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Night Raw
Date: January 18, 2016
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Byron Saxton
Opening sequence.
Reigns talks about this Sunday being the fight of his life but tonight he only cares about Brock Lesnar. Instead he gets Chris Jericho, who Reigns is glad to see even though Jericho isn’t the man he wants right now. Lesnar will be on the Highlight Reel tonight though and Jericho wants Reigns to be there too. Reigns loves the idea but here’s the League of Nations to interrupt.
The League is involved as well and they intend to take back that WWE World Title. Sheamus insults Jericho’s clothes so Chris gets in a weak insult about the mohawk. Del Rio brags about winning the Rumble a few years back but Jericho doesn’t feel like having him on the Highlight Reel either.
and a challenge is issued for right now. Apparently it’s Rusev vs. Reigns with Jericho as guest referee for no real reason.
Roman Reigns vs. Rusev
followed by a nice spinwheel kick for two on the champ. Back from a break with Reigns trying a headbutt, only to get ground down with a headlock. JBL incorrectly says Rusev eliminated half a dozen people in his debut Rumble as I guess even he has tried to forget that worthless cameo in 2014.
Reigns fights back with the corner clotheslines, only to get kicked in the side of the head for a pretty slow two count. Rusev tries a super Samoan Drop but gets countered into a Batista Bomb for the same deliberate two. Del Rio offers a distraction so Sheamus can jump Roman from behind, but Jericho is actually smart and ejects Sheamus anyway. Barrett gets the same treatment and Jericho throws in a bonus cartwheel. In the melee, Reigns hits a quick Superman Punch and the spear for the pin at 13:55.
Post break, Stephanie yells at Jericho for not having the authority to make that match. Jericho goes into his standard string of Stephanie insults but she cuts him off to say he insulted her by making the bigger Highlight Reel. Apparently this means she has to negotiate with Paul Heyman and owes Brock more money now. As usual, Stephanie manages to take something interesting and turn it boring.
Brie Bella vs. Natalya
Wyatt Family vs. Dudley Boyz/Ryback
vs. D-Von with the latter grabbing a neckbreaker.
Bubba starts playing cheerleader and it’s back to Rowan for the double fist head vice. We hit the chinlock from Harper for a few seconds before D-Von collides with Bray. That means a hot tag to Ryback for some house cleaning and everything breaks down. Ryback heads outside to stare down Strowman but gets decked by Wyatt. Rowan breaks up a 3D to Harper, allowing Luke to hit the discus lariat for the pin on Bubba at 6:42.
Big Show vs. Heath Slater
Slater runs away from a big chop in the corner to start but is pulled back in by the hair. The KO Punch is good for the pin at 56 seconds.
The rest of the Outlaws are wiped out post match.
Stephanie gives the League of Nations a pep talk for the Royal Rumble.
Vince thinks that’s quite the coincidence so they pull another name and it’s…….Roman Reigns. They even draw it a third time and leaves Reigns’ name out, only to draw Reigns a third straight time. You had to know this was coming and it’s probably the right call.
Becky Lynch vs. Tamina
Charlotte and Ric are at ringside. Becky starts in with the strikes but charges into a superkick. We hit the early chinlock for a bit before a slam gets two on Becky. Lynch fights back with her usual strikes in the corner, followed by the running legdrops for two. The Disarm-Her makes Tamina tap at 4:04.
That’s enough for Flair, who accepts the challenge on his daughter’s behalf. Charlotte really doesn’t seem cool with that.
Kalisto/Dean Ambrose vs. Alberto Del Rio/Sheamus
Kevin Owens is on commentary to make this more entertaining. Ambrose pounds on Sheamus to start and it’s quickly off to Kalisto, who is slammed down onto Sheamus for two. Del Rio is sent to the floor and we take a break.
Back with Sheamus hammering on Kalisto in the corner until the masked man jawbreaks his way out of a chinlock. The hot tag brings in Ambrose to start speeding things up, including a suicide dive to take out Del Rio. Dean gets in trouble again though as Sheamus gets two off an Irish Curse.
A Backstabber stops Dean’s latest comeback but the top rope double stomp is broken up by something like an armdrag. Owens hopes Ambrose hurt himself but Dean is fine enough for a big clothesline to Sheamus and a hot tag to Kalisto.
A headscissors and the rolling kick to the head have Sheamus in trouble and Kalisto stumbles into a tornado DDT. The Salida Del Sol gets two with Del Rio making the save. Dean takes him to the floor and gets kicked in the face, leaving Sheamus to Brogue Kick Kalisto for the pin at 13:20.
We recap the opening segment.
Clips of the India tour.
and she would want Big E. to beat Jey Uso.
30 entrants
28 Royal Rumble
811 people eliminations
42 eliminations by Kane, the most of all time
46 WWE Hall of Famers who have entered
8 Hall of Famers who have won
3 wins by Steve Austin
62:12 that Rey Mysterio lasted
1 second that Santino Marella lasted
2 straight wins Roman needs to retain
18 years since that happened
15 former World Champions on the roster
6 former Royal Rumble winners
1, as in the number that Reigns will enter the Rumble
Big E. vs. Jey Uso
Kofi and Xavier are in suits from the funeral. Big E. takes him down to start until Jey jumps over in the corner and starts dancing. A quick cross body gets two for Jey and they head outside, only to have Jey get backdropped on the floor as we take a break. Back with Jey in the abdominal stretch before he avoids the apron splash to send E. outside again.
The running Umaga Attack misses in the corner but Jey settles for a kick to the face for two instead. E. misses another charge and falls to the floor so Jey can nail a nice plancha. Back in and Woods offers a distraction to break up the Superfly Splash, allowing the Big Ending to give E. the win at 9:34.
The League is talking about something.
before Truth comes in to work on a hammerlock. There’s a hiptoss to Stardust but Breeze kicks Truth off the apron to take over.
but Truth grabs a DDT to absolutely no reaction. Neville and Breeze come in to speed things up with Neville throwing him down and getting two off the standing shooting star. Everything breaks down and the World’s Strongest Slam to Breeze sets up the Red Arrow for the pin at 6:11.
Jericho cuts off Heyman’s signature lines and asks where Lesnar is. Brock will indeed be here tonight but Heyman would rather talk about what happened the last time Jericho and Lesnar were in the same ring together.
Heyman laughs it off and plugs the Network by saying people subscribe to see Brock fight any one man so why wouldn’t you subscribe to see him fight everyone at once. Jericho suggests that he’ll throw Brock out and here’s Lesnar for a rebuttal.
and the numbers get the better of Reigns but Brock sends the Family after Lesnar. They circle Brock and get in a shot apiece with Sister Abigail’s Kiss leaving Brock laying to end the show.
At least we got some build to the rest of the show, but Sunday is a one match show and the build for that was ok at best. Not a great show but it did enough of what it was supposed to do.
Results
Roman Reigns b. Rusev – Spear
Natalya b. Brie Bella – Sharpshooter
Big Show b. Heath Slater – KO Punch
Becky Lynch b. Tamina – Disarm-Her
Sheamus/Alberto Del Rio b. Kalisto/Dean Ambrose – Brogue Kick to Kalisto
Big E. b. Jey Uso – Big Ending
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the History of Wrestlemania at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
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And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:
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