The 2017 WWE Royal Rumble Kickoff pre-show opens up with Renee Young. She’s joined by WWE Hall of Famers Booker T, Jerry Lawler and Shawn Michaels. They hype tonight’s show and send us backstage to Charly Caruso in the Social Media Lounge. She will be joined by WWE Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose later tonight. Renee sends us to Peter Rosenberg outside of The Alamodome with a bunch of excited fans.
The panel discussed what a big day this is as they showed the empty Alamodome. They then reviewed last week’s Raw that saw Seth Rollins removed from the Royal Rumble match. They then reviewed Seth calling out Triple H last night at Takeover: San Antonio. They showed Triple H’s comments from Facebook last night where he said they would see who was the man to build to their match at Wrestlemania 33.
They aired a video showcasing 30 facts about the Rumble match.
The panel reviewed the three matches for the women’s division tonight.
They aired a video of Shawn Michaels reminiscing about his first Royal Rumble win.
They discussed the Bayley vs. Charlotte bout and aired a video feature on that bout. Young noted that there would be over 40,000 fans in attendance and questioned how Bayley would handle that. Renee also spoke about Bayley’s accomplishments. Lawler said she is so likable that you want to hug her, but it’s not going to be enough when she faces Charlotte. HBK defended Bayley’s fandom. He said that’s where “a lot of us started and we didn’t do half bad.” All three panelists predicted a Charlotte win, while Young picked Bayley…
Peter Rosenberg did his best Todd Pettingill, walking down the aisle from the stage and showing off the crowd.
They aired a video of Edge remembering his Royal Rumble win in 2009.
Naomi, Nikki Bella and Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss, Mickie James and Natalya
We go to the ring and Mauro Ranallo welcomes us. He’s joined by JBL, David Otunga and Tom Phillips. Greg Hamilton does the introductions as Naomi makes her way out first. Nikki Bella and Becky Lynch are out next. SmackDown Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss is out next, followed by Mickie James. Natalya is out last.
Natalya starts off and taunts Nikki but gets slapped. Natalya tags Bliss right in and lets her start. Bliss and Nikki go at it now. Nikki counters and covers for a 2 count. Naomi tags in for a double dropkick on Bliss. Natalya tags back in. The heels go for a triple suplex but the babyfaces counter and hit it instead. Naomi ends up leaping out onto her opponents and taking them down. Back to commercial.
Back from the break and Becky is unloading on Natalya with leg lariats. Becky with the Firearm and a sidekick in the corner. Natalya goes to the floor for a breather. Becky follows but Mickie launches her into the barrier. Natalya with a snap suplex on the floor.
Natalya brings it back in and the heels keep control. Bliss tags in and works Becky over. Mickie with a cheap kick on Becky as Bliss covers for a 2 count. Natalya mocks Nikki but gets rolled up by Becky for 2. Natalya keeps control and covers for another 2 count. More back and forth as Bliss is back in. Natalya stops Becky from tagging. Naomi gets a hot tag and unloads on Bliss and Natalya. Naomi with her signature kicks on Bliss. Naomi drops Bliss and covers for a 2 count as Mickie breaks it up. Becky takes her out. Natalya takes Becky out. Nikki spears Natalya. Bliss and Naomi go at it again. Naomi drops her with a kick and hits the split-legged moonsault for the win.
Winners: Naomi, Nikki Bella and Becky Lynch
They aired a video piece on Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns.
Backstage, Charly Caruso tried to interview Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho. They took over the interview and Jericho spoke about being hung above the ring in a shark cage above all the “stupid idiots.” He called it a beautiful cloud of Jericho. Owens said Mick Foley has something against them, pointing to Jericho being in the shark cage and then having someone else tell him that his match is a No DQ match. Owens recalled Owens saying he’ll show that he’s the guy. Owens said he’s been proving people wrong his entire career and he will be “the guy with the Universal Title.” A nervous Jericho said he will be “the guy in the sky.” Owens told Jericho that he will have the best seat in the house and he will give him the best show of all time. Jericho told Caruso that he wished Charly was there because she’s better…
Young clarified that it was Charly interviewing them. The Raw broadcast team made their entrance. Lawler said he was once in a shark cage and he was up so high that his nose bled…
They went to Rosenberg on the floor. They yelled and made a bunch of noise while he said he would be joining the panel for the second hour…
RAW Tag Team Title Match: Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Cesaro and Sheamus
We go to the ring and out comes RAW Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus. Michael Cole welcomes us and he’s joined by Corey Graves and Byron Saxton. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson are out next. Cesaro and Anderson go at it to start. Cesaro with an early 2 count. We have one referee in the ring and one at ringside. Sheamus comes in and goes at it with Anderson now.
More quick tags. Cesaro and Gallows go at it. Cesaro hits the springboard uppercut for a 2 count. Sheamus tags in for a double team suplex. Sheamus drops a knee on Gallows for a 2 count. Cesaro comes back in but Gallows gets the upperhand as we go to commercial.
Back from the break and Sheamus ends up hitting the forearms to Gallows on the apron. Sheamus with a top rope clothesline for a 2 count. Cesaro comes in off the top with another 2 count. Gallows avoids the Cesaro Swing. Anderson tag sin and knocks Sheamus off the apron. Cesaro with an uppercut. Anderson drops him for a 2 count. The second referee stops some cheating. Cesaro with another 2 count. Anderson counters the Neutralizer. Cesaro comes back and hits the 619. Cesaro with a crossbody for a 2 count.
Anderson and Cesaro tangle. Anderson hits the spinebuster for a 2 count. Gallows comes in for a Magic Killer but Sheamus stops it. Cesaro with a DDT on Gallows. A referee goes down by accident after a Brogue Kick. Cesaro with the Swing on Anderson now. Cesaro with the Sharpshooter on Anderson now. Gallows comes in with a boot to the face to break it up. Anderson with a 2 count as Sheamus breaks it. Gallows and Sheamus brawl. More confusion with the referee. Gallows nails Sheamus with a kick. Sheamus eats a Magic Killer. Gallows and Anderson end up getting the pin for the win.
Winners and New RAW Tag Team Champions: Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson
After the match, the champions celebrate with their titles as Cesaro and Sheamus look on from the ring.
Back to the panel and Rosenberg has replaced HBK. Austin Aries joins the panel to discuss tonight’s Cruiserweight Title match. Aries predicts a new champion tonight. We go backstage to Charly and WWE Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose in the Social Media Lounge.
Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax
We go back to the ring and out comes Sasha Banks first. Nia Jax is out next.
They go at it to start but Nia overpowers early on. Nia tosses Sasha across the ring and then runs her over. Nia stands tall as we take another break.
Back from the break and Nia fights off a Banks Statement before going to work on Sasha’s injured knee. More back and forth as Sasha fights back. Sasha comes off the top with knees but Nia kicks out at 2. Nia ends up catching Sasha in the pop-up Samoan Drop for the quick win.
Winner: Nia Jax
After the match, Nia stands tall as we go to replays.
Back to the panel, they reviewed what Seth Rollins did at NXT. Stephanie McMahon announced she would deal with him face to face on Raw tomorrow and that Rollins has been banned from the Alamodome tonight.
They aired a video piece on John Cena vs. AJ Styles, followed by the panel discussing the WWE championship match.
Shawn Michaels’ music hit and the WWE Hall of Famer made his way down to the ring. Michaels took the mic and said hello to his hometown. He said he had lunch with his 84-year old mother today and said that 20 years ago in the same building, he was fortunate enough to regain the WWE championship. He said that they weren’t here to talk about him, but about the road to Wrestlemania tonight in the Royal Rumble. He asked who was going to be the guy to guarantee himself a main event at Wrestlemania. He ran down some of the big names in the match. Undertaker got the biggest reaction. Michaels said he doesn’t have answers to this question, so the only thing he can do is get the party started. He said they wanted the fans to have fun and make noise as only San Antonio can do. Michaels ran around ringside greeting fans and slid across the Spanish announcing table, which was pretty funny.
We go back to the panel for more discussion on tonight’s pay-per-view. That’s it for the pre-show.
