1/23 WWE RAW Results – We see CM Punk and Cody Rhodes arriving at the arena for thei face to face confrontation scheduled for later tonight.
We are live from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA, as Seth Rollins make his way to the ring wearing a knee brace. Seth takes in the serenading from the crowd and he starts to tear up when the crowd chants ‘Thank You Seth’.
Seth welcomes everyone to Raw. He finally does begin and talks about how he defended his title against Jinder Mahal and heard his knee snap.
Rollins said he could tell instantly he might be out for a long time. He then had to come to the realization that he might be forced to miss WrestleMania. Fans chant “No! No!” He says he appreciates that but he still had an MRI to get.
He said he got the results and they told him he has a grade two tear of his MCL, a partially torn medial meniscus as well and with surgery, he’s looking at three to four months on the sidelines.
He says if it were up to him, he’d be back in the ring next week stomping heads in. He says unfortunately it’s not up to him. He says “we don’t really know what the future holds, so I’m taking it day-by-day and week-by-week….”
GUNTHER Confronts Seth Rollins
Before he can continue, the Imperium theme hits and out comes the WWE Intercontinental Champion accompanied by Ludwig Kaiser and the returning Giovanni Vinci. GUNTHER looks down at the knee brace on Rollins after stepping into the ring.
Rollins breaks the ice and says if they’re out here to attack him, just do it and get it over with. GUNTHER says they’ve got a match against New Day and he should be worried about him.
He says Rollins has been avoiding him and he felt the need to come out and tell him what he thinks of him. GUNTHER then goes on to talk about how he was labeled a work horse but then goes on to threaten him a bit. Rollins says he should have let him finish.
Rollins says he doesn’t give a damn what doctors say and he will take this title into WrestleMania and he will do every single thing in his power to walk out of WrestleMania as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
GUNTHER says he’s gonna win the Royal Rumble on Sunday and then choose him as his opponent for WrestleMania. He says he’s gonna target Rollins’ knee and back and beat him to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
Rollins appreciates that and tells him to remember who he’s coming after. GUNTHER says he better remember who’s coming after him. They shake hands.
The New Day vs. Imperium
As GUNTHER goes to walk off with Imperium, New Day run out and attack Kaiser and Vinci. We head to a break.
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods vs. Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci
The match is joined in progress and Vinci with a running cross body to Kofi. Vinci with a chop and kicks. Kofi with punches. Vinci with an Irish whip and Kofi with a missile drop kick. Kofi with kicks and Woods tags in. They kick Vinci in the corner. Woods with a forearm and chops. Vinci with a hot shot and a Northern Lariat. Kaiser tags in and he punches Woods. Kaiser with a kick to the chest and then he punches Woods in the corner. Kaiser with a chop and kicks. Woods with chops but Kaiser with forearms in the corner. Woods blocks a kick and he chops Kaiser a few times followed by an enzuigiri. Kaiser goes to the floor. Woods sends Vinci to the floor with a back body drop. Kaiser pulls Woods out of the ring and then Vinci with a back drop driver onto the apron. Kaiser sends Woods into the ringside barrier while Kofi distracts the referee.
Kofi checks on Woods as we go to commercial.
We are back and Woods and Vinci exchange chops. Vinci with a kick to the knee and an Irish whip but he runs into a thrust kick. Kaiser tags in and so does Kofi. Kofi with a springboard chop to Kaiser and he knocks Vinci off the apron. Kofi with punches and then he punches Vinci. Kofi clotheslines Kaiser over the top rope and hits suicide dives on Vinci and Kaiser. Kofi punches Kaiser. Vinci with a drop kick through the ropes and he kicks Kofi. Woods with a drop kick through the ropes into Kaiser and Vinci. Woods and Kofi with punches to Kaiser and Vinci. Kofi sends Kaiser into the ringside barrier and the referee calls for the bell.
Double Count Out
Kofi and Vinci fight into the crowd while Woods and Kaiser fight by the timekeeper’s area. Kofi and Vinci continue to go into the crowd. Woods with a knee but Vinci punches Kofi. VInci sends Woods into the ring post and over the ringside barrier. Kaiser kicks Woods and Vinci with a forearm to Kofi. Kaiser gets a steel chair while Vinci punches Kofi. Vinci holds Kaiser and Woods stops Kaiser from hitting Kofi with the chair. Woods goes after Vinci with punches. Woods and Kaiser fight on the production case.
Woods looks around and he gets Kaiser up on his shoudlers. Vinci makes the save and they punch Woods. Kaiser and Vinci set for a double suplex through a table but Kofi blocks it and all four men go through the tables.
We go to commercial.
– We are back with a look at what we just saw from The New Day and Imperium.
– We take a look at Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest with a video package.
Backstage:
The Judgment Day are in their clubhouse watching monitor. Rhea says she talked to Adam Pearce and she found out him and Finn are defending the tag titles against DIY. Priest says he isn’t looking to fight everyone. He doesn’t have a big head being on the cover of a video game. He tells Rhea not to go into Pearce’s office. Priest says he will take care of Drew. Rhea tells Dom and JD they should have taken care of DIY. Rhea asks Finn what is so funny. He tells Finn that he will be ringside with JD for Dom’s match.
– Jackie Redmond is with Ivy Nile and Maxxine Dupri. Maxxine says that Valhalla isn’t ready for Ivy. Julius and Brutus show up and Ivy says he has this.
We go to commercial.
Ivy Nile vs. Valhalla
Ivy gets Valhalla up and Valhalla gets back to her feet and rakes the eyes. Ivy with a snap mare but Valhalla with a knee and punches in the ropes.
We see Nikki Cross pacing at the stage.
Valhalla with a running forearm on the floor. Valhalla sends Ivy back into the ring and Ivy with a forearm. Valhalla with a head butt and Ivy misses a few kicks but Ivy with a round kick. Ivy with an uppercut and European uppercut. Ivy with a head scissors take down. Valhalla with a pop up head butt and Valhalla uses the ropes and the referee stops the count. Valhalla gestures to Maxxine for narcing her out. Valhalla misses a knee but she sends Ivy to the apron. Valhalla with an elbow and she sets for a superplex. Ivy sends Valhalla into the ring post. Ivy with a super bulldog for the three count.
Winner: Ivy Nile
Backstage:
We go to Kofi and Xavier in the hallway and Jey Uso shows up with ice bags. He says he is proud of them. Jackie interrupts and asks about Imperium and where does it end. Woods says they are sick of people walking into WWE that they don’t do this. They are twelve time champions for a reason. Kofi says people have this confused. They see all of the other stuff so they think they can’t do it when necessary. Kofi says Jey is not the only one thinking of winning titles. They want the big boss. Kofi says he is challenging Gunther for the IC TItle next week.
– We see KAIenFiVE walking in the background.
We go to commercial.
In the Arena:
Nia Jax comes to the ring when we return and she babbles about how dominant she is and yadda, yadda, yadda until Becky Lynch’s theme hits. “The Man” comes out and gloats about how much everyone backstage dislikes Nia Jax, likely because she injured half of them.
As they continue to talk they bring up the Royal Rumble, which causes the Damage CTRL theme to hit and Bayley to come out. She tells them they’re both gonna lose at the Rumble. She yells at one fan to shut up as she walks into the ring.
Bayley says she’s gonna win the Royal Rumble and she’s gonna be the one pointing to the WrestleMania sign. Bayley goes after Lynch but then Jax takes her out. Lynch fights back and starts drilling Jax. She turns and takes out Bayley with a Man-Handle Slam. Jax fights back and throws Lynch out before dropping a leg on Bayley.
We go to commercial.
– As we settle back in from the break, we see Becky Lynch walking backstage when Rhea Ripley walks past and makes a quick remark about WrestleMania.
Dominik Mysterio vs. The Miz
The bell sounds from there and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. Fans immediately chant “We want Truth! We want Truth!” Dom takes the early lead on Miz, throwing him out to the floor and hitting a big diving splash on to him at ringside.
Miz starts to fight back but after some cheap heel heat antics from McDonagh and Balor at ringside, we see Dom-Dom pull back into the offensive lead. He gloats on the ropes to the fans as Miz is laid out on the floor, and on that note, we head into a mid-match commercial break as the action continues.
When we return, we see Miz fire up again only to more heel heat antics from Balor and McDonagh, leading to Dom getting the win. After the match, Balor continues to show his vicious side like Ripley asked him to do earlier. #DIY run out and the duo and The Miz beat down Balor and McDonagh to run them off.
Winner: Dominik Mysterio
Jackie Redmond Interviews Damian Priest
Backstage, Jackie Redmond is with Damian Priest. She brings up his main event against Drew McIntyre when R-Truth walks in with a stack of cash, Priest’s cut from the “Tom and Nick” (not Dominik) t-shirt sales.
Priest tells him it’s not the right time. Truth says some other time? Priest says yes. Truth walks off. Priest vows to punish McIntyre tonight.
We go to commercial.
– “Big” Bronson Reed is featured in a straight-into-the-camera backstage promo segment where he calls out “Main Event” Jey Uso for a singles match showdown on next week’s post-Royal Rumble episode of Monday Night Raw from Tampa, Florida.
Chad Gable vs. Ivar
Back in the arena, The Viking Raiders’ theme hits and out comes Ivar. The bell sounds and this one gets underway. Ivar jumps into an early lead and nearly finishes off Gable almost immediately. The Alpha Academy leader hangs on as we head into a mid-match commercial break.
As we settle back in from the break, we see Gable fight back into competitive form. He locks Ivar in an Ankle lock and hits a big German suplex before hitting a second big one after countering a top-rope spot. Unfortunately for Gable, we see Valhalla get involved leading to Ivar stealing the win.
Winner: Ivar
We go to commercial.
In the Arena:
We are back and Cody Rhodes makes his way to the ring first. CM Punk is next.
Punk suggests they enjoy this moment because they came here on different paths. He says it changes on Saturday and he hopes they will still be friends on Sunday morning.
Cody asks the people and Punk what does he want to talk about.
Punk says he wants to talk about Cody’s dad. He says he does not know if Cody knows this story. Dusty called him in 2007 and told him that he was sending his youngest son Cody to train at OVW and he wanted Punk to watch Cody. Punk says he didn’t know if Cody needed a guardian angel, but when the American Dream asks you for a favor, you say yes. You never got into any trouble Cody couldn’t get out of and he didn’t fall into the vices that others did. You went from a preliminary wrestler to a main event superstar. Punk says he is proud of Cody.
Punk says he brought this up because on Saturday he feels like he is breaking a promise. When the bell rings, he will not be looking out for Cody, he will be looking for Cody. He says he will do what he has to do. He will punch Cody in the face and throw him out if he needs to because Punk says he is going to win the Rumble.
Cody says Punk is not alone in the feeling who is talking to him and thinking about Dusty. Cody talks about all of the people who when they see him, they can’t help but see Dusty Rhodes. It is a large shadow. Cody says he has done everything in his power not only to be the shadow but but the light to be his own man.
Cody says he came to OVW folk style wrestling experience with no matches under his belt. He was a nepotism hire. You were there and you were on the independent scene for ten years. You treated him like a peer and a friend. That is why it is bittersweet. In the Royal Rumble, there are no friends.
Punk asks about Sunday morning. He knows about the Rumble. Punk says he can separate business from personal. Can you? Punk says he wasn’t born into this business while you are from this business. Business is personal to you. You are the son of one of the greatest. They have traveled different paths. He didn’t have a famous dad. You weren’t a nepotsim hire. Punk says he didn’t have everything. He says he saw the burden of Cody’s last name and to come out of that shadow. Punk says Cody did it with flying colors.
With all of their differences in what they are wearing. They came on two different paths, but they have a similar goal. Punk says he didn’t have Dusty Rhodes as a father. Punk says his father was a regular guy, an electrician. Punk says he is more of the ‘american dream’ than Cody is.
Cody says this is what he wants to talk about. Cody brings up the Pipe Bomb. You sat up there and rattled off the formula for a revolution. There are many who got into this business because of that. Cody says he was inspired by it. Then you left, and you really left. You didn’t pass the torch, you dropped it. You didn’t care who picked it up but you know who did. Cody says he did. He did everything Punk said he would do. While you talked, Cody walked. Cody says that makes him more CM Punk than Punk.
Punk takes off his sweatshirt and he says it is getting hot in here. Punk says he wants to give Cody the full Road to Wrestlemania path. You put this company on your shoulders for two years and you are on the cover of the video game. In the distance there is a bigger superstar than you waiting to take it all away from you. Punk says that is him.
Cody says Punk is looking out for him again. You talked about The American Dream. Cody says Dusty was his best friend and he quoted John Wayne. Cody says he only has one direction and that is to go forward. That is in the Royal Rumble. That direction goes through you.
Cody drops the mic and brushes past Punk. Punk stops Cody and they go face to face.
Punk and Cody leave the ring.
Punk tells Wade and Cole he is going to win the Rumble and they should put their money on him.
– Cole mentions that tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the night Hulk Hogan defeated The Iron Sheik to win the WWF Title. We get a video package looking back at the birth of Hulkamania.
We go to commercial.
Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell vs. Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark
We see Kayden Carter and Katana Chance at ringside to watch the next match.
Candice and Shayna start things off and Shayna sends Candice to the mat and kicks her in the head. They lock up and Candice trips Shayna in the corner. Candice with arm drags and Zoey tags in. Zoey says she has it and Indi tags in and she punches Zoey. Indi sends Zoey to the apron and connects with an uppercut and boot to the head. Indi sends Shayna to the floor. Candice walks the ropes like Hakuzhi and Candice sends Zoey into Shayna with a head scissors.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Zoey kicks Indi. Zoey comes off the ropes with a springboard move but Indi with a spinebuster.
We see Piper and Chelsea in LOCKER ROOM watching on MONITOR.
Candice tags in and she takes care of Shayna and Zoey with kicks. Candice with a snap mare to Shayna and a step up Codebreaker to Zoey onto Shayna. Zoey kicks Indi off the apron. Candice sends Zoey to the floor. Shayna with the Kirifuta Clutch and Zoey tags in and hits Z360 for the three count.
Winners: Shayna Bazeler and Zoey Stark
After the match, Katana and Kayden make their way intot he ring and hold up their title belts. Kairi Sane and Asuka attack the champions from behind. Dakota joins them in the ring
Backstage:
Drew is with Jackie in the back. She asks Drew about what Cody and Punk said. Drew says he said everything he had to directly to their faces. Drew says he won the Royal Rumble and won at Wrestlemania. He cares about what Priest said. Things weren’t 100% right when he was champion. He isn’t looking for some sort of spin. He was the constant in people’s lives during that time and people told him they saved their lives. Drew says not everyone can have a destiny or a story. There is room for only one chosen one and it is him.
We go to commercial.
Backstage:
We see KAIenFive in the back and Tegan Nox and Natalya stop them. Nattie says they can’t come to Raw and run things.
Adam Pearce stops the arguing. Adam says he invited Bayley for two reasons, not to go into business for herself. Bayley says once Kairi and Asuka win the tag titles, you are going to see a lot of them.
Adam walks down the hall and he turns into Veer and Sanga. Jinder Mahal says they need to talk because of what he has done recently. Adam tells Jinder he will meet them in his office.
– If you like Royal Rumble numbers, we get more.
– We are back and next week, DIY face THE Judgment Day for the tag titles. Jey Uso faces Bronson Reed. Kofi Kingston challenges Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship.
Drew McIntyre vs. Damian Priest
They lock up and Drew with a side head lock. They push each other and Drew with a side head lock. Drew with a shoulder tackle that sends Priest into the ropes and Priest takes Drew down with a shoulder tackle. They push each other and Priest punches Drew in the corner. Priest with an Irish whip and Drew with a clothesline out of the corner. Drew with a chop and Priest with a punch to send Drew to the floor. Priest comes off the ring steps but Drew catches Priest and hits an overhead belly-to-belly suplex on the floor. Drew sends Priest back into the ring and Drew with a chop and punch. Priest with a punch but Drew clotheslines Priest over the top rope to the floor.
Priest with a back heel kick and Priest tries to Irish whip Drew into the ring post but Drew stops him. Priest blocks an overhead belly-to-belly suplex on the floor and Priest sends Drew into the ring post and then follows with a Broken Arrow onto the announce table.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Priest kicks Drew in the back of the leg and follows with a forearm and another kick to the leg. Drew with chops and punches. Drew with a kick to Priest and Priest with a clothesline for a near fall. Drew avoids Priest clapping his hands but Priest with a forearm to the back. Drew with a back elbow. Both men with boots and both are down. Drew with clotheslines and an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Drew with a neck breaker and both men are down. Drew sets for the Claymore but Priest avoids it by moving out of the way. Priest misses a spinning back heel kick. Drew with a spinebuster and he gets a near fall. Priest with a forearm and he sends Drew into the turnbuckles. Priest charges into the corner but Drew with a kick. Priest with a leaping flatliner for a near fall.
Priest goes for an elbow into the corner but Drew catches Priest. Priest with kicks to the ribs and leg. Drew with a head butt to Priest and Priest sends Drew to the apron. Drew goes up top and misses a move but rolls through. Priest with a kick to the head. Priest with a Falcon Arrow for a near fall. Priest with a flip dive onto Drew on the floor.
R Truth comes out with Priest’s money and Priest pushes Truth down. Priest with a kick to Drew and Priest comes off the ropes and Drew with a Future Shock.
Truth asks Priest for the password for Priest’s briefcase and he gets on the ropes but Drew with a forearm to Truth. Priest with South of Heaven but Truth is with the referee so he cannot make the count. Priest grabs Truth and he sends Truth to the floor. Drew with a Claymore to Priest for the three count.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
We go to credits.
–– Here is what’s in store for tonight’s show ––
- CM Punk and Cody Rhodes face-to-face
- Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre
- Valhalla vs. Ivy Nile
- Ivar vs. Chad Gable
- Seth Rollins provides update on his future
- The Miz vs. Dominik Mysterio
- Imperium vs. The New Day
Stay tuned to WrestlingAttitude, WA.Com On Twitter and Google News for more.
1/23 WWE RAW Results
