WWE Raw Results: Highlights, Grades, Analysis For January 8 Show

Photo by WWE’s Twitter

After a lackluster WWE Raw to kick off 2018 just one week ago, how would the red brand respond this week?

Roman Reigns kicked off the Jan. 8 edition of WWE Raw before being interrupted by Jason Jordan.  Jordan’s attempt at getting in the good graces of The Big Dog was interrupted by his fellow tag team champion partner Seth Rollins.

The Architect continued his mentorship role towards Jordan along with Reigns putting Jordan in his place as well.  Jordan’s over-eagerness just furthers his newfound obnoxious character and he was then interrupted by Finn Balor and The Club, who laid their claim as the best three-man group on Raw.

Balor, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson continued to badger Jordan and give him a hard time before Rollins and Reigns had to restrain him from making a bigger fool of himself.  GM Kurt Angle then made the match pitting Rollins, Reigns, and Jordan against Balor, Gallows, and Anderson in the main event.

Photo by WWE’s Twitter

Overall, this was a solid opening segment to get everyone a chance to shine.  Reigns and Rollins continued to look and act impressive while Balor, Gallows, and Anderson gelled together nicely.  Plus, Jordan’s obnoxious heel characteristics just keep getting better and better.

Photo by WWE’s Twitter

Sasha Banks and Bayley (with Mickie James) vs. Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose (with Paige)

In a rather star-studded tag team match featuring some of the most prominent women on the Raw roster, Sasha Banks and Bayley took control of the match early on against Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose.  Absolution took control back of the match with both Deville and Rose controlling The Boss.

Bayley thwarted off Deville just in time for Banks to make Rose tap out to the Banks Statement.  The match was a pretty standard tag team match, but it did a nice enough job of keeping the crowd involved despite not going on very long.  It gave some of the top babyfaces on the brand some momentum over the new dominant trio of the division as well.

Photo by WWE’s Twitter

A recap of last week’s lackluster finish to Raw with Brock Lesnar and Kane’s brawl to end the night followed and it looked even more lackluster than it was last week.  The attention then shifted to 205 Live where Goldust is now apparently an ally of Cedric Alexander.

It’s strange to see Goldust in 205 Live, especially given how he’s a veteran and definitely over 205 pounds.  But at least Goldust and Alicia Fox teaming up in the mixed match challenge should be greatly entertaining.

Photo by WWE’s Twitter

Matt Hardy vs. Curt Hawkins

Woken Matt Hardy made his in-ring debut against Curt Hawkins with his new character and wow, his new theme song is absolutely delightful.  Not to mention, the way he announced his inclusion in the Royal Rumble match was pretty hilarious.

The match was very short with Hardy getting the win before Bray Wyatt intervened post-match.  Hardy and Wyatt stared off and had what could only be described as a laugh-off.  And yeah, it was as strangely-entertaining as you might have imagined.

This feud could be truly great if given enough time to work with.  Woken Matt is already one of the most enjoyable characters in the WWE and he could help out Wyatt in the process, who needs a big 2018 to rebound from a lackluster 2017.

The show returned with Elias in his usual form, much to the enjoyment of Elias marks everywhere.  Elias laid into the city of Memphis with some Elvis birthday mentions as well.  It was a great setup for the return of The A-Lister, The Miz alongside The Miztourage.

Photo by WWE’s Twitter

Return of The Miz and Miz TV

The Miz had been gone for a couple months, but his return was a very welcomed addition to Monday night.  His star power on Raw is undeniable, especially after being gone for several weeks.  Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel then began sucking up to Miz, annoying the A-Lister.

He then reflected on his outstanding 2017 before recalling his dramatic exit featuring a Shield triple powerbomb through the announce table.  The Miz remained on fire with his promo and said his sights are set on regaining the Intercontinental Championship.

The past year plus has undoubtedly been The Miz’s best work in the WWE and his return puts in perspective how important he is to the red brand.  His promos never get old, especially when he has a serious tone to them.

A backstage interaction featuring Balor, Gallows, and Anderson ensued with the trio reminiscing on old times before Balor mentioned how big of an opportunity the trio has later in the night.  The Cruiserweight Championship match between Enzo Amore and Cedric Alexander was on deck.

Enzo was supposed to defend his title last week, but a real-life illness kept him out of action.  But his in-ring return had high stakes with the Cruiserweight Championship at stake.  Could Alexander dethrone the cocky, brash Enzo?

Photo by WWE’s Twitter

Enzo Amore vs. Cedric Alexander For Cruiserweight Championship

The Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore cut a typical promo pre-match running down his opponent, Cedric Alexander.  Enzo’s braggadocios ways were costing him early on as his newfound love interest Nia Jax looked on backstage.

Enzo took control back of the match and grounded Alexander.  It isn’t the most 205 Live-like way to do a match, but it’s an effective heelish technique.  Alexander began to climb back into the match with more up-tempo action to counter Enzo’s ground-based attack.

One of Alexander’s kicks created a nasty cut on Enzo’s right eye in a very TV-14-like image.  In another heelish way, Enzo purposely got himself counted out.  Maybe it had something to do with the nasty gash with his eye, but it was probably just to set up a future encounter.

The Cruiserweight Champion retained his title, but appeared to take a major kayfabe beating.  The match was short, but it honestly did a nice job for both individuals.  Except Enzo’s eye and maybe his ankle, of course.

Photo by WWE’s Twitter

A backstage segment was shown with Nia checking up on Enzo’s condition.  Kurt Angle was shown backstage on the phone with a former WWE women’s competitor that he said would be great for the Royal Rumble match.

The Bar then approached Angle, where the GM said he would find the duo competition tonight and it would get its rematch for the Raw Tag Team Championship at the Royal Rumble.  Oh, and The Miz will get a rematch against Roman Reigns for the Intercontinental Championship on the 25th anniversary edition of Raw in two weeks.  Alexa Bliss also subtly put Asuka on notice as well.

Photo by WWE’s Twitter

Sheamus and Cesaro vs. Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews (With Dana Brooke)

The Bar’s match turned out to be unexpected, but not in the best way, as it squared off with Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews.  The athletic Crews got his moves in, but Sheamus and Cesaro took control back of the match while Titus was unable to get the tag.

Titus finally got in and made an impact quickly.  Titus Worldwide’s momentum was building in the match, but The Bar’s craftiness took back over.  Until it didn’t and Titus got the shocking roll up win for his team.  It was totally unexpected, but maybe the WWE will finally let the Titus Worldwide gimmick get off its feet.

Titus Worldwide could become a prominent addition to Monday nights, but the WWE has failed to pull the trigger on anything serious.  But a win over a team the caliber of The Bar definitely puts it in a better position than it has been in months.

The match itself was pretty good despite its shorter duration and did what it needed to do in getting Titus Worldwide some momentum and putting Sheamus and Cesaro behind the 8-ball, so to speak, leading into their tag team title rematch at the Royal Rumble.

Up next featured The Beast Incarnate and Universal Champion Brock Lesnar and his advocate Paul Heyman responding to last week’s interaction with Kane and this week’s likely interaction with Braun Strowman.

Photo by WWE’s Twitter

Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman Address the WWE Universe

The Universal Champion and his advocate were back and in typical fashion, the great Paul Heyman served as the mouthpiece for Brock Lesnar.  Heyman made the point that the Universal Championship is now perceived as how can the company stack the odds against Lesnar instead of who will challenge him for the gold.

The promo got back to its roots of claiming Lesnar’s dominance and how he will take care of business at the Royal Rumble, even against two monsters.  The segment abruptly ended before Kane attacked Lesnar on the top of the stage.

The brawl went backstage where Kane and Lesnar were intersected by Braun Strowman.  The Monster Among Men absolutely demolished both of them before pulling down a massive support beam on top of both Lesnar and Kane, much to the chagrin of everyone backstage who tried to talk him out of it.

This segment absolutely crushed last week’s lackluster encounter between Lesnar and Kane.  It was awesome to see Strowman take control like that and it brought his character back to a few months ago when he was arguably the hottest superstar in the WWE.   It gave this angle a much-needed kick in the pants as the Royal Rumble inches closer and closer.

Photo by WWE’s Twitter

Samoa Joe vs. Rhyno (With Heath Slater)

The building of Rhyno and Heath Slater’s “new” gimmick took another turn for the worst with a battle against Samoa Joe.  Rhyno tried to show Slater how to be tough, but the only one who looked tough in the match was the Samoan Submission Machine for much of it.

Rhyno got a limited amount of offense in, but ultimately Joe made Rhyno tap out after a short, glorified squash match.  Joe then cut a promo after the match with his attention shifted towards Roman Reigns.

Joe then announced he would enter the Royal Rumble match, which will greatly affect the match.  As a bonafide superstar, Joe will certainly be a force to be reckoned with.  He also made an interesting comment that John Cena would be the first one he eliminates in the match.  Could that set up a potential Joe vs. Cena match at WrestleMania?

A backstage interaction between Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax ensued with Jax announcing she would enter the women’s Royal Rumble match.  Bliss tried getting back in the good graces of Jax, but it didn’t turn out the greatest.  The Raw Women’s Champion tried shifting the attention towards Asuka, but it didn’t work.

Photo by WWE’s Twitter

Asuka Attacked By Nia Jax

The Empress of Tomorrow was set for in-ring action, but as she made it to the ring, she would be rudely and painfully interrupted by Nia Jax.  Jax caught Asuka off guard and laid her out.  Whether it was because of what Alexa Bliss said or just to lay her claim as the woman to beat at the Royal Rumble, Jax made a splash at the expense of Asuka.

The Royal Rumble card was then briefly previewed and honestly, the card is taking shape nicely.  There are some captivating matches outside of the two Royal Rumble matches.  The undercard for the Royal Rumble is always important, and this year’s seems to be stellar enough.

A brief backstage interaction was shown between Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Jason Jordan as three prepares for their main event showdown with Finn Balor, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson.  The two trios had a stellar opening segment to the show and looks to cap it off with a stellar main event, six-man tag team match.

Regarding Jax and Asuka’s interaction, a match was made for next week’s Raw pitting the two against each other.  As two of the most dominant forces among the Raw women’s division, this showdown could be a memorable one leading into the Royal Rumble pay-per-view in less than three weeks.

Photo by WWE’s Twitter

Finn Balor, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson vs. Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Jason Jordan

The main event, six-man tag team match closed out the show with stellar action between all six superstars.  Finn Balor, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson already have proven they can gel together given how successful they were in Japan, but Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Jason Jordan held their own as well.

The match went back and forth for much of the beginning with both teams getting momentum.  Eventually, The Club took control of Reigns and kept The Big Dog from tagging in either Rollins or Jordan in old-fashioned tag team techniques of cutting off the ring.

Photo by WWE’s Twitter

But you can’t keep Reigns down forever and Rollins came in guns a blazing, getting offensive momentum in on every member of The Club.  Jordan threw in a helping hand before a rookie mistake that cost his team a much-needed tag.

After the confusion, Balor got the pin over Rollins to win it for his team.  The match was a solid way to end the show and did a nice job of getting The Club momentum and continuing Jordan’s disruptive ways regarding Rollins and Reigns.

The Miz and The Miztourage attacked Jordan, Rollins, and Reigns after the match to stake the A-Lister’s claim to regain the Intercontinental Championship in two weeks on the 25th anniversary of Raw.  And it was fitting that Miz, Bo Dallas, and Curtis Axel took out Reigns with the Shield’s triple powerbomb.

Next: Predicting All 30 Royal Rumble Entrants

Overall, this Raw was much better than the Jan. 1 edition to start off the new year.  It featured several important developments moving forward as the 25th anniversary edition of Raw is only two weeks away and the Royal Rumble is just under three weeks away.