WWE Raw 12/26/16 – Roman vs. Owens US Title Match

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Steph comes out and the announcers talk about the Braun-Sami issue. She welcomes everyone to Raw and says that Mick has the night off. A CM Punk chant breaks out and she gets in a great line saying that if they can keep that up for 2:15 more, they can last longer than he did. Seth and Steph yammer on for quite some time and then Roman comes down and bickers with Seth. Aren’t they friends now? Well, I guess they’re more allies than friends – there’s really no on-air reason for them to be friends right now. They want to beat up Braun, so Steph gives Seth a match with Braun and Roman will defend the title against someone of her choosing.

Sheamus and Cesaro are out to defend against New Day. Fans hold up a CESAROW sign – that does seem so much better than Cesaro Section. New Day dominates, with Woods being given a chance to shine with chops, legdrops, and other strikes. Sheamus pulls Woods out to the floor, showing off Xavier’s wrist tattoo. Cesaro and Kofi have a wonky exchange resulting in Cesaro press slamming Kofi onto E on the floor. The Honor Roll is countered by a brogue kick and the champs retain.

A Brock-Goldberg hype video builds up the Rumble match. Goldberg will be back on TV next week. Braun walks backstage and scares people. KO and Jericho put words in Roman and Seth’s mouths about Braun and he says that rumors are crap and so are they. The heel world champion and his buddy stood happy as they avoided being destroyed. Golden Truth talk about Christmas specials before Bayley comes in and gives Goldust a Dusty bear. They hug and this was genuinely sweet. Then The Club insults them and decapitates the the bear. Heaven forbid anyone have fun on this show.

Nia comes down to face Scarlett Bordeaux, who is wearing a Sasha shirt and gets squashed. KO and Jericho complain about Mick giving Roman another Universal Title match – leading to Jericho saying he’ll be like a sexy pinata hanging high in the arena. Bayley comes out and talks for a bit. Charlotte does and says Steph agreed to make a rematch, but with Dana as ref. Dana gets suplexed, but then she takes out the substitute and Charlotte beats her with her feet on the rope. Cole was almost offended by this – I’m shocked he didn’t say she was just using her situation to her advantage.

Steph tells Braun to beat up Seth and treat him like he’s Sami Zayn. Neville faces TJP, who eats a lot of nice strikes from Neville. A let’s go Cena/CM Punk chant breaks out. TJP goes for a kneebar, but he gets cradled and uses the tights to win. Aries commends him for this. Owens vs. Roman is hyped up, as is Dolph vs. AJ tomorrow night. Jinder and Rusev brawl with Cass and Enzo. The faces send the heels packing.

Bo, Young, and Backlund show off their certificates while the Shining Stars come out. Braun kills everyone and tosses a tree at Bo. A “thank you Strowman!” chant breaks out. Strowman faces Seth, who lands a blockbuster. Seth bumps around like a madman, and Sami comes down to brawl with Braun to give Braun a DQ win. Jericho lays out Seth and another Emmalina video airs. The Club beats The Golden Truth with a schoolboy – because THE GOLDEN TRUTH can’t afford a dominant loss. Swann beats Daivari with the spinkick before being beaten up by Neville, who he faces on 205 Live. Daivari says that Gallagher is a scoundrel, but will give him a chase to retract that slander. He doesn’t, so Gallagher slaps him with a dueling glove.

KO vs. Roman is just a backdrop for Jericho vs. Seth. Seth hits a loose pedigree on the floor to Jericho Roman spears Owens to retain the US Title before Cole buries the shark cage stip by saying that with Seth out there, Roman doesn’t need it. Seth and Roman shake hands and almost seem like friends again – well that’s good. Pretty darned missable show, and with this being a champion vs. champion show with the top champion being pinned, that really shouldn’t be the case. Seth takes out KO with a pedgree, and Roman spears Jericho on the floor.