair waiting for the guest. Owens bragged that even though Jericho lost tonight, they still main event Raw. Owens gave the guest a big introduction, then introduced…Jericho.

After the crowd booed, Jericho laid into the fans for chanting Goldberg. Jericho then put them on the list for the biggest pop of the night up to this point. Before Owens could bring out Goldberg, Jericho said he had big, breaking news. He announced himself as the third entrant in the Royal Rumble. (Though the New Day announced themselves earlier, so he was really the sixth entrant). Owens didn’t look happy because if Jericho wins, he doesn’t want to fight his best friend.

Finally Goldberg’s music hit and he came out. Goldberg said if Jericho is in the Royal Rumble, he was first. Owens stepped in and tried to calm things down, but Goldberg threw the lawn chair away. The guy with the sign over his head also vanished. Jericho asked if Goldberg knew what happens to guys who threw chairs around? Goldberg said yes, spears and jackhammers. Owens asked if he was supposed to be intimidated by Goldberg throwing chairs around. Owens threw the desk and chairs out of the ring. Owens stood nose to nose and talked over each other when Paul Heyman showed up. 

Heyman teased Lesnar showing up to a big pop, but said Lesnar wasn’t here. Heyman said he was going to give the fans a spoiler for the Royal Rumble match: eat, sleep, elimination, repeat, elimination, repeat, etc. Goldberg interrupted him and said he was going to take care of Heyman’s client at the Rumble. Goldberg turned to Owens and said whether it was Owens or Reigns, they have a date at WrestleMania. Reigns came out and said Owens and Jericho are delusional because they aren’t going to win anything at the Royal Rumble. Then Reigns and Goldberg had a staredown. 

Strowman came out. Heyman hid for cover beside the ramp, and Strowman took the microphone out of his hands. Strowman said if anyone is winning the Royal Rumble, it’s him. As Strowman got in the ring, Reigns and Goldberg teamed to give Strowman a double spear. Reigns and Goldberg exchanged a nod of respect as Reigns left and Goldberg posed.