:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71895542/20230123_RAW_Legends_FC_Mon__16c7a2e7c1edd2159f11e8b42930f820.0.jpg)
WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Jan. 23, 2023) from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Royal Rumble pay-per-view (PPV) extravaganza scheduled for this coming Saturday night in San Antonio.
Advertised for tonight: RAW is XXX! It’s the 30th anniversary special that will feature the return of a group of Legends led by Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, and more! In addition, The Bloodline is putting Sami Zayn on trial. Also set for the card are two title matches, as The Judgment Day challenge The Usos for the Raw tag team titles while Bobby Lashley takes on Austin Theory for the U.S. championship. Plus, Becky Lynch vs. Bayley in a steel cage match, and a whole lot more!
Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the Raw live blog will kick off once the show starts on USA Network. It will be below this line here. Reminder: GIFs and pics allowed, but no links to illegal streams, please.
WWE RAW RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR JAN. 23
I like the way you look at me, you’re laughing too down there inside. I took my chance and you took yours, you crewed my ship, we missed the tide, and now I’m liveblogging this here pro wrestling show for you folks.
The show opens with noted racist Hulk Hogan making his entrance, flanked by Jimmy Hart.
He sputters out a “What’s up, Hulkamaniacs” and then tells us about how Raw started a long time ago when Hulkamania was still running and tonight we celebrate thirty years of Monday Night Raw and whatcha gonna do when the local sports team runs wild on you brother etc.
A video package celebrating thirty years of Raw follows.
The Bloodline make their entrance and Roman Reigns gets on the mic.
He asks Philadelphia to acknowledge him (sure thing, Chief) and wants to get right down to business, passing the mic to Paul Heyman for the Trial of Sami Zayn.
Paul E starts off by acknowledging ECW chants and telling us that ECW is dead and he wishes the same of Sami Zayn. He accuses Sami of being in league with Kevin Owens since day one and of leading them on and making them feel like fans of a local sports team getting conquered by their rivals.
Heyman talks up all the evidence he has before saying he’s got four pieces of footage that demonstrate that Sami Zayn is guilty as charged. The footage all shows Sami hesitating and failing to help his brothers in the Bloodline, and he asks the jury to find “this rat bastard” guilty as charged.
Sami offers a passionate defense of his own actions, and to be made to defend himself on trial hurts, and his defense is that he has no defense.
Roman grabs the mic and asks if he really doesn’t have a defense. He’s got so much ego he won’t even explain himself? He blows his lid and calls for Solo Sikoa, who approaches Zayn to hit the Samoan Spike... AND JEY USO STOPS HIM FROM HITTING HIM!
Jey says he has his own footage and rolls tape in defense of Sami, highlighting all the times Zayn has been there for them, pointing out he’s taken so many bullets for the Bloodline he might as well be bulletproof. He admits that he didn’t trust Sami, he despised him, but Zayn saw the good in him and never gave up, and that’s what family do.
So he asks everyone who wants Sami to stay in the Bloodline to throw their ones up, and Philadelphia obliges before shifting gears to a “Sami Uso” chant. Reigns rises and says, as his Tribal Chief and the Head of the Table, he finds Sami not guilty...
...for now. He should appreciate Jey giving him a chance, because he’s got tonight to make the Bloodline proud and then he doesn’t want to see or hear from him until the Royal Rumble on Saturday, and that’s where he’s gonna take his final test and we’ll see if Sami Zayn really is part of the Bloodline or not.
Commentary hypes up tonight’s show.
Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio) vs. the Bloodline (Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, & Sami Zayn) (c) (WWE Raw Tag Team Championship)
Priest launches Jimmy out of the ring hard early, tag to Mysterio, slingshot senton atomico, choking him in the ropes. Mounted punches follow, tag back to Damian, Uso gets a big right hand for some separation! Jimmy tags in and overwhelms Priest, headed up top, fending off interference from Dom, but Damian takes him out with a right hand!
Jey runs in, strike combo takes him out, corner elbows on both Usos! Working Jimmy over, tag made, Doomsday Device... SO CLOSE! Jey tags back in, superkick staggers Priest, Superkick Parties for both members of Judgment Day, nearfall on Damian! Balor runs interference but gets caught by referee Eddie Orengo and ejected from ringside!
Priest runs into a superkick, tag to Jey, off the top... DAMIAN PRIEST KICKS OUT OF THE SPLASH! Jimmy dives on Damian but he hurt his knee and the referee checks on him and throws the X up. They help Jimmy to the back, Adam Pearce comes down to ask if he’s okay.
When told he can’t compete, Pearce says he’ll have to forfeit the match and the titles, but Sami asks if he can substitute for Jimmy in the rest of the match! Adam says he did it for Judgment Day and he’ll do it for the Bloodline and the match continues right now!
Sami and Jey hit the ring and go on the offensive! Zayn dives on Mysterio, back inside, kicking Priest aside, Dom takes advantage, feet on the ropes... SAMI KICKS OUT! Exploder into the turnbuckles, Lined up, Rhea runs interference, Priest slips in behind him... SOUTH OF HEAVEN!
Dominik crawls into the cover... ZAYN WILL NOT LOSE THIS MATCH FOR HIS BROTHERS! Crawling for the ropes, wheelbarrow puts him in position but Jey tags in! Superkicks for everybody except for Rhea Ripley! Mysterio takes advantage, 619, off the top... SAMI BREAKS IT UP!
Fireman’s carry, blind tag from Sami, superkick sets him up, Jey picks him up... 1D! IT’S OVER!
The Bloodline win by pinfall with 1D on Dominik Mysterio.
Sami celebrates with Jey while Roman mumbles about not wanting to see him again until Saturday.
John “Bradshaw” Layfield runs into the Godfather backstage, trying to get Baron Corbin into da club. Godfather doesn’t have any Barry Corbin on his list and JBL asks to talk to management.
Ron Simmons comes out from his office and Layfield introduces his protege to his old partner. Baron offers a coupld cold stacks of cash and Ron finds a spot for him and they walk through the doorframe into the poker club where assorted stars and legends are playing poker.
LA Knight makes his entrance and gets on the mic.
He calls Bray Wyatt a grown man incel playing with puppets and spooky music and says he’s not afraid of that. He’s been thinking about how there’s all these legends backstage living on past glory, Bray’s been living on past glory, and challenges a legend to come down and have a preview of the Pitch Black match at the Rumble.
Nobody answers for just long enough that LA runs his mouth again...
(DONG.)
Enter the Undertaker, American Badass style.
Once Taker’s in the ring Knight calls for his music to get cut from the safety of the base of the ramp. Before they take this anywhere he says he heard what he said on Joe Rogan about the locker room being soft and he agrees, and Wyatt is at the top of the list of the softies.
But LA is gonna give Undertaker a pass and let him stay retired.
Knight tries to leave and backs right up into Bray Wyatt making his entrance. LA backs right up into a goozle from the Undertaker, who looks at Bray like he smells a fart. He shoves Knight at Bray... SISTER ABIGAIL!
Undertaker and Wyatt have a moment staring at each other as the American Badass leaves.
Back in the poker room, Chad Gable folds at a table with Otis Dozovic, Diamond Dallas Page, Alundra Blayeze, and Baron Corbin. Play passes around the table, Blayze seemingly wins with a full house but DDP reveals a straight flush and takes the pot.
We see the steel cage lowering for our next match and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Dakota Kai and IYO SKY attack Becky Lynch during her entrance and beat her down at some length! They take Lynch in the cage and continue their assault! Adam Pearce and referees come to check on the Man while Damage CTRL pose atop the cage, no match.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, D-Generation X make their entrance, tonight consisting of “Heartbreak Man” Shawn Michaels, Hunter Hearst-Helmsley, X-Pac, the Road Dogg Jesse James, and... Kurt Angle?
Well he filled in in the Shield that one time, checks out.
Road Dogg does his usual intro, stopping short of “the Bad Ass” when he realizes it’s Kurt. Angle says he always wanted to be in DX and takes his shirt off to reveal a DX shirt underneath. Michaels says if he’s gonna be in DX he has to pass a test, and Hunter asks if he’s ready before passing the question to the crowd.
He does the “let’s get ready to suck it” bit—
Enter Imperium.
Ludwig Kaiser shames DX for all that filth and nonsense and GUNTHER calls them a bunch of degenerates celebrating themselves, for what? For making a mockery out of this great sport? They’re Imperium and they’re here to restore the honor of this precious sport and kick them out of their ring, unless any of them want to do something about it.
HHH steps up to GUNTHER and says he’s retired. HBM takes a step back and eyes the Ring General up before saying he’s too old. Waltman says he’d step up but he’s got bad shin splints, Road Dogg doesn’t even want to try, and DX have a huddle about it before volunteering Kurt Angle for it.
Triple H says he wishes somebody was willing to come out here and fight them—
Enter Seth Rollins.
DX do a singalong for him and Waltman points out the obvious math that Seth is only one guy against Imperium’s three—
Enter Street Profits.
Somebody needs to make it official now and HHH says booking isn’t easy and it’s tough that it’s always on him and if only there were somebody to make sense of this...
Enter Teddy Long! It’s a six-man tag team match, playa!
Michaels wants somebody to keep all this chaos under control, a special guest referee. Another DX huddle follows, Kurt Angle has an idea and takes off his DX shirt to reveal a red, white, and blue referee’s shirt underneath! He’s the special guest referee!
The match will begin after the break!
Imperium (Giovanni Vinci, GUNTHER, & Ludwig Kaiser) vs. Seth Rollins & Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford)
Jerry “the King” Lawler joins the commentary desk for this one.
Vinci and Rollins to start, mat grappling, side headlock, shot off, drop down, leapfrog, superkick, big lariat from Seth knocks him down and he waves at GUNTHER! Arm wringer, tag to Ford, dropkick takes Giovanni off his feet, cover for two! Whip reversed, boot caught, Vinci drops him with a lariat and tags Kaiser in!
Ludwig with body shots, whip reversed, Montez unloads with chops, tag to Dawkins. Double forearms, assisted splash, cover for two! Trading strikes, both men down and out, tags made and it’s Rollins facing off with GUNTHER! Squaring up, front kick into right hands from the Ring General, float over a slam, Gojira Clutch attempt, Seth blocks! To the apron, big headbutt staggers him, springboard knee... CUT OF MID-AIR WITH A CHOP!
Scoop and a slam, standing neck twist and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Kaiser has a reverse chinlock in on Rollins, but the Profits come in with stereo ankle locks to the delight of referee Kurt Angle! GUNTHER breaks it up and yells at Kurt for being biased, Angle shoves him back, and Seth clobbers him with a forearm!
Directing traffic, Dawkins and Ford with dives, but GUNTHER cuts Rollins off and hits the Tenryu Powerbomb... NO GOOD! Rolling elbow ducked, break out of the Gojira Clutch, enzuigiri connects and Seth hits an Angle Slam! Tags made, Vinci with a big forearm, Kaiser up top, Rollins climbs up, superplex, roll through into an electric chair from Dawkins... AVALANCHE DOOMSDAY BLOCKBUSTER!
Rollins with a Pedigree to send GUNTHER packing, Angelo hits a spinebuster, Ford with a frog splash, Seth tags in...
Seth Rollins & Street Profits win by pinfall with Blackout from Seth Rollins on Giovanni Vinci.
Back to the poker, we cut in right as Baron Corbin wins a big pot from “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase.
Irwin R. Schyster rolls up to remind Corbin to pay his taxes and take most of his winnings, leaving him with a single hundred dollar bill.
Ron Simmons comes over... DAMN.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Bobby Lashley is interviewed backstage.
He says the match became no disqualification because that means no excuses and no way out.
Montel Vontavious Porter rolls up to say he has no doubt Lashley’s gonna win his title back and then hit the VIP Lounge and make some new friends, but Bob says he doesn’t need his help and he asks MVP to let him handle his own business tonight.
“Nature Man” Ric Flair makes his entrance and gets on the mic.
He talks about how the crowds keep his light shining and keep him styling and profiling, and diamonds are forever, and so is Monday Night Raw. He’s honored as a father, a wrestler, and a man to be here tonight to introduce the greatest woman champion in WWE history, his daughter, the SmackDown Women’s Champion, Charlotte Flair.
Enter Charlotte Flair, to a new (and terrible) mix of her music.
She gets on the mic and talks about Raw being the home of the women’s revolution, where she evolved from being a diva to a 14-time women’s champion, and naming some of her greatest opponents. She says Raw will always be her home—
Enter Bianca Belair.
She tells Charlotte to do what she do, but not here, because she goes here now and she does everything she can to make sure that Raw is the greatest show on television.
Enter Sonya Deville.
She asks Charlotte if it was really necessary to fly daddy out here for a big grand introduction on a show she’s not wanted on, and asks Bianca if she really thinks people tune into Raw just for her, and what about the people that don’t get the spotlight every week, people like her.
She used to run this show as general manager for over a year, and where’s her recognition in all this. Flair tells Belair she’s been killing it and this is her show, so why not handle this? Bianca says it’ll be her pleasure and tells Sonya to come in the ring and be the center of her attention, if she’s ready to go one-on-one with the EST.
Sonya is quiet and we go to break.
Bianca Belair vs. Sonya Deville
Belair in control early, running circles around Deville, dropkick takes her off her feet, shoulder block in the corner, whip across, scoop but the slam is blocked and Sonya gets a mat slam! Front kick in the corner, smashing Bianca’s face in the turnbuckles and lighting her up with body blows.
Snapmare, off the ropes, Belair rolls aside, schoolboy for two. Boot up in the corner, up to the second, spanking herself, backflip up and over sets up a backbreaker. Lying in wait, handspring moonsault connects... NOPE! Pass Deville to the floor, boot her off the apron when she climbs back up, sidestep a stomp and Sonya lays her out with a kick to send us to break.
Back from commercial, delayed vertical suplex from the EST, kip up, handspring moonsault but the knees are up! Pump kick, cover... NOPE! Up in the backbreaker...
Bianca Belair wins by pinfall with the KOD.
Post-match, Bianca Belair gets on the mic.
She says she hasn’t forgotten about Alexa Bliss, and this match against Sonya was just a preview for her. She can bring Uncle Howdy, Bray Wyatt, and the whole playhouse but she’ll still be champion after the match.
Bliss appears on the tron and tells Bianca that she’s her only obstacle and she doesn’t need anyone;s help to tear her face open with her bare hands, and she’ll spare her eyes so she can watch her walk out with the title.
A Cody Rhodes comeback vignette follows and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a hype reel for WWE 2K23 featuring coverboy John Cena.
The Miz is in the ring and on the mic, complaining that he hasn’t been given a MizTV or a title match or a celebration of all his amazing moments. My wife asks if he’s looked under the couch and he says he deserves his Raw XXX moment.
Kevin Owens slides in the ring, kick to the gut, Stunner!
He gets on the mic and says Roman Reigns may have found Sami Zayn not guilty, but he himself is guilty of holding the Universal Championship hostage for two years and he gives his word that he’s going to do everything he can to take that title and give everyone a champion they can be proud of.
He’ll keep fighting until has nothing left, and he’ll take the title or die trying.
Miz stumbles back to his feet and eats another Stunner for his trouble.
Austin Theory makes his entrance and we go to break.
Austin Theory (c) vs. Bobby Lashley (WWE United States Championship No Disqualification Match)
Theory with a headlock, Lashley slams him down and shoves him to the floor! Following after, Bob rams him face-first into the turnbuckles and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Lashley with a delayed vertical but Theory thumbs his eye to get away! Dropkick follows, brainbuster over the knee... NOPE! Mounted punches, Bob recovers and throws him over the ropes and blasts him to the floor with a forearm!
Theory with a back heel trip on the apron to cut him off, back inside and Austin slides a table into the ring. Bob with the Hurt Lock, blocked, into the corner, schoolboy for two and then the reverse STO! Throwing Theory into a chair wedged in the corner and Lashley takes a moment to set the table up!
Austin puts Bob into the steel steps and we go to break!
Back from commercial, back and forth, Hurt Lock countered with a kick to the gentleman’s area but Bob has the wherewithal to slam Austin through the table!
Enter Brock Lesnar.
He F-5s Lashley and then F-5s Theory on top of him...
Austin Theory wins by pinfall by being used as a projectile, retaining the WWE United States Championship.
Brock starts to celebrate and the show cuts off abruptly.
That’s the show, folks.
Loading comments...