WWE RAW Results – January 11, 2021

Written by Liam Stewart • Published 12th January 2021
WWE Raw Results

Keep up with all of tonight’s WWE RAW results as the show emanates from the WWE ThunderDome inside Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida with a special edition of WWE RAW kicking off with the return of Triple H.

Check out the results from last week’s RAW!

Already announced for tonight:

Triple H Returns to WWE RAW, Addresses the WWE Universe.

  • Triple H opens the show making a full entrance in suit and tie as commentary recap Randy Orton’s actions last week on WWE RAW.
  • Before Triple H can begin to speak, ‘The Viper’ Randy Orton interrupts and makes his way to the ring cutting a scathing promo on HHH as he makes his way to the ring.
  • Randy Orton attempts to pressure HHH into either allowing him #30 in the Royal Rumble or to hand him the WWE Championship.
  • Triple H refuses to give in to either, instead responding to Orton with a fantastic promo of his own praising Orton for his actions in recent weeks.
  • The WWE EVP of Talent Relation states that the one thing he doesn’t understand regarding Orton’s recent actions is his disrespect of legends such as Ric Flair when it does not benefit him.
  • Triple H calls Orton a ‘No good prick’ for his actions to Ric Flair and The Big Show [amongst others] in recent months
  • Randy Orton challenges Triple H to a fight tonight on WWE RAW.
  • Triple H initially rejects Randy Orton’s challenge of a fight tonight on WWE RAW however after Orton mentions HHH’s balls being in Stephanie’s purse Triple H accepts via a stiff right hand.

Analysis: I must preface tonights WWE RAW Results article with the information that Triple H is my G.O.A.T of all-time. I thought this was a fantastic way to open the show, HHH vs. Randy Orton even in 2021 is a ratings draw especially for a show with tons of eyes on it already following McIntyre’s COVID announcement and the rumours of the WWE Championship being vacated.

Lacey Evans [w/ Ric Flair] defeats Charlotte Flair via Pinfall in 9:09

  • Pre-match Charlotte is interviewed about Lacey Evans [and by association her fathers’] actions last week.
  • Charlotte states Lacey Evans’ is not the first woman to hit on her dad in front of her, however, why are we asking Charlotte about her father when she is a Tag Team Champion in 2021.
  • As we return to action, Drew McIntyre appears on the tron confirming his Coronavirus is asymptomatic before encouraging everyone to take the virus seriously and wear a mask whilst following the guidelines.
  • The two exchange a series of back and forth strikes with Charlotte comfortable coming out on top, however as Charlotte looks to capitalise on Evans’ spilling to the outside…Ric Flair’s music hits and The Nature Boy makes his way down the ramp.
  • The distraction provided by Ric Flair allows his love interest [Lacey Evans] to gain control of the match before a mistimed Stylin’ and Profilin’ attempt from Evans allows Flair to regain control.
  • A ‘Queens Boot’ sends Evans over the top rope to the outside, Flair follows up with ‘Natural Selection’ near the ropes giving Ric Flair the chance to put Evans’ foot onto the rope and stopping the count.
  • Flair [Ric] trips Charlotte over as she is attempting a Suplex onto Evans causing Evans to hit a Crossbody onto Flair [Charlotte] and picking up the win via pinfall.

Analysis: Really enjoyed Charlotte’s pre match promo especially the line on being confused as to why in 2021 she is being asked about her retired father, I hope this is the start of a more ruthless side to ‘The Queen’ as we build towards the possibility of Charlotte vs. Rhea Ripley II at WrestleMania. I am not too keen on this Ric Flair love angle as it feels slightly too trivial for someone of Charlotte Flairs calibre however, if it ends in Charlotte beating down her father to return to her killer Queen persona then it may be worth it. Next week Evans and Royce should be awarded a Tag Team Title Match otherwise the two huge wins over Charlotte have had no value to Evans and the matches had no stakes even retrospective ones.

Jaxson Ryker [w/Elias] defeats Jeff Hardy via pinfall in 1:45, Jeff Hardy defeats Elias [w/ Jaxson Ryker] via pinfall in 4:43

  • The match is initially set to be Elias vs. Hardy however due to a injury sustained whilst recording music Elias is “unable” to compete.
  • Ryker replaces him in the match whilst Elias joins the WWE RAW Commentary booth for the duration of the match.
  • Elias distracts Hardy allowing Ryker to get a roll-up victory in under two-minutes.
  • Post-match Jeff Hardy challenges Elias, stating that he is just scared that people will see Jaxson Ryker is better than him.
  • An angered Elias accepts, telling Ryker not to get involved [with a cheeky wink to go along side it].
  • Hardy and Elias [who recently had a series of lacklustre matches immediately following the 2020 WWE Draft] show a familiarity with the offensive arsenal of one another resulting in an array of counters and reversals.
  • Elias hits a huge jumping knee to the face of Jeff Hardy allowing the musician to control the match early on, however, a well timed Twist of Fate and Swanton Bomb from Hardy provides him the victory in sub five minutes.

Analysis: There are lots of issues within this segment, firstly why are Elias and Hardy facing off again after having a series of matches culminating with the Symphony of Distraction match only weeks ago. Secondly, why is the character of Jeff Hardy completely fine with losing to a relative nobody in under two minutes thanks to outside interference? Hardy seemed to simply shrug off losing to Ryker then act like beating Elias made it all better. Very strange writing here that doesn’t seem to have a end goal inside especially given Elias has been feuding with Styles as of late and Hardy has been involved in the Tag Team Division with Matt Riddle.

Keith Lee and Sheamus defeat The Miz and John Morrison via pinfall in 12:57

  • In a brief backstage segment earlier in the show, Keith Lee and Sheamus somewhat made amends as ‘The Celtic Warrior’ states Lee earned McIntyre and his respect last week.
  • The duo agreed to put any differences aside to squash the annoying duo of The Miz and John Morrison who taunted them for their previous fallings out.
  • Sheamus and Morrison lock up and tie up in a lovely opening grapple exchange before ‘The Celtic Warrior’ tags in the powerhouse Keith Lee to clear house.
  • Miz and Morrison tackle the legs of Keith Lee in an attempt to ground the former NXT Champion and isolate him from his power game.
  • Keith Lee hits John Morrsion’s skull into the turnbuckle causing the ring ropes to snap and Morrison to crash to the ground.
  • As we head to a ad-break Keith Lee and Sheamus laugh in the ring whilst The Miz comforts his tag partner on the canvas.
  • The ring crew are able to reconstruct the ring ropes before we return from the break, and a now invigorated Morrison works over Sheamus with a flurry of stiff kicks and heavy strikes.
  • Mr.Money in the Bank isolates Sheamus in his corner, utilising a sequence of quick tags to separate Sheamus from the fresher Keith Lee.
  • As Keith Lee sets up for the win, Sheamus tags himself in as Keith Lee smiles on and connects with a Brogue Kick for the win over John Morrison via pinfall.

Analysis: The build to this match despite being rather simple was very effective and made perfect sense, Sheamus respected Keith Lee for going toe-to-toe with Drew and they wanted to take care of a common enemy. The match itself was fine, perfect fine. Yes there was the huge possibly accidental rope snap however outside of that the match felt a little slow paced and repetitive. I am pleasantly surprised at the enjoyable character work between Sheamus and Keith Lee and I am all for the two teaming as a short lived tag-team.

Keith Lee defeats Sheamus via pinfall in 7:02

  • In a clunky illustrated moment, we cut back from Triple H accepting Randy Orton’s challenge, to Keith Lee and Sheamus setting up to face-off in singles action following a brawl after their successful tag-team victory,
  • Sheamus is nearly counted out following a belly-to-belly onto the barricade however Sheamus gets in at 9.5 on the 10 count.
  • Keith Lee is grounded by the former WWE Champion who begins to work over the tree trunk arms of the behemoth Lee.
  • The subsequent match is incredibly stiff with the two performers hitting a range of vicious strikes including head strikes and joint manipulation.
  • Eventually Keith Lee despite losing use of his left arm, is able to hit a one handed Spirit Bomb on Sheamus to pick up the win.
  • Post match the duo hug out there issues and appear to be on the same page again.

Analysis: This match technically was very good despite being short, however, from a story telling point of view this was a confusing mess. I don’t know if something was shown off air by mistake but there was a crucial step to this story missing. All the live viewer saw was them celebrate then two minutes later randomly start having a match and hating each other again. If this sort of fast paced development is going to be done it needs to be presented effectively and well otherwise it comes across clumsy and under developed.

Drew McIntyre accepts Goldberg’s challenge at the Royal Rumble

  • Drew states out of respect for Goldberg he didn’t want to accept his challenge, however, Goldberg put his hands on him and now he has no choice.
  • At the Royal Rumble, Goldberg will take on Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship.

Analysis: Why? Why do we need this? There is a plethora of incredibly talented and over performers in the WWE right now and instead we are relying on the overness of a part timer for yesteryear.

T-BAR defeats Xavier Woods via pinfall in 7:11

  • Woods makes his way to the ring alone, without Kingston possibly due to the potential COVID outbreak reported earlier today.
  • T-BAR is accompanied by the entirety of RETRIBUTION including Mustafa Ali.
  • Commentary state that Kingston suffered a broken jaw during his action against The Hurt Business last week.
  • Xavier utilises his superior speed to cut T-BAR down to size before a vicious Clothesline cuts Woods down to the mat.
  • Ali berates Woods from the outside, asking The New Day member where his family is and why he is alone.
  • Woods hits a huge top rope dropkick causing T-BAR to crash out the ring, however, the distraction from RETRIBUTION allows T-BAR to gain control.
  • T-BAR hits Eyes Wide Shut to pick up the win via pinfall.

Analysis: This was a nothing match, no stakes and no build. In ring action was good but the viewer was given no reason to be interested in the outcome of the match.

Bobby Lashley [w/ MVP] defeats Matt Riddle to retain the WWE US Championship via submission in 6:34, Matt Riddle defeats MVP via DQ in 3:01

  • Before the bell officially rings Lashley returns the favour to Riddle from last week, jumping him before the match starts.
  • Lashley tosses Riddle around the ring from corner to corner before hitting an explosive corner spear bursting Riddle open from the mouth,.
  • Riddle hits the final flash knee onto Lashley on the outside before hitting The Broton to gain advantage.
  • Lashley hits a series of takedowns before locking in The Hurt Lock and retaining via submission.
  • Post match Riddle calls out MVP, stating that although he couldn’t beat Lashley he could definitely beat MVP.

Analysis: This was a copy and paste of the Jeff Hardy vs. Ryker /Elias segment but with a DQ finish to the second match. The majority of the time on RAW matches are pretty on line with expectation, if a match should be good it is and if it should be less so than it usually is. Matt Riddle vs. Lashley however massively underdelivered and could have been a legitimate MOTY Contender and instead we got a glorified squash for no valid reason. The RAW Roster is clearly under stocked due to COVID complications but surely rather than have several people doing double duty we could flesh out matches and let the performers wrestle a bit longer. More matches, less segments.

AJ Styles [w/ Omos] defeats Drew Gulak via pinfall in 4:31

  • The two technical masters exchange a series of sophisticated grapples and counters with both men pivoting for control of the match early on.
  • Eventual a well time Pele kick sends Gulak outside into the grasp of Omos who provides sufficient distraction for AJ Styles to hit the Phenomenal Forearm to pick up with win.

Analysis: What I don’t understand is why, if you are struggling to fill a show due to roster issues you don’t just allow matches to go longer. Lashley vs. Riddle and Styles vs. Gulak could have comfortably gone a combined 15 minutes longer and given the performers time to shine.

Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax defeat Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke via submission in 4:12

  • Before the match both Rose and Brooke declare themselves for the 2021 Royal Rumble Match.
  • Baszler immediately targets the arm of Mandy Rose who is able to roll out and tag in her partner Dana Brooke.
  • Rose and Brooke kick out of some of Jax’s signature offence including a huge Samoan Headbutt and Samoan Drop.
  • Akin to the Keith Lee and Sheamus vs Miz and Morrison match earlier in the night, Shayna tags herself in to steal the victory via Rear-naked Choke.

Analysis: Once again a recycled finish from earlier on in the show, it just appears lazy when there has been now four or five cut and pasted finished or segments in one three hour show. Nia and Shayna really need to move apart as they are stagnating now with nothing to do, hopefully they can break up during the rumble and we can move onto their inevitable post split feud.

Triple H and Randy Orton fight, Alexa Bliss blinds Randy Orton

  • Prior to the match Keith Lee offers to return the favour to HHH for everything he has done for him by fighting Orton instead .
  • HHH states that as much as he appreciated the offer, this is something he needs to take care of because he is the one who made the mess.
  • There is no referee as this is not a match instead just a fight, the two former EVOLUTION members brawl around the ringside in an attempt to gain control of the match.
  • As Triple H wields the sledgehammer approaching Orton, The Fiends music and fading lights begin to play.
  • Suddenly Triple H’s Sledgehammer is on fire and the light’s fade to black, when the turn back on…HHH is gone.
  • A distorted version of The Firefly FunHouse theme plays as Alexa appears at ringside.
  • Bliss fires a fireball at the eyes of Orton, in an identical manner to Karrion Kross onto Keith Lee in August of 2020.

Overall, this was arguably the weakest episode of WWE RAW arguably in several years. The show was a opening segment and a closing segment with some filler in-between and the filler was simply cut and pasted to get the show to the required time period.

Teasing and ripping away Triple H’s involvement in the main event was hugely frustrating for the many fans who will have stayed up solely for that segment and although it may make the ratings look better this week you probably have turned off a massive pool of fans moving forward.

The one shining light was the expanded storyline between Charlotte and Lacey Evans that seems to be building towards helping cement the Sassy Southern Bell as a legitimate star in the WWE. As a performer Lacey has the perfect combinations of athletic ability, wrestling knowledge, a marketable look and great ability on the microphone.