The Floor Seat

‘Monday Night Raw’ (1/18/21) Results And Review: Goldberg Appears, Alexa Bliss Vs. Asuka, And More

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Alan Draper
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Monday Night Raw

Monday Night Raw took place inside the WWE ThunderDome at Tropicana Field in St. Petersberg Florida with virtual fans in attendance. One of the matches scheduled was Alexa Bliss taking on the Raw Women’s Champion Asuka, plus an update on the WWE Champion Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton after the attack by Alexa Bliss last week.

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The show kicked off with Randy Orton’s voice talking about playing with fire. He appeared with a mask on saying the voices are getting louder. He talked about almost burning Alexa Bliss on Raw three weeks ago. He then talked about Alexa throwing the fireball at his face last week. he said he hasn’t been able to sleep because all he sees is the fire that thrown at his face. He said there is no compassion left in his body and he wears the mask to shield everyone from the horror. He said he considers himself lucky with first degree burns and he doesn’t blame her but blames The Fiend. He claims that they are stopping him from achieving his goal to win the Royal Rumble as they show his Rumble victory from 2009. He said it will not stop him from winning the Rumble this year. He said he enjoys the pain and everyone can thank The Fiend when he burns their WrestleMania dreams to ashes. He lit the match and blew it out.

They showed Lacey Evans and Ric Flair arriving to the ThunderDome. Charly Caruso interviewed them asking about the relationship. Lacey said it is beneath Charly to ask about it and he was living up to his name as the Nature Boy. She said she is learning from him and they will watch Peyton Royce defeat Charlotte.

Peyton Royce attacked Charlotte before the match. The two brawled and referee’s try to separate them. Charlotte got in the ring and the match began.

Charlotte Flair Defeated Peyton Royce

Charlotte wouldn’t let go of the hold for a bit and finally let Peyton go.

The Hurt Business confront Riddle backstage. Riddle admired how they dress and calls Bobby Lashley Slobby Bobby. Lashley tells Riddle that he loves the flip flops but they are bad for his feet and stomped on his foot. Lashley left and Riddle says he will kick his ass.

Lucha House Party asked Riddle if he’ll be alright for his match. Riddle said he’ll tap it up and be good for their match later on.

Exclusive footage was shown of Mustafa Ali saying he’ll break Kofi Kingston’s spirit by hurting the ones he cares about over and over. He said he hopes Kofi misses WrestleMania so he could feel how he felt.

Mace Defeated Xavier Woods

Ali talks to the camera and says Retribution says to get well soon.

Asuka was interviewed about going into Alexa’s playground and what to expect. Asuka said she doesn’t know. She said she’ll expect Alexa’s dark side.

Alexa Bliss came out to the ring for Alexa’s Playground. She sat on her swing. She welcomed everyone to her playground and she just wanted to talk to Randy last week but things got heated. She tells Randy if he needs sunblock he should let her know. She introduces Asuka as her guest. Asuka came out and came into the playground. Asuka was about to sit on the swing but Alexa stopped her and asked if the invisible person sitting on the swing was okay. She tells Asuka that she will be in the Royal Rumble match. Asuka wishes her luck. She brings up the possibility of facing her at WrestleMania. Asuka said she is a big fan of hers and Alexa thanks her. Asuka says Yowie Wowie and that pissed Alexa off. Asuka played and danced to her music until Alexa stopped it. Alexa said it’s so cold with The Fiend not being here. Asuka said The Fiend is still here to make her feel better. Alexa tells her to not say his name. Asuka leaves the ring as she sees Alexa waving to the rocking horse that is rocking. Alexa sits on the horse as her music plays.

Miz and Morrison were interviewed backstage about what is in store for Goldberg on The Dirt Sheet. Miz said no spoilers, she will have to tune in but it will be full of controversy.

Shayna Baszler talked backstage about choking out Mandy Rose and she will do the same thing to everyone in the Rumble including Nia Jax. Nia gets pissed about it and the two argue on their way to the ring.

WWE Hall Of Famer Jeff Jarrett appeared on the screen talking about Goldberg and Drew McIntyre. He said he predicts Goldberg will walk out of the Rumble as the new WWE Champion.

Shayna Baszler Defeated Mandy Rose

Shayna and Nia argued outside the ring until Dana Brooke kicked Nia into Shayna and into the post.

Charly Caruso interviewed Shayna and Nia who were arguing. She tells them they are not on the same page. Nia said nobody is getting along around here. Shayna points out they should get their rematch for the tag team titles. Nia said that’s a good idea and they leave.

Charlotte was interviewed about Lacey Evans trying to distract her earlier. She said she is sick of people telling her that she is living off her father’s name and maybe she needs to rethink things. She said Lacey can wear her father’s robe but won’t wear her crown.

Adam Pearce was talking to Ricochet backstage motivating him to win his match to enter the Royal Rumble. Ricochet appreciates the opportunity. AJ Styles interrupted saying that Pearce ran from his opportunity for the Universal title and Ricochet will lose the match and his dignity. Ricochet says that AJ has amnesia and he got embarrassed at TLC. AJ claimed it was Miz’s fault. Ricochet says he is going out there to prove that he belongs in the Royal Rumble match. AJ says he doesn’t like Pearce anymore which means Omos doesn’t like him. Omos gives Pearce a deadly stare.

AJ Styles Defeated Ricochet

The Miz and John Morrison were in the ring for The Dirt Sheet. They welcome everyone to the show and welcome Goldberg as their biggest guest in history. Goldberg’s music hit but Gillberg came out to the ring. Miz asks Gillberg what he is doing to prepare for Drew. Gillberg said he is banging his head into the wall and he has fire coming out of his ass. He flips over the chair but then Drew McIntyre’s music hit. A fat man dressed as Drew McIntyre with a mini sword came out to the ring. They ask Drew what he is doing here and the fake Drew said he is going to kick Gillberg’s ass back to 1998. Miz and Morrison try to get his accent right but Miz flipped out over casting him as Drew. Gillberg did the scream at them but they tell Gillberg to shut up. Miz and Morrison said they will both lose at the Rumble and Miz will cash in Money In The Bank contract. Miz said he is the future WWE Champion.

The Hurt Business Defeated Riddle and Lucha House Party

Riddle attacked them from behind after the match and dodged out of the ring.

Elias and Jaxson Ryker were talking backstage. Elias tells him last week that he didn’t mean it when he said don’t get involved. Ryker apologized and he will finish what he started and beat Jeff Hardy until he accepts the Universal Truth.

Drew McIntyre was on the screen saying he is feeling stronger than ever. He calls Miz and Morrison clowns and are fitting to be a part of a circus. Drew said he respects Goldberg but he will have the same intensity as Goldberg at the Royal Rumble. He said he wants Goldberg at his very best and next week he will back.

Jeff Hardy Defeated Jaxson Ryker by DQ

Ryker and Elias argued about Elias interfering. Hardy attacked Ryker and Elias but Ryker ended up catching Hardy with a side slam.

The lights went out during the Alexa Bliss and Asuka match. When they came back from commercial, Alexa had a different look on her face.

Alexa Bliss Defeated Asuka

The show goes off the air with Alexa transforming back into what she was before the match and mouths the words “Let Me In.”

Overall Review: This was another average episode where it wasn’t all too bad but it was still pretty lackluster. I did like that it was a little more promo heavy than match heavy but when they did the matches they were really stretching them out longer than they needed to be. No doubt the match of the night had to be Ricochet and AJ Styles. Even though Ricochet lost and did not earn an opportunity to be in the Rumble match, I’m sure they’ll just put him in somehow. I also liked how they opened the show differently with Randy Orton in a video promo instead of coming out to the ring and they did with this dark theme to it. The Dirt Sheet segment, I get what they were trying to do and make fun of Goldberg and Drew McIntyre but it didn’t come off as entertaining. Yeah it was fun seeing Gillberg back but the segment just didn’t entertain me the way it was designed to. Alexa and Asuka segment and their match was pretty good. I love Alexa being the way her character is right now and she didn’t have a bad match against Asuka but I don’t think it was strong enough for a Raw main event. The match with Charlotte and Peyton Royce in the beginning of the show shouldn’t have been as long as it did but this was too stretch out 20 minutes. The whole thing with Lacey Evans and Ric Flair is still pretty interesting but they did the usual distraction of Charlotte with Ric’s music and Lacey coming out with Ric’s robe on and it came off as cheesy. I understand they want to get inside Charlotte’s head but then why doesn’t just try to get on the apron and distract Charlotte that way with the robe on. That’s just the one difference I would’ve done with that.

Grade: 5/10

 

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Alan Draper

Alan is a vastly experienced sports and gambling writer who is the Chief Editor of The Sports Daily.
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Alan Draper

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Alan is a vastly experienced sports and gambling writer who is the Chief Editor of The Sports Daily.
View All Posts By Alan Draper
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