What a difference 24 hours can make in the life of a pro wrestling viewer.
One night after a disappointing turn of events at WWE Fastlane, Mondayâs episode of Raw was red-hot and wild, all in front of a typically boisterous Chicago crowd. And with less than 30 days until WrestleMania 33 on Sunday, April 2 in Orlando, Florida, just about all of the major participants on the Raw side have been accounted for at this point ... thanks to The Undertakerâs return in the final segment of the show.
The Deadman returned to a massive pop during Rawâs final segment to interrupt what looked to be a continuation of the Roman Reigns-Braun Strowman feud, which began with Strowman calling out Reigns only to hear The Undertakerâs music hit instead.
Forgiving for a moment how weak Strowman was booked in consecutive nights -- he finished Raw by exiting the ring (and possibly the angle in general) out of fear or respect as The Undertaker entered -- the door was opened for Reigns to crash the party to a smattering of boos.
Business quickly picked up as Reignsâ attempt at telling The Undertaker to mind his own business was met with a chokeslam and an impactful tease that maybe -- just maybe -- a true heel turn for Reigns might be in the cards.
The #Undertaker returned to @WWE#RAW to send a message to @WWERomanReigns: It's STILL HIS YARD! @WrestleManiapic.twitter.com/BkiXyBerUl
— WWE (@WWE) March 7, 2017
While not everything the WWE touched on Monday turned to gold, there was certainly no lack for trying as Brock Lesnar planted a chilling F5 on newly crowned universal champion Goldberg and former best friends Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens ensured their feud would culminate in a head-to-head affair at WrestleMania 33.
With @HeymanHustle promising SPOILERS, @BrockLesnar spoiled @Goldberg's first night on #RAW as Universal Champion. #BeastIncarnate#F5pic.twitter.com/0CvpIJ6ecx
— WWE (@WWE) March 7, 2017
Check out the full results from Monday night, including a big reveal at the WrestleMania plans for the Raw womenâs division.
WWE Raw results
Confrontation -- Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens: Raw opened with Jericho explaining why he interfered in the universal title match at Fastlane before calling out Owens to ask, simply, why Owens turned on him a few weeks ago on Raw. After some back-and-forth with Owens claiming Jericho was never actually his best friend, Jericho challenged Owens to a match at WrestleMania, which Owens accepted as long as Jericho put the United States championship on the line. Y2J was happy to oblige. A brawl soon began inside the ring, and Samoa Joe ran in to assist Owens in double-teaming Jericho before Sami Zayn came down to even things out. Weak chair shots from Jericho proved to be the only low moment of the segment.
Kevin Owens def. Sami Zayn via pinfall: Joined in progress after commercial, the former best friends continued their tour of hatred with another physical and intense match. Zayn contributed the matchâs best spot by leaping over the refereeâs head to clear the top rope with a perfect Tope Con Hilo onto Owens. But KO would get his revenge in a big way, sandwiching a pair of pop-up powerbombs with a vicious pump-handle suplex that ended with Owens dropping the back of Zaynâs head onto his knee.
The #UnderdogFromTheUnderground@iLikeSamiZayn was out to deliver ALL the pain to #TheDestroyer@SamoaJoe at #WWEFastlane! pic.twitter.com/14GFSooYJs
— WWE (@WWE) March 7, 2017
Cruiserweight Championship -- Neville (c) def. Rich Swann via submission to retain the title: Former champion Swann invoked his rematch clause one night after Neville survived Jack Gallagher in a hellacious title defense. This one was high energy with a pay-per-view feel throughout. Swann landed a sweet Swann-ton off the top rope and onto the floor, and he later hit a Michinoku driver for two. Neville countered with a superplex. After Swann missed a Phoenix Splash late, Neville slapped on his Rings of Saturn submission for the tap out victory.
Austin Aries returns to action: After the match, Neville was interviewed inside the ring by Aries, who has spent his time away from the ring doing commentary for the cruiserweight division. Neville proclaimed, âThere is nobody on â205 Liveâ that holds a candle to the king of the cruiserweights.â After Aries asked him to clarify, Neville turned up his heel persona, threatening to re-break Ariesâ orbital socket. The response from Aries was strong, as he floored him with a microphone to the face before connecting with a discus punch to send Neville out of the ring.
Tag team trash talk backstage: Enzo Amore & Big Cass got into it with Cesaro & Sheamus backstage. An excited Amore let loose with, âI sense a little sass there, Cesaro. No need to get your pepperoni pizza nipples all in a twist, Little Caesar.â Amore and Cass were set for a rematch of their tag team championship match from Fastlane later on Raw due to the controversial finish.
Confrontation -- Goldberg and Brock Lesnar: Goldberg entered the ring for the first time wearing his new universal championship. After thanking the crowd and proclaiming himself âa humbled man,â Paul Heyman interrupted the speech to introduce Brock Lesnar, saying the Beast Incarnate only wished to shake Goldbergâs hand. Heyman continued to rant as Goldberg and Lesnar stared each other down at close range. After Heyman concluded by referring to Goldberg as Lesnarâs âbitch,â Goldbergâs attention was turned for a moment giving Lesnar the ability to surprise his WrestleMania opponent with an impactful F5 before walking away.
Raw Tag Team Championship -- Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (c) def. Enzo Amore & Big Cass via disqualification to retain the titles: With Cesaro & Sheamus (hot coffee in hand) at ringside to distract the faces, the match eventually turned into a melee involving all six and a disqualification win for the champions. Amore ate a particularly stiff Brogue Kick from Sheamus to end matters. After commercial, Raw general manager Mick Foley broke up a backstage argument between the non-champions and announced a match next week on Raw between Amore & Cass against Cesaro & Sheamus with the winners facing Gallows and Anderson for the titles at WrestleMania.
Akira Tozawa def. Ariya Daivari via pinfall: Good showcase match to put over Tozawa, who landed his suicide dive head butt outside of the ring and his beautiful snap German suplex (complete with bridge) to record the pin. After the match, Tozawa called out The Brian Kendrick, who briefly appeared and challenged him to match on Tuesdayâs episode of â205 Live.â
The New Day def. The Shining Stars via pinfall: Brief squash match for The New Day, which spent more time pedaling ice cream before the match than putting away Primo and Epico.
Confrontation -- Raw womenâs championship: Foley and Bayley discussed in the ring whom she should defend her title against at WrestleMania. Sasha Banks came out first to state her case, but Charlotte Flair was not far behind. Before long, commissioner Stephanie McMahon ended the dialogue by deciding Flair would get another rematch at WrestleMania. She also relented and gave Banks an opportunity to make the match a triple threat affair ... as long as she could defeat Bayley one-on-one.
Sasha Banks def. Bayley via submission to move on to WrestleMania: Decent storytelling in this one as the friendship between the two slowly devolved the more Banks teased her natural heel persona. The match, unfortunately, just wasnât that good. In the end, Flair and Dana Brooke crashed the party and distracted the referee, only for Banks to kick off Flairâs attempts at interference and force Bayley to tap out to the Banks Statement. Flair attacked Banks immediately after the match.
It'll be @ItsBayleyWWE vs. @MsCharlotteWWE vs. @SashaBanksWWE for the #RAW Women's Title in 27 DAYS at @WrestleMania! pic.twitter.com/NvgZHOZYTC
— WWE (@WWE) March 7, 2017
Video packages -- Seth Rollins rehab, Triple H interview: Rollinsâ recovery from his knee injury was showcased and followed immediately by Triple H in a satellite interview opposite Michael Cole. Triple H ended his rant by threatening Rollins: âIf you show up at WrestleMania, it will be the last thing you ever do in a WWE ring.â
.@TripleH says a NIGHTMARE is waiting for @WWERollins if he dares show up at @WrestleMania against his doctor's orders. #RAWpic.twitter.com/e4o445bY1F
— WWE (@WWE) March 7, 2017
Samoa Joe def. Chris Jericho via countout: Another dominant effort from Joe ends with a Coquina Clutch applied outside the ring on the arena floor. With the referee administering a count, Joe rolled back in just in time to record the victory. He lost a portion of his heat, however, when Jericho came back to life to hit a Codebreaker after the match.
Confrontation -- The Undertaker returns, squares off with Roman Reigns: Strowman entered the ring for the final segment and called out Reigns for a fight. Just as Reignsâ music hit, The Undertakerâs gong sounded and suddenly his length entrance was on. Takerâs return was met with huge cheers, and once he entered the ring, Strowman exited. After Reignsâ music hit again, he entered the ring to seemingly put The Undertaker in his place. âBraun wasnât calling you out here, Deadman, he called me. So with all due respect, this is my yard now,â Reigns said. The Undertaker stared him down, delivered a chokeslam and walked off. Cole exclaimed, âThis is what WrestleMania season is all about!â
WWE Raw superlatives
Move of the night: No one quite raises the property value on Raw like Lesnar when he returns from the seclusion of his part-time WWE schedule to make an impact on Monday nights. His F5 of Goldberg left quite a lasting image and marked a stunning turn in momentum within their rivalry.
OR NOT! @BrockLesnar delivers an F5 to #UniversalChampion @Goldberg just four weeks shy of @WrestleMania! #RAW pic.twitter.com/6pmvOpxaTN
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) March 7, 2017
Line of the night: âLetâs be honest, Kevin Owens had it coming because three weeks ago at the Festival of Friendship, he betrayed me. He turned on me; he ripped my heart out. He took his knife and he stabbed it into the back of Jericho. And he ⦠twist it in, man.â -- Chris Jericho