WWE Raw results: Brock Lesnar faces Kane and Braun Strowman at 2018 Royal Rumble alongside first ever women’s version of iconic match
Japanese wrestling superstar Hideo Itami made his debut and Samoa Joe and The Bar got a shock win over The Shield
IT’S been another exciting week for the superstars of Raw, including two huge announcements about the Royal Rumble on January 28.
Here are five things we learnt from the show last night.
Brock Lesnar will face Kane AND Braun Strowman at the Royal Rumble
After last week’s double count-out between Braun Strowman and Kane, Kurt Angle announced both men will challenge Brock in a triple-threat at the Rumble.
It’s lazy, stop-gap booking by WWE – Kane is way past big title matches at this stage in his career and no one believes Braun will dethrone the Beast.
It’s all-too obvious that Lesnar will charge into WrestleMania as Universal Champion against (most likely) Roman Reigns.
But Braun makes almost everything fun. This could at least be a walloping great big man match packed full of earth-shattering power moves.
We got a little taste last night when the three men faced down and Brock tossed Braun out of the ring then laid out Kane with a thunderous F-5.
Hideo Itami made his Raw debut
The former NXT star is due to make his debut as part of the 205 Live roster tonight – but he couldn’t wait to get involved in the action.
He ran out to save his old buddy Finn Balor from a beat down by the Miztourage during a two-on-one handicap match.
It then turned to an impromptu Balor and Itami v Miztourage tag match, with Itami hitting the GTS on Curtis Axel for the win.
It doesn’t say much for Balor’s position on the card that he’s squabbling with the Miztourage – or for Itami’s main roster prospects by debuting against them.
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Samoa Joe and The Bar scored a major victory
Roman Reigns was nowhere to be seen last night, so Jason Jordan stepped in for a six-man tag pitting Jordan, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose against Samoa Joe and The Bar.
(Though Rollins had already faced Jordan earlier in the night, so there was some bad blood going into the match.
Joe and the Bar laid out Jordan ringside and injured Ambrose’s arm, leaving Rollins battling alone.
Sheamus then nailed Rollins with a Brogue Kick to get a huge win.
But the punishment wasn’t over for Rollins and Ambrose. Joe and The Bard attacked them in the trainer’s room backstage and further injured Ambrose’s arm.
The Revival have returned
It’s been a rocky road for Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder since making their main roster debut the night after WrestleMania.
First Wilder broke his jaw, them Dawson sustained a bicep injury.
But last night the duo returned – fit, healthy, and in fighting shape.
They got a decisive victory over Rhyno and Heath Slater, after hitting Slater with their Shatter Machine finisher.
Tag champs The Bar are tied up with the Shield for now, but a Revival v Cesaro and Sheamus feud could be electric.
There will be a women’s Royal Rumble
It was a big night for Raw women’s division, with a six-woman tag match that saw Paige and Absolution battle Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Mickie James.
The match ended in a DQ when Absolution triple teamed Sasha – then turned to chaos when the rest of the women’s division ran down to brawl.
But Stephanie McMahon arrived to announce the next history-making chapter in the “women’s evolution” – the first ever all-women Royal Rumble match.
It’s a bold move by WWE – and risks being overkill at the pay-per-view alongside the traditional 30-man Rumble match.
But WWE does have a strong enough women’s roster to fill out a 20-woman Rumble (maybe more if it turns to NXT).
But there can be only one winner – Asuka.