The Riott Squad challenged Bayley and Natalya to find a partner this week for a six woman tag — and it led to Nikki Cross wrestling her first match on RAW!
After weeks of vignettes teasing Nikki’s move to the main roster, the Scottish born Superstar finally made her presence known to join Bayley/Natalya. She then helped her team earn a victory.
Heavy Machinery appeared during the “A Moment of Bliss” segment. EC3, Lacey Evans made brief backstage appearances as well, but neither spoke on camera.
Michael Cole mentioned that before any of the arriving Superstars are assigned to a brand, they’ll be appearing on both shows so the WWE Universe can “see what they got”.
Watch video of Nikki Cross’ RAW debut below.
Watch Otis Dozovic of Heavy Machinery disrupts Alexa Bliss’ interview with Paul Heyman during “A Moment of Bliss” and his partner Tucker Knight coming out to get him below.
And below you can see the appearances of EC3 and Lacey Evans.
WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan returned to TV on tonight’s RAW in Orlando, his first appearance since the Crown Jewel event from Saudi Arabia back in November and first time on RAW since his release in 2015. The Hulkster led a tribute to his good friend, WWE Hall of Famer “Mean” Gene Okerlund.
The RAW segment began with a 10-bell salute for Okerlund led by Mike Rome, followed by Hogan’s entrance. Hulk then got serious and said he only came out in character because it’s what Gene would’ve wanted.
Hulkster then setup a video package on “Mean” Gene’s career.
After the video was over, Hogan said he thinks he can speak for everyone in saying “we loved you, brother.” Fans chanted “thank you Gene” and Hulk randomly asked a fan wearing one of his shirts in the crowd if he should “do it one more time.”
Hogan then talked about what Okerlund is doing in heaven and name-dropped “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, Mr. Perfect, Ultimate Warrior, Mae Young and Fabulous Moolah.
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.
The first RAW of 2019 will be a loaded show with John Cena’s red brand return, WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan returning to honor “Mean” Gene Okerlund, and Braun Strowman returning with WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar to promote their Royal Rumble match. It’s also being reported that WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair will join Hogan to honor Okerlund. Alexa Bliss’ new “Moment of Bliss” talk show with RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey as the first guest
* Hulk Hogan returns to RAW to celebrate the life of longtime friend “Mean” Gene Okerlund
* The Beast and The Monster under the same roof
* John Cena is back
* Elias takes on Baron Corbin
* The Revival vie for Raw Tag Team Titles in a Lumberjack Match
The wrestling world was stunned when it was announced that Gene Okerlund passed away this past Wednesday.
One person who had a long friendship with “Mean Gene” was Hulk Hogan. He recently took to Twitter to honor the former backstage interviewer.
The best partner I ever had. We never rehearsed or did anything scripted from a writer. Gene would ask me “hey big man what do u want to do?” I would always answer “just follow you brother” and it worked from 1980 – 2017. RIP my brother HH pic.twitter.com/OBtn6NxT1E
Now, he will be given a proper platform to honor the WWE Hall of Famer.
WWE announced that Hogan will return to RAW to talk about the life of Okerlund. This will be the first time Hogan has been on RAW since 2015 and his second public appearance with WWE since his scandal where he was caught making racist remarks. His first appearance was at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia back in November.
WWE issued the following announcement:
“Let me tell you something, ‘Mean’ Gene …”
So began many of Hulk Hogan’s most memorable proclamations, making interviewer and backstage personality “Mean” Gene Okerlund a cornerstone of Hulkamania in the 1980s. Now, in the wake of Okerlund’s recent passing, Hogan returns to WWE programming this Monday night on Raw to honor his longtime friend.
In a Twitter post Tuesday night, Hogan called “Mean” Gene “the best partner I ever had” while describing their incredible off-the-cuff chemistry during their backstage interviews. That synchronicity even led to an unusual tag team partnership when Hogan and Okerlund battled George “The Animal” Steele and Mr. Fuji in 1984. Their training sessions before that match, which can be seen below, were perhaps even more entertaining than the bout itself.
Hogan and Okerlund’s friendship spanned the decades, from WWE to WCW and back to WWE. On Monday night, Hogan honors his brother.
Don’t miss this milestone moment on Monday Night Raw, beginning at 8/7 C on USA Network.
Vince McMahon appeared on Monday night raw on Christmas Eve dressed as Santa Claus he announced to fans that the women’s division will be getting tag team championships. Watch the announcement below.
WWE announced on last night’s RAW that Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens will be returning to RAW soon.
Owens has been out of action since undergoing double knee surgery back in October. Sami underwent double shoulder surgery and has been out of action since June. Sami and Owens were involved in a storyline together before Sami was put on the shelf.
Sami took to Twitter and commented on his return:
During this time off, I've been working on becoming a better person, and letting go of a lot of toxic elements that come with egotism & ambition.
But I just watched that teaser for my return on #Raw and remembered how good I am at pro wrestling. I actually forgot how great I am.
As noted, last night’s WWE RAW opened with Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon promising a “fresh start” for both RAW and SmackDown. They admitted they haven’t listened to fans and have “suffocated” the Superstars.
Part of the “fresh start” includes fresh faces and fresh match-ups, according to Triple H. It was later announced that the following WWE NXT Superstars will be coming to the main roster – Lars Sullivan, EC3, Tucker Knight and Otis Dozovic of Heavy Machinery, Lacey Evans and Nikki Cross. A call-up for Nikki Cross has been long expected.
Vince McMahon returned to WWE TV on last night’s RAW from Sacramento and kicked off the show to “shake things up” in the company.
Vince talked about RAW being on the air for 25 years and changing with the times. He said despite his creativity and his vision, he can’t “do it all” all by himself any longer. The WWE Chairman then introduced Stephanie McMahon, Triple H and Shane McMahon.
Stephanie admitted that they haven’t been doing a very good job lately, and that’s why they were here at RAW tonight. She said they haven’t been listening to the fans, and they have let “middle managers” air their grievances, which has suffocated the Superstars. Stephanie said that all ends tonight as a fresh start will begin. Triple H added that the days of absent management are over, and as of now, the four of them will be taking back Monday Night RAW. Shane said the same thing goes for SmackDown because the four of them are responsible for making sure fans have the best possible experience. Stephanie said they will be empowering Superstars and empowering fans, and Triple H said more importantly they will give the fans what they want with fresh faces, new Superstars, new matches and more. Triple H then declared that as of now, the fans are the authority. Vince ended their speech by saying WWE will always be “Then. Now. Forever.” as long as they give the fans more of what they want, and less of what they don’t want.
Michael Cole has been billing tonight’s RAW as “the new era” and a fresh start for the company.
Baron Corbin came out to interrupt the McMahon’s but he was met with many boos from the crowd. This led to the McMahons saying Corbin could get his General Manager job back if he could defeat WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle. That match began but Triple H and Shane changed it to a No DQ Handicap Match with Corbin losing to Angle, Apollo Crews and RAW Tag Team Champions Bobby Roode & Chad Gable. Heath Slater was the special referee.
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