WWE Raw live results: More build to Fastlane
The Big Takeaway: Two weeks from Fast Lane and five weeks from WrestleMania, this show aimed to make Kevin Owens a vindictive, aggressive heel, as opposed to the comedy performer he has been for much of this year. He opened the show with an interview where he offered no explanation for attacking Jericho last week. Bayley was given an opportunity to relinquish the Raw Women’s Championship by Stephanie McMahon, but she refused. Charlotte will face Bayley at Fast Lane. In the main event, Bruan Strowman defeated the Big Show. Roman Reigns did a run-in, but Strowman laid him out, as well.
The show opened with a lengthy package of the Owens-Jericho breakup. Owens opened the show in the ring, wearing a three piece suit, sitting in a chair and a lone spotlight shining down on him. Owens said now that the spotlight is finally on him where it belongs, he can finally answer the one question that’s on everyone’s minds. Why should anyone think he’s walking out of Fast Lane with the Universal Championship? Owens thought if anyone had told him he would be wrestling Goldberg for the Universal Championship, he would have they were crazy. Not because of him holding the championship, but because of his opponent.
As fans chanted “Goldberg,” Owens said that’s the chant that makes everyone believe the hype. But Owens has never believed Goldberg’s hype. When Goldberg ran through everyone in WCW in seconds, Owens didn’t care. He still doesn’t. Owens brought up Goldberg beating Brock Lesnar in 1:26 at Survivor Series, but that was because Lesnar took Goldberg lightly and Goldberg got lucky. Owens said no one thinks he has a chance, but he’ll prove everyone wrong again because he doesn’t have to beat Goldberg. Owens said the longer a Goldberg match goes, the more the scale tips toward his opponent. Owens says he doesn’t have to beat Goldberg, he just has to outsmart him. In that category, Goldberg isn’t even close to Owens because “I play the game better than anyone else.”
Owens says he’s waited to be a champion in the WWE his whole life and now that he is, there is nothing he won’t do to keep it that way. Goldberg said the only reason he came back to prove to his son, his wife and his fans that superheroes still exist. Owens said Goldberg wants to use his title as a prop. But Owens will prove to everyone that superheroes don’t exist.
Owens said Goldberg was wasting his time because as far as he was concerned, Goldberg was nothing. He started to say something about Jericho, and the crowd started chanting “Y2J.” Instead, Owens just dropped the mic.
Enzo Amore and Big Cass defeated Cesaro and Sheamus to become the #1 contenders for the Raw Tag Team Championship (9:19)
Enzo Amore did prematch micwork said if Cesaro and Sheamus thought they were winning tonight, they must be California dreaming. Cesaro gave Amore a running uppercut after Sheamus knocked him off the top rope to the floor, then started making fun of Amore’s dance. Cool spot where Amore tried a flying clothesline, but Cesaro nailed him with another uppercut. Big Cass got the hot tag, but Cesaro made a blind tag and caught Cass with a crossbody and another uppercut. Cesaro teased the Gotch Neutralizer, but Enzo jumped on Cesaro’s back. Cesaro dumped Enzo over the top rope, but Cass hit the East River Crossing for the pin.
Amore ran down Cesaro afterwards saying “They were number one contenders and they (pointing to Cesaro and Sheamus) were chicken tenders.” He told the Swiss Superman that “we got that kryptonite, we got that kryptonite” until Sheamus demolished Enzo with a Brogue Kick. Unlike previous times when Sheamus did a heel move, Cesaro was totally cool with Sheamus blindsiding Enzo. For the first time, Enzo got some fan backlash as a minor “Thank you, Sheamus” chant broke out. Enzo and Cass will face Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows at Fast Lane.
Owens was going to leave the building but Mick Foley told Owens that he had a match tonight with Sami Zayn. Owens just laughed and said he thought Foley liked Zayn. He told Mick to watch out because he was going to wind up with more people on his injured list than in the locker room.
There was a Bayley video package depicting her climb to the top of the women’s division after beating Charlotte last week. There was a tweet from Charlotte demanding Bayley return the Raw Women’s Championship last week after Sasha Banks’ interference last week. Bayley will announce her decision whether to forfeit the championship tonight.
Roman Reigns talked with Foley backstage. Foley said he knows Reigns wants Strowman tonight, but Strowman is booked against Show. Anderson and Gallows walked in. Anderson told Reigns they have unfinished business from last week. Foley said he would make the match if Reigns got a partner. Reigns said that wouldn’t be necessary because he would face them by himself.
They showed an angle from last week’s 205 Live where Brian Kendrick offered a chance for Akira Tozawa a chance to be his protege. Tozawa said he understands he doesn’t like Kendrick.
That was supposed to lead to a match between the two. Kendrick told Tozawa to shake his hand, as is customary for every cruiserweight match. At first, Tozawa refused, but finally agreed. Kendrick clotheslined Tozawa, drove his face into the metal part of the turnbuckles, put him in the Captain’s Hook and left.
Charly Caruso did an interview backstage with Kendrick saying “Nobody disrespects The Brian Kendrick.” He was offered his first WWE contract 17 years ago, tonight’s lesson was about respect and tonight was just the first lesson.
Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows defeated Roman Reigns by DQ in a handicap match (3:58)
Anderson brought a chair into the ring, but Reigns gave him a boot. Reigns picked up the chair, wallopped Gallows over the back twice. Anderson stepped in, but Reigns hit him with a series of clotheslines. Gallows hit Gallows with a superman punch. Anderson came off the top rope, but Reigns nailed him with a Spear that was an awesome highlight. On the replay, it appeared that Reigns landed on his head. It looked like a DDT spot.
Michael Cole did the old Gorilla Monsoon gimmick from the 1980s when Andre the Giant faced Big John Studd, building up the Show-Strowman match saying they had to add 800 pounds of extra reinforcements to support the ring.
They showed the New Day appearing on TMZ Live announcing they will be hosting WrestleMania this year. Two guys hosting that show looked like they had idea what was happening.
The New Day came out. Xavier Woods announced his YouTube channel is about to hit 1 million subscribers, he will be hosting this year’s South by Southwest’s Gaming Awards, and they’ve all been rehearsing their voiceover skills to appear in the remake of the “Lion King.” They were working on their own ice cream brand, and hosting WrestleMania. Crowd chanted for ice cream. Kofi Kingston said last week, Bo Dallas destroyed their blueprints to the ice cream machine. But the New Day have photographic memories, so they put the blueprints back together. Kingston has it on his mini-Ipad. Big E. started talking, but Lana interrupted them. She held up her own iPad, showing she had the blueprint for their ice cream machine. She started reading off the ingredients of New Day Ice Cream. Kofi wondered “How did she get the plans?” Big E. said “You know she’s Russian, right?” Crowd loved that line. So basically the match was Rusev and Jinder Mahal vs. New Day for the ice cream plans.
The New Day defeated Rusev and Jinder Mahal (3:36)
Woods was at ringside. The match built to a spot where Kingston did a tope on Rusev where he landed on the back of his head. As Lana watched on, Woods pushed the slide of his trombone onto Lana’s fanny (it really didn’t touch her, but it was live TV), and she threw her iPad with the ice cream plans into the air. Woods got the iPad and destroyed it. Kingston pinned Mahal with the Midnight Hour.
They had a wonderful tribute to George “The Animal” Steele. Bruno Sammartino, Stephanie McMahon, David Arquette and Kevin Hart all discussed how wonderful a personality he was. They showed his infatuation with Miss Elizabeth, along with his appearance at WrestleMania 3 with Ricky Steamboat, who was quoted as saying that he played a huge role in his career. There was even a highlight of his appearance in “Ed Wood,” one of the great films of the 1990s. Fans in Los Angeles give this package a nice ovation.
Austin Aries presided over the contract signing for the Cruiserweight Championship match between Jack Gallagher and Neville. Gallagher brought along two Union Jack flags, biscuts and tea. Gallagher signed the contact without Neville in attendance and said he would dethrone the delusional King of the Cruiserweights. Neville walked out, signed the deal and started to leave. Gallagher asked why he was leaving so soon? Gallagher said he hoped to put their differences aside and break bread together. Aries vanished. Neville wondered if Gallagher was for real. He was exactly what American imbeciles expected Englishmen to be and he should be ashamed of himself. Neville said Gallagher was a stererotype and he didn’t really exist. The real men of England are ugly and a little rough around the edges. Gallagher was exactly what the WWE universe wanted Neville to be. What Gallagher didn’t realize was that the people aren’t laughing with him, they were laughing at him. At Fast Lane, he would be the only one laughing.
Gallagher said he would have to correct Neville, he wasn’t playing a gentlemen, he was a gentleman. This is how he was and this is how he was raised. The problem was Neville really believed he was a king and that was something he couldn’t stand for.
Neville turned the table over and asked Gallagher what he was going to do about it. Gallagher scored a quick double leg takedown and stiffed Neville with a head butt, which knocked Neville to the floor. Gallagher also appeared to be shaken up. Neville started to get back in the ring, but Gallagher pulled out William the 3rd, the umbrella, and Neville backed off.
Nia Jax defeated Sarah Pierce (:32)
Nia Jax pinned Sarah Pierce with a Samoan Drop. Caruso did an interview with Jax where she was asked about the controversy surrounding Bayley’s win over Charlotte last week. Jax said she’s putting the champion on notice and she wished that Banks and Bayley had pulled that stunt with her last week, because she would have shoved that crutch down their throats.
They honored Barack Obama as part of Black History Month. No, they didn’t show that angle from April 2008 where someone dressed up like Barack Obama faced a fake Hillary Clinton, which ended with Umaga destroying both of them.
Bayley came out to a big reception. She talked about growing up in California and go a little reception. She and her friends had the biggest dreams of growing up to become a tattoo artist, Brittany Spears or a oral surgeon. She just wanted to become Raw Women’s Champion and wrestle at WrestleMania. She said that dream appeared to come true last week. One moment she was in the Figure Eight, the next minute she was the women’s champion. At the end of Raw, she ran to her phone to call her dad, the man who brought her to first WWE event. He was there tonight, and she had tears in her eyes as she said “Dad, I did it.”
Fans chanted “You deserve it.” Bayley said Charlotte has tried to tarnish the best week of her life and she was the new Raw Women’s Champion. Stephanie came out, shook Bayley’s hand, and asked Bayley did she ever imagine she would be competing in the main event of Raw? Or did she envision almost losing and having someone else cheap shot her opponent for what can only be called a tainted victory. And when she called her father, did she tell him the truth how she won, that she did it or Sasha did it? Stephanie said the Bayley she knows what do the right thing and relinquish the Raw Women’s Championship. Stephanie said Bayley doesn’t want to win that way, no matter what the fans say.
Bayley took the belt off and looked at it. Stephanie encouraged her to stand for something more and have a championship for the right reasons. Bayley held the belt and acted like she was going to hand it over. Banks came out, but before she could say anything, Stephanie said Banks thought Bayley was a charity case. Banks told her not to listen to this garbage. She told Bayley to listen to the WWE Universe, listen to the girl in the front row or the girl in the back row in the Hugger shirt.
Stephanie wondered if Banks was out there because she knows she can’t beat Charlotte, but she can beat Bayley. Bayley said Stephanie was right, the championship was bigger than her, bigger than Banks and it was certainly bigger than Charlotte. This championship should represent happiness and to keep on smiling, not controversy. Bayley said should I give up this Raw Women’s Championship….Hell no I’m not going to give up the Raw Women’s championship. She pinned Charlotte for the third time and it wasn’t because of Sasha, it was because of all of you. She would fight for this championship any time, any place and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
Charlotte came out and apologized to Stephanie on behalf of the women’s division for Banks and Bayley being so disrespectful. Charlotte said she didn’t want the title from Bayley tonight, because she was going to beat Bayley for the championship at Fast Lane. Banks said her knee was feeling better and challenged Charlotte to a match tonight. Charlotte said she wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to put Banks in a wheelchair. Stephanie ordered the match to start immediately.
Sasha Banks defeated Charlotte (10:00)
Bayley was on commentary. She admitted that Stephanie’s words got into her head, but added she had no idea Banks got involved in last week’s match. Charlotte took most of the match, using a Dragon Sleeper as a resthold until Banks did a somersault over Charlote and got a near fall with a schoolgirl cradle. Banks hit a bulldog for a two count. Banks started selling her knee after a kneedrop, but hit the double knees off the apron. At this point, Dana Brooke ran out. Wait. That should read, Dana Brooke did a mild jog out. Bayley stopped her from behind. Charlotte was distracted, and Banks got the Bank Statement for the tap.
Diamond Dallas Page was named as the next member of the WWE Hall of Fame. Eric Bischoff and Scott Hall put DDP over. Bischoff painted DDP as someone who helped bring their business through the roof. Foley put over DDP’s work ethic.
Zayn did an interview with Caruso. Zayn said he took no joy in seeing what happened to Jericho last week. He compared Owens to Samoa Joe, saying they were both very jealous people. Zayn said Joe blindsided him last week in the name of HHH. He said time was going to catch up with Joe, and Owens would have to deal with Goldberg at Fast Lane. And Owens would have to deal with him tonight.
As Zayn came out to face Owens, Joe attacked him. He threw Zayn into the post, threw repeated jabs to his chin and threw him into the post again as Owens watched on. Joe dropped a senton on the floor. Joe screamed “This is your world now” into Zayn’s face as he threw him into the ring to face Owens. Zayn refused to concede the match. Though Zayn didn’t get much of a reaction, Joe got some heat for the attack.
Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn (1:13)
Owens hit a couple of cannonballs right away and followed with punches from the mount. Owens won with the Pop-Up Power Bomb.
They had a graphic paying tribute to Ivan Koloff.
Stephanie was backstage wanting to know where Foley was during the Bayley-Banks-Charlotte segment. Foley said he was thinking about going out there…to support Bayley. Stephanie started to dress down Foley, saying his behavior two weeks ago during the Joe contract signing. She said his behavior bordered on insubordination. Foley cut a total promo on Stephanie, saying he knew he was on the verge of committing career suicide, but he wasn’t going to risk his credibility to satisfy Stephanie’s appetite for greed. In a threatening tone, Stephanie told Foley to watch himself, she wouldn’t want him to have an accident.
Cole did a backstage interview with Lesnar and Paul Heyman. Cole brought up Goldberg’s match vs. owens. Heyman said Lesnar was a little on edge lately and it would behoove Cole to lower his voice. There are those who say that Goldberg vs. Owens is such a historical promience that it affects Lesnar’s prominence at WrestleMania. Lesnar disagrees. Lesnar got up and made a move toward Cole, who got up from his chair. So Lesnar took his chair, and stared into the camera while Heyman cut a promo over Lesnar’s right shoulder.
Heyman said Owens has a shot at walking into WrestleMania as Universal Champion, but Lesnar disagrees. If Goldberg hits one spear and one jackhammer at Fast Lane, then he will take the Universal Championship into WrestleMania. If so, it will only add to the things that Lesnar will take from Goldberg at WrestleMania.
Goldberg will be on next week’s Raw from Green Bay, the go-home show for WrestleMania.
Braun Strowman defeated the Big Show (12:09)
Fans chanted “This is awesome” before they even locked up. Strowman did a nip-up out of an armbar with Cole putting it over huge. Strowman hit a clothesline and a running boot to knock Show down. Show teased a choke slam, but Strowman hit a DDT for a near fall. They each teased suplexing each other until Show finally got him over. At this point, someone in the crowd held up a sign about Hulk Hogan that was quickly confiscated. Show landed a shoulder tackle and hit the choke slam, but Strowman kicked out. Show teased a reverse splash (the old Vader bomb), but Strowman tripped him up. Strowman went for the Oklahoma Stampede, but Show slipped out the back door. Show placed Strowman on the top rope for a superplex. Crowd came to its feet thinking the Lesnar-Show finish from 2002 SmackDown, but started to boo when Strowman escaped with a series of right hands to the body. Strowman jumped off the second rope, but Show scored wtih the KO punch. Strowman kicked out.
Show again tried the splash, but Strowman ran underneath him. It looked like a bit of a botched spot where Strowman could barely lift Show up for the Oklahoma Stampede, but only got about two steps before powerslamming him. Show kicked out. More “This is Awesome” chants. Show tried another choke slam. But Strowman hit a powerslam for the pin.
Reigns immediately came out. They traded punches before Reigns landed two Superman punches. He went for the spear, but Strowman nailed him with a drop kick. Strowman left Reigns laying with the Oklahoma Stampede as Cole screamed about him being the most dominant big man in recent memory.