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‘WWE Monday Night Raw’ Results: Big ‘Royal Rumble’ Updates And Reigns Vs. Goldberg Teased For ‘WrestleMania 33’

By Dustin Murrell
Published on: 11:33 PST, Jan 2, 2017

The first Monday Night Raw of the year was set to be a big one, as Goldberg made his first appearance on WWE programming since announcing his entry into the Royal Rumble Match — and since Brock Lesnar announced that he’d be entering as well, in an effort to get his hands on Goldberg once again. The WWE Universe found out this week “who’s next” in terms of a few competitors joining Goldberg in the 30-man battle royal at the end of the month.

WWE Monday Night Raw Results

The following includes the results of all the matches and segments from WWE Raw on January 2, which aired live from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. In the final week of 2016, Raw lost the “ratings war” with the blue brand for the first time since the separate rosters were established. Will the return of Goldberg and an US title match be enough to take back the lead in the ratings and maintain Raw‘s longtime designation as WWE’s flagship program?

Raw Pre-Show

After being downsized from a four-person, 30-minute program recorded at WWE studios for the WWE Network to a two-person, ten-minute segment taped at the event for WWE’s digital platforms, it looks as though WWE has done away with their weekly pre-shows altogether, as no announcement had been made about this week’s edition in the hours leading up to Monday Night Raw.

Goldberg announced as guest for first-ever Kevin Owens Show segment

Raw General Manager Mick Foley was in the ring as Monday Night Raw began, and he was joined by WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens, his best friend Chris Jericho, and Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon. Eventually, several things were set in place for Raw, including Goldberg being a guest on The Kevin Owens Show. Additionally, Roman Reigns would defend his United States Championship against Chris Jericho, with the title changing hands even if Reigns was disqualified or counted out. The first match of the night, Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins, would result in the loser being banned from ringside for the U.S. Title Match.

Stephanie McMahon also acknowledged the fact that Raw lost to SmackDown in the ratings last week. Apparently, it will be a focal point of the show going forward. She also claimed that Raw would be known as the true “land of opportunity,” as opposed to SmackDown LIVE. They also reaffirmed the fact that Sami Zayn would face Braun Strowman in a Last Man Standing Match later in the show.

Seth Rollins defeated Kevin Owens by disqualification

While battling outside of the ring, Kevin Owens hit Seth Rollins with the ring bell, resulting in KO being disqualified and losing the match to The Architect. That result meant that Kevin Owens would be banned from ringside when Chris Jericho challenged Roman Reigns for the United States Championship.

Karl Anderson defeated Cesaro

For most of this match, Sheamus was providing guest commentary while Luke Gallows remained at ringside. After it was obvious that Gallows would be interfering, Sheamus left the announce table and joined everyone at ringside. As Cesaro was setting Anderson up for what appeared to be a top-rope superplex, Sheamus pulled Gallows off of the apron. The action resulted in the top rope being shaken, and Cesaro slipped. Karl followed up with a top rope neckbreaker and got the pin. It looks like Gallows and Anderson will be the next to challenge for the Raw Tag Team Championship.

Braun Strowman defeated Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn was finally granted the type of match he wanted against Braun Strowman: a Last Man Standing Match. While he put up a good fight, multiple powerslams outside the ring were too much for the Underdog from the Underground to overcome. Strowman got a rather decisive victory over Zayn, although there’s certainly no indication that the feud is over. Zayn was carried out on a stretcher, which certainly could lead to another gimmick match between the two, perhaps at WrestleMania 33 as the final match in a drawn-out feud.

The New Day announced their entries into the Royal Rumble Match

After revealing in a backstage segment with Jack Gallagher that learning to duel was one of The New Day’s New’s Year’s resolutions, Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods came to the ring to announce that they would be participating in the Royal Rumble Match. Before they could announce their other New Year’s resolutions, they were interrupted by Titus O’Neil, who wanted to join The New Day as a new member in 2017. His offer was declined, and after calling Xavier Woods the “weak link of The New Day,” a match was set up between Xavier and Titus.

Xavier Woods defeated Titus O’Neil

While Big E and Kofi Kingston remained at ringside for the duration of the match, the ending had nothing to do with interference from either member. Woods simply reversed a moved into a roll-up pin and started to build a little momentum on his way to Royal Rumble 2017.

Stephanie McMahon booked Bayley vs. Nia Jax

After apparently being forced by Charlotte Flair’s lawyers to allow Dana Brooke to be the guest referee in her match against Bayley on Monday Night Raw last week, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon granted Bayley another opportunity to become No. 1 contender for the Raw Women’s Championship. Nia Jax vs. Bayley was booked to determine who would face Charlotte at WWE Royal Rumble 2017.

Nia Jax on Monday Night Raw [Image by WWE]

Drew Gulak defeated Cedric Alexander

As Alicia Fox tried to keep Tony Nese from interfering in this match, Cedric Alexander was temporarily distracted and Drew Gulak took advantage.

Before the match even started, Foxy and Alexander ran into Noam Dar backstage, who apologized to the couple before calling Alicia “sweet cheeks” and running off.

Roman Reigns defeated Chris Jericho

With the United States Championship on the line and Kevin Owens banned from ringside, Roman Reigns was able to come out on top against Chris Jericho. Y2J almost got away with a trick similar to the one Eddie Guerrero used to play, hoping to get a win by disqualification (which would have cost Reigns the title in this match, per Stephanie McMahon’s special stipulation). In the end, it was Jericho colliding with an exposed turnbuckle and a spear from Reigns that ended the match.

TJ Perkins defeated The Brian Kendrick

Neville (the self-proclaimed “King of the Cruiserweights”) was shown watching this match backstage on a monitor. TJ Perkins got a clean submission victory over The Brian Kendrick, making Perkins an obvious candidate for No. 1 contender in the Cruiserweight Division. It was officially announced later that Neville vs. TJ Perkins was booked for 205 Live on Tuesday night.

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Rusev and Jinder Mahal defeated Colin Cassady

With Enzo Amore unable to compete due to an injury, Colin Cassady decided to take on Rusev and Jinder Mahal in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match. Big Cass couldn’t overcome the odds, however, and the team of Rusev and Mahal got the victory.

Bayley defeated Nia Jax with help from Sasha Banks

While Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair provided guest commentary, Nia Jax appeared to be closing in on a victory over Bayley, which would have earned her a title shot at WWE Royal Rumble 2017. But when Sasha Banks’ music hit and The Boss showed up unexpectedly at the entrance, Bayley took advantage of the distraction and hit a top-rope Bayley-to-Belly Suplex to pick up the win and the title shot at the January PPV.

The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels announced for next week’s Monday Night Raw

As Monday Night Raw emanates from New Orleans next week — the site of WrestleMania XXX — it was announced that The Undertaker will be making his return to Raw, and “Mr. WrestleMania” Shawn Michaels will be in attendance as well.

Roman Reigns confronted Goldberg on The Kevin Owens Show — Strowman & Jericho announced Royal Rumble entries

Completely ignoring the fact that The New Day had already announced their own entries into the Royal Rumble Match for January 29, Chris Jericho announced himself as the third entry after Goldberg and Brock Lesnar. Goldberg made his way to the ring, saying he would win the main event of Royal Rumble 2017 and go on to face Kevin Owens or Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33. Paul Heyman came out to remind everyone that Brock Lesnar intended to win the Royal Rumble Match.

Roman Reigns came out to tell everyone that it didn’t matter what Kevin Owens thought, because Reigns would be taking the Universal Championship from Owens at Royal Rumble. Reigns then got in Goldberg’s face, teasing the possibility of Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33. Moments later, Braun Strowman made his way to the ring to announce that he was also entering the 30-man battle royal. After Reigns and Goldberg hit Strowman with a double spear, Monday Night Raw ended.

The above WWE Raw results have been corroborated by WWE’s official Monday Night Raw page.

Updated WWE Royal Rumble 2017 Card

  • Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, The New Day, Chris Jericho, Bruan Strowman and 23 others TBD — Royal Rumble Match
  • Kevin Owens (c) vs. Roman Reigns — WWE Universal Championship Shark Cage Match
  • Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Bayley — Raw Women’s Championship Match
  • AJ Styles (c) vs. John Cena — WWE Championship Match

WWE Royal Rumble 2017 will be the next PPV featuring stars from Monday Night Raw (although it will also include competitors from SmackDown LIVE). Royal Rumble 2017 will air live on Sunday, January 29 from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. As more information is confirmed, it will be updated at WWE’s official Royal Rumble preview page.

The Rock and Terry Funk in 1997’s Royal Rumble Match [Image by WWE]

Where To Watch WWE Monday Night Raw

The WWE Royal Rumble 2017 will air live on the WWE Network on Sunday, January 29 at 8/7c. The Royal Rumble Kickoff Show will begin at 7/6c.

Episodes of WWE Monday Night Raw air live on the USA Network at 8/7c. Replays of WWE Raw aren’t made available on the WWE Network until several weeks after the original air date. However, a 90-minute version of Monday Night Raw is available to stream on-demand the following day with a Hulu subscription.

[Featured Image by WWE]

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