With WWE champion Drew McIntyre away for the second week after a positive diagnosis of COVID-19, WWE again turned to Randy Orton and Alexa Bliss to survey the heavy history on Raw. For fans who anticipate McIntyre’s return and the continuation of his story with Goldberg, the two men will appear next week on the Raw Go-Home Show, before the Royal Rumble.
For Orton and Bliss, they were both dealing in their own ways with the consequences of Bliss, having ended Raw last week by throwing a fireball at Orton’s face. Orton is now wearing a burn mask and claims to have been disfigured in the attack, while claiming he will dominate and win the Rumble on January 31.
Bliss, however, seems to have been pulled even deeper into the darkness after burning Orton. On Monday, it was Asuka who felt Bliss’s ire, losing his showdown in the main event after Bliss’s transformation in the middle of the match.
CBS Sports was with you all night, bringing you recap and highlights of all the action. Read everything you need to know about ThunderDome.
Orton and Bliss continue the fire saga
Orton opened the show with a promo in a dark room, wearing a mask over his face. He said that the voices in his head have never been louder than since he was burned by an Alexa Bliss fireball. Bliss, he said, interrupted the redirection of his anger at himself for showing compassion by not setting it on fire. Orton also said he blames The Fiend, not Bliss, for what happened to him. Still, Orton said his “sickening distress” would not take him out of the Royal Rumble match and vowed he would burn everyone else’s dreams in the match.
Bliss received Asuka at Alexa’s Playground, talking repeatedly to the empty seat on the swing. Bliss pleaded for the Royal Rumble and became increasingly irritated when an increasingly nervous Asuka said or did anything in the interest of “having fun”. These “offenses” included Asuka trying to throw a dance party, saying “yowie wowie” and trying to sit in the empty chair.
Alexa Bliss def. Asuka via pinfall after hitting Sister Abigail. Bliss smiled when Asuka committed any effective offense, but it was only a matter of minutes before the lights went out at ThunderDome and the show switched to commercial. When the show started again, Bliss was “transformed”, standing in the middle of the ring and showing no emotion as Asuka circled her. Bliss repeatedly blocked and ducked under Asuka’s attacks with ease before dropping her on the screen with a shoulder block. Asuka hit a knee, sending Bliss into the corner, only for Bliss to bridge Bray Wyatt’s back while holding the ropes. Bliss tried to lock the jaw claw, but was hit by a series of blows from Asuka. Bliss even managed to grab Asuka and hit Sister Abigail for the win. Before the show went down, the camera flashed and Bliss turned back and muttered, “Let me in”, while The Fiend’s voice played in the stadium.
The whole angle with Orton, Bliss and Wyatt falls firmly into “love it or hate it” territory. For some, the beats will reach much more than not. For others, the supernatural angle will be a failure. The combination of Bliss and Asuka was solid and fun enough, with Bliss showing a more complete “Demon” transformation into physicality and mannerisms. The real failure of the night was Orton’s promotion, where he appeared disfigured by last week’s fireball after WWE “reported” that he had suffered “minor” or “first degree” burns. The angle keeps pulling Orton away from the things that made him arguably the best fighter in the world in 2020. Hit and miss. Hate or love. Grade: C
What else happened at WWE Raw?
Charlotte Flair def. Peyton Royce by shipment with Figure Eight. Ric Flair arrived at the building with Lacey Evans, who said that their “relationship” involved only learning from the best fighter of all time and they would watch Royce vs. Flair together. The pair left during the match with Evans in one of Ric’s robes. While the distraction almost cost Flair the victory, she came back to finish, refusing to break the contention for a long time after the match. Later, Charlotte said it was time for her to use the lessons she learned from “The dirtiest player in the game”.
The Hurt Business def. Lucha House Party & Riddle via shipping when Bobby Lashley put Gran Metalik in the Hurt lock. Riddle ran backstage at Hurt Business. Everyone exchanged insults until Lashley stepped on Riddle’s sandaled feet. The internal problems of The Hurt Business with Cedric Alexander trying to steal the spotlight continued throughout the fight until a furious Lashley identified himself and finished Gran Metalik. After the match, Riddle hit Lashley with a cheap kick before fleeing.
Mace def. Xavier Woods via pinfall after a tilt-a-whirl hit. Mustafa Ali said the group wanted to break Kofi Kingston’s spirit by destroying Woods. The distraction of retribution has ended.
Shayna Baszler won. Mandy Rose by mail with Kirifuda Clutch. Before the match, Baszler warned everyone at the Royal Rumble that she was coming after them, including tag team partner Nia Jax. After the fight, Dana Brooke gave Jax a drop in Baszler, sending the pair into the ring.
AJ Styles def. Ricochet via pinfall after hitting Styles Clash. Adam Pearce told Ricochet that a victory against Styles would be “a long way” to give him a chance at the Royal Rumble. For the second week in a row, Styles destroyed dreams, catching Ricochet bouncing on the ropes directly to Styles Clash for victory.
The Miz and John Morrison presented The Dirt Sheet. After announcing Goldberg to appear in the segment in the first two hours of the show, The Dirt Sheet started with Miz and Morrison introducing the former world champion just to bring Gillberg (Duane Gill, 61). The segment was interrupted by actor David Krumholtz with a partially exposed stock and a small sword pretending to be Drew McIntyre. This prompted Miz to announce that Goldberg and McIntyre would lose at the Royal Rumble because he would win his Money in the Bank contract at the event and win the WWE championship.
Drew McIntyre did a brief promotion at his home. McIntyre, still in quarantine after his diagnosis of COVID-19, said he would be back on Raw next week and encouraged Goldberg to come and find him there.
Jeff Hardy defeated. Jaxson Ryker by disqualification when Elias interfered in the match. Similar to last week, Ryker and Elias were not on the same page about what “not helping” meant, this time being Ryker honestly not wanting Elias to just help Elias intervene and cause the DQ. Hardy tried to attack after the fight, but Ryker hit him with a Bossman Slam.