The road to WWE Royal Rumble 2023 continues this evening, as WWE Monday Night Raw returns from the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, OH.
On tap for tonight's installment of the weekly three-hour WWE on USA Network television program, which kicks off at 8/7c, is Bobby Lashley returning to deal with unfinished business, as well as finding out what’s next for The Judgment Day after earning a shot at the RAW Tag Team Championships.
Also scheduled is Solo Sikoa vs. Mustafa Ali, as well as The Judgment Day vs. Alpha Academy in tag-team action.
Featured below are complete WWE Raw results from Monday, January 16, 2023. The following report was written by Rajah.com reporter Matt Boone (@MattBoone0709) as the show aired live from 8-11pm EST. on the USA Network.
WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW RESULTS (1/16/2023)
The regular John Cena narrated signature airs and then the Raw opener and theme plays. We shoot live inside the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, OH. where fireworks and pyro explode. The camera pans the crowd as Kevin Patrick welcomes us to the show.
The Bloodline & The Judgment Day Kick Off Raw
A six-way elimination WWE U.S. title eliminator is announced for tonight's main event. From there, The Usos' theme hits and out comes Jimmy and Jey along with Solo Sikoa. As they settle inside the ring, we see highlights of the trainwreck ending of the Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn match that involved the attack by Sikoa and The Usos.
Their music dies down and they jump on the mic and address the crowd in Cincy. "The Bloodline is now in your city!" they continue. They say that before Sikoa beats down Ali, they have to address what happened last Friday on SmackDown.
They then bring up how they've got huge fans for the Raw 30th anniversary show. They announce an acknowledgement ceremony for "The Tribal Chief" Roman Reigns that will include all past generations of the family.
Before they can continue, the lights go out and the theme for The Judgment Day plays. When the purple and dark lights come back on, we see The Judgment Day group emerge and begin slowly walking towards the ring.
Rhea Ripley says the only thing that The Bloodline needs to acknowledge is that The Judgment Day runs Raw. Finn Balor agrees and bring up running through the gauntlet and the tag division. They claim they'll do the same to The Bloodline as they start to enter the ring.
Damian Priest takes over from there and says the nice red tag team titles are coming permanently back to Raw next week. Priest asks why The Bloodline hasn't once knocked on the door of The Judgment Day. Dominic Mysterio takes over and starts sniffing. He says he smells fear. He asks The Usos if they're scared.
The Usos mock the hardened criminal Dominic and then boast their record reign as the tag champs and "locking down" many of the notable teams over the years. They vow to welcome The Judgment Day to The Uso Penitentary next week.
Dominic then said The Usos wouldn't last a minute with the prisoners he was locked in a cell with. He says The Usos would be wannabe essay's in the cell he was in. He calls Solo Sikoa the biggest essay of the bunch just standing around doing nothing. Sikoa gets in Dom's face.
The two stare each other down but then Rhea Ripley pushes Dom aside and she starts staring down Sikoa. Sikoa gets right in Rhea's face so Dom blasts him. Sikoa responds back by headbutting Dom down to the mat with one shot. Rhea and Solo go face to face and Rhea dares Solo to hit her.
Solo Sikoa vs. Mustafa Ali
Ali comes flying in out of nowhere off the top-rope and splashes onto Sikoa. He starts firing away with ground and pound shots as we head to a mid-match commercial break, as this singles bout is apparently off-and-running.
When we return from the break, we see Ali working over Sikoa in the ring as Patrick reminds us on commentary that a beatdown from Sikoa to Ali weeks ago set the stage for tonight's match. Sikoa catches Ali coming off the ropes and dumps him down with authority.
Sikoa starts to work over Ali with repeated shots as he sits slumped over on the mat in the corner. Sikoa backs up and runs, launching himself booty-first into Ali, a.k.a. Rikishi before doing a stink-face. We see a digital exclusive "earlier today" interview with Ali from Byron Saxton.
As the action continues, we see Kevin Owens appear at ringside and start duking it out with The Usos, beating down Jimmy and Jey by himself. Meanwhile, Ali comes off the top-rope with a big high-spot for a close near fall.
After Sikoa kicks out, he goes back to the top and looks for a 450 splash, only to miss and get hit with a Samoan Spike from Sikoa for the pin fall.
Winner: Solo Sikoa
After The Match: Kevin Owens Attacks!
After the match, Owens hits the ring and blasts Sikoa with a Stunner. He brings him out to the floor and lays him on the commentary table. He heads up on the barricade to run and splash Sikoa through the table the way he did him on SmackDown, but is stopped by The Usos.
Owens ends up brawling with them by himself and faring well. Ultimately, however, Sikoa and The Usos back-track to the back while officials restrain Owens at ringside. The fans chant "Let them fight!" as the segment ends.
Checking In With "The All Mighty" Bobby Lashley
We shoot to a special message from "The All Mighty" Bobby Lashley, who is shown backstage talking to the camera. He addresses tonight's elimination main event to earn a shot at the U.S. title held by Austin Theory.
He says tonight's match only means 5 men getting submitted by The Hurt Lock. He vows to put Theory away for good and reclaim the U.S. title on next week's Raw 30th anniversary special. Corey Graves and Kevin Patrick plug tonight's U.S. title eliminator match before we head to another commercial break.
Cody Rhodes' Road To Recovery Leads To Royal Rumble
We return from the break to the latest installment of the Road to Cody Rhodes' recovery vignette series. This time we pick things up with Cody's recovery from surgery for his pec injury.
We see him being told the wait nine months and after four months, he is shown in the Nightmare Factory training and getting in tremendous shape. The video wraps up with the news that he is officially entered into the Men's Royal Rumble match at this month's premium live event.
Byron Saxton Talks To Elias
Now we return live backstage where Byron Saxton is standing by with Elias. He asks him about the Royal Rumble. He brings up his recent history and then says his revenge tour begins at the Royal Rumble.
As he wraps up, MVP comes out of a closed door behind him and tells Elias to watch his suit. He then tells Elias not to go in that room and bother Adam Pearce about the Royal Rumble, because the winner is a done deal.
Elias asks if MVP is talking about himself because he hasn't been relevant in the ring in years, let alone winning the Royal Rumble. MVP says he keeps talking like that, he'll get him a match with the 2023 Royal Rumble winner tonight.
Finally, Elias says he's fine with that and MVP heads back into Pearce's locker room to get that match set. After this we head to another commercial break.
The Street Profits vs. Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin
We return from the break to the theme of The Street Profits playing. Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins make their way down to the ring for scheduled tag-team action, which is up next here on WWE Raw.
The duo settles inside the squared circle and then their music dies down. Now the theme for their opponents plays and out comes the team of Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin.
After the bell sounds, we see this one get off with a bang. After some snug back-and-forth early offense, we see a big high spot on the floor. As the two recover at ringside, we see some company making their way down the entrance ramp in the form of MVP.
On that note, we head to a mid-match commercial break as the action continues. When we return from the break, we see Alexander and Benjamin with Ford isolated in the ring. They go for a double-team move on him, however he avoids it and scrambles to his corner to make the tag.
Dawkins takes the hot tag and starts cleaning house as MVP looks concerned at ringside. We see a big high spot off the top lead to a close near fall for Ford, after he tags back in. Benjamin sprints up to the top and flings Ford off and covers him for a close near fall.
We see a bunch of back-to-back high spots from the ring to the floor, culminating with Dawkins hitting a big flipping splash onto the pile of bodies. Back in the ring, we see the ref tied up with MVP while Alexander and Benjamin attempt to steal the win. It back-fires, however, and The Street Profits get the "W" regardless.
Winners: The Street Profits
Cathy Kelley Talks To The Judgment Day
We shoot backstage where Cathy Kelley is standing by with The Judgment Day. She asks Finn Balor how he's feeling heading into tonight's six-pack challenge match in the main event. She asks about the tag title showdown on next week's show but is cut off by a loud "shush!" from Gable, who confronts the group with Otis.
The Alpha Academy duo claim they should have been medically disqualified when Balor was injured and replaced last week in the tag-team gauntlet. Rhea Ripley tells them not to say something they'll regret. Dominic jumps in and says the same thing, while boasting his clanging and banging in the prison gym.
Gable gives him a tip -- next time he's in prison, sign up for Alpha Academy's online classes. Dominic tells him not to talk about prison because they don't even wanna know what they'd do to guys like them. Damian Priest tells them it's enough fun and games and to take a walk. Now we head to another commercial break.
Becky Lynch Confronts Bayley
We return from the break and out comes Becky Lynch to a nice pop from the fans in Cincy. She settles in the ring and addresses the "Karen" known as Bayley. She calls she and the Damage CTRL faction out.
Bayley comes out correcting "The Man" about calling her Karen instead of her name, Bayley. Lynch says someone needs to tell Bayley what "A Karen" is. Bayley and the rest of Damage CTRL, Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky, settle into the ring and mock her.
Lynch says Bayley is a sour-faced dope that peaked in 2015. Bayley questions if it's the same 2015 where she ran NXT and Lynch rant with the rest of the Four Horsewomen and "took her spot."
"The Man" says she sees it clearly now, claiming Bayley and her Damage CTRL is her trying to recreate the Four Horsewomen in her image. Bayley takes exception to that and again claims Lynch stole her spot.
Becky Lynch says she wanted to be a leader as a champion that wanted to set the tone for the future. She asks if that's the case or if she's full of crap like she always thought. Lynch says she wasn't supposed to be the big star and headlining WrestleMania.
She says it just happened because she worked harder than anybody else. She claims she's gonna continue to do that until she can't any more. Lynch says she knows Bayley loves it, too, but claims the difference is Bayley makes excuses when things aren't going her way.
Bayley tells the fans not to bother chanting her name after a "Becky! Becky!" chant breaks out. She tells Lynch the only reason she became "The Man" was because she got punched in the face and had her nose broken by another woman.
Lynch says maybe she should punch her in the face. She questions if she needs to hide behind the other two members of Damage CTRL. Lynch says she'll have no problem facing her one-on-one next week at Raw is XXX in a steel cage match.
Bayley was on board with everything up until the cage match was presented, although she slowly and hesitantly says "no problem" to that as well. Lynch says then it's official and she'll see her next week. She walks off as her theme plays again.
Mustafa Ali Has Dolph Ziggler's Attention Now
We shoot backstage and see Dolph Ziggler is shown warming up when in walks Mustafa Ali. Ali tells him not to pay attention to him, the same way he didn't when he screwed him out of the U.S. title and refused to team with him in tag-turmoil.
Ziggler tries brushing it off but Ali ends up blindsiding him with a big shot that knocks him down. He asks Ziggler if he has his attention now and then walks away as we head to another commercial break.
Elias vs. Omos
We return from the break to see Elias in the ring waiting for the match set up earlier in the night by MVP. As he waits in the ring, the theme for MVP hits and out he comes.
MVP gets on the mic and asks if Elias was expecting a match against him tonight. He says things haven't been going well for Elias lately, but they're about to get much worse. He says he's facing the 2023 Royal Rumble winner tonight, only it's not MVP.
With that said, music plays and out comes Omos. The massive Nigerian giant makes his way down to the ring as the crowd and Corey Graves / Kevin Patrick react.
Omos dominates the action after Elias gives it a valiant effort coming out of the gate. When all is said-and-done, Omos wins with damn near a flawless performance.
Winner: Omos
Byron Saxton Talks To Adam Pearce, Akira Tozawa
We shoot backstage where Byron Saxton is standing by with Adam Pearce. The two are talking about the Royal Rumble match when Akira Tozawa comes walking in and demanding an opportunity in the bout.
Saxton tells him everyone does and you have to earn an opportunity like that. Tozawa requests a match tonight to give him the opportunity to prove he deserves the shot. Things appear settled and he walks off.
The Judgment Day vs. Alpha Academy
From there, we see the entire group of The Judgment Day walking backstage. They are making their way towards the entrance to the ring. On that note, we head to another commercial break.
As we settle back in from the break, The Judgment Day make their way out for the next match of the evening. They settle inside the ring and their music dies down.
"SHUSH! SHUSH PLEASE!" hits and as the Alpha Academy theme plays, Gable and Otis make their way out and head inside the squared circle as well. Their music fades down and it's about time to get this one underway.
The bell sounds and we're off-and-running with tag-team action, with Dominic Mysterio and Damian Priest taking on Gable and Otis. We see Dominic and Gable kick things off for their respective teams.
We see some good back-and-forth action and then we head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see the match still in progress.
Things build to the finish after a few minutes of bad puns about hardened criminals and then interference from Rhea Ripley leads to Damian Priest chokeslamming Gable off of Dominic Mysterio, whom he had an ankle lock applied. Dominic quickly covers him and gets the pin fall victory.
Winners: The Judgment Day
A Special Video Tribute To Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
A video package honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. airs now. It was well-produced, as you would imagine. After it wraps up, we head to another commercial break.
Iyo Sky vs. Mia Yim
We see Iyo Sky make her way down to the ring accompanied by Dakota Kai. The Damage CTRL duo settle inside the ring and as they do, their theme music fades down.
Now the entrance tune for Michin plays and Mia Yim makes her way down to the ring accompanied by Candice LeRae. The two are settled into the squared circle and now the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running.
Early on, it is Yim who is taking it to Sky with relative ease. Sky survives the early onslaught and then shifts the momentum into her favor. She hits a meteora in the corner and goes for the cover, however only gets two.
The crowd is pretty dead for this one as Sky continues to take it to Yim. Yim tries firing back with punches until Sky isolates the arm and takes her down into a modified cross-face.
We see interference in the form of Kai and LeRae duking it out at ringside lead to Yim picking up the victory.
Winner: Mia Yim
A Look At The Recent Evil Side Of Alexa Bliss
Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves talk on-camera about the nothingness they saw in the eyes of Alexa Bliss last week as they discuss how she has been showing a sadistic evil side of herself in recent weeks.
With that said, we take a closer look at this in the form of a video package showcasing Bliss' evil and intensity in her dealings with Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair, as well as her involvement and interactions with Bray Wyatt and Uncle Howdy.
As the segment wraps up, we see Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair walking backstage. The commentators inform us she's up next when Raw returns. On that note, we head to another commercial break.
Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss Make Title Match & Brawl
When we return from the break, "The EST of WWE" makes her way out to the ring. As Bianca Belair settles inside the squared circle, her music dies down and she grabs a microphone. The fans chant "EST! EST!" before she begins speaking.
Belair says it's only been a couple of weeks, but she misses the fans so much. She talks about the job being risky, just like her face getting busted on the steel ring steps. She says even if she ends up with a scar on her face after what Alexa Bliss did to her, she'd still face her again and again and again and again.
She claims to have heard everything that Bliss said last week. She wants to know if Bliss has the guts to come say it to her face. With that said, Bliss' theme hits and out comes "Little Miss Bliss."
Bliss says she'll gladly come out and repeat herself for her or anyone else. She tells Belair she fears Bliss because she doesn't know what to expect from her. She mentions the Royal Rumble is in two weeks but before she can continue, Belair cuts her off.
She asks if Bliss wants to beat 29 other women to earn a shot at her, or does she just want to fight her directly at the Rumble. Bliss asks what the catch is. Belair says Bliss wanted to be in control so the choice is hers. Bliss smiles and says she'll see her at the Rumble. Belair says she can see her tonight, too.
With that said, both girls set their microphones down and begin brawling with each other at ringside. Their fight stays intense and ends up spilling into the crowd. Belair blasts away at Bliss.
She sets up two steel chairs and then hoists Bliss up to slam her on them. As she picks her up, she sees smoke and the silhouette of Uncle Howdy appear. She gets mesmerized by this, which allows Bliss to counter her and DDT her into the concrete in the crowd.
Bliss looks at the Uncle Howdy shadow and smiles and then looks down with an evil facial expression as she sees Belair laid out. We fade into another commercial break on that note.
Akira Tozawa vs. Bronson Reed
We are back on Raw and we head to the ring as Akira Tozawa makes his way out for the next match of the evening. This bout was set up earlier this evening when Tozawa demanded an opportunity to prove he deserves to be in the Royal Rumble match while confronting Adam Pearce.
He settles inside the ring and his music dies down. Now the theme for his opponent plays and out comes the enormous Bronson Reed. He settles in the ring and his music fades down.
The bell sounds and we're off-and-running with this one-on-one showdown. Corey Graves tells us on commentary if we've never seen Reed before, we're in for a treat. He manhandles Tozawa from the word "go" and with complete-and-total ease.
Reed beats Tozawa down with vicious chops and then sends him into the corner where he follows up with a big splash after sprinting from one end of the ring to the other. He slams Tozawa down and comes off the ropes and steam-rolls his smaller opposition.
Tozawa starts to fire up and get in some offense, but not much before Reed dominates some more. The action spills to the floor where Reed runs off the ring apron and blasts Tozawa with a flying shoulder block. He brings him back in the ring and comes off the top-rope with a huge splash for the pin fall victory.
Winner: Bronson Reed
Byron Saxton Talks To Seth "Freakin'" Rollins
We shoot backstage where Byron Saxton is standing by with none other than Seth "Freakin'" Rollins. He says just when he thinks he's out, the WWE U.S. title picture keeps pulling him back in.
Rollins goes on to mention being approached with the opportunity to be in the six pack challenge to earn a shot at Austin Theory's U.S. title at next week's Raw 30th Anniversary show. He then will move on to Royal Rumble and win that and move on to WrestleMania where he will kick Roman Reigns' ass and take the title.
He says in the great words of Freddy Mercury of Queen, "I want it all, and I want it now!" He laughs and walks off to end the quick backstage interview segment. We then head to another commercial break.
Six-Pack Challenge (WWE U.S. Title Eliminator)
Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin vs. Bobby Lashley
When we return from the break, we see Graves and Patrick on-camera as the duo promote next week's Raw Is XXX special anniversary show lineup. We then head down to the ring for our main event of the evening.
The Six-Pack Challenge for the right to face Austin Theory for the WWE United States Championship on next week's Raw 30th Anniversary special event is up in our final match of the evening here on Monday Night Raw.
From there, the theme for Seth "Freakin'" Rollins plays and out he comes. He settles in the ring and then Finn Balor comes out next. Ohio's own The Miz is out next, followed by another Ohio native in Dolph Ziggler. Baron Corbin is out after that accompanied by JBL.
Finally, the familiar sounds of Bobby Lashley's theme hits and out comes "The All Mighty," complete with the fireworks and pyro. He heads down to the squared circle by himself and settles inside. It's main event time here on the second-to-last Raw before this year's Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
Before the bell sounds to get this one started, the theme for Austin Theory plays and out comes the youngest U.S. Champion (twice) in WWE history makes his way out and poses with his title to show the six men in the ring what they are fighting for.
With that said, the bell sounds and all six men start brawling in three separate pairs of two. Bodies spill out to the floor while some stay in the ring and there's action all over the place as we immediately head into a commercial break as soon as the action gets underway.
We return from the break and see Rollins and Balor duking it out alone in the ring. Rollins heads to the top-rope after decking Balor but before he can do anything, Corbin stops him and climbs up after him with Balor. The two go for a double suplex but are stopped by Lashley, who powerbombs them both as they double-suplex Rollins. Wow.
As the action continues, we hear Austin Theory bantering back-and-forth with Corey Graves. Lashley is left alone in the ring with Rollins and he looks for the Spear, however Rollins avoids it. Miz and Ziggler hit the scene.
Lashley avoids the Skull Crushing Finale from Miz but walks into a FameAssEr from Ziggler. After that, Miz does hit his Skull Crushing Finale and goes for the cover only for the pin to be broken up after the count of two.
Miz fires up after being left alone in the ring with Ziggler. He applies the figure four leg lock and Ziggler screams out in pain. Austin Theory is shown on-camera talking about not being able to be made to feel nervous on commentary.
Ziggler ends up switching the figure-four around and he has the pressure applied on Miz now. With this going on, Rollins hits the ring and hits a stomp on Miz. He covers him and gets the pin. This eliminates The Miz. The action continues with the other five Superstars still remaining as we head into a mid-match commercial break.
We return from the break and see the match still in progress, with Corbin and Lashley duking it out on the floor. Balor ends up coming to the aid of Corbin, smashing Lashley into the steel ring post. He heads back into the ring where Rollins is waiting for him. He knocks him out of the ring and leaps off the ring apron with a flying knee.
Rollins gets up after connecting with the big shot and blasts Austin Theory with a cheap shot. Theory pops up in anger as Rollins slides back into the ring. He fights off Corbin with the help of Ziggler. Ziggler dropkicks Corbin into the corner. This leaves Ziggler and Rollins going nose-to-nose.
With Balor in one corner and Corbin in the other, we see Ziggler and Rollins each running and splashing the two over and over again. They turn their attention to each other and each go for some near falls.
Rollins ends up taking out Lashley and Corbin with a big dive to the floor. Balor follows up with another dive that takes out all the guys. Ziggler heads to the top-rope and leaps off to take out the entire pile of bodies as well.
Ziggler goes on an offensive rampage, hitting high-spots on every one that moves in the ring. Rollins ends up ending his offensive run with a Pedigree that leads to a pin fall to eliminate him. After Ziggler is eliminated, we're down to the final four as we head to another mid-match commercial break.
As we return from the break, we see some more big action leading to Corbin going on a big offensive run when Lashley is distracted by Omos, who emerges from the back and starts walking to the ring accompanied by MVP.
Balor goes to the top and hits his Coup de Grace, only for Rollins to follow-up with a Stomp on Balor. He covers him and eliminates him. We're now down to the final three with Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley and Baron Corbin still remaining.
Omos gets physically involved at ringside. Rollins ends up getting laid out. Corbin heads back into the ring after this and walks right into a Spear from Lashley. Lashley covers him and eliminates him. Austin Theory gets involved after that, hitting Lashley with his U.S. title.
This leads to more action on the floor, including Rollins Stomping Omos on the table. Back in the ring, Lashley ends up eliminating Rollins with a Spear. With the win, Lashley moves on to challenge Austin Theory for the U.S. title at Raw Is XXX next week.
Theory poses with his title at ringside as Lashley stares him down in the ring. The commentators hype Raw Is XXX for next week as this week's show goes off the air on that note. Thanks for joining us!
Winner and NEW No. 1 Contender to U.S. title: Bobby Lashley
