WWE: Monday Night RAW was LIVE from The Resch Center in Green Bay, WI on 2/27/17!
The program starts off with Goldberg standing in the ring as he’s being graced with a massive “Goldberg” chant from the live crowd in Green Bay. He says last week, the Universal Champion, Kevin Owens, came out last week and did what he does best and that’s talk. He says although he’s in a good mood, he’s not gonna do that. He is six days out from becoming the new Universal Champion. He says he’s never made a promise he didn’t follow through with. He says next Sunday it will be a spear, a jackhammer and a new champ. He then says he will take the title into Wrestlemania to face Brock Lesnar. He says as sure as he is standing here, he promises us, his wife, his son and KO that he will deliver on the promise and he’ll see him Sunday. We hear the music of the champ and out comes Owens. Owens is dressed to the nines in an Oscar-worthy suit. He’s glad that Goldberg is in a good mood, but he’s glad Bill is here so that he can tell him how he really thinks. He says when he got to the WWE, he promised himself that he’d grab the company by the throat and make them see what he’s all about. He beat John Cena on his first night. He beat Ambrose, AJ Styles, Rollins, “The Guy” Roman Reigns and many others. He says he isn’t even going to bring up what he did to his former best friend, Chris Jericho. He says no matter how loud the sheep chant his name, Bill is next. He’s not telling him in a fun little way. He’s only next in the evolution of his progression as the Universal Champ. Goldberg says that speech was moving, but all it did was tick him off. So why wait for Sunday? KO says he doesn’t speak neanderthal, but he assumes Bill is asking for a fight? He teases a potential street fight but then backs away when he realizes he’s in Green Bay. KO says after he beats Goldberg Sunday, the chants will die. Goldberg plays to the crowd.
We then find out that later tonight, Seth Rollins will be in the ring live for an interview about his future. We then see the New Day backstage giving t-shirts to a couple of locals and we hear that they’ll be in action next.
The New Day defeat Rusev and Jinder Mahal via pinfall after a bridging pin by Woods on Mahal. The Shining Stars make their way to the ring after more ice cream talk only to find out that they’ll be in action later against the Big Show. Jinder Mahal and Rusev were actually the opponents of the New Day, which is revealed via a red envelope, poking fun at the horrors of last night’s Oscars broadcast which caused a bunch of confusion between treasured films in “La La Land” and “Moonlight”, the latter winning best picture after a goof from Warren Beatty and Faye Duneway, which turned out later to be revealed as a goof from the Academy. The action gets underway, and we have an enjoyable match pitting Big E. and Xavier Woods against “Handsome” Rusev and “Hardbody” Mahal. As Kofi Kingston gets into a scuffle with Lana and Rusev outside the ring, it allows Woods to roll up Mahal with a bridging pin
Enzo Amore and Big Cass are backstage after the break talking about winning the tag team titles and celebrating with the ladies. We get some of their usual entertaining schtick and then we pan to Sheamus and Cesaro who are talking about getting an opportunity to get back at the tag titles. Samoa Joe walks into the shot and he mocks Cesaro for desperately trying to get over still, after all these years. He calls him jealous because he’s already seen a measure of success and has worn gold recently. Cesaro says Joe wears the brass ring around his neck carring Triple H’s jock strap. Joe grins and walks away. Sheamus says he wants to kick that guy’s head off.
We then head to Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon. Foley’s shirt is criminal for the record, but it’s classic Foley. They are talking about Triple H and Steph says while Triple H gets stronger every year, Foley gets weaker. She says not only does Foley not measure up to her expectations, but he doesn’t measure up to his own. She says he gets more feeble and more pathetic each week. She is sorry that she put him in the GM position, and she’s sorry that the man who used to stand for so much, can barely stand at all. It could be a way to write Foley off TV sooner, rather than later, as he’ll be having major hip surgery and he’ll be unable to travel comfortably for months to come. We’ll see how it plays out.
Akira Tozawa defeats Noam Dar via pinfall with a snap German suplex. Tozawa heads to the ring for singles action, but after he gets to the ring, we get a clip of THE Brian Kendrick teaching Tozawa lessons on respect. Kendrick is eerily creepy and awesome as he usually is. He says he hopes that Tozawa is learning his lesson and we head back to the ring for Tozawa and Noam Dar’s bout. Austin Aries is on commentary again this week. It is announced that during the Fastlane pre-show next Sunday, we’ll have tag team action featuring Kendrick and Dar against Tozawa and “The Outlandish” Rich Swann. I can get down with that, should be a fine match is given some time. Tozawa gets the offense going with his trademark yelps and primal screams and he nails a crisp running senton, the crowd behind him. Tozawa nailed a topei suicida with no arm assistance, which was nuts and he caught Dar with the snap german for the victory. After the contest, Tozawa is savagely attacked by Kendrick, teaching the rising talent another “lesson” this evening from Green Bay.
We see a graphic after the contest where we find out that after the break, we’ll have tag team action pitting women’s champion Bayley, along with “The Boss” Sasha Banks, against Charlotte and Dana Brooke. Samoa Joe and Mick Foley are having a conversation backstage after the break where Joe mocks Foley looking sad. Foley calls Joe a puppet and Joe says he’s anything but. Foley says he jumps when Triple H tells him too, that makes him a puppet. Foley says that since he’s still General Manager, he’s putting Joe in singles action against Cesaro tonight in Green Bay! Good stuff. They head to the ring for the tag match.
Nia Jax and Charlotte defeat Sasha Banks and Bayley via pinfall after Jax hit a guillotine leg drop on Bayley. Charlotte gets on the mic before the match and challenges Bayley’s integrity. She says that Bayley is greedy and has been playing all of the fans. Charlotte says Bayley deserved an Oscar last night. Charlotte says this is what Bayley, being normal like the crowd, had wanted this her entire life and she didn’t care that she got help from Sasha, that was good enough for “Just Bayley”. Charlotte says she’s destined to be a one hit wonder. She names several including the cast of “Twilight” and the Baha Men. She then trashes Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers without even naming him. Bayley interrupts her, says a few words about being the champ herself. Sasha Banks makes her way down and trashes Charlotte and her “stupid face” for a short time as they have a back and forth, and finally, the action is set to get underway when Charlotte pulls the ole’ M. Night swerve and says that Dana isn’t her partner tonight, this woman is…NIA JAX! The match begins after the break and the faces work over Charlotte pretty heavily for most of the contest including opening Charlotte up just below the eye. That looked painful. Nia gets the tag and clears the ring of Sasha, dumping Bayley over and hitting the leg drop for the victory.
Mick Foley is backstage with the impressive Braun Strowman. Mick says he doesn’t have competition for Braun tonight, but Strowman simply wants a contract signing. He says he’s gotten the best of Roman the past few weeks, so he doesn’t want the “Big Dog” to get scared off and bow out of Sunday’s match. He simply wants dry ink on paper. Foley agrees to set that up and then we learn that up next, the action continues with singles action between Big Cass and Luke Gallows before the tag title match featuring both teams on Sunday.
Big Cass defeats Luke Gallows via pinfall with a running boot. Good match between the big man, mainly carried by the veteran Gallows. Cass seems to get better with each week, but he’s still gotta get the timing right on many of his power moves. Karl Anderson ran down to get involved and he tried to put Enzo into the steel ring steps, but it was countered by the scrappy Amore and the distraction was enough to allow Cass ample time to hit the boot for the big victory. The challengers gather needed momentum heading into the title match Sunday. They hype Fastlane and give us the rundown after the contest.
Sheamus defeats Titus O’Neil via pinfall with the Brogue Kick. They show a pre-match clip where Titus said that after Joe gets done destroying Cesaro later, he’ll need a new partner. Sheamus walks away and Titus got offended which led to Titus getting pushed over a catering table. Titus beat down Sheamus before the match, but the moment the bell rang, Sheamus nailed the Brogue Kick and got the W lightning quick. The Corey Graves interview with Seth Rollins is slated to take place after the break.
Before the interview kicks off, we see the clip where Seth Rollins got injured at the hands of the debuting Samoa Joe after Triple H called him out. You see where Seth failed to allow himself to fall right on the submission application and the knee buckled. Corey Graves introduces “The Architect” and he comes out to a grand reaction. He is supporting himself with a lone crutch, the knee still heavily braced after major surgery. Michael Cole asks where Seth will be in thirty four nights. He makes his way up the ring steps and into the ring, where Graves is waiting for the interview. Seth starts out by answering the obvious question and he says the rehab has been intense and the torn MCL was worse than he initially thought. Corey asks where his head is at. Seth says that it’s tricky, and to be honest, it sucks. Seth says that maybe he deserved this. The crowd boos that. Two years ago, Seth left Wrestlemania holding the title over his head and he says he looked himself in the mirror and asks if the sacrifice was worth it. A random “CM Punk” chant breaks out. Come on folks, this is Rollins, not some jabronie. Seth feels that it’s his fault and it’s time to stop playing the blame game. Corey asks if he’s gonna be at ‘Mania after what Joe and Triple H did to him? Seth starts to talk and he gets emotional. He says that it’s not looking great. He says he doesn’t think the doctors are gonna clear him in time for ‘Mania. We hear the tremendous vocals of the late great Lemmy Kilmeister and the “Cerebral Assassin” heads out, custom fitted and he’s got a live mic. He mocks Seth by calling him “Seth Freakin’ Rollins” and he says it’s good to see him. He says the last time he saw him, he didn’t think he’d ever see him again. Samoa Joe is at his side, and HHH asks if Seth knows Joe. Savage. Triple H says Seth will NOT be at ‘Mania. He says for Seth not to listen to the fans, and despite what the fans might say, it’s in his best interest to not show up. Triple H says that the injury is Seth’s own fault. He says he made him the biggest star the fans had seen for quite some time. He made him “the man”. Triple H says that Seth got what was coming to him, he used him up and he spit him out. That’s life, man up and get over it. He says Seth made good money along the way and he once called him “the future”. Now he’s “the past”, and he’s washed up, beat up and worthless. He tells Seth to salvage what little bit is left and Triple H tells Seth to make the right decision. Do NOT come to Wrestlemania. He’s done playing games and he’s done warning him. He promises, no he swears to Seth, if he shows up at ‘Mania, it’ll be the last thing he does in a WWE ring. Seth says he told Steph that he’s got nothing left to lose and he’ll be there. If Triple H shows up, it’ll be the last thing he does! Seth’s music plays and both Triple H and Joe take their leave. Seth stands tall, but the commentary team questions the wisdom of that decision, as he won’t be medically cleared in time for the ordeal.
The Big Show defeats The Shining Stars via pinfall with a chokeslam. A basic squash match to be quite honest. Show made short work of Primo and Epico to gain some momentum heading into Wrestlemania season.
After the contest, they honor the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in observance of Black History Month. Several superstars and diva speak beautifully and with great reverance for Dr. King.
Tony Nese is backstage getting ready for action when the WWE Cruiserweight Champion, Neville, walks up and asks if Nese knows the purpose of their forthcoming tag team match against TJ Perkins and Jack Gallagher. He says the contest is an opportunity to humble Gallagher before the match Sunday. Neville asks if Nese understands and Nese agrees, but he says this is a chance for the “Premiere Athlete” to show what he can do. It’s up next.
“Gentleman” Jack Gallagher and TJ Perkins defeat Neville and Tony Nese via submission after Gallagher forces Nese to tap out with a Rings of Saturn variation. We actually get a promo for the in-ring return of Austin Aries before the tag team match! He’ll be joining 205 LIVE and let’s hope it’s before ‘Mania! I’d be hip to a Neville/Aries match sooner rather than later. We see the events of last week between Gallagher and Neville and then we get to the action. Highly competitive match that ultimately sees Jack getting the W heading into Sunday’s title bout with Neville. Kept short due to time, but decent for the time given. Nese took the loss to keep Neville looking strong before Sunday.
Beth Phoenix is announced for the WWE Hall Of Fame after the tag team contest and we send our congratulations to “The Glamazon”. She was a very capable hand and accomplished quite a bit in a very short time with a women’s roster that sorely needed her talent at the time. She is married to one of my top three favorite wrestlers of all time, Edge! Stoked for her induction and this is shaping up to be a well-rounded HoF class. Samoa Joe and Cesaro are in action next!
Stephanie McMahon tells Sasha Banks that she and Nia Jax have another match this Sunday at Fastlane as she and Bayley are icing up after their match. We head to the ring for Cesaro and Joe.
Samoa Joe defeats Cesaro via pinfall with a Uranage. Cesaro got in some very potent offense. He also showed off his amazing strength, hitting Joe with several power moves including a big slam. Joe worked the knee the entire match and he caught Cesaro coming off the ropes with the springboard attempt with a clubbing blow. Cesaro got trapped in the ropes and Joe took the opportunity to throw Cesaro into the ropes where he caught him coming off with the Uranage. After the match, Joe talks about beating Cesaro and he put him over as a great veteran and a freak athlete, but he said he isn’t Joe. He puts the locker room on notice and says it doesn’t matter who you are and how much the people love you, if you come against the Deestroyer…and here comes Sami Zayn! Zayn with furious strikes and the two mix it up heading into their bout on Sunday. Joe was forced to cover up as Zayn rained down blows on him. Joe fights up from the crowd as refs separate them, and it ultimately leads to Sami Zayn taking flight on the wings of eagles with a cross body off the ramp down onto Joe. Looking forward to that contest Sunday for sure! The contract signing between Strowman and Reigns is up next and it’ll close out the show.
Mick Foley is in the ring to get the contract signing underway and he’s there to assuage Braun’s fears that Roman is going to back out of the match. Braun interrupts Foley mid-speech and he heads to the ring. They show last week’s impressive victory over The Big Show by Strowman as well as the dropkick that left Reigns laying before Braun put the screws to him. Strowman looks at Foley and says, you brought the paperwork and the table, now leave. Foley doesn’t hit the bricks however. Foley says as long as he’s still the general manager, Strowman will respect him. Strowman says that Stephanie is right and Foley isn’t the man he used to be. He’s pathetic. Braun says he tells him that with all the respect that a broken down suburban down deserved. Foley gets heated and takes to raising the voice and he says Braun will respect him as a legend. Foley says Strowman will learn to respect him or else! Strowman gets in Foley’s face as the music of the “Big Dog” hits and Roman Reigns heads to the ring with purpose. The battle ensues and Strowman throws Roman towards the stairs, but Roman counters with a superman punch before Strowman posts him. Braun slings him over the barricade and they head into the crowd. Strowman with hard right hands as they battle through the sea of humanity. They fight up a staircase as Roman counters the assault with several strikes and he spears Strowman through the barricade! Roman climbs into the ring and signs the contract for Sunday’s match. Strowman rises from the rubble and yells “Is that all you’ve got?!” Another superman punch, but Strowman counters and he slings Reigns so hard into the turnbuckle that it literally releases! It snaps off because of the velocity of the throw and that impressive visual holds while Strowman heads up the ramp with purpose. He turns back to the ring and sees Roman rise long enough to sign the contract and that’s how the show ends.
