World News – USA – WWE Raw Results, Recap, Grades: Randy Orton and Alexa Bliss play with fire, Keith Lee gets the title shot

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On Monday night, WWE put together a mostly standout edition of Raw that focused on compelling matches that were given time to tell a story in the ring. Despite all the good things happening at the ThunderDome, the show ended with a questionable segment with Randy Orton and Alexa Bliss.

After Orton invaded the Firefly Fun House, Bliss asked him to meet her in the ring later that night. That would lead Bliss to ask Orton to set her on fire like he did The Fiend on TLC. Fans were given no solution to the situation when the show went off the air with Orton holding a burning match.

CBS Sports was with you all night bringing you recaps and highlights of all the action. Read on for everything you need to know to get off an action-packed edition of Raw.

Bliss said she hasn’t seen The Fiend since the Inferno match on TLC. She said he might be waiting for next week’s Legends Week on Raw or maybe just for Orton to return to her playground. She asked Orton to come to the ring just to have his music play twice without coming to the ring. Orton then appeared at the Firefly Fun House. As Orton kicked, threw and tore the various residents of the Fun House, Bliss asked him to stop before asking Orton to meet her in the ring later that night.

In the final segment of the show, Orton met Bliss in the ring and Orton wanted to know where The Fiend was. Bliss said it wasn’t about The Fiend, it was about her before she brought a present into the ring. She opened the present to reveal a can of gasoline and a box of matches and set them at Orton’s feet. Bliss then urged Orton to do to her what Orton The Fiend did to TLC. Orton stood with his arms crossed while Bliss lay in the ring. Then she dumped the gas and asked Orton again to light the match. Bliss then said Orton wouldn’t be really sick and insane if he didn’t light the match before calling him « a little bitch ». « Then she let the remaining gas fall on her head. Orton said he was able but hesitated knowing that Bliss would want him to do it. Then the lights went out and Orton hit the match and the show went off the air.

That was interesting until the end. With a cliffhanger from « Did Randy Orton set Alexa Bliss on fire? » is lame no matter what you think of the end of Orton vs.. . The monster at TLC. It felt like the writers had an idea but no idea how to figure it out. Orton couldn’t set Bliss on fire because you just can’t. But he could not refuse it with all his might either, because it robs him of his primary character trait of being an evil, sadistic monster of a human being. And then you have to deal with WWE, which doesn’t immediately follow up on social media. Do they play their own « reporting » a lot, but they don’t say anything about what happened? How does this work? This was a particularly bad end to an otherwise stellar edition of Raw. Note: D

Drew McIntyre opened the show with an in-ring promo talking about his amazing 2020 year before moving on to taking the title on Raw next week against the winner of the night game between Sheamus and Keith Lee would defend. Sheamus cut him off to tell McIntyre that he kept his word last week and didn’t put a finger on Lee until after their team won the six-man-tag match before saying he and McIntyre were 15 years old had talked for a long time about the struggle for the title. Lee cut him off and said he had lost all trust in McIntyre, which came with the lack of trust he already had in Sheamus. After both men were cheered on, McIntyre called on a referee, saying they should start the game immediately, but not before Sheamus hit Lee with two brogue kicks.

Keith Lee def. Sheamus on pinfall after a ghost bomb. This was the violent brawl that was expected between these two men. Lots of power spots and heavy punches before Sheamus’ head butts didn’t affect Lee, allowing him to hit the Grizzly Magnum Chop in front of a Spirit Bomb to claim victory, earning him a title shot next week. Later that night, McIntyre praised Lee for his reinforcement, saying the two would drive each other insane in their match.

The match between Lee and Sheamus was very good which was to be expected with two talented and athletic tall men. It’s clear this story is just beginning, and it’s hard to imagine Sheamus staying out of the game next week. It feels like this poses a triple threat to Royal Rumble, but that’s not for sure. This Keith Lee vs.. . Drew McIntyre should be a standout match on Raw? That seems like a guarantee. Note: B

Gran Metalik def. The Miz via pinfall with a sunset flip. The Miz was furious that he couldn’t get his money back in the bank contract, resulting in lack of focus and a huge loss. All was not lost for Miz, however, as Adam Pearce returned the money in the bank contract later on the show and Miz explained that Morrison was the one who cashed it on TLC.

Shayna Baszler def. Dana Brooke on presentation with the Kirifuda clutch. Baszler tried to injure Brooke’s arm – and later Mandy Rose’s arm from the outside – before attempting to suffocate Brooke from the outside. Brooke struggled back only to submit to the Kirifuda clutch. Baszler locked Rose in the hold after the match for a good measure.

AJ styles def. Elias about pinfall after a phenomenal forearm. Styles struggled with Elias playing guitar backstage earlier that night and saying Omos couldn’t hear Mozart. This of course led to a match. After being eliminated from Drift Away, Styles secured victory by hitting a phenomenal forearm.

Mustafa Ali def. Ricochet on presentation with the Koji clutch. Ricochet seemed to be sorting things out when Retribution members created distractions before T-Bar and Mace pulled him from the turnbuckle to the floor and Ali jumped from the top rope to the floor. Ricochet appeared to have won the match after hitting kickback, but Mace pulled Ali out of the ring before Retribution attacked. After beating every member of Retribution, Ricochet attempted to slam a shooting star press on Ali, but Ali raised his knees and locked the koji clutch to claim victory. Ali gave Ricochet one more chance to join the group, but Ricochet said no and hit a facebuster before leaving the ring.

Charlotte Flair def. Nia Jax due to disqualification after interference from Shayna Baszler. Before the match, both Jax and Baszler declared themselves in favor of the Royal Rumble. During the game, Asuka gave Flair some assistance by punching Baszler with a twisting fist to prevent interference. That worked temporarily, but when Flair had Jax in eight, Baszler slipped into the ring and locked Flair in the Kirifuda clutch for the DQ.

The Hurt Business def. Riddle, Jeff Hardy & The new day by submission when Bobby Lashley put Hardy in the hurt lock. Lashley announced his participation in the Royal Rumble Match when The Hurt Business cut a pre-match promo. After a rather wild run towards the end of the game, Lashley locked Hardy in the hurt lock to claim victory. After the match, The Hurt Business continued to attack its opponents until they were repelled. Riddle hit Lashley with one knee before leaving the ring.

« I urge you to do to me what you did to him. « – @ AlexaBlissWWE # WWERaw @RandyOrton pic. Twitter. com / YIUbGRV0g1

After #WWERaw don’t miss @RealKeithLee, @WWEAsuka, @TrueKofi & @AustinCreedWins tonight on #RawTalk in the reeFree version @ of @WWENetwork! ➡️ https: // t. co / AEFWHOuAle image. Twitter. com / a87XZeIP83

You were right all along. . . @mikethemiz is ONCE AGAIN Mr.. . Money in the bank! #WWERaw @TheRealMorrison picture. Twitter. com / Xvt6T6VHYl

For technical reasons @mikethemiz will laugh as Mr. . Money in the bank! #AndStill #WWERaw @TheRealMorrison picture. Twitter. com / wfYmLB1apN

#TheHurtBusiness takes the win, but #TheNewDay, @SuperKingofBros & @JEFFHARDYBRAND gets the last laugh. #WWERaw image. Twitter. com / Y3kgCtuGj2

The positively HARD BROS branded pancakes RAIN BROS no official group names tonight, but #TheNewDay, @SuperKingofBros & @JEFFHARDYBRAND join forces against #TheHurtBusiness CONTINUE! #WWERaw image. Twitter. com / x7e59tZpl2

EXCLUSIVE: @RealKeithLee is on her way to #WWERaw Legends Night and wants to make the very first Raw of 2021 a legendary one for him! picture. Twitter. com / itFeqrkges

New beginnings are coming up for @AngelGarzaWWE, but it looks like @RonKillings is leading a pretty consistent life. #WWERaw image. Twitter. com / L6rYccQPii

#TheEmpress @WWEAsuka doesn’t let @QoSBaszler ruin @ MsCharlotteWWE’s dynamic against @NiaJaxWWE . . . but could it be too late? #WWERaw image. Twitter. com / zuT5lLkkNl

. @NiaJaxWWE paused @MsCharlotteWWE during their last one-on-one encounter. A receipt could be on the way tonight. #WWERaw image. Twitter. com / wbExH1c338

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WWE Raw, Brodie Lee, Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, Alexa Bliss, Keith Lee