WWE Raw Live Scores: Premiere Show of 2023 – WON/F4W

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Date: January 2, 2023 Where: Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee

View summary –

The initial intro video was abruptly interrupted as it cut to a live-action shot of the bloodline (excluding Roman Reigns) causing mayhem around ringside. They threw the security guards aside and flipped onto the announcement table.

Kevin Owens walked in with a mic but before he could say anything Sami Zayn told him that tonight was a hostile takeover by the Bloodline and he wanted everyone to know it was Owens’ fault.

Owens forgot what he wanted to say because he just wanted to punch Zayn in the face. Owens went down the aisle but was cut off by Adam Pearce and six security guards.

Pierce said he has let the Bloodline, including Roman Reigns, run roughshod over for too long but that will end tonight. Pearce sent some guards into the ring to escort Bloodline from the building but Solo Sikoa got rid of them.

Owens ran into the ring but Bloodline put the boots on him before several members of the locker room (The Straight Profits, Luke Gallows, Shelton Benjamin, Cedric Alexander, Elias and Mustafa Ali) ran to remove Bloodline from the ring.

As Bloodline is leaving through the crowd, Pierce tells them he’s been working on them because they’re all going to have matches tonight.

********

Behind the scenes, Bianca Belair told Byron Saxton that her relationship with Alexa Bliss was irreparable and would show Bliss why she was the hero.

After a break, everyone who had run out earlier were yelling at Pierce because they wanted to fight the bloodline. Montez Ford spoke first but Elias convinced Pierce to give him a match against Sequoia for what Sequoia had done to him a few weeks earlier. Pierce agreed and made it a street fight. He put the rest of Bloodline into a six-man tag team match against Owens and the Street Profits.

(Dolph Ziggler was with the group but I don’t think he ran out earlier, so he takes credit for everyone else’s work.)

The Hardy musician was shown at ringside.

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Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair defeated Alexa Bliss by disqualification (17:05)

Short summary: Bliss lost her mind, attacked the referee, and put Belair down.

Belair dominated before and after an early commercial break until Bliss dodged a charge and Belair went first on the circuit. Bliss had control until Belair showed her strength and hit an impressive header suplex.

Belair hit three consecutive body blows (and had to yell at Bliss to “get up” mid-sequence) and hit the Moon (after having to adjust because Bliss was out of position). Bliss hit a guard off the apron which broke another. (Bliss had a bloody nose, possibly due to the extreme difficulty of tug-of-war.)

Bliss caught the chinlock but Belair fought back and hit the knockdown. Belair hit Bliss in the corner but Bliss knocked her out of the ring on her cue.

Bliss becomes distracted by a “fan” wearing an Uncle Howdy mask in the front row. Belair returned to the ring and went on top but was stopped upon seeing another fan in the same mask.

The screen flashed the Bray Wyatt logo and the crowd erupted. Suddenly freaking out, Bliss tackled the referee and punched him away. She also went to Belair and threw her down the steel stairs. Bliss gave Belair two DDTs on the steel steps before he left. (Not sure if it was real or not, but Belair had blood on her chin.)

One of the coaches checked on Belair as they fetched a stretcher before a break.

During the break, Belair refused to use a stretcher and was instead assisted by Montez Ford.

(Because the referee was attacked, the bell never rang to officially stop the bout. Corey Graves said the bout ended via DQ.)

********

Cathy Kelly interviewed The Austin Theory. He said that 2023 would be his year and that Seth Rollins was the past. Theory said he outlasted Rollins every step of the way and that his reign with the US title was just beginning.

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Elias wanted to play a song, but Sekoua prevented him from entering.

Music City Street Fight: Solo Sikoa beat Elias (14:26)

They beat each other with different musical instruments until Sekoua gave Elias a Samoan drop for two. Elias hit Sikoa with a two-person electric keyboard before hitting Sikoa with a Spinning Solo. Sikoa missed the Stinger splash so Elias hit him with a tambourine, cascading Stinger spray and a spinebuster.

[SECOND HOUR]

Hardy (the musician) hands Elias a guitar but Sekua taunts him before he can use it. Hardy jumped the barricade and hit Sekoa from behind with the guitar. The guitar exploded, but Sekoa didn’t sell it. Hardy begged and let go of the ring as Sekowa stared at him.

Elias was hit by a running kick on his knee and climbed to the top but was knocked out by Sekoua with a Samoan Spike shot mid air. Sikoa gave Elias Uranage off the apron over the piano and pinned him for the win.

(This match has been around for a very long time but Sequa didn’t sell. The guitar pick was great and the piano finish was great.)

********

Six-Man Tag Match: Sami Zayn & The Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated The Street Profits & Kevin Owens (11:47)

They tried to tell a story that Montez Ford was distracted because he was worried about Bianca Belair. Owens tried to tag Ford at one point, but he didn’t notice or care enough to tag him, so Bloodline took over.

Jimmy Uso beat Dawkins off the battlefield before Owens beat Jimmy. Ford was still in his own world as Owens went to get a sign so Owens slapped him for pointing it out. Ford fired and hit Zayn and Jimmy with a crossbody before giving Zayn a standing two-person jump. Ford gave Zane a frog splash but Jey Uso broke cover.

Dawkins tackled Jay while Ford finished off Jimmy and Sami with a dive. Sekoa stormed through the crowd and kicked Dawkins out. Owens went after Sequoia but G saved him by superhitting Owens.

Ford knocked Jimmy off the apron but the distraction allowed Zayn to hit a Helluva Kick for the win.

– Bloodline was about to go on the offensive after the match, but Sheamus and Drew McIntyre ran through the crowd and pinned them.

********

They connected the Royal Rumble and announced the Pitch Black match between Bray Wyatt and L.A. Knight.

They also announced AJ Styles’ ankle injury and wished him well.

Dexter Lumis defeated Chad Gable (w/ Otis) (4:10)

Otis attempted to attack Lumis outside the ring, which he pulled away and Otis hit the ring post. Gable tried the cradle as Luomis returned to the ring but Luomis countered into the cradle for the win.

(Gable looked good at the match. The crowd was completely silent for that.)

********

They will air a series of video packages promoting Cody Rhodes’ return. The first video highlighted his return to last year’s WrestleMania.

Bayley, Dakota Kai, and IYO SKY are shown walking from behind. (MVP, Benjamin, and Alexander can be seen in the background talking to Pearce.)

Damage CTRL / Becky Lynch

Damage entered CTRL and Bayley bragged about his victory over Becky Lynch until Lynch interrupted.

Lynch said that Bayley talks as if she has reinvented the wheel but she was really on a hamster wheel saying the same things over and over. Lynch called Bailey to Karen who always needed someone else’s help. Lynch said Kay and Sky were Bayley’s henchmen but she realized it was the other way around and it was only a matter of time before they turned on her.

Losing Lynch to Bayley won’t make her complain that it will make her better. Lynch challenged Bayley to a match. Bayley laughed it off and instead suggested a tag match with Kai and SKY against Lynch and his partner. Lynch didn’t have her phone to call anyone but didn’t care and offered to fight them off on her own.

[THIRD HOUR]

Non-title match: Tag Team Champions Dakota Kai and IYO Sky (w/ Bayley) beat Becky Lynch and Michin (13:45)

The match started with Lynch alone but they never officially called it a handicap match. About six minutes later, while the champions were working on Lynch, Mission (Mia Yim) ran up and jumped on the apron. Lynch tagged her in and she ran like a frenzy.

They repeatedly referred to Yim as “Michin” so it seems they changed that name.

Yim hit the dive but Damage CTRL was working on it after a break. Lynch tagged in and punched Kai before hurling SKY into the barricade. Lynch hit Kai with a two-man missile kick. Lynch and Mission Kai gave a double superplex but Sky broke cover.

Yim lifted Kai with the leg scissors but Bayley put Kai’s foot on the rope to break cover. Lynch went after Bayley as he gave Michin Kai an eating defeat. However, as Michin fell, SKY hit a jumping moonshine for the win.

– Lynch chased Sky out of the ring and stunned for the loss. (Maybe because she had a new partner who ran out in the middle of the match and was still hanging on).

********

Musician Jimmy Allen was shown at ringside.

Saxton ran into Alexa Bliss and asked her about losing control earlier. Bliss said, “I lost control? No, I got control of Bianca’s headspace. She knows now that the only threat is really me, and that the Raw Women’s Championship actually belongs to me.”

********

They showed a video of Dominic Mysterio and Rhea Ripley crashing Rey’s Christmas Eve party with Dom arrested.

This was followed by a funny Dom show where he talks about how he had a hard time and prison changed him. that was awesome.

********

There was a Bronson Reed video package.

Austin Theory beat Seth Rollins to retain the United States Championship (23:36)

This went through two periods with Rollins dominating through the first and theoretical dominating the second. Rollins came back after the second break, hitting a suicide dunk. The theory disputed the pedigree but Rollins hit the back for a two.

Rollins hit a Super Arrow and went to move into a Falcon Arrow but Theory overpowered him and hit him with a neckbreaker for two. They exchanged strikes until the two men fell. They got up and traded blows again until Rollins hit successive elbow strikes. Rollins went to the curb but his knee slipped and he was unable to hit the move.

Theory left the ring, grabbed his belt and was about to leave but Rollins flew in after him. Theory attempted to hit him with the title belt but Rollins delivered a superkick and frog splash to get close to him.

The theory prompted Rollins to accidentally tip the referee and the referee went down. Rollins hit the pedigree and ran the second op to count up the fall but the theory kicked in.

The theory almost drove Rollins to the new referee, but the ref was protecting himself. As the referee looked away, Theory gave Rollins a low blow. Theory followed with a chop and A-Town Down to win by pinfall.

It ended up being a solid game, especially the last ten minutes. The crowd was pretty much quiet all night but they loved Rollins and really wanted to see him win the title.

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