Tonight, Monday Night Raw celebrates its 25th Anniversary with an episode full of nostalgia, while also building up to Sunday’s Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View. Highlights from tonight’s show include Roman Reigns defending the Intercontinental Championship against The Miz, Bray Wyatt vs. Woken Matt Hardy, and just about every legend from the past 25 years.
Opening Segment
The show kicks off by showing off both venues, but the meat of the show begins at the Barclays Center with Stephanie and Shane McMahon. They introduce their father, Vince McMahon, and thank him for all of his service with a plaque. Vince insults the plaque and everybody in Brooklyn before Stone Cold Steve Austin interrupts.
Austin stares down the Chairman before Vince makes every excuse in the book to avoid confrontation. Austin then hits Shane with a Stunner before celebrating with Mr. McMahon by drinking a couple of beers. The music stops and of course, Austin stuns his old boss yet again.
Nia Jax, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, & Alicia Fox (w/Paige) vs. Sasha Banks, Bayley, Mickie James, & Asuka
In just six days, the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble match will take place and all of these women are involved. Whichever team could win this match could have a good chunk of momentum going into the historic event. Paige, the leader of Absolution, is spending this match and the Royal Rumble on the bench due to a neck injury. Tomorrow night, Asuka will team up with The Miz to take on Big E and Carmella in the Mixed Match Challenge.
While most of the women brawl outside of the ring, Sasha Banks forces Alicia Banks to tap out to the Bank Statement. After the win, Asuka gives us a preview of the Royal Rumble when she attacks her teammates and throws them out of the ring. Winners: Sasha Banks, Bayley, Mickie James, & Asuka
Backstage Segment
There is a brief segment in Kurt Angle’s office that features cameos from Jonathan Coachman, Harvey Wippleman, the Brooklyn Brawler, Brother Love, Teddy Long, and the Boogeyman.
The Undertaker Returns
Things switch back to the Manhattan Center where the Undertaker returns to the spot where he appeared on the original episode of Raw. The Deadman does not say much (as usual), but he does say that it is “truly time” for those he has defeated to rest in peace.
Roman Reigns (c) vs. The Miz (w/The Miztourage) – Intercontinental Championship
Before the match starts (at the Barclays), announcer Jojo introduces some special guests in the former of former Raw General Managers. After introducing Eric Bischoff, John Laurinaitis, and William Regal, she introduces SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan. This prompts the Miz to interrupt and taunt right in his face before heading to the ring. This match is Miz’s obligated rematch after losing the Intercontinental Championship a couple months ago to Reigns. If Miz wins, he will become an eight-time IC Champ.
After the Miztourage is ejected from ringside, The Miz sends Reigns into a mysteriously padless turnbuckle. Miz takes advantage to hit the Skull Crushing Finale, capturing the title for the eighth time. Winner, and NEW Intercontinental Champion: The Miz
The Peep Show feat. Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan
It seems like every great WWE Superstar has their own talk show and former nine-time Tag Team Champion Christian is part of that list of Superstars. His guests are the current Raw Tag Team Champions who captured the titles on their first night as a team, Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan. After the crowd overwhelmingly boos Jordan, they are interrupted by Sheamus and Cesaro.
Things get chaotic quickly and both teams brawl. After sending Sheamus out of the ring, the fight ends when Rollins accidentally hits his own partner with a flying knee.
Bray Wyatt vs. Woken Matt Hardy
After weeks of promos targeting each other, Bray Wyatt and Woken Matt Hardy have been away from each other for a while. Now, they battle each other at the Manhattan Center.
Surprisingly, Bray Wyatt gets the best of the exchange when he hits Matt Hardy with the Sister Abigail. Winner: Bray Wyatt
In-ring Segment
After getting put on the List of Jericho, Elias comes to the middle of the [Barclays] ring to sing a song. After insulting Brooklyn, he is interrupted by John Cena. Elias and Cena start brawling and the Drifter counters an Attitude Adjustment with a low blow. He then blasts Cena in the back with a guitar before finishing him off with the Drift Away fisherman swinging neckbreaker.
Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews (w/Dana Brooke) vs. Heath Slater & Rhyno
Throughout the night, Heath Slater and Rhyno were playing poker with JBL and Ron Simmons and Slater kept losing money. Over time, more and more Superstars joined the game until Slater won with a hand that was too good to be true. Dana Brooke, Titus Worldwide’s statistician, pointed out the fact that Slater was cheating to win. The APA didn’t want a fight in the poker room, so they are settling it in the ring.
After returning from commercial, the match stops when all four competitors are brawling in the ring. Then, out of nowhere, the Dudley Boyz enter the ring and the two teams retreat. Heath Slater is thrown into the ring. Slater gets beaten up for a bit before getting sent through a table. Result: No Contest
The Revival vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (w/D-Generation X, Scott Hall, & Finn Balor)
Triple H and Shawn Michaels started off a new segment in the Manhattan Center with a D-Generation X reunion. This involved X-Pac, the New Age Outlaws, and a special appearance from Scott Hall. They all “Too Sweet” each other until the Revival shows up to start a match.
In about three minutes, Gallows and Anderson hit the Revival with the Magic Killer. The following minutes feature the Revival eating a bunch of finishers from everyone else. Winners: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
In-ring Segment
To close the show, Braun Strowman, Kane, and Brock Lesnar are all in the ring at the same time before their Triple Threat Match on Sunday. After Lesnar takes out Kane with an F5, Strowman throws Lesnar all over the place before powerslamming him through the announce table.
