Alexa Bliss talks to General Manager Kurt Angle about her match with Asuka, but Angle wants to start tonight with a WrestleMania-worthy match. Alexa Bliss does not want the match, but Angle tells her to settle her problems with Asuka in the ring. Angle then tells her to be lucky the match is not for the Raw Women's title...yet.
General Manager Kurt Angle shows up to start tonight's show. Angle says 2017 was a great year, especially as Raw General Manager, and promises 2018 will be even greater. Raw will celebrate its 25th anniversary in three weeks, and the following Sunday is Royal Rumble. John Cena will officially be in the Men's Royal Rumble Match. He mentions that there will be a Women's Royal Rumble Match, and the Women's match will have the same rules as the men's match, right down to having 30 participants and the winner going for their brand's women's title. Suddenly, Sheamus and Cesaro show up. Sheamus tells Angle to forget about Royal Rumble and focus on what happened to them in last week's main event, as he says he and Cesaro were robbed of the Raw tag team titles. He says Angle gave a one-off team a tag team title, while Cesaro accuses Angle of favoritism by "gifting" Jason Jordan a title shot and Seth Rollins as a tag team partner. He also says what Angle did after the match was too much. After seeing the finish of last week's tag team title match, Sheamus says the finish makes his sick, and he also accuses Angle of favoritism. Cesaro demands they have their tag team title rematch tonight. Angle says they will get it when he says so. Suddenly, Jason Jordan shows up. Jordan says if he did not deserve a shot at the tag team titles, then what is he doing with one-half of them? He says Angle does not understand the first thing about favoritism, and says he earned a title shot based on his track record. He says he and Rollins earned the titles, and if Cesaro keeps talking, he'll be taking a trip to the dentist. Angle stops the argument before it gets worse, saying if they want to settle their differences, they'll do it right now. Suddenly, Seth Rollins shows up. Rollins says they may be tag team champs and partners, but Jordan still has a lot to learn. He tells Jordan that Sheamus and Cesaro wanted him outnumbered, and that does them no favors as a team. He tells Jordan to stop being self-absorbed and focus on the team, as what affects Jordan also affects him. Seth says he is out here because Jordan had to defend his father. He will be in his corner, but he is only really here to watch him lose. Suddenly, Cesaro shoves Jordan as soon as he turns his back. Jordan vs. Cesaro is next.
Jason Jordan beats Cesaro after Seth Rollins charges at Sheamus at ringside for hitting Jordan with a cheap shot. Jordan raises Seth's hand after the match.
Renee Young interviews Roman Reigns. He says Samoa Joe got what he deserved for getting involved in things and attacking Dean Ambrose. He says Joe is a punk who does not deserve the Intercontinental Championship, and says tonight will be ugly. He plans to stay within the rules...he hopes.
Sasha Banks says she will win the Women's Royal Rumble Match and win the Raw Women's title.
Despite the distraction from Dana Brooke, Bray Wyatt beats Apollo Crews. Matt Hardy then shows up on the TitanTron. He says he has transformed the Fireflies into Woken Warriors, and he will convert his darkness into light. He may be the Eater or Worlds, but he will not escape his woken wisdom for he is everywhere. He will then delete Bray Wyatt when Sister Abigail's powers are no more. Hardy then splits into multiple images of himself before returning back to one, then he disappears.
Alexa Bliss finds Nia Jax backstage, but Nia Jax is worried about Enzo Amore. Alexa tells her she needs her right now, but Enzo Amore texts again. Alexa tells Nia Jax it's either her or Enzo. Nia says her chicken soup is getting cold, and she leaves. Alexa Bliss is irritated.
Asuka beats Alexa Bliss with the Cross Arm Breaker.
We see a video package of the events culminating into the Intercontinental title match between Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns.
Renee Young interviews Samoa Joe. Joe says he will beat Roman Reigns just like he has all the other times they have gotten into the ring, as he owns, has beaten and has exposed Roman, and says because of him, The Shield will never be champions together. He brings up injuring Dean Ambrose by calling him a "stay at home husband," much to the chagrin of Renee, and says Roman Reigns is the kind of person to get himself disqualified. When he takes the Intercontinental title, it may be Roman's yard, but Roman lives in his world.
Bayley plans to start 2018 with a bang by winning the Women's Royal Rumble Match and hugging her way to WrestleMania.
Braun Strowman beats Rhyno. During the match, Heath Slater gets on the apron, and Braun grabs a microphone. He gives him two options: stand on the floor and shut up, or get in the ring and "get these hands like your partner." Slater decides to exercise the second option. Both men go after Braun at the same time, but Braun easily overpowers them. After the match, Slater tries to make the save for Rhyno, but Slater falls victim to a running powerslam. Rhyno then falls victim to a second running powerslam, as does Slater. Rhyno then tries to get up, and he and Slater both get a third powerslam.
Roman Reigns is in the locker room when Seth Rollins meets up with him. Rollins has heard what Samoa Joe said, and wants to make sure he is keeping his cool. Roman says he is, and says Joe is a joke. Roman says there are a lot of things in world you can do, but one of them is not messing with Dean Ambrose, who he hopes will be watching tonight. Jason Jordan shows up and says if Sheamus and Cesaro show up, he and Seth will have his back. Jordan then jokingly says "believe that," then leaves.
We look back on D-Generation X's (Triple H, Chyna, X-Pac, "Road Dogg" Jesse James, "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn) invasion of WCW Monday Nitro on April 27, 1998.
Backstage, Braun Strowman runs into Kane. Kane tells Braun that he just wants to talk about Brock Lesnar, whom Braun - but not he - has faced. He proposes an alliance to beat The Beast. Braun doesn't care about him or his plan, as he is the only alpha monster here. When he beats Braun, he will do it on his own and on his own terms.
General Manager Kurt Angle is on the phone when Finn Balor shows up. Finn says that if he has to beat 29 other men to get the Universal title back, then he will enter the Men's Royal Rumble match and do just that. As for tonight's match, Finn Balor has some partners against Elias and The Miztourage (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel) in the form of Gallows & Anderson (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson). He has stood both with and against them in the past, and it is better to have them on his side. He then asks that if it were not them, who else would be his tag team partners aside from a couple of nerds?
Roman Reigns retains the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Samoa Joe after Joe nearly gets Roman disqualified after pushing Roman into referee John Cone, who was the referee the last time Roman and Joe squared off in the ring. Afterwards, Joe goes for a tackle into the corner, and Roman is forced to push John Cone out of the way to keep him from getting hurt. (Had Roman Reigns gotten disqualified in this match, the Intercontinental Championship would have changed hands.)
Backstage, General Manager Kurt Angle has been watching the match backstage. Suddenly, Paul Heyman shows up. Heyman says he can help Angle, as there is a conspiracy going on under his watch. If Kane and Braun gang up on Brock Lesnar, Lesnar will be proactive, not reactive. Heyman goes on to say that 2018 will be "The Year of the Beast."
Paige says Absolution (Paige, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville) ended 2017 by putting the Raw Women's Division on notice. They will start 2018 with a warning, as they will be winning the Women's Royal Rumble.
Tomorrow night on 205 Live: Hideo Itami vs. "Gentleman" Jack Gallagher!
Before the next match, Drew Gulak and Ariya Daivari send a message from Enzo Amore. We learn that Enzo has the flu, and he will not be defending the WWE Cruiserweight Championship tonight. Enzo says that he would have wiped the floor with Cedric Alexander, and that he would have told him exactly what he thought of him. Cedric Alexander then shows up. Cedric says he showed up expecting a title match and competition, but since Enzo is sick, he wants to know who will face him between Gulak and Daivari. Gulak and Daivari talk between each other, and they challenge Cedric to a tag team match where Cedric picks his tag team partner. Daivari says Cedric doesn't have too many friends, and wishes Cedric luck on someone coming out. Suddenly, Goldust shows up. Goldust tells Gulak and Daivari that he has friends in low places, but none are lower than them. He then offers Cedric assistance, and Cedric obliges.
Cedric Alexander and Goldust beat The 'Zo Train (Drew Gulak and Ariya Daivari).
Before the next match, Elias is in the center of the ring. He plays guitar, then says that WWE stands for "Walk With Elias," which means WWE Monday Night Raw is his show and the WWE Universe is his universe. He then asks who wants to walk with him. After he goes on to win the Men's Royal Rumble, he will main event WrestleMania and give the performance of a lifetime. As far as tonight goes, he spent the new year with some talented artists, and tonight he teams with two talented musicians in The Miztourage. Bo and Axel show up with a cowbell and bells, respectively. Elias says that tonight, they will help him ring in the new year. They then dedicate the next song to The Miz, who will return to Raw next week. Bo and Axel then sing "Auld Lang Syne" out of tune as Elias plays guitar. Elias then says he will take it from here, then proceeds to verbally trash Miami, Florida. Elias' song is then interrupted by Gallows & Anderson.
Finn Balor and Gallows & Anderson (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) beat Elias and The Miztourage (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel).
The Miz returns to Raw next week!
Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman show up. Heyman says WWE's new year's resolution is to continue to stack the deck against his client, Brock Lesnar. He says that this is the only reason that Lesnar has to defend the WWE Universal Championship against multiple opponents, as back then, Lesnar only defended in one-on-one matches. Heyman mentions that Brock Lesnar does not even need to be pinned at Royal Rumble for Braun Strowman or Kane to win the title, and says nobody will beat Brock Lesnar as he will successfully defend at Royal Rumble. Heyman then goes on to proclaim that regardless of how you stack the deck against Lesnar, Lesnar will defeat Braun Strowman, Kane and even all 30 participants in the Men's Royal Rumble Match, either collectively or individually. He then says that Lesnar fears no challenge, challenger, or challengers, and that he does not believe in monsters or that Kane is the devil's favorite, as he has had a match with "the man downstairs" and his favorite is really Lesnar. Before Heyman and Lesnar can leave, however, Kane shows up. Lesnar tries to go toe-to-toe with Kane, but he is immediately choke slammed in the middle of the ring. Kane leaves, then Brock Lesnar sits up Undertaker style. Lesnar clotheslines Kane out of the ring, then the locker room shows up to separate both men.
Here are the top 10 moments from tonight's show!
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