1/14 WWE Monday Night Raw – Live Recap

The Starman is recapping tonight’s Monday Night Raw live as it happens from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee.

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A limo is seen backstage and Vince McMahon gets out of it and walks backstage. In the arena, Braun Strowman’s music hits as he makes his way to the ring. A loud “Get these hands!” chant starts as Strowman says Brock Lesnar is afraid of him and warns Lesnar that he is all healed and there is no one to save him as Baron Corbin is no longer in power.

Corbin comes out and tells Strowman to stop lying to the people as he knows he can’t beat Lesnar. Corbin then says he will win the Royal Rumble and go somewhere where Strowman will never go, and that is the main event of WrestleMania. Strowman takes offense and charges after Corbin, who runs backstage. Strowman tosses Sunil Singh out of his way and continues on his search.

Elias is sitting backstage and begins singing about what is going on and lets Strowman know that Corbin is hiding in the limo. Strowman heads over to the limo and tosses the driver out of the car. Strowman then smashes the window with a pipe before ripping the door off the limo. Corbin escapes out the other side and runs away as Vince McMahon comes back. The two share an awkward glance as we head into a commercial break.

— Commercial break —

We return to see Strowman trying to put the door back on the limo and McMahon is irate over the destruction he caused and tells him it’s going to cost him $100,000. Strowman says the car isn’t worth that much and McMahon then removes him from the Universal Championship match at the Royal Rumble. McMahon walks away and Strowman flips the limo out of anger. The announce team can’t believe what just happened and wonders who will step up to face Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble. Ronda Rousey’s music hits as we head into the first match of the night.

— Commercial break —

We see Braun Stowman being escorted out of the building as Baron Corbin watches with a big smile on his face. The bell rings and we head into the first match of the night.

Match 1: Ronda Rousey and Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax and Tamina
Nia Jax wants Ronda Rousey but Sasha Banks goes right after Nia to start things off. Sasha tries to wear Nia down with a sleeper hold and follows with a bulldog from the top ropes for a near fall. Rousey is tagged in and goes on the attack, but Nia is able to back Rousey into her corner and tags Tamina into the match. Rousey quickly takes Tamina down and tries for an armbar, but Nia pulls Tamina out of the ring to regroup as we head into a commercial break.

— Commercial break —

We return to see Nia holding Sasha in a bear hug and picks up a near fall after hitting a powerbomb. Nia continues wearing down Sasha as a commercial for Glass plays. Tamina is tagged back in as she continues working over Sasha in the corner. Tamina then knocks Rousey off the apron and Rousey comes into the ring, giving Sasha enough of a distraction to comeback and put Tamina in the Bank Statement for the submission victory.

Winners: Ronda Rousey and Sasha Banks defeated Nia Jax and Tamina by submission.

After the match Charly Caruso comes in and Ronda Rousey says it will be her honor to put the title on the line against Sahsa and make her tap out. Sasha takes offense to the comment and says it will be her pleasure to teach Rousey how to lose with class. Rousey says she can keep the title of the world’s classiest loser when she loses at the Royal Rumble, which gets deeper under Sasha’s skin. Sasha says she will be taking the title at the Royal Rumble and make her tap out. Sasha leaves the ring and Ronda chases after her saying she didn’t mean it but Sasha walks away.

A line of wrestlers are seen standing outside Vince McMahon’s office and Jerry Lawler is seen coming out the door. No Way Jose’s conga line then passes by as we head into a commercial break.

— Commercial break —

Bayley and Natalya are backstage and are standing in the middle of the continuing argument between Ronda Rousey and Sasha Banks. The two leave and Bayley and Natalya begin arguing about whose fault it is. The Riott Squad comes in and makes fun of them and say they like turning a bad situation into something worse. Ruby Riott then asks them to find a third person to face them in a match tonight. Natalya agrees as the Riott Squad walks away.

Match 2: Lucha House Party (Kalisto and Gran Metalik) vs. The Revival
Scott Dawson says that he knows the three members of the Lucha House Party saw that his foot was under the rope last week and shouldn’t have been pinned. Dawson says it’s time to pay up as the bell rings. Kalisto and Gran Metalik take turns on Dash Wilder as we then head to the backstage area where

Dasha Fuentes is outside of Vince McMahon’s office and says people are lining up for a chance to face Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble. She gets a few words from Apollo Crews and Curt Hawkins, who wants to put up his streak against the Beast. EC3 is also there and just smiles as the B Team say the B stands for Brock. Heath Slater says he won’t face Lesnar as he has kids but Rhyno might want to fight him.

We return to the match where the Lucha House Party are using their speed to their advantage until Scott Dawson levels Kalisto with a clothesline. Dawson then plants Gran Metalik with a DDT and goes for the cover but Metalik puts his leg on the rope. The referee doesn’t see it as Wilder pushes his leg off the rope and the Revival picks up the three count.

Winners: The Revival defeated Lucha House Party (Kalisto and Gran Metalik) by pin fall.

Dasha Fuentes is still standing by as Vince McMahon comes out of his office. McMahon says he is going to go to the ring to make an announcement as we head into a commercial break.

— Commercial break —

Vince McMahon’s music hits as he makes his way out to the ring. McMahon is about to speak but is cut off by John Cena’s music. Cena says he is going to save McMahon some trouble and says he stepped up 20 years ago when Steve Austin, the Rock, and even the Universal Champion himself, Brock Lesnar, all left the company. Cena says he missed out on birthday, weddings and funerals for the WWE and loved every second of it. Cena asks McMahon for a chance and says he won’t let him down as he will defeat Lesnar and become the 17 time world champion since he has the one thing that the rest of the locker room doesn’t have, and that is ruthless aggression.

Drew McIntyre interrupts and makes his way to the ring. McIntyre says he can’t believe that Cena can say with a straight face that he still has ruthless aggression. McIntyre says he has it and Cena’s time is up and he should leave like Austin, the Rock and Lesnar. Baron Corbin interrupts and says he should give a shot for having his life threatened earlier today. Finn Balor then makes his way out and says he is tired of being left out of these conversations and says he is the only person in the ring that has been the Universal Champion.

McMahon says Balor is a great competitor but doesn’t know if he is the right guy to face Lesnar. Balor says he knows that what he says isn’t going to change his mind, so he is going to show him. Balor then takes out Corbin, but is quickly taken out by McIntyre. McIntyre then levels Cena with a kick. McMahon says he likes what he sees and tonight we will have a fatal four way match between the four for a shot at Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble.

The announce team hype the triple threat match for the Intercontinental Championship (which now seems a lot less significant) and Paul Heyman being the guest on A Moment of Bliss. Coming up next is the six-woman tag team match with the Riott Squad taking on Bayley, Natalya and a partner of their choosing as we head into a commercial break.

— Commercial break —

Jinder Mahal catches up with Vince McMahon backstage and says he is a little offended for not being concered for a shot at the Universal Championship. He said he would have came to the ring earlier but he was tending to Sunil Singh and wants to give given an opportunity. McMahon says he can choose to fight one of the other four and if he wins, he will be in the match. Mahal picks Finn Balor and McMahon wishes him luck.

Match 3: The Riott Squad vs. Bayley/Natalya/Nikki Cross
The announce team says the new call ups from NXT will be showcased on both Raw and Smackdown so the fans can see what they are all about. Bayley starts out but quickly tags in Nikki, who is pacing on the ring apron. Nikki quickly takes down Sarah Logan, who tags in Liv Morgan. Nikki then takes down Liv and Ruby is tagged in. The two teams stand off in the ring and Nikki takes down Ruby and then traps her into the ring apron and hits her with a series of strikes as we head into a commercial break.

— Commercial break —

We return to the match to see Bayley hit a cross body block on Sarah Logan for a near fall. Logan comes back and begins to work over Bayley before tagging in Liv, who continues to wear down Bayley. Logan is tagged back in and Bayley is able to make a desperation tag to Natalya. Natalya takes Logan down and picks up a near fall and Liv is tagged back in. Natalya tries for a sharpshooter but Liv kicks her away and Nikki tags herself in. Nikki begins taking out everyone and hits Liv with a neckbreaker. Bayley is tagged in and hits an flying elbow to pick up the pin fall.

Winners: Bayley/Natalya/Nikki Cross defeated the Riott Squad by pin fall.

Finn Balor is walking backstage and walks past Lacey Evans. Jinder Mahal’s music hits and he comes out to the ring with Samir Singh as we head into a commercial break.

Dean Ambrose is backstage says it’s wrong that he has to defend his Intercontinental Championship against two guys tonight. What’s especially wrong is having to defend the title in Memphis.

Match 4: Jinder Mahal (w/ Samir Singh) vs. Finn Balor
The winner of this match will get to be in the fatal four way match later on tonight for a shot at Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble. Singh distracts Balor during his entrance to allow Mahal an opening to attack Balor and send him into the guard railing a few times before rolling him back into the ring. The referee checks on Balor as Mahal demands that he rings the bell to start the match. Balor takes off his jacket and tells the ref to ring the bell as Mahal takes him down with a big boot to the face for a near fall. Mahal continues on the attack as the fight heads out to the floor and we head into a commercial break.

— Commercial break —

We return to the match and see Mahal still in control of the match. Mahal slows down the match with a headlock and Balor is able to fight out of it and takes Mahal down with a kick to the head. Balor continues to attack Mahal with a series of kicks before sending Mahal out to the floor. Balor leaps over the top rope and takes out both Mahal and Singh and rolls Mahal back into the ring. Balor takes Mahal down with a Slingblade and then connects with the Coup de Grace to pick up the pin fall to keep his spot in the fatal four way match later on tonight.

Winner: Finn Balor defeated Jinder Mahal by pin fall to keep his spot in the fatal four way match.

Lio Rush is backstage and says Lashley deserves to be the Intercontinental Champion because he is a fighter. Rush says Lashley will dominate Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins and collect the Intercontinental Championship. Dean Ambrose’s music hits as he makes his way to the ring and we head into a commercial break.

— Commercial break —

The WWE “Glass” shattering moment is aired and it is when Shawn Michaels sent Marty Jannetty through the Barber Shop window in 1992, thus breaking up the Rockers and starting Michael’s rise to the top.

Charly Caruso is backstage with Seth Rollins who says he is going to make the most of his opportunity tonight by kicking Dean Ambrose’s teeth down his throat. Rollins talks about the last time Ambrose turned on him, just hours after Roman Reigns relinquished the Universal Championship due to his leukemia coming back. Rollins says he is going to lay it all on the line and take back his Intercontinental Championship.

Match 5: Dean Ambrose vs. Bobby Lashley (w/ Lio Rush) vs. Seth Rollins (Triple Threat for the WWE Intercontinental Championship)
The bell rings and Dean Ambrose tries to make a quick truce with Seth Rollins but Rollins sends Ambrose out to the floor. Rollins goes at it with Bobby Lashley and sends him out to the floor and follows with a dive out to the floor. Ambrose and Rollins go at it in the ring until Lashley gets involved and Rollins is taken down. Ambrose tries to make an alliance with Lashley and the two work together to work over Rollins until Lashley goes for a pin fall and Ambrose breaks it up. The two continue working together to take Rollins out until Rollins tries to mount a comeback. Lashley then takes Rollins out with a hard spinebuster and the match finds its way out to the floor and we head to a commercial break.

— Commercial break —

We return to the match and see Lashley being taken out with some double team moves from Rollins and Ambrose. They send Lashley out to the floor and then double team to nail Lashley with the steel steps. Rollins enters the ring and begs Ambrose to come in and the two exchange blows in the middle of the ring. Rollins connects with a falcon arrow but Lio Rush comes in the break it up. Rollins then hits Ambrose with a kick to the face as Lashley comes in and clotheslines Rollins out to the floor. Lashley goes for a pin attempt but Ambrose kicks out. Ambrose then counters an attempt at the spear and goes for a Dirty Deeds but Rollins breaks it up. Rollins then hits Lashley with a frog splash but Ambrose comes in and sends Rollins out to the floor and goes for a pin but Lashley kicks out. The three then go at it with a series of counters and strikes until Rush pulls down the rope and sends Rollins out to the floor and Lashley hits Ambrose with a spear to pick up the pin fall and win the Intercontinental Championship.

Winner: Bobby Lashley defeated Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

The announce team hypes the fatal four way match, but first it is going to be A Moment of Bliss with Paul Heyman. A stagehand is outside of Alexa Bliss’ locker room with her latte. He the walks in on her as she was getting dressed and he tells her to leave. We then get, yet, another preview of the movie Glass before heading into a commercial break.

— Commercial break —

Alexa Bliss comes out for the Moment of Bliss and she announces that in five weeks three teams from Raw and three teams from Smackdown will face off at the Elimination Chamber to be crowned the new WWE Tag Team Champions as Alexa unveils the titles. Alexa then introduces Paul Heyman, who cuts her off and does his own introduction. Alexa says it has been a wild night and Bobby Lashley won the Intercontinental title and Braun Strowman is out as the challenger for the Universal Championship and wants to hear his thoughts about it.

Heyman says they can line up all four of the challengers and eat them up. Suplex City was built on the mangled corpse of John Cena. Heyman says he had his eyes on Drew McIntyre and will one day be the Universal Champion, just not now. Heyman begins talking about Baron Corbin as Otis Dozovic from Heavy Machinery walks out and says he’s here. Tucker Knight has to come out and take him back and the bell rings for the announcement of the fatal four way. Bliss and Heyman look on confused as we head into a commercial break.

— Commercial break —

Match 6: Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin vs. Drew McIntyre vs. John Cena (Fatal Four Way to face Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble)
The bell rings as Cena and McIntyre go out to the floor and Corbin and Balor fight in the ring. Corbin picks up a quick near fall on Balor after hitting a choke slam and we head into a commercial break.

— Commercial break —

We return to see Cena dodging Corbin, who flies into the ring post and flies out to the floor. McIntyre and Cena start going at it and Cena hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Cena then lands the AA and goes for the pin fall, but Corbin comes in and breaks it up. Cena tries to go for the AA on Corbin, but Cena isn’t able to pick him up. Balor comes in and him and Cena take Balor out with a double suplex and then set him up in the corner for a double superplex, but McIntyre comes in and sends them both down. He then tries for a superplex of his own, but Corbin is able to knock McIntyre onto the ropes. Corbin then tries to capitalize, but McIntyre pulls himself up and sends Corbin down to the mat as we head into another commercial break.

— Commercial break —

We return to the match to see Corbin give Balor the End of Days, but the pin attempt is broken up by McIntyre. McIntyre then connects with the Glasgow Kiss on Corbin as Cena tries for a high risk move but McIntyre counters it with a powerbomb for a near fall. All four are laid out in the ring as McIntyre gets up to continue work over Cena and Corbin starts to work over Balor. Both sets exchange blows and kicks as McIntyre is sent out to the floor. Balor then takes down Cena and heads to the top rope, but Cena gets up and hits an AA from the middle rope. Corbin comes in and sends Cena to the floor and tries to pick up the pin fall but Balor kicks out.

Corbin heads out to the floor and grabs a chair. Corbin takes out both Cena and McIntyre with the chair before heading into the ring. Corbin stares down at Balor before nailing him twice with the chair and goes for the cover, but Cena breaks it up. Corbin takes Cena down and swings the chair at him one more time, but Cena dodges and takes him out with the AA. McIntyre then comes in and takes Cena out with a Claymore Kick. Balor takes out McIntyre with a tornado DDT and then climbs to the top rope and hits Cena with the Coup de Grace to pick up the pin fall and win a shot at Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble for the WWE Universal Championship.

After the match, John Cena gets on the microphone and says earlier Vince McMahon said he didn’t believe in him. Cena says the fans believe in him and now he does as well. Cena announces Balor as the winner and shakes his hands as Raw goes off the air.

Winner: Finn Balor defeated John Cena, Baron Corbin and Drew McIntyre by pin fall in a fatal four way match to earn a shot at Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble.

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Starman’s Thoughts
The WWE really foreshadowed Finn Balor’s win tonight during the segment with Vince McMahon in the ring. Seeing as McMahon only said anything to him, and said that he didn’t believe in him, it would have been a shock if Balor didn’t come out on top tonight. Not to mention also putting him in a qualifying match against Jinder Mahal. This was Balor’s night to shine. He always had seemed to be over with the fans, and now it seems like he is finally getting over with the decision makers as well.

I really was thinking that Lars Sullivan would come out at some point during the fatal four way match. The rest of the NXT call ups made appearances, no matter how small, aside from him. I’m wondering if they are saving Sullivan’s debut for the Royal Rumble itself. He could make a huge entrance in the Rumble and make a name for himself by making several eliminations. As for the rest of the NXT stars, Nikki Cross was the only one who was given a chance to shine, and she had been on Smackdown before in the past. Nikki made the most of the time in her match, however, the others weren’t given much to work with. Heavy Machinery had an awkward appearance on the A Moment of Bliss segment, Lacey Evans was just seen standing in the background, and EC3 just stood in line at McMahon’s office and didn’t say anything.

Speaking of standing in line, if Vince McMahon was being gracious and making a fatal four way match with whoever was willing to come out to the ring, or even anyone who came up to him after the fact, why didn’t Apollo Crews, Curt Hawkins, EC3 and the others also track down McMahon and ask for spots in the match? If they were standing by his office that long, you’d think they would put in the effort to try to be a part of the match.

I was a little surprised that Braun Strowman was taken out of the match. I am wondering if he hasn’t healed enough to be in the match or if they wanted to go in a different direction. I wouldn’t blame them if that is the case. I am tiring of Strowman’s one dimensional character. Maybe it’s just me, but seeing Strowman lose his temper and tip over vehicles is starting to lose its luster.

I was digging the new Women’s Tag Team Titles that were revealed. For some reason when I first heard about the titles, I was thinking they would be smaller white versions of the current tag team titles that are on both Raw and Smackdown. I liked that they went a different route with these titles. What I didn’t like, however, was making the titles the top prize for the Elimination Chamber match. I would have rather had a tournament, even if it was as little as four teams, to decide the inaugural champions, not a gimmick match like the Elimination Chamber. Also, it appears that only one show will have the titles, or the champions will possibly be on both shows. Another odd choice.

As I’m on the topic of odd choices, it seemed that Raw had some oddly timed commercial breaks tonight. There were three within the first 30 minutes of the show and they had some other odd cuts, like at the end of the Moment of Bliss segment and during the fatal four way where it appeared that Drew McIntyre was setting up for a Claymore Kick on Baron Corbin. They had no troubles promoting Glass and Temptation Island and any possible moment, but that part of the show seemed off. Also, can Baron Corbin start wrestling in normal wrestling gear once again? He’s no longer the interim GM or the constable. Please stop wrestling in a dress shirt and pants.

Finally, I was surprised that Bobby Lashley came out as the Intercontinental Champion tonight. After thinking about it, though, Dean Ambrose wasn’t doing much with it anyway, and I finally think Lashley and Lio Rush are hitting their stride. It helped after taking the ringside microphone out of Rush’s hand and I think that the title will help their gimmick in the long run.

Quick Results
– Ronda Rousey and Sasha Banks defeated Nia Jax and Tamina by submission.
– The Revival defeated Lucha House Party (Kalisto and Gran Metalik) by pin fall.
– Bayley/Natalya/Nikki Cross defeated the Riott Squad by pin fall.
– Finn Balor defeated Jinder Mahal by pin fall to keep his spot in the fatal four way match.
– Bobby Lashley defeated Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
– Finn Balor defeated John Cena, Baron Corbin and Drew McIntyre by pin fall in a fatal four way match to earn a shot at Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble.