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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Feb. 5, 2018) from the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, featuring the build toward the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view (PPV) coming up later this month.
Advertised for tonight: The Big Dog and The Eater of Worlds duke it out once again for a chance to compete for a WrestleMania Universal title shot, promised confirmation of at least some of the women who will compete in the first ever Chamber match for their division, 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. 5
I am the pain that feeds off your weakness, a sickening born of hate, not of the blessed. And with that time I will crush all things they prey, destroying all from the known to the arcane, but for now I’m just here to liveblog this pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens up with commentary hyping up Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt.
Bray is in the dark room laughing to himself. He says the Elimination Chamber is upon us, the home to his greatest victory. Last year he won the WWE Championship, and in the way of repeating his destiny is one man, his nemesis, Roman Reigns. This once-great warrior has fallen so far down the spiral that the world no longer recognizes him, but Bray does.
He lost the Royal Rumble and the Intercontinental Championship but he still feigns confidence, and Wyatt sees through that to see that Roman is a failure waiting to be put out of his misery, and he’s happy to oblige. Waiting for Reigns at the bottom of the spiral is something far worse than failure... him.
Roman is in the locker room questioning what Wyatt just said. He says failure is someone who can’t deal with adversity, who gets knocked down and stays down. He’s had his fair share of ups and downs, but that’s not failure, it’s the mark of a great journey. And his journey starts tonight and goes through the Elimination Chamber and doesn’t stop until he smashes into Suplex City at WrestleMania, and nobody, not Bray and not Brock Lesnar, can stop him.
Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns (Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match)
Collar and elbow, Bray pushes Roman in the corner and breaks clean at referee Rod Zapata’s command. Back to the lockup, Wyatt gets a side headlock, shoot off, shoulder block, Reigns with the side headlock this time. Shoot in the corner, sidestep the charge but Bray is hanging off the turnbuckles and taunting. Wyatt with a boot to the face, he pops up top and the Big Dog pops him with a right!
Fireman’s carry denied with punches, and Bray passes Roman so hard into the post that I felt it here writing! Reverse chinlock on the mat, Reigns fights out and fires off the pair of lariats, whip reversed, finish with the leaping lariat! Bray outside, Roman heads around looking for the Drive-By and the Eater of Worlds counters with a lariat! Taking him around he puts him into the steps and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Bray is in control, dropping a knee to the back and locking a rear chinlock on while still kneeling on Reigns but the Big Dog is able to fight out and hit the Samoan drop! Corner lariats, Wyatt counters, looking for the Rock Bottom but Roman slips away, off the ropes, Bray with the freight train crossbody block for a nearfall!
Seting Reigns up top, big right hand, setting up a superplex but Roman blocks. A chop this time, Wyatt climbs up to try again and gets clobbered with repeated headbutts! The Big Dog slips down... sit-out powerbomb! NOPE! Calling for the Superman Punch... BRAY COUNTERS WITH THE BIG ROCK BOTTOM! Senton connects... NOT ENOUGH! In the deep inverted facelock, Reigns reverses to a schoolboy for two!
Superman Punch connects... NOPE! Big Dog getting fired up looking at the WrestleMania sign, he heads to the corner and shakes the ropes before howling... and Bray counters the spear with a boot! Sister Abigail... ROMAN WILL NOT LET HIS ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA END HERE! Wyatt takes his back and rains elbows down on the back of his neck before drawing him up and back into the inverted facelock, swinging him over and kissing him.
Reigns levers his hand off and gets to his feet, headbutt, duck the lariat...
Roman Reigns wins by pinfall with the spear, qualifying for the men’s Elimination Chamber match.
Roman takes his leave and Matt Hardy appears behind Bray! Wyatt turns around into a kick to the gut... TWIST OF FATE! Matt Hardy leads the crowd in “Delete!” chants and celebrates, telling Bray that it’s OVAH.
Jason Jordan is in the locker room stretching when Seth Rollins rolls up. He says with all these injuries piling up, his neck, his shoulder, and Kurt Angle has said win, lose or draw, this is their last shot against the Bar and he can’t have Jason refusing to tag. Jordan says he’s 100% good to go, he’s been medically cleared and he doesn’t have to worry.
Rollins says this isn’t about either of them, but about what they can do together, so they’re gonna go out tonight and take their tag TEAM championships back, together.
Commentary hypes up a three-way between the first three men to qualify for the Elimination Chamber to see who enters that match last, we get a hype reel for tomorrow’s episode of Mixed Match Challenge, and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Balor Club are making their entrance.
The Revival come out next, microphones in hand. Scott Dawson introduces them for those who don’t know who they are, saying they’re tag specialists and so he wants a tag team match. Dash tells Finn to pick one of his buddies so they can show them how it’s done.
Balor Club (Finn Balor & Karl Anderson) vs. the Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson)
Wilder and Anderson to start, Dawson immediately tags in, collar and elbow, forcing Karl into the corner and forcing referee John Cone to pull him off before he breaks dirty with a forearm! Chop, punch, whip reversed, block the hip toss, side headlock, shot off, shoulder block, drop down, leapfrog, Machine Gun with a hip toss! Back elbow, hip toss for Dash, Finn comes in, stereo back body drops!
The Revival spill to the floor, Finn and Karl Too Sweet each other, and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Dawson has Balor in an armbar but Finn’s able to post to his feet and fight out with elbows before dumping Scott to the floor. Wilder with the tag, he cuts Balor off and double legs him into the Revival’s corner before tagging Dawson right back in. Right hands, Finn gets away and hits a double stomp, tag back to Dash but he can’t block the tag and Anderson comes in hot with lariats!
Whip reversed, Sick Kick, he knocks Dawson off the apron, pump kick in the corner, Karl pops up top, diving neckbreaker! Scoop slam denied, Anderson shoots him off the ropes but Scott makes the save and tags in. He runs into the spinebuster and Wilder breaks the tag up! Clothesline Dash outside, boot for Dawson, tag made, flip dive on Wilder, Sling Blade connects!
Shotgun dropkick, Finn heads up top...
Balor Club win by pinfall with the Coup de Grace from Finn Balor on Scott Dawson.
Balor Club celebrate together.
Commentary hypes up our women’s Elimination Chamber match announcement for later.
Sasha Banks is in the locker room watching the finish to her match against Asuka last week on a tablet that’s set at a strange angle. Bayley rolls up to tell her that’s the twentieth time she’s seen it and she needs to not be so hard on herself. Banks says she’s the Boss around here and she needs to be confident, but she doesn’t know right now.
Bayley asks for tips and Sasha says no offense, but she’s keeping strategy to herself for now. Bayley takes a little offense but says she gets it, it’s every woman for herself. The Boss says she intends to win and end Asuka’s undefeated streak, and Bayley says she’s thinking the same thing. Not Sasha beating Asuka, but her beating Asuka, and she knows she can beat Sasha, so if Sasha’s good enough to beat Asuka, so is she.
And on that math lesson, we go to break.
Back from commercial, Cedric Alexander’s theme is playing. Drake Maverick is on commentary for this one.
Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali vs. Drew Gulak & Tony Nese
Nese and Ali to start, Tony pressing the attack right off with a knee, a forearm, a biel into the corner into strike combos and referee Dan Engler backs him off. Nese counts his abs, whip across, front flip up and over, Mustafa ducks a lariat and snaps off a Frankensteiner to set up the tag! Basement dropkicks in sequence, but Tony breaks free and is able to tag Gulak.
Going to work on Cedric, quick tag, suplex puts him on the ropes and Drew drops him with a lariat! Tag made, cover, Ali yanks Nese off! Bodyscissors applied, trying to grind Alexander down but he breaks away so Tony puts him in the corner. Boots, reaching for the tag, back elbow, tags made all around! Ali in with elbows, whip reversed, pop-up dropkick into a kip-up and the former Freelance Champion is fired up!
Slide on a whip, uppercut, tornado DDT connects! Nese to the floor... TOPE CON GIRO CEDRIC ALEXANDER! Ali with a diving crossbody, Gulak rolls through into a pin for a nearfall! Big lariat from Mustafa, tag made and Alexander comes in with a diving lariat! Back suplex lift...
Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali win by pinfall with Lumbar Check from Alexander on Drew Gulak.
Commentary hypes up tomorrow night’s Cruiserweight Championship Tournament matches.
Kurt Angle is shown talking with Alexa Bliss backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Kurt Angle makes his entrance.
He says last week history was made with the women’s Royal Rumble match and he’s proud to say Raw’s Asuka was the winner, but at Elimination Chamber they’re going to make history again. Last week Stephanie McMahon made the announcement that Alexa Bliss is defending her championship in the... Elimination Chamber.
The five women she’s facing are former champion women’s champion Bayley, Mandy “Maybe” Rose, Mickie James, Sonya “Sunny” Deville, and Sasha Banks. (Kurt’s having a hell of a day here, folks.) Conspicuous by her absence is Nia Jax, but he has a match for her at the WWE Network’s pay-per-view Elimination Chamber, because it’ll be Nia vs. Asuka, and if Jax wins she gets added to the match at WrestleMania!
Alexa Bliss comes down and says she was trying to be a good sport but what Kurt is doing isn’t just wrong but completely unjust, and she can’t believe he had the nerve to mention the women’s evolution. In fact, she thinks his decision is against company policy, since women and men are supposed to be treated the same, so how come she has to put the title on the line but Brock doesn’t?
Why doesn’t she get that exact privilege, Kurt? Is it because she’s just a woman? Angle says Brock defended his title at the Royal Rumble and points out that Alexa hasn’t actually defended her title since October. Bliss turns it right around and says it’s his fault for not making a match and asks if he values Brock more than he values her and accuses him of preferential treatment.
Kurt decides to put it to the crowd, who of course want the match to happen. Alexa calls them sheep and says she deserves respect before storming off. Angle polls the crowd again and the match doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere.
Commentary begins hyping something or other and... my cable freezes up, so I don’t catch what it was but we were on our way to break anyway, folks.
Asuka vs. Bayley
Hey, it’s Geno jumping in for Rev due to his having technical difficulties. Sorry, I’m not nearly as detailed as he is, but we’ll make it through.
To play catch-up, Bayley showed some real fire in her match with Asuka, and they really played up that she was close to scoring a pinfall victory, but in the end she submitted to the Asuka Lock like they all do.
Asuka def. Bayley
After, Asuka offered her hand to Bayley, who took a minute but tentatively shook hands while looking incredibly disappointed. Don’t worry, Bayley, you’re getting a title shot anyway, remember?
Sheamus and Cesaro cut a promo on a cell phone. It’s the hot new thing. Something about not setting bars but being bars.
The Miz vs. Apollo Crews
The winner of this match earns entry into the men’s Elimination Chamber match.
Miz entered with just Bo Dallas. Corey Graves told us he understood the reason Curtis Axel was absent is because Miz got him a very important audition as an extra. Totally understandable.
Oh, he’s going to get some promo time here.
Loud boos.
Hand up.
“Do you know what this means? If you’re going to act like children, I’m going to treat you like children. When my hand goes up, your mouth goes shut.”
No one shut up.
He implored everyone to go look outside because the stars have aligned and 2018 is the year of The Miz. Maybe you don’t believe in Astrology and that’s fine but he’s got a lot of evidence to prove his case otherwise: he came back from filming The Marine to win the Intercontinental championship from Roman Reigns on the highest rated Raw in three years, and he gives himself credit for that rating. Then he beat Reigns again a week later. Goes so far as to call Miz one of the greatest wrestlers of all time but he just couldn’t contend with the overwhelming tide of momentum that is Miz.
Miz even claims Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson showed the team an inspirational video of him prior to the team defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII. He’s probably lying.
Oh and also, he’s going to win at Elimination Chamber and then go on to defeat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. This will all happen around the same time his daughter is born, so she’ll witness the first ever Intercontinental and Universal champion.
Finally, Crews stopped standing around backstage waiting for Miz to stop talking and came out for their match.
Commercial break.
Rev here, I’m back watching USA through my spare laptop through the power of SCIENCE (and Comcast) and in time for the match, which is in progress.
Crews with a delayed vertical suplex, Miz shoves him back, sunset flip, reversed, trading pinning predicaments here. Duck a lariat, big corkscrew elbow from Apollo and Miz heads to the floor. Back in, off the ropes, knee to the midsection and Crews is wiped out. Off the ropes, Apollo with a military press drop into a standing moonsault but Miz has the knees up!
Applying a bodyscissors, Crews gets out, whip reversed and the A-Lister gets wiped out by a dropkick! Basement superkick, off the ropes, Apollo with a lariat and he’s fired up! Enzuigiri connects, back suplex clutch, Miz floats over and lands on his feet, Awesome Clothesline... APOLLO CAUGHT HIM AND BELLY-TO-BELLY SUPLEXES HIM! UHAA COMBINATION... NOPE!
Skull-Crushing Finale reversed into a victory roll.. NOPE! Going for a headscissors in the corner, the A-Lister crotches him, full nelson...
Miz wins by pinfall with Skull-Crushing Finale, qualifying for the men’s Elimination Chamber match.
Seth Rollins is walking backstage when he runs into Kurt Angle, Jason Jordan, and a medic. Kurt prods his biological son and Jordan admits he can’t compete tonight, that he did some neck bridges warming up and it didn’t feel right, and now the medics won’t clear him. Seth is mad and asks what he’s supposed to do with the match being next, and Angle says he doesn’t see an option but to forfeit the match.
Rollins turns his head and Roman Reigns rolls up. Kurt smiles and nods... them Shield boys got a title shot!
...after the break.
Back from commercial in time for entrances.
The Bar (Cesaro & Sheamus) (c) vs. the Shield (Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins) (WWE Raw Tag Team Championship)
Rollins and Sheamus to start, circling, collar and elbow, the Celtic Warrior with a side headlock takeover but the Architect reverses right to a headscissors and they stalemate. Back to the headlock, keeping it standing this time, shot off, shoulder block, and Sheamus poses. Drop down, leapfrog, big crossbody into mounted punches, arm wringer, Sheamus swats him away and tags Cesaro in.
Arm wringer to a wristlock, wrenching it in, forcing Seth to roll through to reverse it and hitting a knee when he does. Following it with an uppercut, tag to Sheamus and they put boots to him together. Tag back, stereo kicks to the midsection, whip, Rollins catches him with a kick and tags Reigns in. Double whip, double shoulder block, arm wringer, tag back to Seth.
Double whip to the post, they mock the Bar’s thumb gesture, snapmare, only good for one. Right hands, into the corner, chops, tag to Roman. Assisted corner forearm into a big boot, big right hand for Sheamus and Rollins clotheslines him to the floor! Big Dog calling for the Superman Punch, Seth dives... right into the Irish Curse on the floor!
Distracted, Cesaro lands an uppercut on Roman, makes the tag, and throws Reigns into the barricade to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Cesaro is in control on Roman with a chinlock and tags Sheamus in. Celtic Warrior throwing uppercuts and straight punches in the corner, Cesaro gets a cheap shot in when referee John Cone warns him off. Stomp, knee to the back, reverse chinlock applied but the Big Dog powers to his feet. Tag to Cesaro, in with a boot, double whip into a double clothesline, only good for two.
Cone backs Cesaro off, Sheamus gets a kick in, Swiss Death... ROLLINS BREAKS IT UP! Lariat on the floor from Sheamus, Reigns sidesteps a charge and goes after the corner lariats! Big right for Sheamus when he interferes, schoolboy, only two! Sheamus hangs Roman up on the top rope, tag made, the spike White Noise... NOT ENOUGH! Neutralizer countered into the Samoan drop and Rollins is back up and waiting for the tag!
Sheamus tags back in, knocks Seth off the apron but turns around into the Superman Punch! Both men down and out... and Jason Jordan comes down to help Rollins back up on the apron. Tags made, Seth in with a springboard lariat, knocking Sheamus down, diving blockbuster on Cesaro, duck under and dive on the Celtic Warrior! Slingshot guillotine leg drop on Cesaro!
Fired up, off the ropes again, the suicide dive sends Cesaro into the front row! Back in, duck the lariat, Sling Blade, only a nearfall! Off the ropes for Blackout, Cesaro has it scouted and puts him in the corner for an uppercut! Suplex, roll through, Falcon Arrow... NOPE! Cesaro with an eyepoke, Jordan trips him up, schoolboy from Rollins, only two, Avada Kedavra... SHEAMUS MAKES THE SAVE!
Reigns gets into it with Jason and sends him to the back. Ripcord knee on Cesaro, superkick cuts a diving Sheamus off, tag made, the Big Dog howls and Cesaro pulls Sheamus out of the ring, intent on walking out! Jordan gets in their way, throwing punches, John Cone has no choice...
The Bar win by disqualification.
Rollins is not well please to have lost his last chance at the tag titles for as long as the Bar hold them. He and Jordan yell at each other as the Bar celebrate on the ramp.
We get a recap of Braun Strowman’s rampage from last week, both because it was awesome and because Raw is three hours long.
Braun cuts a handcam promo about how just like last week, he’ll be the last one standing tonight, and then at Elimination Chamber, and then at WrestleMania as the new Universal Champion, so John Cena and Elias best be ready to catch these hands.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Rollins is yelling at Jordan backstage when Kurt Angle rolls up. Seth calls him a “selfish son of a bitch” and Kurt tells him he’s out of line because Jason’s legitimately hurt. Rollins says the only thing he’s sorry about is that he didn’t legitimately hurt Jordan himself. Angle tells his son he needs to go home and stay away until he’s healed up. Jason tries to argue but Kurt shouts him down and he leaves.
Nia Jax vs. Vanessa Floyd
Nia shoves at Floyd and toys with her before shoving her to the mat. Grabbing her by the neck, she throws Vanessa into the corner but she comes back with a boot and forearms, dropkick puts Jax into the ropes... and she freight trains over Floyd. Big biel, body avalanche in the corner, another biel, big military press drop, off the ropes...
Nia Jax wins by pinfall with the running leg drop.
Nia is interviewed in the ring about her Elimination Chamber match against Asuka after her victory. She starts off by nodding at the WrestleMania sign and says she’s the only woman in the locker room that isn’t afraid of Asuka and the only one she can’t beat. She says she’s gonna mess Asuka’s face up so bad she has to wear the mask permanently, and when she’s done, she won’t be the Empress of Tomorrow, but rather the Empress of Yesterday.
Commentary hypes up our main event and we go to break.
Back from commercial and we get entrances for a match.
Mickie James vs. Sonya Deville
Circling, Deville slides in with a waistlock, hits the takedown, another takedown, but Mickie gets her into the ropes and referee Chad Patton forces the break. Big slap from James, Sonya double legs her into the corner but Mickie keeps throwing clubs into a Lou Thesz Press into mounted punches! Kick combo, off the ropes double axehandle, cravate knees, snapmare, off the ropes for a boot but it’s all only good for two.
Whip reversed, James with a back elbow, headscissors in the corner but Mandy Rose runs interference and Sonya’s able to toss the veteran aside with a release powerbomb! Pressing the attack, stomps into kicks and knees, almost toying with Mickie at points. Cover made, only a nearfall, running knee strike, again only two! Mickie manages to get one in edgewise...
Mickie James wins by pinfall with a lateral press.
Absolution put boots to James but Alexa Bliss makes the save and pulls Mickie out of the ring! They get up the ramp before Mickie seemingly realizes who rescued her.
Elias is tuning his guitar backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial, commentary informs us that Finn Balor, Bray Wyatt, Matt Hardy, and Apollo Crews will have a four-way next week for the last spot in the men’s Elimination Chamber match.
Elias is in the ring to sing us a song. He plays a few bars of instrumental action and calls Des Moines a nothing town that he usually flies over looking for anything better. Tonight, after he beats Braun Strowman and John Cena, he’ll get the last spot in the Elimination Chamber match and give the best performance on the grandest stage of them all, WrestleMania.
Very soon, all things WWE will be his, because WWE stands for “walk with Elias”. He says he turned down doing the Super Bowl halftime show to perform here and that was a mistake, but he has a song he wrote for himself to try and escape being in Des Moines that he’s gonna play. Of course the song is about running Braun and Cena down
Braun Strowman vs. Elias vs. John Cena
Elias immediately leaves the ring and Cena gets to work, peppering Strowman with punches! Off the ropes, he runs into a boot from the monster and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Braun is dominating Cena and Elias comes in. Strowman chases him around the ring and back in and John tries a fireman’s carry... BUT COLLAPSES UNDER BRAUN’S WEIGHT! Drifter comes back in, goozle into a choking biel, and Strowman clotheslines him to the floor! Outside after Elias, a headbutt connects on the Drifter, one for Cena also and Braun throws both men back in the ring.
Impromptu team up, throwing hands, shoulder block, running knee, double clothesline sends the monster to the floor! Headed out after, they keep beating on Braun and throw him into the post! A second time but Strowman’s still on one knee! Throwing him into the steps this time, Braun is wiped out momentarily! Steps shot from Cena, guitar shot from Elias... ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT ON THE STEPS!
Elias blindsides Cena and rolls him in the ring for a cover... NOPE! Putting boots to the 16-time champion, mounted punches, again only two! Cena blocking punches, returning his own, Elias ducks a lariat, Blue Thunder Backbreaker! Only a nearfall! Drawing John up, knocking him back down with a punch, grabbing a reverse chinlock. Cena gets to one knee but the Drifter knocks him back down.
John manually breaks the hands, off the ropes, shoulder block, shoulder block, fall-forward Blue Thunder Driver, “You can’t see me!”, off the ropes... BRAUN SCOOPS CENA UP FOR THE RUNNING POWERSLAM! Trying to get Elias with one as well, the Drifter slips off, throws the monster to the floor...
Elias wins by pinfall with a lateral press on John Cena, earning the last entry in the men’s Elimination Chamber match.
Braun comes right back in the ring... RUNNING POWERSLAM FOR ELIAS! He’s not done with Cena yet, up on his shoulders, running powerslam! Braun stands tall and surveys the carnage he’s left in his wake.
He poses some more, Elias rolls outside and Strowman decides he’s not finished with the Drifter yet... one last running powerslam!
That’s the show, folks.