Here are your quick and dirty, editorial-free WWE Raw results for January 16, 2017. Monday’s episode featured the return of Brock Lesnar, a Raw Tag Team Championship match, and lots of speculation and argument about who would win at the Royal Rumble and go on to main event WrestleMania.
Be back here tomorrow for the full Best and Worst of Raw column.
WWE Raw Results:
— The show opened with Roman Reigns coming to the ring. Reigns said that he may have lost his United States Championship last week, but he’ll win the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble and go on to main event WrestleMania for the third straight year. Paul Heyman then came out and said Brock Lesnar would be winning the Royal Rumble. Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, and Seth Rollins all came out in succession, each staking their own claim to the WrestleMania main event and a win at the Royal Rumble. Braun Strowman then made his way to the ring and got face-to-face with Reigns, when Brock Lesnar finally made his entrance. Sami Zayn jumped Strowman, who was hit with a bevy of moves from the others. Brock Lesnar cleaned house while Strowman took a powder. Lesnar stood over the others in the ring as Strowman stared at him from the ramp.
1. Enzo Amore and Big Cass defeated Rusev and Jinder Mahal. Enzo got the pin on Mahal following the Badaboomshakalaka.
2. Ariya Daivari defeated Lince Dorado. Jack Gallagher sat in on commentary for this match. Daivari sank in the cobra clutch crossface to get the submission victory.
3. Raw Tag Team Championship Match: The Club defeated Sheamus and Cesaro (c) by disqualification. Sheamus hit the referee with a Brogue Kick by accident. The Club hit a Magic Killer on Cesaro and a second referee counted the pin, but then the first referee waved off the decision and disqualified the champs. After the match, The Club hit a second Magic Killer on Sheamus.
— Tony Nese and Rich Swann were set to have a match, but Neville jumped Swann on his way to the ring. Nese joined in on the beating, but Neville tossed him and hit Swann with another shot to lay him out.
— The New Day came to the ring and talked about being in the Royal Rumble. They said that if they win, they’ll use the Freebird Rule for WrestleMania, too. Titus O’Neil came out and challenged one of them to a match for one of their spots in the Royal Rumble. Big E accepted the challenge.
4. Big E defeated Titus O’Neil. Big E won by pinfall after hitting the Big Ending.
— Charlotte Flair came to the ring and said Bayley was nothing more than a common fan. She made fun of Bayley for being an emotional fangirl. Bayley finally came to the ring and Charlotte retreated. Bayley promised that she would defeat Charlotte at the Royal Rumble and end her pay-per-view win streak.
5. Cedric Alexander defeated The Brian Kendrick. Cedric got distracted by Alicia Fox coming to ringside, but still managed to hit the Lumbar Check on Kendrick and get the pin. After the match, Alicia went to give Cedric a hug, but he ducked it and left.
6. Braun Strowman, Chris Jericho, and Kevin Owens defeated Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Sami Zayn. Braun Strowman hit the running powerslam on Sami Zayn and got the pin to give his team the win.
— After the match, Strowman carried Zayn to the back. Owens beat Reigns back up to the stage and then powerbombed him through the announce table as the show went off the air.
