WWE Raw is XXX Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights

WWE Raw is XXX Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights

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Welcome to Bleacher Report’s coverage and recap of WWE Raw’s 30th anniversary on January 23.

WWE brought in a boatload of legends to help celebrate this huge milestone for the red brand, but plenty of current stars were highlighted, too.

Bayley took on Becky Lynch inside of a steel cage and The Bloodline held a tribal court for Sami Zayn after some recent missteps.

We also saw Bobby Lashley challenge Austin Theory for the U.S. title, and The Usos put the Raw Tag Team Championships on the line against Dominik Mysterio and Finn Balor.

Let’s take a look at everything that happened during Monday’s show.

The Trial of Sami Zayn

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Raw XXX opened with Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart coming out to give a brief introduction to the show. They were only on the stage for a couple of minutes, so it barely ate into the show at all. We then got the same recap video showing highlights from the past 30 years of the show.

Once we were back in the arena, The Bloodline’s music hit and everyone came out to the stage. This brought us to the trial of Sami Zayn. Paul Heyman addressed some ECW chants before the proceedings got started.

The Wise Man ripped into Zayn and claimed he has been in league with Kevin Owens from the start. He even showed some clips to prove his point. He tried to paint a picture of a man who wanted to supplant Reigns as the Head of the Table.

When it was Zayn’s turn to speak, he said he was hurt that this was even happening after everything he has done for the family. Reigns told Sikoa to take him out, but Jey Uso jumped between them and decided to play his own video to help Zayn’s case.

Reigns declared that Zayn was not guilty…for now. He still seemed upset but told him to show up at the Rumble to take his final test.

Segments like this are what make WWE different. This was so well done and kept the crowd invested the whole time without anyone throwing a single punch. This segment was the best way to start this show.

Sports Entertainment and Pro Wrestling may be synonyms to some, but it’s things like this that make them just a little different. This was pure Sports Entertainment.

Grade: A

Notable Moments and Observations

The Usos vs. Judgment Day (Raw Tag Titles)

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We went right from the trial of Zayn into the Raw Tag Team Championship match between Judgment Day and The Usos. Since only one set of belts was on the line, a lot of people predicted a title change leading to this bout.

Priest and Jimmy started for their teams and wasted no time getting physical. While Jimmy took control first, Priest was able to turn the tables quickly when the fight spilled out of the ring.

The first hour of Raw was commercial-free, so this match had no interruptions. It’s always more enjoyable to follow a fight without having a break in the middle. It added to what was already an enjoyable encounter.

Neither team dominated the action more than the other, so it felt like one of The Usos’ more competitive title defenses in recent months. However, Jimmy appeared to hurt his leg in the middle of the match and was helped to the back by officials.

Adam Pearce came out and said if he can’t continue, they have to forfeit the match and the titles. Zayn suggested he take Jimmy’s place and Pearce allowed it since he did the same thing for Judgment Day in the Tag Team Turmoil match.

He and Jey ran to the ring and began beating on Priest and Dom. After a few near-falls from both teams, Sami and Jey hit the 1D for the win.

This was an outstanding match that also fed into the larger story at hand. Everything was done just about perfectly. The first hour of Raw was devoted to Zayn and it was the right call.

Winners: The Usos

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

Bayley vs. Becky Lynch

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LA Knight came out to talk about his upcoming match with Bray Wyatt, but he was interrupted by The Undertaker’s music before it turned into his American Badass theme.

Knight tried to leave, but Wyatt blocked his path while holding a lantern as his music began to play. Knight retreated back to the ring where Taker grabbed him by the throat. Wyatt stared The Deadman down until Taker tossed Knight to him so he could hit Sister Abigail. He whispered something to Wyatt before leaving.

The next match saw Bayley battle Lynch inside of a steel cage. Damage CTRL was out first as the show cut to a break. Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky attacked Lynch before she could get into the cage, giving Bayley an advantage before the match even got started.

All three women locked Lynch in the cage and triple-teamed her until Pearce came out to cut the lock with bolt cutters.

The match ended up not happening, which upset the crowd quite a bit.

Winner: Nobody

Grade: Incomplete

Notable Moments and Observations

The Street Profits and Seth Rollins vs. Imperium

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DX and Kurt Angle came out for a segment, but they were soon joined by Imperium. GUNTHER read them the riot act about honoring the mat. He said DX had to leave unless someone wanted to do something about it.

Nobody in DX felt up to the challenge, but Seth Rollins came out to answer the call. Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins came out to join his team to make this a six-man tag match.

The Visionary and Giovanni Vinci started for their teams. This ended up being a fun but relatively tame six-man match. Everyone had their chance to get in and work for a couple of minutes, but the main showdown was between Rollins and GUNTHER.

The action definitely picked up after the commercial break. We saw some big dives and a few cool double-team spots before Rollins got the win with a Stomp to Vinci.

Winners: Rollins and the Profits

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

Bianca Belair vs. Sonya Deville

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Charlotte Flair came out with an introduction from her father to give a promo, but she was interrupted by Bianca Belair and later by Sonya Deville. This led to Deville and Belair having a singles match.

The match started after a break and The EST took control right away. She taunted Deville a bit before the former MMA fighter was able to turn the tables.

She had the upper hand for the next few minutes, but the Raw women’s champion was able to grab her for the KOD to get the win. A lot of this bout took place during a commercial break, so we missed a lot of action. It was fine for what it was but nothing too memorable.

Winner: Bianca Belair

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

Austin Theory vs. Bobby Lashley (U.S. Title)

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After a quick segment with The Miz and Kevin Owens, Austin Theory made his way out for the main event to battle Bobby Lashley for the United States Championship.

Earlier in the night, MVP approached Lashley again trying to restart their business relationship, so the possibility of MVP or Omos showing up loomed heavy over this bout.

The All Mighty pushed Theory to the corner and immediately started dominating him after the ref started the match. He looked like he was going to have an easy road back to the title at first.

Eventually, the champion was able to turn things in his favor by using a fire extinguisher to spray Lashley in the face. As the show was winding down, Brock Lesnar arrived and came to the ring right after Lashley put Theory through a table.

The Beast hit Lashley with an F5 and then grabbed Theory to do the same thing, but he dropped Theory on top of Lashley so he could get the cover and the win.

This was a decent match, but it was also very predictable how everything would go. The crowd popped for Lesnar so it will be interesting to see who the WWE Universe sides with in their eventual rematch.

Winner: Austin Theory

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations