The January 9th, 2017 edition of WWE RAW aired live from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
– Stephanie McMahon is backstage with Mick Foley giving him a performance review. Stephanie expresses concern that Foley will let the fans down by promising The Undertaker will show up tonight. Stephanie says she’s concerned ‘Taker won’t show up, then Seth Rollins interrupts to say he’s entering the Royal Rumble match. Braun Strowman interrupts next and says he wants Goldberg or Roman Reigns, or else. Rollins gets in Strowman’s face for interrupting him and the two men start brawling all over the room until they’re separated by referees. The segment ends with Foley promising Stephanie that Undertaker will be here tonight.
– Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho – No Contest: This one is a handicap match with Roman Reigns’ U.S. Championship on the line. Before the bell rings, Braun Strowman’s music hits and he comes out to the ring. Strowman and Reigns get into it and Strowman ends up dropping the U.S. Champion. Jericho and Owens get in on the action and hold Reigns back for Strowman to kick him. All three of them take turns stomping on Reigns until Seth Rollins runs out with a chair for the save. Rollins throws the chair at Strowman and hits a Van Daminator, then drops Owens and Jericho with it. Reigns grabs a chair and joins Rollins in beating down Strowman with them. Stephanie McMahon comes out to sort things out. She says Reigns’ match is going to take place later tonight so Reigns can recover from Strowman’s interference. Stephanie also books Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman in a match tonight.
– Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman: Strowman controls the opening minutes of the match until Rollins hits a series of clotheslines and kicks. Rollins goes for a running knee strike, but Strowman catches him and plants him down on the mat with a spinebuster. Rollins rolls out to the apron for a breather, then Strowman hits a running shoulder-block that sends Rollins to the floor at ringside. Back in the ring, Rollins comes back with some kicks and knees to the head. Rollins follows up with a frogsplash off the top, but Strowman kicks out with authority at the two count. Strowman rolls outside and Rollins climbs to the very top of the ring post. Rollins goes flying off for a splash on Strowman, but Strowman moves and Rollins crashes into the fan barricade. Strowman beats Rollins down around ringside until the referee counts them both out at 10. After the match, Strowman attempts to continue beating down Rollins, but Rollins grabs a chair and fights him off.
– Sasha Banks is backstage giving Bayley some words of encouragement. Charlotte and Nia Jax show up and attack them both, leaving Banks and Bayley on the ground. Jax turns on Charlotte and shoves her up against the wall before leaving.
– Jack Gallagher def. Drew Gulak: Austin Aries is on commentary for this one. After some solid back-and-forth action to open up, Gallagher does a headstand on the turnbuckle and lowers his boot whenever Gulak attempts to charge at him. Gulak hesitates in confusion, which leads to Gallagher tossing him across the ring and hitting a running heel kick in the corner for the win. After the match, Gallagher cuts a promo on Daivari.
– We see a shot of Shawn Michaels backstage talking to TJ Perkins before the commercial break.
– Backstage, Mick Foley tells Stephanie McMahon that The Undertaker will be here tonight for sure. Stephanie says that his entire performance review hinges on his ability to bring in The Undertaker tonight, and he has one hour to do it.
– WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels is out next. Michaels says he misses the fans, and says desire to appear tonight might have something t do with the Royal Rumble being around the corner. Michaels points out that the Rumble this year is in his hometown of San Antonio, TX. Michaels recalls winning the WWE Championship 20 years ago in San Antonio. The crowd starts chanting for “one more match.” Michaels tells the crowd not to peer pressure him, and says he’s here to discuss his new movie The Resurrection Of Gavin Stone. As he continues to promote the movie, he gets interrupted by Rusev, Lana, and Jinder Mahal. Rusev tells Michaels to shut up, and says he should have put Lana in the movie if he wanted it to be successful. Rusev demands that Michaels uses CGI to put Lana in the already-completed movie. The crowd chants for “sweet chin music” but Rusev tells the crowd Shawn doesn’t do that anymore. Rusev calls himself the Bulgarian George Clooney, and demands that Michaels puts his wife in the movie. Enzo and Cass interrupt to back up Michaels. Enzo says Michaels is the realest guy in the room right now, and calls Rusev, Mahal and Lana haters. They make fun of Rusev until he interrupts and calls them “American pigs.” Cass challenges Rusev to a match right. Rusev says he’s got a match, but it’s against Jinder Mahal. Michaels says he’s going to stay at ringside for this match, and if they’re not down with that he’s got two words for them.
– Big Cass def. Jinder Mahal: Mahal takes control of the match early on with a series of clotheslines and kicks. Cass mounts a comeback and hits a big splash on MAhal in the corner. Rusev tries to interfere but Michaels drops him with the Sweet Chin Music at ringside. Cass hits the East River Crossing and follows up with the Empire Elbow for the win after a short match. Enzo and Cass celebrate with Shawn Michaels after the bell.
– Neville def. Lince Dorado: Austin Aries is on commentary for this one. Dorado springboards off the ropes and hits a variation of the Stone Cold Stunner on Neville, then hits a hurricanrana and sends Neville outside. Back in the ring, Dorado comes off the top rope with a cross body splash for a two count. Neville comes back with a Northern Lights suplex, then starts working on Lince’s left arm. Lince goes for a Frankensteiner, but Neville catches him and reverses into a variation of the Death Valley Driver. Neville follows up with the Rings of Saturn and Lince taps out. After the match, Neville beats down Dorado until Rich Swan cos out for the save. Swan hits Neville with a series of kicks, causing Neville to retreat to the back.
– Backstage, Stephanie McMahon gives Bayley and Sasha Banks a match against Charlotte and Nia Jax next week. Stephanie gets in Sasha’s face, and tells her she’s the real boss on RAW and to get the hell out of her office.
– Sheamus def. Luke Gallows: Cesaro and Karl Anderson are both on commentary for his one. Gallows controls the opening moments of the match, but Sheamus comes back with a running Senton and follows up with a running knee drop. They brawl around ringside before heading back in the ring, where Gallows hits a big boot on Sheamus that sends him back out to ringside. Back in the ring, Sheamus and Gallows trade right hands until Sheamus drops him with a kick. Gallows fights back with a knee to the head, but Sheamus comes back with one of his own. Sheamus goes up top and hits a flying clothesline for a two count. Gallows goes for a Samoan Drop but Sheamus gets out and hits a running powerslam for a two count. Karl Anderson attacks Cesaro at the announce table and Sheamus gets distracted. Gallows hits a big boot on Sheamus off the distraction for a two count. Meanwhile on the stage, Anderson and Cesaro continue brawling which leads to Gallows getting distracted. He turns around into a big boot from Sheamus, and Sheamus scores the 3 count.
– Mick Foley comes out and pleads with The Undertaker to come out to the ring. The lights go out briefly, but it’s just Stephanie McMahon, who comes out to the ring and says she’s going to give Foley his performance review right now in public. Stephanie admonishes Foley for some of his failures including allowing SmackDown to beat them in the ratings. Foley starts to apologize, but then the lights go out again and The Undertaker’s music hits. Taker grabs the mic and announces that he’ll be entering the Royal Rumble, and we immediately get a shot of Braun Strowman watching on a monitor backstage. Taker declares that after he wins the Royal Rumble, he’ll return to the main event at WrestleMania, and anyone who stands in his way will rest in peace.
– We go backstage where Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens do an interview about Roman Reigns and their shot at his U.S. Championship tonight. Jericho says that two Canadians — himself and Owens — should be the new faces of America.
– Charlotte & Nia Jax def. Sasha Banks & Bayley: Charlotte and Sasha start things off and the story of the match early on is Charlotte working on Sasha’s bad knee. Bayley gets the tag and drops Charlotte with a neckbreaker then a spear in the corner. Charlotte dodges a splash in the corner and then hits Bayley with a big boot for a two count. Nia gets the tag and hits a Snake Eyes on Bayley in the corner, then follows up with a splash. Charlotte tags back in and hits a Northern Lights suplex on Bayley. Nia tags in behind Bayley’s back then clotheslines her down and follows up with a running leg drop for the win.
– We see Noam Dar backstage bothering Alicia Fox again. Alicia grabs him and kisses him dramatically, then says he couldn’t handle her and walks off.
– The New Day and Titus O’Neal are in the ring, and Titus apologizes for last week. He asks for another chance to join The New Day. Kofi says they did some research on Titus, and they show a video from him on NXT tripping while running with a beer keg. Instead of a chance to join the New Day, they say they’re going to offer him a chance at redemption. They reveal a beer keg at ringside, and give him another chance to run with it. They set a timer at 12.7 seconds, and Titus gears up to run around the ring with the beer keg. Titus runs around the ring with the keg with 0.6 seconds to spare, but he dropped the keg in celebration right before he ran across the line. The referee says it didn’t count because he dropped the keg. They show the replay, and show Titus celebrating too early and dropping it before the finish line. Titus shoves Kofi, so Kofi challenges him to a match right now.
– Kofi Kingston def. Titus O’Neal: Titus takes control of the match early on and hits a variation of The Dominator on Kofi. Titus powerslams Kofi down to the mat then keeps him grounded with a chin lock. Kofi fights back, but Titus drops him again with a big boot for a two count. They exchange slaps to the face then Kofi kicks him in the face. Titus grabs kofi and hits a series of backbreakers across the knee. Titus gets distracted by Xavier playing the trombone at ringside, so he throws Kofi to the outside but the New Day members catch him. Kofi slides back in the ring and hits the Trouble In Paradise on Titus for the win.
– Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens def. Roman Reigns: Before the bell, Owens and Jericho brawl with Reigns on the ramp. The shark cage is on the sage, and Reigns tries to lock Jericho in it but Owens makes the safe. They throw Reigns into the side of the cage and the cage falls off the stage. The heels take Reigns back to ringside where they throw him into the steel ring steps. The finally get in the ring and bell sounds. Jericho and Owens control the opening moments of the match until Reigns comes back with a series of clotheslines. Reigns misses a Superman punch on Jericho and goes right into a punch from Owens. Jericho hits a Lionsault on Reigns for two. It looks like Jericho is bleeding from his forehead. Owens tags in and hits a superkick on Reigns. Owens and Reigns attempt to double team Reigns, but Reigns ends up hitting a Superman punch on each one of them. Reigns hits a spear on Jericho but Owens breaks up the pin. Reigns misses a dropkick on Owens and Owens follows up with a superkick. Owens attempts to powerbomb Reigns at ringside, but Reigns reverses into a back body drop then hits the Drive-By. Jericho goes for a springboard dropkick, but Reigns hits a superman punch on him. Jericho comes back with a Codebreaker, then Owens takes Reigns out to ringside and powerbombs him onto the corner of the ring apron. Back in the ring, Jericho hits the Codebreaker on Reigns and scores the three count. Chris Jericho is now the new United States Champion. Jericho and Owens celebrate with the U.S. and Universal Title Belts as referees check on Reigns in the corner.
