WWE Monday Night Raw: Edge defeats Randy Orton

The night after the Royal Rumble featured a lot of new and returning faces to Monday Night Raw.

The Road to WrestleMania is full steam ahead, after the WWE Royal Rumble where Bianca Belair and Edge walked out of the event surviving the 30-woman and 30-man battle royals. Now, Monday Night Raw set the stage for what is next as the promotion heads towards the biggest event of the year.

Title matches were on the line on Monday. The first up was Bobby Lashley defending the WWE United States title against Matt Riddle. The bell rings and Riddle rushes right at the champion, keeping him off balance. It was working at first until Lashley began to flatten Riddle with his overpowering offense. It was that force that caused Lashley to wrap Riddle in the Hurt Lock and hold him until the referee was forced to call for the bell and end the match.

Xavier Woods was out next with Kofi Kingston for a one-on-one match against Mustafa Ali. This was not much of a wrestling match as neither man looked to use a lot of holds and techniques, instead opting to fists and kicks. After some brief back-and-forth, it was the outside distraction that put Woods at a disadvantage against Ali. That would not stop Woods from getting the victory after both men went move for move with some pinning predictions, but it was Woods who got the win when Kingston came to his aid.

Damian Priest’s Monday Night Raw debut

Damian Priest made his Monday Night Raw debut against the Miz. The former NXT North American champion performed well on his first appearance on the red brand. The match was not all smooth sailing for Priest however, as the Miz was able to get in some offense of his own. But it was Priest’s night as he dealt with everything that Miz had to offer, landing the Broken Arrow, and following up with the Reckoning to get the pinfall win.

The second title match of the night was a tag team title match as Lucha House Party competed against the Hurt Business.

The match started with Shelton Benjamin tossing both members of the Lucha House Party around the ring. He eventually tagged out to Cedric Alexander and the violence continued. Lucha House Party were not able to stay in control for long as Benjamin was back in the ring and back to his power-based offense. The Hurt Business kept the assault going, but Lince Dorado was able to fight back enough to get the tag to Gran Metalik.

Benjamin and Alexander were reeling, taking big offense from both men. Alexander was almost pinned until Benjamin made the save. The finish came when Benjamin hit the Pay Dirt on Metalik, getting the pinfall and keeping the tag team titles.

Women’s tag team action was up next, with a title shot on the line. Mandy Rose with Dana Brooke, Asuka and Charlotte Flair and the team of Naomi and Lana were in the match.

The action was fast paced with all three teams making tags quickly and frequently. Each team had their moments in the driver’s seat of this match. Flair was on the wrong end of a lot of offense, until she was able to tag in Asuka who started dominated their opponents. The former champions were rolling until Flair was distracted by Ric Flair and Lacey Evans. Naomi took advantage of the opportunity and nailed Asuka, pinning the Raw Women’s champion.

Carlito returns after 10 years away

Carlito made a surprise appearance at the Royal Rumble and continued Monday, teaming with Jeff Hardy to take on Elias and Jaxson Ryker. Carlito started out strong but when Hardy was in the ring the team suffered. Hardy continued to suffer at the hands of their opponents until he was able to get the tag to Carlito who came in on a tear. He landed a Backstabber on Elias and allowed Hardy to hit the Swanton Bomb to pick up the win.

Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross were once friends and tag team champions, but on Monday they competed against each other in the ring.

Much like her other matches recently, Bliss toyed with Cross, taking on a lot of offense from her former partner before transforming into something more sinister. Cross struggled to deal with Bliss picking her apart, all the while laughing during the process. Bliss looked like she was about to go for the Mandible Claw before Cross fought back, escaping the hold. Bliss would go through her transformations, hitting a variation of the Sister Abigail for the victory.

The main event of the evening was a single’s match between Edge and Randy Orton. They were not looking for any type of pure wrestling match, as this started out as a brawl and kept that energy all the way up until the end. The two men were battered from the action in the Royal Rumble and they both looked to continue the assault on one another.

Orton rammed Edge into the steel post and begin to beat the 2021 Royal Rumble into the ground. Edge continued to fight back against Orton but was never in full control. He would keep Orton reeling, knocking him from the ring but Orton continued to take short cuts in the match. Orton continued to dominate and looked like he was on his way to winning. That was until Alexa Bliss appeared on the top rope, catching Orton’s gaze just long enough that Edge would hit the Spear and immediately pin Orton, picking up the win.

WWE Monday Night Raw results

• Matt Riddle defeated Bobby Lashley via disqualification
• Xavier Woods defeated Mustafa Ali via pinfall
• Damian Priest defeated the Miz via pinfall.
• The Hurt Business defeated Lucha House Party via pinfall
• Naomi and Lana defeat Asuka and Charlotte Flair and Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose in a tag-team triple-threat
• Carlito and Jeff Hardy defeated Elias and Jaxson Ryker
• Alexa Bliss defeated Nikki Cross via pinfall
• Edge defeated Randy Orton via pinfall