WWE RAW Results (1/5/15) – Ziggler, Ryback & Rowan Fired!

Event: WWE Monday Night RAW
Airdate: Monday, January 5th, 2015 (USA Network)
Location: The American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, TX
Results by Matt Boone

“Yes, sir, we promised you a great main event…”

The Authority Addresses The Entire WWE Roster

The first WWE RAW of 2015 kicks off with highlights of Seth Rollins holding Edge hostage and threatening him, forcing John Cena to agree to bring back The Authority.

After the video package, we shoot live inside the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, the site of tonight’s show. We see that the entire roster is standing in the ring, with John Cena leading the pack and holding a microphone.

Cena opens by pointing out that The Authority is back in power. He says their first order of business is to have everyone on the roster stand in the ring so that they can address everyone. Cena then apologizes to his fellow Superstars for being forced to bring The Authority back.

Cena goes on to make a promise to everyone, but before he can say what it is, he is interrupted by “King of Kings.” With that said, out comes The Authority — Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.

The two stay at the top of the stage, with Stephanie speaking first. They talk about being back and how it’s a new year. She says it’s good that they’re back because they know what is best for business.

Triple H continues, saying he told everyone they would be back. He brings up Sting as the reason they were gone, but says he knew they’d be back and told everyone that. HHH puts over Seth Rollins for them being back. He introduces Rollins, who comes out and joins them on top of the stage.

The fans boo and break out into “You Sold Out” chants as Rollins begins to speak. He says he wants to say hello to his good friend in yellow in the ring, John Cena. He wishes Cena a Happy New Year. HHH says everyone here owes Rollins a debt of gratitude.

HHH says as a thank you, he’s going to give Rollins an opportunity to make history. He mentions Cena vs. Brock Lesnar for the title at the Royal Rumble. He says that match is now a triple-threat match. Rollins looks nervous at first but then gets really excited and celebrates.

Stephanie says there’s one person left to thank, and that’s John Cena. Stephanie says Cena promised everyone something and then went back on his word. But she says that’s a good thing because she knows deep down, he knows The Authority knows what’s best for business. To show their thanks, they’re making tonight “John Cena Appreciation Night.” Steph tells Cena his attendance is not optional, it’s mandatory. She says they’ll be able to turn that frown upside down because she promises — nay — guarantees, that The Authority will deliver.

Triple H says that tonight is the beginning of a new era for The Authority. He says they have no agendas or alterior motives. He tells everyone in the ring that all of them will get what they deserve, which he says in his a serious tone. He makes another match, this time for tonight. Dolph Ziggler will defend his Intercontinental Championship against Bad News Barrett. And that match is next. We head to commercial.

WWE Intercontinental Championship
– Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Bad News Barrett

When we return from the break, Ziggler and Barrett are already in the ring. NXT Diva Eden handles the long introductions for this title match. The bell rings and here we go.

Barrett dominates the smaller Ziggler early on, until Ziggler hits a picture-perfect dropkick to slow down his momentum. Ziggler got in some offense, but less than a minute later, Barrett took over control once again.

Barrett continues to dominate Ziggler until literally out of nowhere, Ziggler rolls him up and manages to get the 1-2-3. After the match, Barrett attacked Ziggler. Beating him up on the floor. The beating lasted seemingly forever, with the announcers questioning why no security or officials are coming out to stop him. Finally, Kane’s music hits. He stands on the top of the ramp with a mic. He apologizes and says he forgot to mention that this match is two out of three falls.

Winner of fall number one: Dolph Ziggler

The second fall begins with Ziggler struggling to get to his feet while Barrett waits on him. As soon as he gets up, Barrett hits him with a running big boot to the face. He then hits him with the Wasteland and covers him. 1-2-3.

Winner of fall number two: Bad News Barrett

Kane heads to the ringside area as Barrett’s music plays. Doctors check on Ziggler as we head to a commercial break. Our third and final fall in this I-C title match is up after the break.

When we return from the break, the ref is asking Ziggler, who is barely able to stand, if he’s able to continue. Ziggler says he can. The ref calls for the bell. Barrett hits Wasteland again and covers him. This time, Ziggler manages to kick out at two.

The fans start chanting “let’s go Ziggler” as he tries to finally fight back. Barrett cuts him short, stomps him out and slaps a headlock on him while we see a shot of Kane watching on from ringside.

Ziggler finally starts fighting back, hitting a big splash in the corner and following it up with a neckbreaker. Ziggler goes for another move, but Barrett reverses into the Winds of Change for a near fall.

Barrett pulls his armbad up and turns it inside-out, setting Ziggler up for the Bull Hammer Elbow. Barrett charges at Ziggler when he gets up, but Ziggler avoids it and superkicks Barrett. He covers him, but Barrett kicks out at two.

Kane jumps up on the apron to provide a distraction, but Ziggler superkicks him off. However, Ziggler turns around right into a Bull Hammer Elbow from Barrett. 1-2-3. We have a new I-C champ. We head to another commercial break.

Winner and NEW WWE Intercontinental Champion: Bad News Barrett

Backstage: Renee Young Interviews Roman Reigns

When we return from the break, we see highlights of the Roman Reigns vs. Big Show feud and then shoot backstage where Renee Young is with Reigns. Young asks what we can expect tonight, as Reigns vs. Big Show will take place on RAW tonight. Reigns cuts a Superman-style promo, ripping the famous Superman lines flat out. He closes with his usual “Believe That” and walks away.

Backstage: Bray Wyatt Promo

Backstage, Bray Wyatt cuts a promo on Dean Ambrose. He asks what Ambrose’s New Year’s Resolution is. If it’s to be a better person or to get closer with his jailed father. Wyatt says when he locks him in the back of an ambulance later tonight, it will mark the end of their journey. After his promo, we head back to commercial.

The Ascension vs. Two Local Wrestlers

We’re back from the break and we see The Ascension make their way to the ring for tag-team action. They get on the mic and cut a promo about dominant tag-teams in WWE history. They mention Demolition and the Road Warriors. They claim they’d destroy both of those teams. They close by saying, “We are The Ascension — welcome to the wasteland.”

The bell rings and we see two jobbers on the other side of the ring. No names are given for their opponents. The Ascension beat the crap out of them, just like you’d expect, ultimately defeating them with their finisher in about a minute.

Winners: The Ascension

Backstage: Rusev & Lana

Backstage, we see Rusev and Lana. Lana says in two days, they will celebrate the Russian Christmas. Rusev tells America to keep their noses out of Russia’s business. He says the U.S. wants to be the police force of the world. He says there’s only one man who can lead this world, and his name is Vladimir Putin. Lana says there’s only one man who’s undefeated and he is Rusev. The promo segment ends there.

Roman Reigns vs. Big Show

After the backstage segment, we head back to the ring. Roman Reigns’ theme hits and he makes his usual entrance through the crowd. The announcers hype up this next match as the biggest thing ever. It’ll be Reigns and Big Show up next, but first, another commercial break.

When we return from the break, Big Show makes his way to the ring. The bell sounds and here we go.

Early on, Big Show uses his size and strength to dominate Reigns, focusing on his ribs and abs. The announcers remind us that Reigns just recently returned after having stomach issues.

Reigns starts fighting back. He hits Big Show with a few moves and then starts calling for the Superman punch. As he runs to hit Show with it, Show catches him in mid air by the throat. Instead of chokeslamming him, he pushes him by the throat over the top rope and out to the floor.

Big Show follows Reigns out to the floor to continue to deliver additional punishment. Big Show takes the top-half of the ring steps. He hits Reigns with it, so the ref calls for the bell. Reigns wins via DQ.

After the match, Big Show continues his beatdown of Reigns. Back in the ring, Show picks up the top-half of the ring steps, but Reigns wakes up in time and blasts him with a spear. Big Show goes down and the steps land on his head.

Winner via Disqualification: Roman Reigns

Nikki Bella (with Brie Bella) vs. Natalya (with Paige)

When we return from commercial, The Bella Twins make their way to the ring for Divas action. Out next is Natalya, who told Tyson Kidd to stay backstage. Paige comes out next and hugs Natalya.

Nattie goes for a Sharpshooter on Nikki in this singles match almost at the very beginning. Nikki fights out and fights back. She is later distracted by Paige and Brie arguing outside the ring. Paige ends up throwing Brie into the barricade, further distracting Nikki and allowing Nattie to pick up the win.

Winner: Natalya

Backstage: Dean Ambrose Responds To Bray Wyatt

Backstage, Dean Ambrose is by himself. He responds to comments made by Bray Wyatt earlier tonight. He talks about how he doesn’t have a New Year’s Resolution. He says Wyatt was right, and their journey will end tonight in the back of an ambulance. He says he’s going to kill Wyatt. We head to another break.

Erick Rowan vs. Luke Harper
(Special Referees: Jamie Noble & Joey Mercury)

We return from the break and Erick Rowan makes his way to the ring in his sheep mask. Out next is his former Wyatt Family running buddy, Luke Harper, who will apparently be his opponent tonight.

Before the bell rings, the announcer introduces our two special guest referees for this match — Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury. Noble and Mercury come out in referee t-shirts and enter the ring. The bell sounds and here we go.

Noble and Mercury keep making things hard for Rowan, who I presume is being punished for being part of Team Cena at Survivor Series. Rowan hits a big boot and goes for a pin. Noble and Mercury keep confusing who will make the pin, so Rowan gets up. Harper blasts him with a clothesline and Noble quickly drops down and does a fast three count.

Winner: Luke Harper

After The Match

After the match, Noble and Mercury and beating down Rowan as Harper heads to the back. Harper notices this so he runs back to the ring. As he enters the ring, Rowan is starting to fight back, so Harper hits him with his clothesline finisher again. His music plays again.

Backstage: Alicia Fox Attacks Naomi

Backstage we see Naomi playing with her hair. Alicia Fox comes in and tells them that nothing will come between their friendship. Fox tells her she makes her Total Divas debut this Sunday. Then she apologizes, claiming she forgot that Naomi was kicked off the show. Naomi tells her it’s okay. Fox attacks her and starts screaming until some other Divas come in and chase her out.

Ambulance Match
– Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt

Before we head to another commercial break, we see the ambulance being backed into the arena. On that note, we head to a commercial.

We’re back from the break and Dean Ambrose makes his way to the ring. Out next is his opponent for tonight, “The Eater of World’s” Bray Wyatt.

The bell sounds and these two immediately go after it. Ambrose is all over Wyatt like a crazy person early on. The fight immediately spills out to the floor, where Ambrose jumps off an announce table and splashes onto Wyatt.

Ambrose drags and beats on Wyatt as they make their way up to the top of the stage, where the ambulance is located. Wyatt turns the tables and throws Ambrose into the ambulance, but Ambrose explodes out and splashes onto Wyatt.

Now Ambrose starts taking tables and stretchers and stuff out of the ambulance. He goes to grab Wyatt, but Wyatt throws him back into the back of the ambulance. Wyatt slams the ambulance door on the knee of Ambrose.

Wyatt slams Ambrose on the ramp at the top of the stage. Ambrose’s leg is laying over the side, so Wyatt smashes the stretcher onto it. He beats Ambrose all the way down the ramp as the fans chant “Ambrose! Ambrose” Wyatt throws Ambrose back into the ring.

As Wyatt hops up on the apron, Ambrose drops Wyatt throat-first on the top rope. Ambrose goes out to the floor after Wyatt, but Wyatt slams him. Wyatt smashes Ambrose knee-first into the ring post as we head to a mid-match commercial break.

We return from the break to see Wyatt still firmly in control of the offense in this one, which is now back in the ring. It doesn’t stay there for long, however, as Wyatt beats Ambrose back up the ramp and over to the ambulance area. He sets up one of the medical tables that Ambrose pulled out of the ambulance earlier in the match and goes back after him on the top of the stage.

Ambrose comes flying off the stage and hits a big clothesline on Wyatt. We see some replays of that spot as Ambrose struggles to get back to his feet. Ambrose is firing away at Wyatt with punches, but Wyatt again throws Ambrose into the back. Wyatt turns around and eats a chair to the face that was thrown at him from inside the ambulance by Ambrose. Ambrose comes flying out of the ambulance after that and takes out Wyatt.

Ambrose builds up a big spot where he puts Wyatt on the aforementioned table. He climbs to the top of the apron and comes flying off with a big elbow, smashing onto Wyatt and going through the table.

Wyatt eventually starts fighting back. He’s taking it to Ambrose now as he sets him up for something. Out of nowhere, Wyatt blasts Ambrose with his Sister Abigail finisher, slamming him into the ambulance door in the process. Moments later, Wyatt puts Ambrose in the back of the ambulance and shuts the door. Wyatt wins. We head to commercial.

Winner: Bray Wyatt

The Usos & Naomi vs. The Miz, Damien Mizdow & Alicia Fox

When we return from the break, The Usos and Naomi make their way to the ring for a six person intergender tag-team match. Out next are their opponents for tonight, The Miz, Damien Mizdow and Alicia Fox.

The bell sounds and here we go. Uso and Miz start things off for their respective teams. The fans chant “We Want Mizdow” right off the bat. Miz works over Uso as we see Mizdow mimicing his actions on the apron. The new thing now is the camera gets a shot of Mizdow with audio, so we can watch as he chokeholds no one and says “just give up!”

Miz does the big tag-tease to Mizdow, so the fans go nuts. Miz actually tags Mizdow in, only to let him do one move before tagging himself back into the match.

Uso makes the tag to Jimmy Uso, who takes the hot tag and comes in taking Miz out and knocking him all over the place. Everyone else enters the ring, leading to Naomi dumping Fox out of the ring. During the distraction, Miz rolls Uso up, holds the tights and scores the 1-2-3. We head to another break.

Winners: The Miz, Damien Mizdow & Alicia Fox

Handicap Match
Ryback vs. Seth Rollins & Kane

When we return from the break, Ryback makes his way to the ring. It’s time for his one-on-one match with Seth Rollins here on the first RAW of 2015.

Rollins makes his way out next, but before anything else happens, Kane comes out, this time in his wrestling gear. Kane apologizes and says he forgot to mention it earlier. This match is a handicap match — Rollins and Kane vs. Ryback. The Authority goes after another member of Team Cena.

The fans start chanting “Feed Me More” as Kane and Rollins head towards the ring. The bell sounds and Kane will be starting things off in the ring against Ryback.

Kane controls the action early on. Ryback starts fighting back. He hits a couple of standing slpashes on him in the middle of the ring as we see a shot of Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble watching on from ringside.

Kane pushes Ryback into his corner and tags Rollins. Rollins gets in a few cheap shots while Kane holds Ryback. Rollins starts to go to work on Ryback as the fans chant “You Sold Out” at him. Ryback starts fighting back again but his offensive momentum is short lived.

Rollins, Kane, and J&J security try to team up and play the numbers game, but Ryback fights them all off and cleans house. He’s standing in the ring chanting “Feed Me More” with the fans as we head to a mid-match commercial.

When we return from commercial, the “Feed Me More” chants are still going as we see Kane beating up on Ryback in his corner of the ring. Rollins hits a cheap shot as the ref pulls Kane off of Ryback. Kane walks right into a belly-to-belly suplex from Ryback when he turns around. Ryback, however, walks into a dropkick from Rollins who blind-tagged his way back into the match.

Rollins works over Ryback a bit and then tags Kane in. Kane picks up where Rollins left off, taking it to Ryback. Rollins is quickly tagged back in and just as quick are the fans in Corpus Christi with their “You Sold Out” chants.

Ryback cleans house again, taking out J&J Security and hoisting Rollins up for the Shellshock. Kane pulls Rollins down and grabs Ryback for a chokeslam. Ryback reverses that into a Shellshock and nails Kane, but Rollins follows up by Curb Stomping Ryback. Rollins hits Ryback with another Curb Stomp for good measure. 1-2-3. Ryback loses.

Winners: Seth Rollins & Kane

Adam Rose vs. Big E.

After the break we see Adam Rose and The Rosebuds on their way to the ring. Out next is Big E., alongside his New Day partners Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods.

The match features some back-and-forth action until out of the clear blue, two masked members of the Rosebuds attack Big E. They take their masks off to reveal that they are Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. We head to another commercial.

John Cena Appreciation Night

We return from the break and The Authority, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, make their way out to “King of Kings.” They hype up John Cena Appreciation Night and then bring out the “man of the hour.”

Cena makes his way to the ring. HHH and Steph do a big over-dramatic, “ladies and gentlemen — John Cena!” Steph tells Cena he’s her hero. Triple H mentions that they’ve had issues in the past but says he’s changed.

Cena keeps his head down as HHH and Steph continue to ramble. HHH says he’s gonna bring some people out who appreciate him. He introduces Ryback.

Ryback makes his way to the ring. Then Erick Rowan. Then Dolph Ziggler. The members of Team Cena, who have been beaten up and tortured by The Authority tonight, all limp and sell their way to the ring.

The Authority talks about how these people were safe. They won at Survivor Series, but thanks to Cena, The Authority is back and now they must be punished. They debate what their punishment should be. They talk about suspending them without pay, but say they need to walk and think about it. When they get to the top of the stage, Triple H and Stephanie reveal that Erick Rowan, Ryback and Dolph Ziggler are all fired.

Some celebratory music plays as balloons and confetti drops from the ceiling. Cena looks all depressed as RAW goes off the air with HHH and Steph celebrating.

What Happened *AFTER* RAW Ended – HUGE SEGMENT w/ Ex-WWE Star – You’ll NEVER Believe Who It Was!! An **ABSOLUTE SHOCKER**!!!! + Report: Vince McMahon *IRATE* At RAW This Week ….