Date: January 2, 2023
Location: Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN
Show Recap —
The Raw intro video was abruptly interrupted as they cut to a live shot of the Bloodline (minus Roman Reigns) causing havoc around ringside. They tossed aside security guards and flipped over the announce table.
Kevin Owens entered with a microphone but before he could say anything, Sami Zayn told him tonight was a hostile takeover by the Bloodline and he wanted everyone to know it was Owens’ fault.
Owens forgot what he wanted to say because he just wanted to punch Zayn in the face. Owens went down the aisle but was cut off by Adam Pearce and six security guards.
Pearce said he has let the Bloodline, Roman Reigns included, run roughshod for too long but that would end tonight. Pearce sent a few guards into the ring to escort Bloodline from the building but Solo Sikoa disposed of them.
Owens ran into the ring but Bloodline put the boots to him before various locker room members (Street Profits, Luke Gallows, Shelton Benjamin, Cedric Alexander, Elias and Mustafa Ali) ran down to clear Bloodline from the ring.
As Bloodline were leaving through the crowd, Pearce told them he was putting them to work because they’d all have matches tonight.
********
Backstage, Bianca Belair told Byron Saxton that her relationship with Alexa Bliss was beyond repair and she would show Bliss why she was the champion.
After a break, everyone who ran out earlier was yelling at Pearce because they wanted to fight the Bloodline. Montez Ford spoke up first but Elias convinced Pearce to give him a match against Sikoa because of what Sikoa did to him a few weeks ago. Pearce agreed and made it a street fight. He put the rest of Bloodline in a six-man tag match against Owens and the Street Profits.
(Dolph Ziggler was with the group but I don’t think he ran out earlier so he’s just taking credit for everyone else’s work.)
Musician HARDY was shown at ringside.
********
Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair defeated Alexa Bliss via disqualification (17:05)
Short recap: Bliss lost her mind, attacked the referee, and laid out Belair.
Belair controlled before and after an early commercial break until Bliss dodged a charge and Belair went shoulder-first into the ring post. Bliss had control until Belair showed off her strength and hit an impressive vertical suplex.
Belair hit three consecutive body slams (and had to yell at Bliss to “get up” in the middle of the sequence) and hit a moonsault (after having to adjust because Bliss was out of position). Bliss hit a senton off the apron which led to another break. (Bliss had a bloody nose, perhaps from going too hard into the turnbuckle.)
Bliss held a chinlock but Belair fought out and hit a backbreaker. Belair punched Bliss in the corner but Bliss yanked her out of the ring by her braid.
Bliss became distracted by a “fan” wearing an Uncle Howdy mask in the front row. She slid Belair back in the ring and went to the top but stopped upon seeing another fan in the same mask.
The screen flashed the Bray Wyatt logo and the crowd buzzed. Bliss suddenly freaked out, tackled the referee and hammered away at him. She also went to town on Belair and chucked her into the steel steps. Bliss gave Belair two DDTs onto the steel steps before walking off. (I’m not sure if it was real or not but Belair also had blood on her chin.)
A trainer checked on Belair as they brought out a stretcher ahead of a break.
During the break, Belair refused the stretcher and was instead helped out by Montez Ford.
(Because the referee was attacked, the bell never rang to officially stop the match. Corey Graves said the match ended via DQ.)
********
Cathy Kelley interviewed Austin Theory. He said 2023 would be his year and Seth Rollins was the past. Theory said he’s outplayed Rollins every step of the way and his US title reign was just beginning.
********
Elias wanted to play a song but Sikoa’s entrance cut him off.
Music City Street Fight: Solo Sikoa defeated Elias (14:26)
They hit each other with various musical instruments until Sikoa gave Elias a Samoan drop for two. Elias hit Sikoa with an electric keyboard for two before Sikoa hit a Spinning Solo. Sikoa missed a Stinger splash so Elias hit him with a tambourine, consecutive Stinger splashes and a spinebuster.
[SECOND HOUR]
HARDY (the musician) handed Elias a guitar but Sikoa superkicked him before he could use it. HARDY hopped the barricade and hit Sikoa over the back with the guitar. The guitar exploded but Sikoa no-sold it. HARDY begged off and left the ring as Sikoa stared him down.
Elias hit a running knee strike and went to the top but Sikoa hit him with a mid-air Samoan Spike. Sikoa gave Elias a Uranage off the apron on top of a piano and pinned him for the win.
(This match went way too long but Sikoa no-selling the guitar shot was awesome and the piano finish was cool.)
********
Six-man tag match: Sami Zayn & Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated The Street Profits & Kevin Owens (11:47)
They tried telling a story that Montez Ford was distracted because he was concerned about Bianca Belair. Owens tried tagging Ford in at one point but he didn’t notice or care enough to tag in so the Bloodline took over.
Jimmy Uso superkicked Dawkins off the apron before Owens superkicked Jimmy. Ford was still in his own world as Owens went for a tag so Owens slapped him to tag him in. Ford fired up and hit Zayn and Jimmy with a flying crossbody before giving Zayn a standing moonsault for two. Ford gave Zayn a frog splash but Jey Uso broke up the cover.
Dawkins tackled Jey while Ford wiped out Jimmy and Sami with a flip dive. Sikoa marched out through the crowd and knocked out Dawkins. Owens went after Sikoa but Jey saved him by superkicking Owens.
Ford knocked Jimmy off the apron but the distraction allowed Zayn to hit a Helluva Kick for the pinfall win.
— Bloodline were about to continue the assault after the match but Sheamus and Drew McIntyre ran in through the crowd and laid them out.
********
They plugged the Royal Rumble and announced the Pitch Black match between Bray Wyatt and LA Knight.
They also announced AJ Styles’ ankle injury and wished him well.
Dexter Lumis defeated Chad Gable (w/Otis) (4:10)
Otis tried to attack Lumis outside the ring he ducked and Otis hit the ring post. Gable tried a cradle when Lumis re-entered the ring but Lumis countered into a cradle of his own for the pinfall win.
(Gable looked good in the match. The crowd was completely silent for it.)
********
They will be airing a series of video packages hyping Cody Rhodes’ return. The first video highlighted his return at WrestleMania last year.
Bayley, Dakota Kai and IYO SKY were shown walking through the back. (MVP, Benjamin and Alexander could be seen in the background talking to Pearce.)
Damage CTRL/Becky Lynch segment
Damage CTRL entered and Bayley bragged about beating Becky Lynch until Lynch interrupted.
Lynch said Bayley talks like she reinvented the wheel but she’s really been on a hamster wheel saying the same things over and over. Lynch called Bayley a Karen who always needed somebody else’s help. Lynch said Kai and SKY were Bayley’s lackeys but she realized it was the other way around and it was just a matter of time before they turned on her.
Lynch losing to Bayley wasn’t going to make her complain it was going to make her better. Lynch challenged Bayley to a match. Bayley laughed and instead suggested a tag match with Kai and SKY against Lynch and a partner. Lynch didn’t have her phone to call anyone but didn’t care and offered to fight them alone.
[THIRD HOUR]
Non-title match: Tag Team Champions Dakota Kai & IYO SKY (w/Bayley) defeated Becky Lynch & Michin (13:45)
The match started with Lynch on her own but they never officially called it a handicap match. About six minutes into it, as the champs worked over Lynch, “Michin” (Mia Yim) ran out and jumped on the apron. Lynch tagged her in and she ran wild.
They repeatedly referred to Yim as “Michin” so it appears they have made that name change.
Yim hit a dive but Damage CTRL were working her over following a break. Lynch tagged in and beat the absolute crap out of Kai before chucking SKY into the barricade. Lynch hit Kai with a missile dropkick for two. Lynch and Michin gave Kai a double superplex but SKY broke up the cover.
Yim spiked Kai with leg scissors takedown but Bayley put Kai’s foot on the rope to break up the cover. Lynch went after Bayley as Michin gave Kai an Eat Defeat. However, as Michin was down, SKY hit a moonsault for the pinfall win.
— Lynch chased SKY from the ring and was stunned by the loss. (Probably because she had a fresh partner who ran out halfway through the match and still got pinned.)
********
Musician Jimmie Allen was shown at ringside.
Saxton caught up with Alexa Bliss and asked her about losing control earlier. Bliss said: “I lost control? No. I gained control over Bianca’s headspace. And now she knows the only threat is really me, and that Raw Women’s championship actually belongs with me.”
********
They showed the video of Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley crashing Rey’s Christmas Eve party with Dom getting arrested.
This was followed by a funny Dom promo where he talked about how he served hard time and prison changed him. This was great.
********
There was a Bronson Reed video package.
Austin Theory defeated Seth Rollins to retain the United States Championship (23:36)
This went through two breaks with Rollins controlling through the first one and Theory controlling through the second. Rollins made a comeback following the second break, hitting a suicide dive. Theory countered a Pedigree but Rollins hit a backbreaker for two.
Rollins hit a superplex and went to transition into a falcon arrow but Theory beat him to it and hit a neckbreaker for two. They traded strikes until both men went down. They got up and traded strikes again until Rollins hit consecutive rolling elbow strikes. Rollins went for the curb stomp but his knee gave out and he couldn’t hit the move.
Theory left the ring, grabbed his belt and was about to leave but Rollins went after him. Theory tried to hit him with the title belt but Rollins hit a superkick and frog splash for a close nearfall.
Theory shoved Rollins into the referee by mistake and the ref went down. Rollins hit a Pedigree and a second ref ran down to count the fall but Theory kicked out.
Theory almost shoved Rollins into the new ref but the ref shielded himself. As the ref was looking away, Theory gave Rollins a low blow. Theory followed with a chop-block and A-Town Down for the pinfall win.
This wound up being a strong match, particularly the last ten minutes. The crowd was quiet pretty much all night but they liked Rollins and really wanted to see him win the title.
