WWE Raw Ratings Increase with Goldberg Tease, Randy Orton, Alexa Bliss vs. Asuka
January 20, 2021
Monday night's episode of WWE Raw, headlined by a non-title match between Raw women's champion Asuka and Alexa Bliss, saw its ratings improve compared to last week.
According to Showbuzz Daily, Raw averaged 1.854 million viewers during its two-hour broadcast, up from last week's 1.819 million.
In the main event of Raw, Asuka and Bliss clashed in a unique match. While the fun-loving, bubbly version of Bliss started the match, she underwent a transformation during the commercial break.
Just before commercial, the lights went out. When Raw returned, Bliss was wearing a black dress and black lipstick. Her change wasn't unlike Bray Wyatt turning into The Fiend.
Bliss was also essentially indestructible after the transformation, as Asuka's vicious strikes didn't have the type of impact they usually would. Ultimately, Bliss hit Asuka with Sister Abigail and pinned her, meaning she may be first in line for a title shot.
Randy Orton's involvement in a rivalry with Wyatt and Bliss continued at the top of the show as well. He cut an eerie promo to open Raw and was wearing a mask after getting shot in the face with a fireball by Alexa last week.
Raw also featured a hilarious edition of the Dirt Sheet with The Miz and John Morrison. They claimed they were set to interview WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg ahead of his match against WWE champion Drew McIntyre at Royal Rumble, but Gillberg showed up instead.
McIntyre's music then played, but rather than the WWE champion showing up, it was a rotund actor dressed like The Scottish Warrior instead.
While neither Goldberg nor McIntyre was present, WWE announced that they will both appear live on Raw next week for the final build toward their Royal Rumble match.
Other major happenings on Raw included AJ Styles beating Ricochet, Charlotte Flair defeating Peyton Royce, Mace beating Xavier Woods, Shayna Baszler defeating Mandy Rose, The Hurt Business beating Riddle and Lucha House Party, and Jeff Hardy defeating Jaxson Ryker by disqualification.
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