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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Jan. 6, 2020) from the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Royal Rumble pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for later this month in Houston.
Advertised for tonight: Brock Lesnar returns, Andrade vs. Rey Mysterio for the U.S. championship, a triple threat for the Raw tag team titles, 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 JAN. 6
I recall the time they found those fossilized mosquitoes and before long, they were cloning DNA. Now I’m being chased by some irate velociraptors-- Well, believe me, this has been one lousy day. Jurassic Park is frightening in the dark, all the dinosaurs are running wild. Someone shut the fence off in the rain! I admit it’s kinda eerie, but this proves my chaos theory and I don’t think I’ll be coming back again, because I’ve got to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with a recap of last week’s wedding between Lana and Bobby Lashley, and all the shenaigans therein.
Thence to the intro video.
Brock Lesnar makes his entrance, flanked by Paul Heyman as always.
Paul bids everyone a happy new year and calls us bitches before moving into his usual intro spiel. He wants to kick off the new decade by making history, and he asked Brock who he thinks is worthy of stepping in the ring with him and says Lesnar wants to something unprecedented. You said the Undertaker couldn’t lose at WrestleMania, but his client conquered him.
Everyone that wants him at the Royal Rumble can have him, because Brock is entering the Royal Rumble match. But not just entering, he’s entering at number one! Is it brazen? Yes, and Lesnar is going to conquer the Royal Rumble and win it from first, and that’s not a prediction, it’s a spoiler.
Backstage, Rey Mysterio is cutting a promo in Spanish when an interview rolls up.
He says his title match tonight means everything to him, and at this point in his career he has days left, not years. He thanks his son Dominick for convincing him to stay fighting, but Andrade “Cien” Almas doesn’t deserve to represent latinos and he’s going to take his title back tonight.
Rey makes his entrance and we go to break.
Andrade “Cien” Almas (c) vs. Rey Mysterio (WWE United States Championship)
Mysterio hot out the gates, basement slide into a tijeras on the floor! Almas staggering, kick to the midsection, back inside, cover for one. Cien with forearms to the midsection, whip across, Rey with a front kick, springboard, caught into the electric chair, victory roll over the ropes and to the floor but Andrade lands on his feet! Mysterio regains control and wheelbarrows him face-first into the steelsteps!
Back inside, Almas with a dropkick and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Mysterio blocks punches and fires his own back, off the ropes, tijeras puts Almas in the corner. Back body drop to the apron, Rey with the enzuigiri into the springboard seated senton, off the ropes, quebrada countered but Mysterio converts it into a tornado DDT... NOPE! Up top, Andrade cuts him off and hangs him up over the apron... TREE OF WOE DOUBLE STOMP MISSES!
Off the ropes, basement dive into a sunset flip but Almas rolls through and plants Rey with the double knees! Back inside, slingshot senton atomico for two, Three Amigos follows it up. Mysterio reverses the third into a small package, sets him up on the second after he kicks out, 619 denied and Andrade clocks him with the hard back elbow for two! Monkey flip... INTO A FLIP PILEDRIVER!
REFEREE JOHN CONE COUNTS THREE BUT VEGA PUT ALMAS’ LEG ON THE ROPES AND HE WAVES IT OFF!
We go to break before the action picks back up.
Back from commercial, Mysterio ducks and sends Almas to the floor before lining him up for a headscissors off the apron that puts him head-first into the barricade! Posing, back inside, Yoshi Tonic into a folding press... NOPE! To the apron, trading chops, Rey with a dropkick... SUNSET FLIP POWERBOMB INTO THE RINGPOST! Back inside, slingshot leg drop... ANDRADE KICKS OUT!
Missile dropkick countered into a Face Eraser... STILL NO! Corner knees, Rey sidesteps, springboard headscissors puts him on the second... 619! Vega pulls Almas out of the ring, Mysterio dives on him, he loses his balance and Rey crashes into Zelina! Cien furious, he puts Mysterio into the steel steps and takes him back inside, thinking hammerlock DDT but referee John Cone pulls him off and checks on Rey!
Cone talks Almas down while Mysterio staggers out of the ring to try and check on Vega. Referees come down to check on her and Rey returns to the ring. Andrade hooks him...
Andrade “Cien” Almas wins by pinfall with the hammerlock DDT.
Post-match, Almas pulls Rey’s mask off and gives it to Vega, who has just got back to her feet at ringside.
Backstage, Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens are interviewed.
Owens says they’re allies of convenience and they’re going to give Rollins and AOP what they dish out, and Joe says he’s got a pitch for them-- a trios match. He has a third guy, don’t worry. KO is curious but Joe says to let Seth and the Authors worry who it is, and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Seth Rollins and the Authors of Pain roll into Charly Caruso.
She’s here to relay Samoa Joe’s challenge, but Rollins cuts her off and says they live for challenges and he faces challenges every day. Right now he’s mostly concerned with the challenge of taking Raw to the next level, and he didn’t ask to be the chosen one but here he is, having sacrificed everything to be the messiah of monday nights.
As for Owens and Joe, no one stands by them, whereas he and the AOP are a united front, inevitable, and anyone that stands up to them, the AOP will take care of that.
Street Profits make their entrance and get on the mic.
They say everybody’s talking about the Golden Globes and the mystery partner of Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens, but they’re changing the conversation. The OC can hold up their little hand signs, but tonight they won’t be clicking, and Erik and Ivar may be vikings, but tonight they’re pillaging, because the Street Profits are up and they want the smoke.
We get the rest of our entrances for our tag title match and go to break.
Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) vs. the OC (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) vs. Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) (c) (WWE Raw Tag Team Championship)
Anderson and Erik to start, Karl using his speed but Rowe is a brick wall. Big waistlock takedown, tag to Ivar, cover for two. Quick tags, working Machine Gun over, but Dawkins tags in on Warbeard! Somehow it ends up being Ford on Ivar, side headlock, shot off, slide low, arm drag denied! Up and over, cartwheel into a backflip and Montez is fired up. Warbeard going flip for flip and Gallows tags in on him.
Big Hoot punching away in the corner and now it’s Ford’s turn to get worked over with quick tags from the OC. Montez gets an enzuigiri off on Anderson, Luke tags in, back suplex, land on his feet, duck a lariat, tag to Erik! Rowe coming in hot with strikes, big overhead exploder! Erik throwing everybody around, tag to Ivar. Crushing Gallows in the corner, Ford tags in.
Off the ropes, he gets caught by the Viking Experience... BUT THE OC BREAK IT UP! Erik dives and Gallows catches him... CHOKEBOMB INTO THE BARRICADE! And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, the OC are in control on Erik, beating him down in their corner. Quick tags, Erik gets away and makes the tag! Shoulder block, off the ropes, freight train crossbody and a Banzai Drop to follow! Cartwheel lariat takes Gallows out when he runs in, Anderson is still down in the corner... BRONCO BUSTER MISSES! Dawkins tags in, Erik back in as well.
Angelo running hot, Ford tags in, thrust spinebuster, frog splash but Anderson made the blind tag! Cover... IVAR BREAKS IT UP! The match breaks down a bit, Karl with charging strikes, some more stuff happens...
Viking Raiders win by pinfall with the Viking Experience on Karl Anderson to retain the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship.
Backstage, Samoa Joe is interviewed.
He says everyone is eager to find out who his guy is, and Kevin Owens rolls up to say he’s done some bad things to people in this company and he’d really like to know who this guy is. Joe asks if he’d feel better if he showed him, and they start walking to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Joe and Owens and Charly Caruso are still walking, and they come across a door. Samoa motions Owens in and holds Charly back. Kev is real happy but poor Charly can’t get an answer.
Becky Lynch makes her entrance and gets on the mic.
She says it’s good to hear our voices, because she’s been walking around for months now, wondering what kind of a champion she is. She let the doubters get to her and she forced the powers that be to give her a match against Asuka at the Royal Rumble, but to be honest, she’s doubting her wisdom on that one. Her life has changed so much in the last year, she’s been on the road in a whirlwind, but over the holidays she got a chance to think about what it really means to be The Man.
Should she be content to be on the cereal boxes and the red carpets, should she avoid the one woman that she can’t seem to beat? We get a video recap of her matches against Asuka before Asuka makes her entrance and interrupts.
She yells at Becky in Japanese at length and gets in the ring with her... AT WHICH POINT LYNCH DECKS HER WITH ONE PUNCH!
Becky leaves and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Erick Rowan runs into Mojo Rawley backstage.
Mojo asks if he can just take one look at what’s in the cage. He even said please! Erick tells him to help himself, but not to tell anybody. Rawley is hesitant but he takes his peek and runs away screaming, asking Rowan what the hell is wrong with him.
Backstage, Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega are interviewed.
Almas says some stuff in Spanish about Rey Mysterio’s mask... AND AN UNMASKED REY MYSTERIO BLINDSIDES HIM AND BEATS HIM DOWN! HE TAKES HIS MASK BACK, PUTS IT BACK ON, AND KEEPS BEATING THE HELL OUT OF ALMAS UNTIL REFEREES SHOW UP TO RESTORE ORDER!
Erick Rowan vs. KJ Orso
The standard Rowan “indie guy wants to look at his pal” squash match.
Erick Rowan wins by pinfall with the clawslam.
Post-match, Rowan drags Orso over to force him to look at the cage and KJ runs away screaming and clutching his eyes.
We see Seth Rollins and the Authors of Pain backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of the AJ Styles / Randy Orton segment from last week.
AJ Styles vs. Akira Tozawa
Tozawa right on him, forearms on forearms, whip reversed, duck a corner forearm but Styles nails him from the apron, springboard, Phenomenal Forearm... and AJ pulls off the pin before three! Thinking Styles Clash but he changes his mind and hits Orton’s hanging DDT! Styles goes to that special place...
AJ Styles wins by pinfall with a jumping Ace Crusher. (Or, you know... an RKO. Heh.)
Post-match, AJ does Randy’s taunt in the corner.
There’s a commotion in the ring with security holding a guy down and given that we immediately go to break and no comment is given, some jackass must have jumped the barricade and rushed the ring.
Back from commercial, we get another recap of Lana and Bobby Lashley’s wedding, because Raw is three hours long. (Three hours long.)
Lana and Bobby Lashley make their entrance and the preacher from last week is in the ring.
Lana gets on the mic and says for everybody that didn’t want them married, too bad, because they’re gonna get married right here, right now. (Van Halen is kicking ass in America?)
The preacher says he’s heard enough objections, etc, etc, husband and wife.
Lana criticises the guy for being boring and then proceeds to complain about how she’s supposed to be so happy but she’s feeling extremely sad. She realized it has nothing to do with her, it’s not her fault or Bob’s fault, it’s every single person in the entire world that doesn’t want to see this ring on her finger. She continues kvetching and Lashley speaks up, putting the majority of the blame on Rusev.
Speaking of Rusev, he shows up on the tron, at the beach, in a sleeveless Hawaiian shirt. He says since they decided not to take a honeymoon, he’s taking it for them. But he doesn’t want to make it about him, and he wanted to get them a nice wedding present, so he put together a wedding album for them. It’s a slideshow of highlights from last week.
After it finishes, Lana goes off screaming at her ex-husband about how much she hates him, until Lashley tells her to shut up. Bob says Rusev used to be a man, but it appears his ex-wife stripped him of his manhood, but if he has any balls, he’ll show up next week so he can rip them off and shove them down his throat. Rusev says that’s not gonna happen, and next week the Bulgarian Brute will return to brutalize every portion of Lashley’s body.
And if there’s anything left, it’s all Lana’s.
Charlotte Flair is shown walking backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial, commentary informs us that Bobby Lashley vs. Rusev has been booked for next week.
Backstage, R-Truth is interviewed.
Liv Morgan rolls up before he can say anything. She congratulates him on setting the record for most title reigns in WWE, before moving on to her own business-- Rusev is gonna need someone in his corner next week, and that is a moment that she’d... live... for. (Get it? GET IT?!)
Sarah Logan is set to wrestle Charlotte Flair but she blasts Flair before she gets her robe all the way off and throws her shoulder-first into the post! Running knee on the floor! Referee John Cone backs her off but Sarah stays on her and Charlotte manages to reverse her into the barricade! Hossing her over the barricade and into the crowd, back over and to the ringside area, and Logan turns the tide back around again!
Cone gets her in the ring and checks on Flair. Sarah inspects Charlotte’s robe and throws it around a bit before wiping her feet on it and throwing it to the floor! Flair back up... and she spears Logan when she comes back to the floor! Putting her into the barricade, tossing her around, Sarah recovers, they keep brawling and finally the Queen drops her with a big boot!
Flair puts her robe back on and takes her leave, satisfaction gained.
Drew McIntyre is shown walking backstage to send us to break.
Drew McIntyre vs. No Way Jose
McIntyre attacks the conga line before the bell and immediately gets in on Jose. Belly-to-belly, back out to the party, dragging a guy in a kilt to his feet and tearing his short open before chopping him and hitting the inverted Alabama Slam into the apron! Back inside at referee Shaun Bennett’s count of eight, boots up, sidestep the charge, Jose with a schoolboy for one!
Underhooks, Future Shock and a kip-up! Lying in wait...
Drew McIntyre wins by pinfall with Claymore.
Post-match he asks the crowd if he should hit another Claymore and they want it, so he does!
He gets on the mic and says he’s never had one opportunity to fight for the world title and that seems criminal. And since everyone is too scared to fight him, he’s gotta put himself in the Royal Rumble.
And so we go to break.
Aleister Black vs. Shelton Benjamin
Benjamin charging right in for Paydirt but Black shoves him off. Go-behind, waistlock takedown reversed into a victory roll. Off the ropes, flip over, Aleister goes to seated for the taunt. Front chancery, leg pick, Black reverses to an omoplata, thinking maybe Ode to Jim Breaks but Shelton stays in control and deadlifts him up and onto one shoulder before suplexing him!
Front kick, shove off, Benjamin with hard forearms to stagger Aleister! Whip across, moonsault and land on his feet, Black with a hard back elbow! Jumping knee strike, Shelton is down, Aleister draws him up...
Aleister Black wins by pinfall with Black Mass.
Post-Match, Buddy Murphy comes from outta nowhere and kicks Black in the back of the head! He beats him down and whips him hard into the post! The beatdown continues on the floor and he gets a chair out from under the ring. He puts it under Al’s jaw... KAMIGOYE INTO THE CHAIR!
Seth Rollins and Authors of Pain are all kitted up and walking backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Seth Rollins gets on the mic and cuts a promo about how he knows what is best for us and he’s dedicated to taking out whoever impedes progress and honestly I’ve asked my girlfriend to make fart noises so I can’t hear him.
KO and Joe come out... AND THEIR PARTNER IS THE BIG SHOW!
Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar) & Seth Rollins vs. Big Show, Kevin Owens, & Samoa Joe
Show and Akam to start, off the ropes and the giant knocks him down with a shoulder block! Clear the apron, hip toss Rollins in, big chop in the corner! And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Joe is chopping Rollins into the corner. Whip across, back elbow into the enzuigiri, tag to Owens. Crotch chop and the cannonball senton, cover for two. Pressing the attack, perching up top, Rezar blasts KO to the floor! Rezar makes the tag, following up, blasting him into the barricade and the apron repeatedly before taking him back inside.
Working him over, tag to Akam, cover for two. More punches, tag to Rollins, springboard knee strike, again just two! Back to Akam, waistlock, back elbow and an enzuigiri but Rezar tags in. Superkick, laying Rezar out, the path is clear... TAGS MADE AND THE BIG SHOW IS ON FIRE! Whip into the corner, back splash, off the ropes, shoulder block bowls him over and Show is fired up!
Throwing Joe into the steel steps, AOP hit the ring and beat Big Show down, leaving referee Danilo Anfibio no choice...
Big Show, Kevin Owens, & Samoa Joe win by disqualification.
Post-match, they continue to brawl... BIG SHOW KNOCKS ROLLINS OUT WITH THE WMD!
Next week, we’re informed that these men will meet again in some kind of fist fight match.
That’s the show, folks.