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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Feb. 6, 2017) from the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Fastlane pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for next month in Milwaukee.
Advertised for tonight: Goldberg answers Brock Lesnar’s WrestleMania 33 challenge, an update on Seth Rollins’ injury status, and more!
Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the Raw live blog kicks off once the show starts on USA. It will be below this line here. (REMINDER: NO GIFS OR PICS ARE ALLOWED IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. OFFENDERS WILL BE BANNED.)
WWE RAW RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR FEB. 6
Look through the people, and on through the mist to the hill of the headless cross, where all witches meet, on a night such as this, and the power of darkness is host. But me, I'm just host to this here liveblog of a pro wrestling show, folks.
Show opens with a recap video of HHH’s show-closing promo and the aftermath thereof, including Samoa Joe's attack.
In the ring, Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon are in the ring, and Mick has a few words about the hottest free agent signing of the New Era, as Steph insisted he phrase it, and he introduces Samoa Joe. Steph gives him a fresh intro once he gets to the ring, putting him over as a man who's won titles all around the world.
Foley wants the show on the road but McMahon stops him for a second and asks him what's wrong, if he's upset she had to do his job for him. Mick says he's been a fan of Joe's for years and has pushed for him for a long time, he just doesn't care for the way he went about getting a contract or the people he's associating himself with.
Joe gets on the mic and says it took him eighteen years to be standing in this ring right now. In those eighteen years, when he claimed to be such a big fan of his, one man opened the door and gave him an opportunity. And if loyalty to that man means beating up Seth Rollins and putting him on the shelf, so be it.
In fact, he's putting the whole locker room on notice. He'll come out here night after night, beat our heroes, choke them out, and when they wake up, he'll beat 'em down again. The Destroyer has arrived and there's nothing you can do about it. He signs his contract, Foley offers a hand, but before Joe can decide whether or not to take it...
Enter Roman Reigns. He gets on the mic and says Joe's making a lot of threats, why not threaten him? He then introduces himself, realizing that they haven't met. The minute you sign a contract, you're in his yard, so he gives him two choices-- shut his mouth, or he'll cave it in.
The Samoan Joes square off but Mick sticks his nose in, saying he's still GM and has a duty to every person in this building and to everyone that cares to make Raw part of their Monday night. So he's making the match, Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns is tonight!
Michael Cole promises us an injury update for Seth later and Corey Graves hypes Goldberg answering Brock Lesnar's challenge.
Bayley is walking backstage with Cesaro and Sheamus, giving them headbands and forming a quick huddle advance of her match against Nia Jax, after the break.
Back from commercial in time for Bayley to make her entrance
Bayley vs. Nia Jax
Bayley right in it with a kick to the gut and forearms, Nia shoves her off, she comes back with a big leaping forearm, struggle in the corner and Jax knocks Bayley across the ring with a headbutt. Hip attack sends the Hugger into the ropes, Nia draws her up for another headbutt. Bayley trying to fight back with elbows but Jax scoops her up and slams her down.
Disdainful kicks and shoving her face now as Bayley scoots to the corner. Big overhand chop connects and Bayley rolls under the ropes. Trying to climb up the ropes, Jax kicks at her but Bayley catches one. Nia dragging her up by the hair, Bayley counters with a Stunner over the middle rope!
Shoving the bigger woman's face into the turnbuckle a few times but Jax comes back and throws her into the turnbuckles violently to send us to break.
Back from commercial and Jax has a cobra clutch locked on, Bayley struggling mad to escape. She gets away, looks for a sunset flip, Jax blocks, Bayley clocks her in the face with a forearm! Shove to the corner, huge biel tosses Bayley away, corner avalanche, Nia mocking the tube man wiggle.
Bayley fighting from the mat with kicks for a bit of Ali/Inoki action, Stinger splash connects, running knee, shoulder thrusts, back elbows, Nia catches her on a charge! Bear hug to a Rainmaker! She takes Bayley outside and throws her into the barricade but the former NXT Women's Champion dodges a splash into the ringpost.
She fires Jax into the ringpost a second time and crawls in the ring as referee John Cone counts. He's at six and Charlotte Flair comes down! Cone is busy with Flair, Bayley charges with a boot and a dropkick to eject the champ but Nia's behind her...
Nia Jax wins by pinfall with a Samoan drop.
After the match, Charlotte poses with the title over Bayley's prone body as commentary puts over their rematch for next week.
They then hype Sami Zayn's United States Championship title shot as well as the rematch for the tag titles and Reigns/Joe before we head to break.
Back from commercial and it's Man Event time!
Braun Strowman vs. Four Dudes (Handicap Match)
Braun clobbers one and the other three are on him but he throws them off. Stinger splash to one, overhand club to another, more Stinger splashes, one guy runs away. Braun throws a dude with a release suplex, his buddy fires up and gets only crossface blows for his trouble, leaving him knocked out on the mat. Back to green trunks...
Braun Strowman wins by pinfall with a running powerslam, pinning all three remaining guys.
Braun gets on the mic afterward, asking if this is what Foley calls competition. He warned him, and now he's coming to find him.
He finds him quite quickly, in fact! He calls Mick's competition a joke, and Foley offers him a match at Fastlane. Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns, one on one. The big man gives a hungry nod and walks off.
Corey Graves puts Akira Tozawa over and we get a vignette for him. He's debuting on Raw tonight! It'll be after the break.
Back from commercial with a bumper celebrating Black History Month.
Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak
Circling, collar and elbow, Gulak grabs a headlock, switches to a waistlock, Tozawa reverses and they break. Back to the lockup and the bulldog headlock, Akira out with body blows, shots him off, eats a shoulder block, Gualk off the ropes, dropdown, leapfrog, Drew catches him low with a kick to the knee and rolls him up.
Big right from Gulak leads to trading, Tozawa clocks him with a right and caves his chest in with a kick before following it with a senton that gets two. Double thrust to the gut from Gulak and a kick fires Akira out of the ring. Drew throws him right back in and makes the cover but it's not enough.
Catch Point man with a reverse chinlock, Tozawa to his feet and out with body blows but Gulak catches him with a knee, off the ropes, Akira snaps off a Frankensteiner! Gulak on the apron, Akira knocks him down with a forearm, fires up, suicide dive!
Back in the ring, Tozawa up top, leaps over Gulak, takes his knee out with a dropkick and catches him with a wicked flying knee to the temple for a nearfall! Tozawa with the chest kicks, Gulak dodges the buzzsaw but eats a rolling solebutt. Tozawa maneuvers around him...
Akira Tozawa wins by pinfall with a snap bridging German suplex.
Post-match, Brian Kendrick hits the ring and offers Tozawa a handshake, which is accepted. He backs away with a thumbs up and Akira celebrates on the turnbuckles.
We got break on the promise of the Goldberg response once more.
Back from commercial and Kevin Owens makes an entrance, accompanied by Chris Jericho as always.
Owens says last week he stood in the ring and told us he's been proving people wrong his entire career, and he did it again, because nobody gave him a fighting chance against a monster like Braun Strowman, and yet tonight, he stands in the ring, still WWE Universal Champion.
Chris tells him he looks great and says that tonight, after he defends his title against that muttonhead Sami Zayn, he's still gonna be WWE United States Champion and the Greatest of All Time. (That last one is Chris Hero, pal.) He's got a bone to pick with somebody else who is called the GOAT.
He goes through the whole spiel to put Tom Brady on the list. But now that he took care of that stupid idiot, he's got something else to talk about, and that's WrestleMania. We all know Randy Orton is wrestling the winner of the Elimination Chamber match, but he's got an even bigger match in mind for the Universal Championship.
Best friend vs. best friend, title vs. title, #SixtyOneMinuteMan Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens, champion vs. champion, the biggest main event in WrestleMania history. Owens says he's right, that is the biggest main event, but he's not sure he can fight his best friend, as big as it would be.
Here comes Goldberg!
He tells the two "ladies" they have a choice. Step aside and live, or grow a pair and face him two-on-one, right here, right now. They head to a corner. Last week on Raw, Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar challenged him to a match at WrestleMania 33.
Goldberg's never been one to turn down a fight, so he accepts. KO puts it over and says he thinks Goldberg accepting Brock's challenge is a great decision, because he thinks that'll be a perfect undercard match for KO-Mania 2. He tells Chris he's right, their match should main event.
Kev asks Bill if he knows why he's the longest reigning Universal Champion, and Goldberg says it's because he's never wrestled him. And hey, he has an open card for Fastlane, so why not step up to the plate? Jericho tells Goldberg he can't come down here and interrupt them while they're spitting fire to make some matches.
More spiel to tease Goldberg on the List and Bill takes it and signs his name himself! Jericho flips out about it, predictably, and tells Goldberg he has a big fat mouth and he never liked him. So you want a match at Fastlane, you got one! Goldberg vs... Kevin Owens, for the WWE Universal Championship!
Goldberg tells KO that he and his title are next and leaves, taking his shirt off as he reaches the ramp for reasons unknown to man.
The rematch for the tag titles is up next, after the break.
Back from commercial and Owens is backstage asking Jericho how he could do this to him, supposedly being his best friend. Chris says he's been speared, he's been Pedigreed, he's been hung in a cage, but every time he's had his back. Kev counters that accepting title matches from maniacs is not having his back and he walks off.
In the arena for championship rematch entrances, Enzo & Cass are seated at ringside.
Cesaro & Sheamus vs. the Club (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) (c) (WWE Raw Tag Team Championship)
Sheamus and Anderson to start, lockup, Sheamus forces him in the corner but Machine Gun comes back with uppercuts after the break. Sheamus with a slam off the ropes, double knee drop gets one. Tag to Cesaro, off the ropes with a double axehandle, arm wringer, Karl with a boot to the gut, face to the turnbuckles, tag to Gallows.
Big Hoot with a right but Cesaro blocks and backs him off with uppercuts. Whip reversed, boot to the gut, tag to Sheamus, forearm for forearm, Luke backs him into the corner and tags Anderson. Sheamus takes Karl to the corner, tag made, Finlay Roll chained into a senton from Cesaro.
The Swiss Superman backs Anderson into the corner with an uppercut and the train starts but doesn't leave the station because Gallows gets involved. Cesaro eats a roundhouse kick from Sex Ferguson on the outside, Sheamus runs to his defense and we go to break.
Back from commercial and Cesaro's struggling to get back into it. He blocks a punch from Anderson and throws a few of his own, leaps for the tag... and eats that trademark Anderson spinning spinebuster for his trouble. Disdainful kicks to the face from Karl, Cesaro back with an uppercut, whipped to the corner, sidesteps a charge, Gallows tries to stop him, tag made.
Sheamus runs Anderson over, knocks Luke off the apron, shoulder thrust, spinning wheel kick, diving lariat... no good! Fireman's carry, escaped, Sheamus clotheslines Karl over the ropes for the Ten Beats of the Bodhran. Tag to Cesaro, assisted powerslam but Gallows breaks the pin.
Cesaro throwing uppercut on uppercut to get Gallows out of the ring and in front of Enzo and Cass, where Luke kicks Enzo out of his chair. Big Cass throws a kick...
The Club wins by disqualification.
Cesaro and Sheamus stare at Enzo & Cass in disbelief.
Commentary promises us our status update on Seth Rollins after the break, but first, they're running a Black History Month video package on Jackie Robinson.
Back from commercial and we get another video package on Rollins/HHH, with the health update rolled in.
Big E does the deal and that means it's time for the New Day. The Shining Stars are in the ring waiting for them, and Kofi Kingston wonders who has actually been to their resort. They do the owl gimmick and say nobody, because it's not real. But New Day give people things they want for real, though.
They wanted magic, so they gave them unicorns. They wanted to dance, so they gave them Francesca II Turbo. The people were starving, so they hand-fed them Booty-Os. At this point, Big E sticks a hand full of Booty-Os into the front row for a dude to literally eat out of his hand, which is great.
After that, what else? Ice cream? Ice cream! And also the commercial break.
Back from commercial and the match is in progress.
New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) vs. Shining Stars (Epico & Primo)
Big E tags Xavier in for a wheelbarrow splash on Primo. Primo off the ropes into a rolling elbow but Epico comes in and catches Woods with a Russian legsweep and a kick to the nose. Primo has a rear chinlock in, trying to ground Xavier, and as he gets to his feet he takes him down and shifts to a reverse chinlock.
Primo shoves Woods off and he comes over him for a sunset flip but is blocked and Epico is able to tag in. Scrape of the bootlaces across his face, delayed vertical suplex, Epico is marching around the ring with him before dropping him down for two.
Epico working a top wristlock, Xavier throws him off and looks for the tag but is denied. Primo tags in, dropkick, stomps to the torso, Vader Bomb! Drop toehold into the bottom rope, off the ropes for a stomp to the back, he takes Xavier to the turnbuckles and whips him corner to corner for a charging shoulder block.
Setting the New Day man up top, Primo climbs to meet him but eats a bunch of punches to the face and a headbutt that sends him to the mat. Woods with a missile dropkick... Tags made! Big E chucks Epico with the trifecta of belly-to-belly suplexes and comes off the ropes for the big splash!
E passes Epico into Xavier with a boot and Woods follows it with a tornado DDT! Blind tag, they catch him...
New Day win by pinfall with Midnight Hour on Epico.
Commentary shills for the Network a bit, and we head backstage for an interview with Chris Jericho.
He's asked about his strained friendship hanging over his match tonight, and he puts Zayn over but says his win was a fluke and he's not doing it twice. He says what happened between him and KO was a minor, minor disagreement, and Kev rolls up. Jericho protests, and Owens says he doesn't have to.
He knows he's had his back since the moment he won the title, and it's worked out every time. He knows he's going to beat Bill and walk out as champion, because he has his back, just like tonight Chris is going to retain the United States Championship because he has his back.
They hug and we go to break.
Back from commercial and we get the video package on the still wrestling and still awesome Rock & Roll Express going into the Hall of Fame.
In the arena, it's time for the United States Championship match!
Chris Jericho (c) vs. Sami Zayn (WWE United States Championship)
Collar and elbow, Zayn throws Jericho right off. Back to it, Jericho gets a wristlock and slaps at Sami's head, but Sami rolls through and reverses, taking the veteran to the mat. Chris gets the ropes, Sami slaps at him, arm drag on arm drag, one into an armbar and La Magistral but Y2J kicks out and bails.
He consults with Owens at ringside until Zayn heads outside and chases him around and back in the ring, where Chris nails him with a dropkick. Boot to the gut, chop, forearm, choke against the ropes, Sami back at it with forearms and a chop, whip reversed, back elbow up, Zayn to the second, diving crossbody for two!
Throwing chops, whip, reversed again, ducks a lariat, dropkick, going for the Helluva Kick early but Y2J bails. Tope con giro wipes Jericho out and we go to break.
Back from commercial and Jericho is standing on Sami's neck to choke him on the middle rope. High five exchanged with KO, he comes off the ropes and runs right into a big lariat from the underdog. Sami throwing chops, whip, goes for a dropkick but Jericho stops himself, Lionsault... no good!
Chris lying in wait as Zayn drags himself up in the corner, goes for the Codebreaker, Sami throws him off and hits the corner exploder suplex! Charges in, Jericho ducks, schoolboy roll-through, looking for the Walls of Jericho, Zayn reverses to a small package! Blue Thunder Driver... NO GOOD!
Sami heads to the apron and up top, leapfrog, blocks a forearm, grabs the knucklelock for the tornado DDT but Y2J slips away and locks the Walls of Jericho on! Zayn's in agony but he won't give up and he crawls for the ropes, forcing a break! Chris celebrates like he won and while referee John Cone is explaining, Owens nails Sami with a superkick...
Chris Jericho wins by pinfall with a Codebreaker, retaining the WWE United States Championship.
The best of friends celebrate on the turnbuckles with their respective title belts before raising each other's hands.
Commentary then cuts to a recap of the segment with Goldberg from earlier. Commentary hypes the matches made during that segment and we cut to Samoa Joe shadowboxing backstage in advance of his match against Roman Reigns later tonight to send us to break.
Back from commercial and Sasha Banks is in her natural habitat, the trainer's room. Charlotte Flair rolls up on her and says it wasn't too long ago they were equals. But now she spends her days in physical therapy while Charlotte keeps making history. But at least she has her best friend, right?
She must feel terrible about what Nia did to Bayley earlier. Charlotte hopes there'll be a TV in the room next week so she can see the beating she puts on Bayley.
Austin Aries is in the ring to continue his journalistic pursuits with an interview with Neville. Neville enters, and first Austin thanks him for giving him the exclusive. Former champion Richard "Rich" Swann suffered an injury last week and Aries has some breaking news.
Tomorrow night on 205 Live, TJ Perkins, Tony Nese, Cedric Alexander, Noam Dar, and Jack Gallagher in a #1 contender's match for the Cruiserweight Championship at Fastlane. Aries asks which of those men scares Neville the most, and he turns to stare a hole in Austin.
The King calls Aries delusional if he thinks anybody in the division scares him. Tomorrow is irrelevant-- no matter who is #1 contender, they will be forced to bend a knee and pay respect to the King.
Enter Cedric Alexander. Aries tries to wave him off and then Noam Dar comes out. He says he thought it'd be a great idea if he stole the title just like he stole Alicia Foxxxx...
Enter Jack Gallagher. (And William III!) Excuse his bad manners, but he feels like if there's a King of the Cruiserweights, he ought to be a gentleman.
Enter Tony Nese. (And his abs!) Aries sputters about how this was supposed to be a one-on-one interview and TJ Perkins joins the crowd. With all due respect, he says, unlike them, he has actually been champion before and knows what it takes to win the title.
And spoiler alert: He's going to do it again. And he's got unfinished business with Neville, to boot, but to be honest, he just came here to do this-- and he clobbers Nese with a forearm! It's all-out chaos until it's just Gallagher and Neville in the ring!
Uppercuts and a dropkick send Neville outside, Jack hits the ropes but Dar yanks him outside, TJP hits a tornillo, Nese does a Fosbury Flop, Cedric does a tope con giro, Neville off the ropes but he stops short to taunt everyone and we go to break.
Back from commercial with another Emmalina vignette... for next week!
And then we have a match joined in progress, because wrestling promotions love making me scramble to type match headers.
Cedric Alexander, Jack Gallagher, & TJ Perkins vs. Neville, Noam Dar, & Tony Nese
Nese and Gallagher are at it, Tony tags Neville in and the King runs roughshod for a minute, suplexing Jack into his corner. Dar in, shoulder arm breaker, overhead wristlock suplex gets two and then Nese comes back in. Body slam gets two, leg drop, hammer whip, Nese flexes at Perkins.
Front chancery applied, Gallagher backs him in the corner and breaks to catch him with a wicked headbutt! Nese makes a tag to Noam, but Jack slips under his feet and tags TJP in. Manhattan Drop, strike rush, dropkick off the ropes, running back elbow, forearm, springboard... right into a dropkick from Dar!
Noam tries to tag Neville in, but the King drops off the apron, collects his title, and walks off! Dar jaws at him a second and TJ grabs a small package, Nese making the save. Nese takes a turn jawing at the King and gets caught with a Detonation Kick! Cedric tags in, diving clothesline on Dar...
Cedric Alexander, Jack Gallagher, & TJ Perkins win by pinfall with a Lumbar Check from Cedric on Noam Dar.
Backstage, Jericho and Owens are telling each other how right they were. Chris was gonna save it for next week, but no secrets here. He wants to show the world how important their friendship is, and to do that, he needs a festival. Owens is skeptical, but Y2J lays out the idea of a Festival of Friendship, and says Las Vegas is the perfect place to do it.
La Fiesta de los Amigos, the WrestleMania of friendship! The biggest celebration in WWE history, don't you dare miss it! Kev says he wouldn't miss it for the world and he can't wait.
Commentary throws to a short recap of the opening segment to set up Reigns/Joe, which is up next, after the break.
Back from break and we get a little bit of Elimination Chamber hype from commentary, along with a video package hyping up the Elimination Chamber match proper. Various things for 205 Live and next week's Raw get a bit of hype as well, and then Roman Reigns makes his entrance for our main event.
Joe blindsides him during his entrance! Slam into the apron and then into the barricade, followed by a wipe-out lariat! Into the apron again, headbutts, grounded punches, Samoa rolls back in the ring and bids Reigns join him now as referee Chad Patton goes to check on the Shield man.
Joe rolls out and throws a vicious chest kick before sending Roman face first into the ringpost and throwing a senton on his prone body. Back in the ring again, Patton checks on Roman and we head to break.
Back from commercial and the match is on!
Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe
Joe right on him in the corner, jab after jab forcing an already shaky Reigns down to the mat. Elbow to the forehead, jab, body blows, he goes to dump the Big Dog but has the tables turned on him! Baseball slide, Reigns outside with strikes, whip into the barricade, he's putting it back together!
Back in the ring, Samoa backs up into the corner, where Roman meets him with kicks and punches before whipping him across and having it reversed. Back elbow and an enzuigiri lay Reigns out and Joe paces around his fallen body before dragging him up by the hair just enough to throw a headbutt.
Chops against the ropes slowly fire the Big Dog up, forearms in return, he runs the ropes and takes a big back elbow and then an elbow drop off the ropes. Crossface blows, headbutt to the back of the head, more jabs, combinations, a knee lift, face to the turnbuckles, a cravate over the ropes!
Joe with a snap suplex for one, a kneeling surfboard next, wrenching Roman's arms back. Reigns struggles to his feet and hits the big slicing right, trading punch for punch as they throw 'em wild. Roman wins the exchange, lands a headbutt and comes off the ropes with a jumping lariat.
Looking for a Samoan drop, Joe fights him off, charges in but gets sidestepped and takes the corner lariats, with a boot for punctuation. Samoan drop fails a second time, big right, off the ropes, Joe catches him with a Manhattan Drop, a big boot, and another senton for two!
Roman cralws for the ropes as Joe stands behind him, ready to throw more jabs to the face. Going for the facewash, Reigns catches him for the Samoan drop this time... NO GOOD! Calling for the Superman Punch, Samoa heads outside so Roman switches gears for the Drive-By!
Superman Punch connects, the Big Dog calls for the spear!
RRROOOAAARRR!
Braun Strowman comes down! Roman hits him with a right and a Superman Punch to knock him off the apron and Joe catches him with an enzuigiri! Samoa hooks him...
Samoa Joe wins by pinfall with a spinning Rock Bottom.
Braun comes in to plant Roman with the running powerslam on top of it all! Braun takes him outside, Reigns fights it but Strowman clobbers him to the floor. Braun has the steps! BRAUN RUNS INTO HIM WITH THE STEPS!
RUNNING POWERSLAM THROUGH THE BARRICADE!
THAT'S THE SHOW, FOLKS!